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HE WILL SET YOUR FIELD ON FIRE by W. C. REED Of all the fondest memories of my childhood, were that of lazy summer days when brother George and I would get out and play in the neighborhood. And being typical boys, trouble always seem to follow us everywhere we went. Whether we were swimming in the Severn Run Creek that ran behind our house, or playing with the neighbors dog(We were too poor to have one of our own), sure enough, before the day was done we would find some trouble to get into. One particular Saturday morning stands out in my memory as a day that I will never forget. We had been playing in Mr. Mumford's wheat field with the neighbors dog. The Idea being, was that I would go to the other side of the field while George held the dog. Once there, I would call the dog and wait to see if it could find me. Well this worked out ok a couple of times with the dog finding each of us sucessfully. Once again it was my turn to call the dog and I'm calling and calling and calling, but the dog doesn't come to me. So I stood up to see where he was and the other side of the wheat field is on fire. Naturally, I took off running for the house. Somewhere along the way, I think I passed up George and we caught up with each other behind our house. After we caught our breath, I asked George what had happened. As it turns out, George had picked up a stick, and pretended that it was a cigarette, and tried to light it. Well, he had burned his finger on the match thus setting the wheat field on fire. After we had cooled down, we heard these fire trucks coming up the road, and we went around in front of the house to see what was going on. And with the typical " Wow! Look at that!" coming from from each of us, we pretended not to know what was going on. We were as inocent as the driven snow. Yeah, right!. Well, Dad and Ray went to see where the trucks were going, and when he got back, I was the first one he grabbed and started whipping. All the while I was screaming." It was Georgie that did it!" Unbeknownst to me, I was the only one Mr. Mumford seen running from the scene of the crime. We both spent the next 30 days confined to our room after school. Me, because I was an accessory to the fact. |