COURTESY OF THE WAYNE COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY THAT I RENT BOOKS FROM.
THIS IS NUMBER 11 OF 40 STORIES IN THE BOOK OF "STORIES YOU WON'T BELIEVE" BY: LONNIE E. BROWN, RESIDENT OF LOUISVILLE, BORN IN RUSSELL SPRINGS, IN THE STATE OF KENTUCKY.
THIS ONE TITLED
"INFLUENCED"
"INFLUENCED"
I WOULDN'T WANT TO HOLD ANYBODY BUT MYSELF RESPONSIBLE FOR MY MISDEEDS, BUT I THINK NOW THAT TAKING THE MUD OFF THE MUD DAUBER'S NEST COULD HAVE BEEN INFLUENCED BY A STORY OF A NEIGHBORHOOD PRANK THAT ONE OF OUR NEIGHBORS PULLED ON ANOTHER ONE NIGHT. I ALWAYS ENJOYED IT, EVEN THOUGH I WOULDNT HAVE ENJOYED IT IF THE PRANK HAD BEEN PLAYED ON ME.
PLAYING PRACTICAL JOKES WAS A FAVORITE PASTIME IN THOSE DAYS BECAUSE THERE WAS VERY LITTLE ENTERTAINMENT OFFERED IN OUR COMMUNITY. WE HAD TO PROVIDE OUR OWN FUN, AND, SOMETIMES, YOUNG MEN DIDN'T REALIZE THAT THEIR PRANKS WERE UNKIND. THIS TALE BELONGS IN THAT CATEGORY.
OLD JIM LIVED IN A ONE-ROOM CABIN IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD, RIGHT DOWN THE ROAD FROM A TEENAGE BOY NAMED RAY. DESPITE THE AGE DIFFERENCE, THE TWO LIKED EACH OTHER, BUT THAT DIDN'T STOP RAY FROM PLAYING A JOKE ON OLD JIM WHENEVER THE OPPORTUNITY AROSE. OLD JIM'S MIND WAS A BIT SLOW, SO THIS MADE HIM A GOOD TARGET FOR TEENAGERS LIKE RAY WHO WERE LOOKING FOR GOOD-NATURED FUN AND WERE UNAWARE THAT THEY WERE SOMETIMES OUT OF LINE.
ONE NIGHT OLD JIM WORKED IN THE FIELDS UNTIL DARK. HE STOPPED BY THE BARN TO FEED AND MILK THE COWS, AND RAY JUST HAPPENED TO BE GOING HOME AND SAW HIM. THOSE WERE THE GOOD DAYS WHEN PEOPLE COULD LEAVE THEIR DOORS UNLOCKED WITHOUT WORRYING ABOUT BEING ROBBED. OLD JIM NEVER WORRIED ABOUT INTRUDERS, BUT, ON THIS NIGHT, HE SHOULD HAVE. RAY THOUGHT IT WOULD BE FUNNY TO SNEAK INSIDE AND HIDE UNDER THE BED AND SEARE OLD JIM WHEN HE CAME INSIDE. RAY DIDN'T HAVE LONG TO WAIT UNTIL OLD JIM CAME IN, PUT THE MILK AWAY, AND NOTICED THE WOOD BOX WAS EMPTY. HE IMMEDIATELY WENT OUTSIDE AND CARRIED IN SOME WOOD AND PLACED IT BY THE STOVE IN THE BOX.
TO UNDERSTAND THE SUCCESS OF THE PRANK, ONE SHOULD KNOW THE LAYOUT OF THE CABIN. THE BED UNDER WHICH RAY WAS HIDING WAS RIGHT BY THE STOVE AND THE WOOD BOX. OLD JIM OPENED THE STOVE DOOR AND LAY IN A STICK OF WOOD IN PREPARATION TO COOK SOME SUPPER. HE WENT BACK OUT TO GET MORE WOOD, AND RAY REACHED OUT AND REMOVED THE WOOD FROM THE STOVE, PLACING IT QUICKLY BACK IN THE BOX.
RAY COULD SEE OLD JIM RETURN WITH ANOTHER LOAD OF WOOD FROM HIS POSITION UNDER THE BED. HE SAW HIM SCRATCH HIS HEAD AND SQUINT HIS FACE IN A PUZZLED LOOK. HE REACHER OVER, PICKED UP THE STICK OF WOOD, AND AGAIN PLACED IT IN THE STOVE. WHEN HE WENT OUT FOR A THIRD LOAD RAY STRUCK AGAIN, REPEATING THE PROCESS. A SHARPER MAN MIGHT HAVE CAUGHT ON TO THE PRANK SOONER, BUT POOR IM WAS A LITTLE DULL.
WHEN OLD JIM CAME IN THIS TIME, HE LOOKED DOWN AT THE BOX, SHOOK HIS HEAD AS IF TO CLEAR IT, AND LOOKED AROUND THE ROOM. THEN HE PUT THE WOOD IN THE STOVE AGAIN AND REACHED FOR THE MATCHES.
AT THIS POINT, RAY'S LUCK RAN OUT. OLD JIM MUST HAVE SEEN A MOVEMENT FROM THE CORNER OF HIS EYE BECAUSE HE TURNED AROUND JUST AS RAY'S ARM SHOT OUT FROM UNDER THE BED. OLD JIM YELLED SOMETHING RAY COULDN'T UNDERSTAND OR DIDN'T CARE TO REPEAT, AND HE GRABBED ANOTHER STICK OF WOOD AND BEGAN TO BEAT RAY'S ARM. RAY WAS YELLING TOO, AND BY THE TIME HE MADE OLD JIM UNDERSTAND WHO HE WAS AND THAT HE WAS JUST PLAYING A JOKE, HE HAD SEVERAL CUTS AND BRUISES AND A FEW SPLINTERS TO REMOVE.
OLD JIM COOLED DOWN AND NEVER HELD A GRUDGE. HE STILL DIDN'T LOCK HIS DOOR, BUT HE WAS SHARP ENOUGH TO LOOK UNDER HIS BED AT NIGHT, AND RAY WAS SHARP ENOUGH NEVER TO BE UNDER THERE AGAIN.
WRITTEN BY: LONNIE E. BROWN
FROM THE BOOK "STORIES YOU WON'T BELIEVE"
TITLED "INFLUENCED"
02/17/2022
COURTESY OF THE LOCAL LIBRARY I RENT BOOKS FROM TO READ.
😁👌a tad funny, by Lonnie E Brown