Not Me

Note: The names have been changed to my favorite TV characters from my youth to protect the innocent (or guilty) children.

It was my turn for recess duty and Barney Fife came running up to me. "Look! I've got a gecko." He was holding it in one hand and the poor thing was peering his head out of the clenched hands. I think Barney was trying to scare me, but instead I reached my hand out and said, "Poor thing. He looks scared and hungry." Barney unclenched his hands for me to take the lizard. Unfortunately, the lizard didn't trust me and went running toward Barney's pants pocket. He grabbed it in the knick of time right before the lizard darted down his pants and I said, "Let's put him in the grass, so he can find shelter." About that time the lizard flew out of his hand and was headed toward the grass on his own. Everything would have been fine, but Curious George just had to take a closer look at him and went to grab him. George squeezed a little too tightly and the lizard's eyeball squished out. About that time the rest of the herd of sixth graders came running up to see what treasure had been encircled. Let's just say we had to have a playground burial of our first victim of recess.

All went well for the rest of recess until the whistle blew. Rambo came running up to me hollaring, "Barney and I just got pelted with rocks." I looked toward the direction from whence the commotion had happened and lo and behold, there was Fred and Ricky acting innocent. Ricky had the audacity to thrust his shoulders forward and gesture with his hands, "What! It wasn't me." I motioned for them to come to me, however, natural consequences were beginning to happen because by that time the rest of the line of sixth graders were headed inside for lunch. I finally determined with a lot of effort of interrogating the group that Fred, Ricky, and another boy were throwing rocks. They were trying to see if they could get the rocks to land on the roof on top of our tall gymnasium. It seems that Fred and Ricky didn't have much of an arm on them because their rocks ricocheted off the side of the building and hit Barney and Rambo in the back of the head. OR, did it really happen that way afterall? God loves teachers. Barney and Rambo had terrorized the art teacher the day before. Isn't it interesting that two pebbles ended up hitting the back of two heads that just maybe needed some sense knocked into them?

Disclaimer: No one was seriously injured in the telling of this story. Neither boy wanted ice or complained of a knot on their head. However, we did lose a lizard...may he rest in peace.