The Clothesline

When I was six years old my family lived in an old stone house in Union Depost, Pennsylvania. Behind the house ran a stream, woods, and then a big open field. Of course on a daily basis I managed to come in covered in mud or dirt or whatever else might be around. I did this on my own but sometimes I had help.

My uncle Joey was only 7 years older than me and lived less than ten miles away. Often he would come over to visit and we would end up outside. I ended up doing his bidding a lot like picking corn from the farmer's field so he could throw it at Halloween. When we divided the corn up I got a tiny little pot full and he had several giant bags of it. I was upset because I thought I could eat the corn.

I was cautious of what Joey might ask me to do but I was young and gullible too. In the back yard we had a clothesline that was attached to pulleys. The clothesline started about five feet off the ground and rose to about twenty feet at the other end. Both pulleys were screwed into trees.

Joey and I were playing with the clothes line and he said, “Hold onto the clothes line. I reel you out and then bring you back in.”

I hesitated. I wasn’t sure he would reel me back in. He sensed this and said, “Come on don’t be a baby.”

Well, I didn’t want to be considered a baby so I grabbed onto the clothes line and Joey began to reel me out. I rose up over our garden higher and higher. I was scared but there was no way I was going to be a baby.

“Okay, you can bring me back now,” I called.

Joey just laughed and kept reeling me higher and further out. It seemed like I was up there for hours until finally I reached the other end.

“Okay, bring me back,” I cried.

I looked back and Joey was gone. I tried not to panic but it was a long way down and I felt my grip slipping. I tried to turn around and go back but I wasn’t strong enough and I fell. As I plummeted towards the ground I thought I was going to die and how mad my Mom would be at Joey.

When I hit it wasn’t hard like I expected but wet and muddy. I had landed in a huge mud puddle that was two feet deep. As I climbed out of the mud puddle I looked up at the house and I could see Joey laughing hysterically. I started to laugh too and slipped and fell back in the puddle.

I knew Mom wouldn’t care because I came in muddy every day and it was no use telling on Joey he would just make up an excuse. So I stuck a big glob of mud in my pocket and walked up to the yard. Joey was on the ground rolling around laughing. I took the mud out of my pocket and threw it onto his red and white striped shirt. I was learning what it was like to have a big brother…