The Backyard Penitentiary The Backyard Penitentiary
Timmy and I spent many hours in the sandbox playing with army men, shovels, and whatever else our little minds could think up. Everything was fine until one morning, mom decided to add Barb. Why was Barbie brought into this "boys world"? We were just fine without her. The sandbox, which was surrounded by a sea of hardened soil and sporadic grass sprouts, would now have to be shared with someone else. How could she understand the fine balance that Tim and I had created that carved out our territories of sand. Territories which had fantastic mountains, deep rivers, "pretend" lakes and small fortresses.
Barbie came over to the sandbox, sat on one of the corner seats, looked around for something to do, and tried to play by our rules. But she grew tired of playing in the sandbox and looked to do something more interesting. Instantly, she went to the snow fence that surrounded our play area; and began to scale the enclosure. The next thing we know she had broken out of our prison, which had kept Tim and I incarcerated for over a year. She found a way out!
Next, Tim scaled the fence. And wow...he made it too. As he landed on the other side, he said, "I'll see you inside the house." Then it was my turn.
"How did they do it," I was asking myself? This fence seemed as hard to ascend as the tall pine trees that gave us shade during those hot summer afternoons. I touched the wood and looked up, but I could only think, "there was no way I could scale this fence like my agile brother and sister." But I thought, "if they can do it, then so can I."
I climbed the fence and finally I could look over the top. But then what? I looked down and there was no way I could go back inside the safety of the sandbox. I couldn't get over the top, so I did what every four year old would do...cry!!
Finally, mom came out and saw my dilemma. From that point on, she did what every good mother would do...keep the fence unlocked. Not because it could no longer keep Tim and Barbie in...no, because she was afraid that I might hurt myself because I couldn't figure out how to scale the fence successfully.
Story by Terry Smith