Boys and Sprinklers

Monday when I got home and the nephews were there with Mom.

They were playing Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. William had his cloak on and was pretending to fight the basilisk. Ben was Ron, so he was sitting out the scene. They made me be Tom Riddle and stabbed a "See Dick and Jane Run" book. I pretended to explode. We had to do the scene 5 times. Took all my effort to gather up my scattered pieces afterwards.

Mom has designed this elaborate sprinkler system. I can't work it. There are a ton of knobs and twists. She says its so I won't have to spend hours watering the flower beds. The flower beds are her idea, so I let her do the watering.

After a quick supper, I went out to plant my watermelon plants. There were six that actually grew to a good size in the little flower pot I seeded them in. Time to plant them in the ground. Mom got a bright idea.... let the boys run through the sprinkler system in their t-shirts and underwear. It was funny, watching them enjoy the water. A few neighbors came outside to see what all the laughter was about.

I planted my watermelons and had just finished watering them, when I noticed that Mom was planting tomato plants. "Hey, where are the boys?" I asked, realizng there was no laughter coming from the front of the house. Before she answered I ran around the house and saw Ben on the front porch. "Where's William?" Ben pointed to the faucet behind the azalea bushes. William was trying to turn it off.

He had suceeded in demolishing mom's sprinkler system. Something she was afraid I would do. I didn't dare turn a knob or touch it. I shouted for her and when she came over and saw her masterpiece now a leaky mess, she had a lot to say to William. He ran inside the house in wet clothes, saying "It was an accident. My hands did it."

It was funny. Though I did a great job of hiding my humor. I got the boys in the bathtub while Mom worked on her sprinklers. We always make up stories.

I said, "What should our story be about tonight?"

William raised his hand, "ME."

I said, "Ok...there was a boy named William who had fuzzy wuzzy hair, a long floppy nose, brown eyes and duck feet. His little brother Ben had spiky hair, winged elbows and flippers on his neck."

William interrupted, "They played outside in the waterfall."

I added, "Because they were duck boys and love water."

William said, "And William made a Great Mistake."

I laughed, "He tried to turn off the sprinkles and got in trouble."

Mom had entered the house and heard our story. She came to the door of the bathroom and said, "And William learned his lesson and won't touch the sprinklers again."

She walked out before William said in sotto voce with a flash of devil in his eyes, "Maybe tomorrow."