When I arrived home from work and pulled into the garage, I heard my daughter voice saying “Dad” as I exited the car. I looked around the garage as I heard her voice again.
My kids David and Angela aged 12 & 10, with my son being the oldest have played hide and seek since they were toddlers. So, I searched every inch of the garage including the cabinets and the garage attic calling out their names.
After I had climbed down from the ladder, I heard my son’s voice, calling to me “Dad.” I searched again and even the trunk of the car and when I heard their voices saying he will never find us.
I call out to them, but no answer. I walked around the front of the house, behind the hedges, along the side of the house, when I heard their voices again.
Now, I becoming frustrated, I took a deep breath and thought to myself, I’m being bested by my to prepubescent teens. I considered they set up an intercom system with their voices echoing in a speaker and they are inside the house laughing at me.
With, my frustration level boiling, I thought logically as to where my kids could be. Then I realized my wife had not come outside to greet me and she was possibly in on this little trick.
So. I shrugged my shoulders, saying aloud, I guess my kids must have been taken by the boogie man. I walk into the garage, hit the button to close the garage door and as I entered the family room.
I yelled loudly to my wife. Honey, I’m home, and I think we are going to have to start over with having kids.
As my wife approached, I told her I heard their voices, but I could not find them. It reminds me of the “Poltergeist movie from the 80’s when the parents lost their daughter Carol Ann.” inside the television. 🙂
My, wife greets me with a kiss, and a smile, when I walked to the second floor and looked out my son’s bedroom window to see my two children sitting in the tree in front of the house. My wife enters the room giggling.
She tells me, you encouraged them with the story of how you and your brother did the same to your parents.
I smiled and said now it’s payback time, and I didn’t tell the whole story.
With a perplexed look on her face and mouth opened. I told my wife we are going to eat dinner on the rear deck. As we walked to the first floor, I locked the front door including the door leading to the garage, but not before disabling the electricity to the keypad on the outside of the garage door.
My, wife and I settled down to eat a wonderfully quiet candle light dinner on the back deck sipping wine and enjoying the peace and quiet. After we had finished, my wife asked, when are we going to let them know we are on to their trick.
With a smirk on my face, I said, we could wait until we go to bed, but they have not eaten dinner. My wife said, she would get the ladder,
I walked to the second-floor opened the window and yelled, do you two want dinner? My voice startled them, and my daughter almost feels out to the tree.
My son was shocked, and after my daughter had gathered herself, she yelled at David, “I told you, he knew.”
I laughed as I watched my wife placed the ladder against the tree allowing the kids to climb down.
After the kids had eaten dinner and we were putting the dishes in the dishwasher, my daughter asked how long were you all going to leave us in the tree. My wife and I looked at each other, shrugged our shoulders when I said.
Remember, there has never been a report of found children’s skeletons in a tree. 🙂