Recalling past childhood antics has always been a favorite pastime in my family. We usually end up laughing hysterically while reminiscing over humorous tidbits from the past, but there is one story in particular that is a favorite. It is a wild story involving my mom, my uncle, and a blazing pump house. It’s a tale of hide and seek gone awry.
It
happened in the springtime of 1959 in Tinley Park, Illinois. My mom was nine years old, and my Uncle
Chuck was twelve years old. My mom and
uncle grew up in the country on a large piece of property bordering the local
forest preserve. Their closest
neighbors also had two children, Diane and Eugene, who were close in age to my mom
and uncle, and the four children were best friends.
The day this incident occurred my mom, my uncle, Diane, and Eugene were playing while their mothers were inside having their usual luncheon date. The four kids decided to play hide and seek. After a couple of rounds of the game, my uncle and his friend suggested teaming up and playing boys against girls. My mom and Diane ran off to locate the perfect place to hide, and in their nine-year wisdom, they thought the pump house would be a terrific hiding spot.
The pump house was a 16 by
20 concrete single-story utility building that had one window, which was
boarded up from the outside. The pump
house offered a plethora of hiding places, and the girls were sure they wouldn’t
be found. Being older, the boys had
manipulated the two girls by suggesting playing on teams because they knew my
mom and Diane would hide together in the pump house. Within moments of yelling “ready or not, here we come,” the boys
had opened the door to the pump house and discovered the girls’ hiding
spot. Then proceeding with their plan,
my uncle and Eugene ginned evilly and suddenly ran back out of the pump house,
locking the door on their way out.
My mom and Diane could hear
the boys laughing at them, and the girls started yelling immediately, demanding
the boys let them out. The older boys
decided to prolong the joke and headed to the house to watch television. My mom and her friend were screaming loudly
and pounding on the door, but the pump house was located some distance from the
house, and their voices remained unheard.
While the girls were
imprisoned in the pump house and the boys were watching television, a severe
thunderstorm was brewing. My mom and
Diane could hear the thunder crackling, and pretty soon hail pounded the roof
of the pump house. The nervousness of
the girls increased when a clap of booming thunder was followed by a loud
cracking noise. My mom and Diane
glanced up to see smoke seeping out of the roof. The roof of the pump house was on fire after having been struck
by lightning.
Upon hearing the loud noise,
my grandma and Diane and Eugene’s mom looked into the living room to check on
the kids. They thought all of the kids
had been inside during the storm and were surprised to see only the boys propped
up in front of the television. They
questioned my Uncle Chuck and Eugene about the girls, and the boys immediately
sprung up from the couch with twin looks of horror on their faces as they
realized they had forgotten all about the girls. They suddenly raced out of the house with their panicking moms
following and reached the pump house in time to get my mom and Diane, who were
terrified by this time, safely out of the burning pump house. My mom typically
finishes this story by saying that the damage to the pump house was minimal
compared to the stern punishment the boys received.
Of all the different tales
of my parents’ childhood antics, the pump house story is my all-time
favorite. I love to listen to my mom as
she vividly recounts being trapped in the pump house. The way my mom weaves the story with just the right amount of
emotions and details allows the listener to clearly picture this comedic
prank. Despite this story being
repeated numerous times over the years, it still has not lost any of its
humor.