I crawled out of our tent at about 2 AM and turned my flashlight in the direction of the boys\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 campsite. Matt, Robby Nadler and Chris Grosjean were three hundred yards away, up a steep hill and beyond a thick, wet spring-nurtured, canopy of green. I assumed they didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t see the light and I went back to sleep.
\nThe next morning Matt asked, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Did you shine your flashlight at us last night?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153That would have been me,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I replied.
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153You freaked us out.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Good, I thought to myself, mission accomplished.<\/p>\n
Later, during breakfast (bacon, pancakes -tasty if I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t say so myself- and eggs), Chris asked, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Was that you with the light last night?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d
\nMatt interrupted me, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It was, I already asked him.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d
\nBut Chris continued, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We thought so. We sneaked into the woods and waited to attack you.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
When Matt was younger, I always haunted his tent, and successfully, I might add. Especially the years following the discovery of bear claw marks on the tree next to where he and the foster boys from next door would setup camp. I guess I picked tender targets, those foster boys, but that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a story for someone else to write. I blame my penchant to terrorize on my brother Brian. He scared the bejesus out of Glenn, Arnold and me, one night when we were younger than Matt. And, we were sleeping in a tent in our yard in Westwood, a safe suburb of Cincinnati, with enough houses to slow a German Panzer division. We continued to be terrified even after we heard my mother yell, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Brian, get in here!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n
When Peter and Eileen lived in Ed\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s cabin in the early eighties, I would arrive unannounced, late at night, and tip toe around the outside of their cabin making scratching noises. From the inside with the lanterns on, you are as vulnerable as a freshly hatched Robin. <\/p>\n
But that movie is over. The credits have rolled, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve dropped my popcorn box and left the theater. As I said to Chris, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I would have to be insane to sneak up on three boys with BB guns in the dark.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Think about it. They would have to be absolutely certain that the sounds they were hearing were mine not to open up with an obliterating barrage of BB\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s. They were shooting at the hoot of an owl for gods sake. <\/p>\n
Even knowing it was me, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not confident they wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t shoot. I crawled out of our tent at about 2 AM and turned my flashlight in the direction of the boys\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 campsite. Matt, Robby Nadler and Chris Grosjean were three hundred yards away, up a steep hill and beyond a thick, … Continue reading
\n
\n![\"three_aim.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/mainecourse.com\/mt\/archives\/three_aim.jpg\")
\n
\n![\"pistol.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/mainecourse.com\/mt\/archives\/pistol.jpg\")
\nFor a more benign view of the woods click here<\/a> A new window will open.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"