There are some memories I have of the boys that make me smile and wish we could go back a few years to their innocence. This story I am going to tell is one that gives me a chuckle everytime I think about it.
The setting is the lake house in Florida that my mom and step father stay at every winter through the early summer. The characters are: Justin, my oldest son, Jacob, my second son and willing accomplise and my nephew Clay.
Every year I try to take the kids to Florida to see my mom during Spring Break. While we were down there one year my nephew came down to stay a few days because he is the same age age Justin and they get along like brothers. Clay had brought his trolling boat down with him and it has a very quiet motor on it and you can be a stelth secret agent if you are 16 and feel so inclined. That was exactly what the boys had in mind one night after everyone else had gone to bed. I should have known something was up when they wanted to sleep out on the porch and went to bed really well.
As it turned out, the boys had devised a plan to reek havoc on the neighboring houses along the lake. Under the cover of darkness they snuck out of the house and crept silently to the lake. Pushing the boat into the water, they dissolved into the mist covered lake. Waiting until the motor had no opportunity to give away their plan, they drifted out of range stifling the giggles that welled inside. As soon as the boat was far enough away from shore the motor was started and quietly the boys stalked their first victim. Clay directed his tin fish to the first dock. Carefully, each boy took his turn climbing onto the wooden structure. Justin decided that the dock furniture should be turned upside down on the first target. One by one each lake side establishment was visited by these stelthy dock jumpers. Each dock was systematically harrassed, the boys being careful not to do damage personal property, only to cause amusement and bewilderment. One dock had sand in little piles like the wood had sprouted chicken pox, another dock had chairs piled as high as they could feasibly go. Another dock simply had everything rearranged.
As the night turned into dawn, the boys could sense their time was coming to an end and headed to shore. Tiptoeing back onto the porch they crawled into their sleeping bags with contented smiles on each face.
When late morning arrived, I woke everyone up and was surprised that Justin, Jake and Clay were quite tired. Seeing that I was curious, the boys quickly recovered and feigned innocence. However, while I was out in the paddle boat I noticed the perplexed look of all the neighbors scratching their heads while they stood dockside. Noticing my moms dock was untouched, I could only guess who the culprits might be.
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