Just Before Prom Night

"Sometimes a Dad just has to have a little fun."

 

 “Hi Dave how have you been?” I asked as he walked into the kitchen ,where I was seated.

 

 “Ok,” he replied.

 

 “ Have you been working much?” I asked, as he sat down.

 

 “Mostly weekends and a couple of nights,” he answered.

 

 “So I hear you are taking my daughter to the prom next weekend.” I said, while looking him in the eye. “ I wondered if he'd flinched a little when I said that.

 

 “Yes, I am sir,” he answered, as his voice cracked a little.

 

 I smiled to myself, knowing that I had him right where I wanted. “Well Dave while you are sitting here let me tell you a couple of stories,” I said.

 

 Well, at the mention of stories most of the teens cleared out of the kitchen fast.,leaving Dave sitting there by himself. I know he was wishing he was gone too, but he sat there fidgeting with a napkin that was lying there on the table. My oldest daughter knew what was coming so she stayed behind. She had gone through it with her dates. Now she was going to enjoy it happening to someone else, especially since it was happening to her sister's date.

 

 Looking at Dave with a smile I began my first story.

 

 My youngest brother had recently returned home from doing his time in the army. He started up a small business mowing lawns and such. One day I was helping him out and we had almost finished for the day. All we had to do was empty out the truck that was full of grass clippings and debris.

 

 We headed over the neighbors old gravel pit to dump the debris. When we had finished emptying the truck my brother reached behind the truck seat and pulled out his new rifle that he had brought when he returned home. He loaded up the rifle with five bullets.

 

 “ What are you going to shoot at,” I asked

 

 “ See that over there, that is what I am going to shoot at,” he answered.

 

 On the other side of the gravel pit a root of a tree was sticking out. On that root was an old stuffed animal hanging by a string. He fired off five shots. His shots hit the stuffed animal three times, missing just twice. He then reloaded the rifle and handed it to me.

 

 “Here, see what you can do,” he laughed, as if his big brother was going to show him up, especially since he was just out of the army.

 

 I took the rifle and looked it over for a minute or two. I  took aim, fired off one shot, then handed him back the rifle.

 

 “ Close your mouth the flies will get in,” I laughed.

 

 My shot had cut the string and the stuffed animal had dropped to the bottom of the pit. My brother just stood there shaking his head in disbelief.

 

 Dave was sitting there with a nervous grin on his face. Maybe there was a little sweat building on his forehead. Out of the corner of my eye I could see my daughter trying hard not to laugh. I could tell she was really enjoying this, almost as much as I was.

 

 “ Would you like something to drink,” I asked, “You seem to be a little warm.”

 

 “ No I am fine” he replied.

 

 “ Well then, lets get on to the next story,” I said.

 

 One summer when I was in college I took a job on a huge ranch in northeastern Colorado. The owner raised about three hundred head of cattle and grew one thousand acres of wheat. Along with this he also raised sheep. He had about one thousand sheep and six hundred lambs. During the time that I was there we had to dock the tails of the lambs. So the vet was called and a day was set to dock the tails of the lambs.

 

 On the day the vet arrived the lambs were penned and  herded into a series of chutes. Some irons were placed in a fire to heat up. The end of the iron was sharp and heated until almost orange. The lambs were let out of the chute a couple at a time and placed on their backs. The hot iron docked the tail at the same time searing it so that it would not bleed. Every so often the iron would go through too fast and it would not sear the docked tail and the person holding the lamb would get squirted with blood, then the tail would have to be seared again. While the lamb was still on his back, if it was a male, it was also castrated.

 

 “That is an interesting story,” Dave said.

 

 With a grin, I said,"Well, Dave, the reason I tell these stories is: I canstill do everything I've just said!"

 

 

 

 

Reviews

[Samuel Dickens]

I'll bet it worked! I never had any daughters, but I hope I'd have been as smart as you if I had.

[JohnL]

Seems more effective than the words of the old song:

When your boys grow up, you worry,
But when you've girls, you pray!

Enjoyed the story and admired the grammar. Writing as it should be.

John

[T]

Oh Tim! lol I loved it! I'm sure Dave will be a true gentleman after you scared him enough. He'd better! lol If I had a daughter, I'd probably chaperone. Thanks for the laughs, I really enjoyed this story ... hugs