The Kid Adventure Chronicles
John
Eleven year old John is good at getting himself and his twin siblings, Peter and Wendy, into trouble. But when one of their adventures gets them grounded, John, Peter, and Wendy try to figure out a way to get back at their father.
"John!"
Eleven year old John Smith sat up in bed and groaned.
"John!" His father screamed again. "Get up!"
"Dad, I don't want to!" John said from under his pillow. He heard his dad climb the stairs to his room and open the door.
"Come on, John, you've got to get up. You have school today with Peter and Wendy." Samuel Smith said, pulling the pillow from John's head. He dropped the pillow back onto John's head and went down the stairs. John groaned again.
"School. Ha! Senseless, if you ask me." John grumbled to himself. He sat up again and pushed his blonde hair from his face. He would much rather be out exploring London than being in a stuffy, boring schoolhouse. His dog, Star, looked up, then laid back down sleepily.
"Come on, John, hurry!" His nine year old brother, Peter, called. "We don't want to be late!"
"I'm hurrying!" John called and hurried to get dressed for school. He ran down the stairs.
"It's about time you got up!" Peter's twin sister, Wendy, said playfully. John shot her a look. Wendy just grinned.
"Alright, alright. Now, get on to school. Sorry John, Peter and Wendy ate your breakfast. That's what you get for not getting up when I told you to!" Samuel said and John shrugged. He wasn't hungry anyway.
"Bye, Dad!" Wendy called as the Smith kids clomped down the London streets to the little schoolhouse.
"Hurry! We're gonna be late!" Peter said and the three kids ran faster. Mr. Williams was pretty mean when it came to being late and the last thing the kids wanted was to spend the entire morning in the corner or get their hands slapped with a switch, especially John, who got more hand-slaps than any of the Smith siblings. Wendy and Peter had never even gotten one, let alone twenty-seven in one day like John had once! The bell was still ringing when the three kids ran into the room and sat down moments before Mr. Williams walked into the room. They had made it!
"Good morning, class." Mr. Williams said.
"Good morning, Mr. Williams." The classroom echoed.
"Sit down. We have a lot to do today." Mr. Williams instructed.
"Great." John grumbled under his breath, hoping Mr. Williams hadn't heard.
"What was that, Mr. Smith?" Mr. Williams asked.
"Nothing." John said.
"Pardon?"
"Nothing, sir." John said a little louder, correcting himself.
"Good. Now, let's get to work."
...oOo...
By noon, John had had enough of the school day. When lunch finally rolled around, John was already planning to escape. Now all he needed to do was get his brother and sister in on it.
"Peter!" John called to his brother. Peter looked up from the book he was reading in the shade by Wendy. Peter and Wendy were each other's best friends.
"What?" Peter asked, putting down his book.
"Come on, let's go. This place is boring." John said.
"Leave? John, are you nuts? We can't leave! We'll get switched for sure! What would Dad say?" Wendy said and John shrugged.
"I don't know and quite frankly, I don't care. I want more than this life. Sure, I'll finish school, but as soon as it's over and behind me, I'm leaving London." John said and his siblings stared at him in amazement and wondered if he was stupid.
"And go where? John, there's no place for you to go!" Peter said.
"Well, Peter, I'm sure not staying here. I don't belong here. I just know it." John said and the twins looked at each other. Their brother was nuts!
"John, you are nuts!" Peter said and John shrugged.
"So? Anyway, are you in or out?" He asked. Peter and Wendy looked at each other. They knew their brother, and he was likely to get into trouble. That was John for you; a risk taker through and through, just like their mother had been. Charlotte Smith had been one of the most adventurous people John, Peter, Wendy and Samuel had ever seen. She had died when Peter and Wendy were five and John was seven. That was four years ago.
"Sure. I guess we really don't have a choice." Wendy said. John grinned and motioned for them to follow them. They hid in the bushes and pretended to be playing with the other kids in a game of Hide N' Seek. Mr. Williams was too absorbed in a book of poetry that he didn't see the Smith kids sneaking off.
"Now!" John whispered and they ran out of the schoolyard.
...oOo...
"That was close!" John said as he and his siblings stopped to catch their breath.
"I can't believe we let you talk us into this!" Peter said between puffs of breath. Wendy also paused to catch her breath. Her long brown ponytail was coming loose and she finally just let it down, but stuffed her ribbon into her pocket.
"Well, I did and don't you forget it! We're free!" John said.
"We may be free, but where are we gonna go? And what about later, John? Do you ever stop to think? Mr. Williams is going to notice us missing and then he'll tell Dad!" Wendy said. John had to admit that Wendy had a good point. But he pushed the thought aside. He was finally free and he was not going back to school just to get his hands whipped up! John wanted nothing more than to break that little switch. He hated it more than anything. Maybe someday he would. He didn't know.
"Well, as long as we did sneak off, let's go exploring." Peter said. The three kids walked up the street. It was busy and they had to stay close or they would get separated. John knew his father would be angry enough that he and the twins had snuck away, but he would be even angrier if John lost his brother and sister in the crowd after he had persuaded them to sneak away with him in the first place.
"Uh oh, John, we need to go another way." Peter said.
"Why?" John asked.
"Because Dad works at that courthouse!" Peter said, pointing to a courthouse in the near distance.
"You're right!" Wendy said and the three of them turned around as quickly as they could and practically ran the other way.
"Good thing you saw that, Peter! If Dad had caught us, there's no telling what would have happened to us!" John said. They three of them ran around London for the rest of the day. They were having a lot of fun until an angry voice stopped them in their tracks.
"Stop right there, you three!" It said. They turned to find a very angry Mr. Williams. "Where have you three been? Then again, what can I expect from the Smith children? Alright, who schemed this one up? Hm? Never mind, I'll let you tell your father." Mr. Williams said.
"Run!" John yelled and they ducked and tried to run around Mr. Williams. Mr. Williams spun around and caught John by the shirt and Wendy by the arm. Peter stopped when he saw that he saw that his older brother and twin sister were now the prisoners of their school teacher.
"Come on you little bandits! Sneaking off from school! Ha! That's probably the most stupid thing you've done yet, John Smith. I'm sure you had something to do with this." Mr. Williams said. He knew John, and he was right. John was always making trouble. He practically dragged John and Wendy down the street to the courthouse where their father worked. Mr. Williams banged on the door, but found it locked up.
"Well, it seems as though I'm going to have to make a home visit." Mr. Williams said and John looked at Peter. He led the three down the street as though they were horses being led away to the butcher. Mr. Williams knocked hard on the Smith family door and Samuel opened it.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Smith." Mr. Williams said.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Williams. What is it?" He asked, not seeing his children.
"I believe you know these kids." Mr. Williams said, stepping aside.
"Oh no, what did you do?" Samuel Smith said under his breath to John, Peter, and Wendy.
"They snuck off during recess! I should have known it would be your kids, Samuel! I don't know if you know, but that John of yours is always making disruptions in class! There was one time that I had to slap his hands with the switch twenty-seven times! Samuel, if I were you, and John was my son, I would send him off to be apprenticed or send him to law school, as you were." Mr. Williams said. "But that's just if you ask me."
"Pardon me for saying, Mr. Williams, but nobody asked you." Samuel Smith said. "And John is not your son, he's my son and I'll do with him what I see fit."
"Well, keep what I said in mind, Samuel. John can't run around in the streets of London all day after he's snuck off from school! The boy will never amount to anything! And getting his brother and sister in on his little schemes too is just shameful." Mr. Williams said.
"Thank you and good day, Mr. Williams." Samuel said and he closed the door. He sighed and turned to face his children.
"What am I going to do with you three? Answer me that!" Samuel said.
"Make us promise to never do it again and send us on our way?" Peter asked. Samuel shook his head.
"The only place you three are going is to your rooms. You're not to leave your rooms until I see that you have learned your lesson."
"But Dad!" John protested, but Samuel wouldn't hear of it.
"John, don't argue. Just go up to your room." John glared at his father for a moment and then looked away in defiance. He had his father's stubbornness and that was something any one who knew Samuel Smith could not deny.
"Now, John." Samuel said and John stomped up the stairs to his room. He almost slammed the door and sat down on his bed with his arms crossed over his chest and a scowl on his face.
"I want revenge, Star, and I plan on getting it."
A/N- Uh oh, John is not a happy camper! Well, what do ya'll think? About John as a kid, anyway? Sounds like my fingers have put John's personality as an adult into John as an eleven year old kid. I always figured John was the type of person to sneak off and go exploring at recess, and I guess my fingers knew that! Anyway, I can only get internet here in Arkansas in two places that I can think of so I'm a bit bored.
Please review!
-Robin