Author's Note: Sorry for the delay, I've been really busy, not that it's any excuse. If any of you are still checking and reading this, which I hope at least some are, expect a double update to make up for my absence, probably tomorrow or the next day, as I'm just too sleepy tonight.
Five adolescents stood around the corner from the local Winn-Dixie store, its lights beaming all more intimidating with the darkening sky.
"I really don't think this is gonna work, and I don't really wanna do it,
can't I get another one?" Melanie asked demurely.
"Aw come on Mel, you have to, you been dared!" Bobby Ray chimed in.
"Yeah, you can't go backing out now..." Eldon agreed.
"Just go on, Mel, we'll ge right here waiting for ya," Wade said.
Melanie tiptoed up to the side of the store and, glancing back at her cohorts' grinning faces, ran quickly towards the entrance of the store, feeling a surge of confidence.
"She is gonna be so busted," Jake said after a few minutes.
"Nah, man, she's good, no one would suspect her to be pulling stuff like that," Wade replied.
Just then an out of breath Melanie came tearing around the corner, her jacket much bulkier than before.
She unzipped her jacket and pulled out three packages of ribeye steaks.
"Holy cow, Mel," Bobby Ray exclaimed.
"Didn't think you had it in you," Eldon added.
"Yeah, well, now it's my turn to dare somebody," Melanie said, and they trotted off into the night, prepared to continue their game later.
The next day
"We ain't supposed to be here, look at the sign," Bobby Ray said and pointed up.
The 'No Trespassing' sign shone white in the soft light of late afternoon.
"So what, let's go," Eldon said, entering the stockyard gate.
All five kids walked through the gate and stopped in the middle of the field.
"Who's idea was this again?" Melanie asked.
"Sure wasn't mine," Jake piped up.
"Come on guys, let's get to work," Mel hissed back at them.
The other four walked up to him were he stood a few feet from an older cow, peacefully chomping on the sweet dewed grass.
The cow didn't know what hit him and with their combined efforts, lay on his side after a few seconds of grunt work, stranded like rolly-polly turned upside down and mooing loudly.
Eldon quickly took out his can of Silly String and scribbled a hasty message across the grass at the cow's feet, "Thanks for the TIP!"
Just then lights and voices broke into the now darkened skies.
"Let's scram gang," Jake said, pulling Melanie along with him and signaling to the others to follow.
"Melanie Smooter, where on earth have you been?" Pearl Smooter asked the moment Melanie arrived with Jake on the porch.
"Mel, momma, it's Mel," Melanie interjected.
"Whatever, we'll discuss it inside, we got lots to talk about anyway," Pearl
said, ushering her towards the house.
"Jake you'd better go," Melanie said sadly, and he backed away slowly.
Inside the house, Pearl immediately began to lay into Melanie.
"Melanie, sweetheart, you gotta stop hanging out with those boys, they ain't nothing but trouble," Pearl fussed.
"But momma I like Jake and Bobby Ray and the gang, we have fun together," Melanie replied.
"Speaking of fun, what's this I hear about beef swiping at the grocery and vandalism in the stockyard?" her mother questioned sternly.
Melanie's silence spoke volumes, but it didn't matter, because unbeknowst to her, the owner had actually witnessed the whole thing and explained all he knew of it to her mother already.
"You will take back ALL of whatever it is you took from Mr. Mesman's store and apologize and work it off as he sees fit, do you understand me?" Pearl continued, "And the same goes for Mr. Jones' stockyard and poor herd of cattle, clean up your mess and whatever else he says to do."
"Yes ma'am," Melanie replied.
"Now go to bed, I'm tired of all this nonsense," Pearl said, holding her head.
"Goodnight, Mama, I love you," Melanie said as she closed her door.
"Goodnight Melanie, I love you too, but that doesn't change the fact that I'm disappointed in you," Pearl said, retiring to her own bedroom.
"It's Mel not Melanie, Mama, get it right," Melanie said under her breath
in response as she crawled beneath her covers.
Six months later
"I'm bored," Wade said.
"Me too," Melanie contributed.
"I've got an idea," Eldon replied.
"What kind of hairbrained scheme have you cooked up now?" Bobby Ray asked.
"It's just something my brother and his friends always used to do," Eldon continued, pulling a cigarette lighter out of his back pocket.
"Come on Wade, it'll be loads of laughs," Jake goaded, catching on to the plan.
"You guys are so gross," Melanie said from a few feet away.
Eldon went first, flatulency coming to him almost immediately, at which point he struck the lighter and watched for the flame surge.
Jake volunteered to go next and lit the lighter as soon as the smell of methane permeated the air.
"I'll never get why you boys think this is so funny," Melanie said but was barely heard over the uncontrollable laughter.
Wade went next, but unfortunately for him the explosion of gas was too much and the lighter was just too close to his pants.
"Uh, Wade..." Bobby Ray started, smelling smoke.
Melanie and Jake looked up at the same time and began to snicker at the thin stream of smoke that was creeping down Wade's pants.
Wade whipped around frightened, and began to scream as tiny flames and more smoke began to be visible near the inseam of his pants.
Bobby Ray, Eldon, and Jake had almost fallen over with laughter by this point as Wade took off for the shallow lake a few hundred feet away.
By the time he returned, soaked through from the waist down and slightly scorched, the laughter had died down to giggles and all were beginning to breath normally again.
"Well I think we all had a little to much fun for one night, what do ya
say we head out?" Jake urged.