Sunday 6 November 2011

Storytelling Sunday - Vertically Challenged

Can you guess what Lulu, Kylie Mynogue and I have in common?  Natural youthful looks? An ability to look good in gold hot pants? or not being very tall?  I'll leave it to you to decide while telling you a tale from my childhood.
My sister is 8 years older than me.  This means that by the time she was a teenager, I was at quite an annoying age.  So every now and again, she would try and get me into trouble.  At least that's how it seemed to me.  Our home had a brick built storage shed attached to the back of it and we kept things like bikes, lawn mowers and dad's diy tools out there.  It wasn't very big, and it had a small window on one side.  To try and make it blend in with the garden, mum and dad had planted a forsythia hedge around it and by the time of this story taking place, the forsythia had grown the height of the shed and dad had cut a square out of it so that the window could be opened and closed.  We hardly ever locked the shed up and the key was kept in the coal bunker out of harms way. 
So one day, Gill told me that she wanted to see what it was like to be locked inside the shed.  Honestly!  That is what she said.  Being a gullible child - I didn't question her.  We went outside, got the key, she went in the shed and closed the door and I was left outside to put the key in the lock and turn it.  Now it hadn't been used much and over the years the lock mechanism had become very stiff but eventually the key turned and she was locked in.  I went off to play in the garden and after a very little while, she decided she'd had enough.  She called me over and told me to unlock the door.  Well I was only about 7, and the key was very stiff in the lock and I just couldn't do it.  She did not seem keen for me to go and tell mum what had happened so I suspect that she wasn't really supposed to be in there!  
Then she had the bright idea of opening the window and for me to hand the key over to her so she could unlock it from the inside.  Brilliant!  Only I couldn't reach.  The ground must have sloped slightly on the outside and the forsythia hedge was too tall and prickly for me to reach over and hand the key over.  I was only little remember.  I suspect she started to get annoyed with her little sister and get cross with me.  I can still see her reaching out through the window as far as she could, and little old  me on tippy toes leaning into the hedge as far as I could, and the key dangling from my fingers and oh so very nearly reaching hers ... and then I dropped it.  Our eyes met across the hedge, hers in horror and mine in 'oh no, she's going to be very mad at me'.  The key fell through the hedge and the more I shook the hedge to find it, the further into the foliage it fell until neither of us could see it any more.
At this point I obviously decided that I'd done all I could and it was time to go indoors.  And as Gill had banned me from telling mum what we were doing, obviously I couldn't tell her what had happened.  I think I may have been sitting in the dining room with a glass of warm milk watching Blue Peter when mum noticed that Gill hadn't been seen for quite some time.  Gill may have been trying to get our attention but the walls of the shed were thick and I may have had the tv on loud ;-)  I mumbled something about 'she might be locked in the shed' at which point dad arrived home from work and the two of them had to go out there and root around in the hedge to find the key and release her.
I can't remember who was in the most trouble.  Her for leading me into doing something I shouldn't or me for not telling anyone what had happened.  But I'm pretty sure that dropping that key was an accident.
Or was it?
   

21 comments:

Amy said...

I can't imagine any mischief from you for one minute! :-)

Fiona@staring at the sea said...

Another story with two sides! I love the picture of childhood you conjure up for me, just by the mention of Blue Peter :o)In the days when then were only 3 channels to choose from!

Sian said...

Oh, this is a cracking story! Being of, um limited height, myself I can totally understand the delicate nature of the task you faced. Very, very funny. Deb, you tell an excellent tale :)

And I loved the little detail about Blue Peter too!

Lynn said...

What a great tale - has your sister ever forgiven you!

Sandie said...

Ha ha! Sisterly antics. At least it sounds like your sister did not blame you for locking her in! I wonder if your sister remembers getting locked in the shed?

Julie J said...

Am I allowed to say that it probably serves her right?

Cheri said...

I'll venture a guess that the incident slowed her attempts to get you in trouble for at least a short while!

Alison said...

Great story..told wonderfully, as always...I was reaching over that forsythia with you!
Alison xx

Anonymous said...

Great details. Your tale really held my interest. This reminds me of a story my father used to tell about his childhood. He must have been about the same age as you in your story. Maybe I'll tell it some time for Storytelling Sunday. Thanks for the giggles!

Jane said...

what a great childhood memory

Maria Ontiveros said...

Oh my gosh! This had me chuckling and a bit scared at the same time! What a great story and so well told!
Rinda

Jimjams said...

Ha ha ha - what a funny story - you told it really well!!!! I wonder how your sister would recall the event ;o)

Mary B said...

Siblings can be so cruel to each other can't they. A good story indeed

Ginger said...

You told the story with such detail Deb that I felt I was watching it unfold! Loved every bit of it :)

Lou said...

You made me smile and you made me think of the things i got up to with my sisters, a beautifully told story!

Irene said...

This tale had me gripped until the end. I wonder which one of you your parents felt was the most mischievous or were they relieved that it all ended well and no harm done? Great story.

Ifa said...

LOL, I can't imagine you dropping the key intentionally. Great evocative story Deb, thank you for sharing.

Becky said...

What a great story! I can just imagine you sitting watching Blue Peter and trying to look innocent! My sister used to lock me in the shed and she was younger than me - I didn't ask her to, she just did it lol! Thanks for sharing this story.

boysmum2 said...

Ah such fun memories, don't you just love family!

Deb @ PaperTurtle said...

:o) I love this story, Debs. Haha...I can just imagine the two of you re-telling this story and laughing about it now - just the way I do with my siblings over some of our crazy situations we found ourselves in. This is a great story!

Anonymous said...

Great story Deb and you told it so well. You've reminded of a story that I should share on Storytelling Sunday.