| Ben There, Done That
He stood atop the six foot stepladder bent over as he guided the sharp pointed keyhole saw between his feet. His pink tongue hanging out of one corner of his mouth as his small hands gripped the saw. He had already sawed through the center of each step and managed to climb to the top stepping to the outside edge of the steps making his way up. He had nailed his shoes to the top of the wooden stepladder and was now attempting to divide it down the center. His idea was make a pair of stilts he could walk around on. At five years old his attempt at building a pair failed miserably not counting the one pair he did almost complete held him at bay on situating himself on top standing in the steps enabling him to walk by holding the top posts. This way the stilts appeared pre-made and all he had to do was split them apart. The easy part was they were self standing when he started. If you�re thinking this was a spur of the moment adventure think again. This was only one of many such enterprises the child manipulated. From what we know the outstanding ones were when he was three his mother found her coveted roses covered in green slime and in terrible shape. After searching the flower garden she discovered several empty cans lying nearby. Questioning her husband about it he denied knowing anything about the cans. As they turned they saw Ben at the stairs and the minute he saw he was discovered he ran up the steps toward his room. BEN! COME DOWN HERE IMMEDIATELY, his mother yelled. Sheepishly Ben came down the stairs slowly knowing he was in trouble. After questioning he admitted doing it. Asked why? he confessed he was helping his mother with her rose garden. It came to light he overheard his mother tell his father next time he was at the store to pick up some plant food as her roses were looking poorly. Ben later went to the pantry and after looking over the supply there decided he found the perfect �plant� food for the roses. He took two cans of spinach, opened the cans and took a fork and spoon to the garden. Putting a helping in each roses open bloom and pouring the remaining contents over the flowers. Case closed. He heard his mother calling his name over and over as she walked through the house and he giggled with one hand over his mouth as quietly as he could. Upon reaching his room she looked around briefly after calling for him and turned to walk away. Before her hand left the door frame she turned with a look of shock on her face. She screamed as she ran to the toy box. She grabbed the lock and yanked and shook it with all her strength to no avail. Bens arm was hanging from the locked box. She screamed his name and got no answer from inside but for a muffled groan. She ran down the stairs to the phone and called her husband and told him what she�d found. He tried to calm her but failed. He did manage to convince her to call 911 and he�d be home as quickly as possible and hung up. The police, emergency rescue, and paramedics all arrived, red lights flashing and sirens wailing as the crowd gathered outside. A paramedic took the limp hand and felt the wrist. There�s a pulse he said and a young man appeared pushing him out of the way as he forced his way by. He had the bolt cutters open already and quickly snapped the lock. The mother looked on held back forcibly as she cried uncontrollably as her husband held her back. the box was obscured by people trying to help get to the child inside. On opening the box Ben was found holding his mouth and tears running from his eyes and covering his face. He was laughing. He had on a shirt but only one arm covered him. A hole was found in the toy box at his elbow and his arm through the hole and into the cut shirt sleeve. The upper part of the shirt sleeve was stuffed with towels and underwear appearing to be his arm and shoulder. Ben was grounded again. He was used to this and enjoyed being alone. Alone his mind raced for the next thing he could conceive unobstructed. The ladder was unsteady and shaking slightly as he sawed his way through the top. Almost to the end of the unfinished cut the saw blade bound up. The legs being wider at the bottom and the top narrow, the saw cut closed around the blade locking it in place. Try as he might he could not remove the saw or continue the cut. He strained so hard the wooden pistol grip handle broke off in his hand at the cross grain in the curved handle. He would have toppled off the ladder had his shoes not been nailed down yet he almost did anyway as the ladder swayed back and forth before he caught his balance. Standing there thinking he found a plan. He already found the very short wooden nub left on the saw was of no use and the blade hurt his hand. he bent and untied his shoe and held the top of the ladder with both hands as he slipped his foot out. Looking like the game of red, blue, and yellow dots on the floor board game he got his sock off with one hand. he wrapped the sock around the end of the saw and attempted to complete the cut. It was no use. He couldn�t move the blade. Now he heard a noise. It was his father coming home. The garage door slowly rose a few inches at a time until he was in full view. He could see his father behind the steering wheel of the car, his nose hanging over it and his knuckles turning white as he gripped the wheel. Ben looked like a bent over deer frozen in the headlights. Ben started to speak as his father came near and put one foot on the ladder. His father quieted him by a sign of his finger upright in front of his mouth. Ben said: But dad! Again his father quieted him. Oh well, Ben tried. The first step was low and wasn�t a long drop as his fathers foot went through the severed step. But he almost turned the ladder over as it tilted and swayed like a broken swan�s neck. Bens arms waved as he tried to catch his balance. His father now somewhat furious stood by the side of the ladder trying to coax his son down into his open arms. Ben refused and the father became angry. COME DOWN HERE NOW his father cried out. Now Bens mother appeared wondering why her husband hadn�t come in after she heard the garage door open some time ago. She stood taking in this strange sight and wondered what the commotion was about. After looking it over she saw the broken step, and then the saw wedged in the top of the ladder. Ben again refused his fathers command and told him his shoes were nailed to the ladder. His mother quietly turned toward the door to the house and amid her stifled laughter said: I don�t want to know. If you need me I�ll be in the house, and she hurriedly left. His fathers face was red now as he stood there steaming with his hands on his hips staring straight ahead not looking at Ben. He slowly raised his head and looked Ben in the eye as he chose his words slow and carefully. Ben. Untie your shoes and slip your feet out of them. Ben did as he was told as his father helped support his ankles as best he could. His father told him: now come here and he held his arms outward. Try as he could Ben could not get low enough toward his dad to be of any help. He tried one foot on his shoulder and began to shake and that plan was called off. Stepping in his dads hand was no better as his dads hand began to shake uncontrollably. Finally he told him: JUMP as he held his arms like a safety net. From where he was Ben saw it looked like no safe haven to him. After considerable time he convinced Ben to jump. Bad move. When Bens feet left the ladder it went out from under him and Ben somersaulted in midair in a panic of waving arms and legs. Now almost upside down Ben became entangled in dads arms, shoulder, and head. He landed ok but dad was in bad shape. He lay on his back on the cold concrete floor with Ben sitting on his chest and Ben apparently no worse for the wear. As Ben rose his dad screamed in pain. Mom came running out and saw her son sitting on his father. As she tried to move Ben her husband cried out: DON�T MOVE HIM and he cried out in pain. 911 again. It was on the Rolodex. It was a while before the paramedics arrived. And again the police and fire department. His father was carried out on a stretcher with one arm in a splint and his chest wrapped tightly and a hard plastic brace on over that. One eye was swelled shut from Bens heel hitting him in his flailing downward spin. Bens father had a concussion, a black eye, a fractured arm, bruised pelvis, and several cracked ribs. Only the concussion was the result of the fall as he hit his head on the concrete floor. The rest was attributed to Bens flailing motion and body weight falling on his fathers prone body pinning him to the floor. No mention was made to the police as to how it began fearing Ben may be taken to a home, his mother to a psychiatric ward, and his father to anger management class�s. Ben went on to become an unknown scientist, experimenter, and jack of all trades although he did spend some time as an engineer in research and development with a small manufacturing firm until his boss passed away of late diagnosed cancer. They were very compatible and so much alike they could have easily been twins. Both had worked well together. His boss and late companion was replaced by a heavy set German with a heavy brogue that made more than one comment that Americans were inadequate at many things he was used to growing up as a child in his homeland. He made major changes in company policy immediately even though he knew none of the employees or for that matter this company. Ben left the company. All through his life Ben had learned one thing after another and became adept at many skills. Certified in many and educated enough in others to become a college professor if he wished but this isn�t what he wanted. Ben wanted to get his hands in the middle of his work no matter what it was. He did pass on tips and some direction to those he felt deserving and even kids in Boy Scouts who marveled at an adult that finally paid attention to them and taught them how to do things. He had several patent applications pending before he became aware his ideas had been stolen from him or previously not seen by him and he realized nothing from it other than the self satisfaction of knowing he accomplished something. The Masked Writer � 2006 T Lovett |