The Flying Car
Another "Magic Paint" story told in Grandfather's words. See The Magic Paint for details.
In high school, our principal was a very mean man. He was hated by all the students. From your first day as a freshman until you graduated, Principal So-and-so was a cause of nightmares and anxiety attacks.
One year--my sophmore year I think it was--a week before Halloween, the principal announced that someone had toilet papered his house. Not only that, but his lawn was forked and mayonnaise spread over his freshly painted garage door. If the guilty party (or parties) did not step forward in 3 days, he would cancel our Halloween dance. The student body had been looking forward to this dance for weeks. My girl and I had the whole night planned.
On the first day, no one came forward. The next day, Principal So-and-so repeated his announcement. No one came forward. The third day, again, the principal repeated his announcement. No one came forward. So, true to his word, he cancelled the dance.
Anger, resentment, hatred, revenge--those words only begin to describe how many students felt about our principal's decision. There were numerous plots of revenge.
On Halloween night, a few of my buddies and I were determined to get even. Just last month, Principal So-and-so bought a beautiful brand new car.
I told my buddies that I was going to fix our principal good. I waited until about midnight, grabbed my paint and Dad's new paintbrush and snuck over to Principal So-and-so's house. While my buddies watched from across the street, I painted the principal's new car as quickly as I could. As soon as the paint was dry, I picked the car up and carried it to the schoolyard. Leaning up against the side of the building was a ladder. My pal Johnny Hogan's father was a housepainter. It had been easy for Johnny to set it up. Still holding the car I climbed up the ladder and placed the car, upside down, on top of the roof of the school! Then my buddies and I beat it for home as fast as we could. I stowed my paint back in the garage, washed the brush, and got into bed.
Hoooo boy was the town in an uproar the next day! My older brother, Tay, woke me up and told me that some clown had put the principal's car on top of the school! Imagine that! My mother and father were as much in the dark as to who did it as the rest of the town.
The fire department had to be called to get the car off the roof. Put a nice fat scratch in the bumper in the process. The principal was livid! He demanded that the FBI, CIA, Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines be called in to discover who had done this. The police chief laughed and said it was probably some kids' idea of a Halloween trick.
The principal left in a huff. The very next day he sold his house and moved. No one ever heard from him again. I don't know what happened to his car.
The paint, however, still had many adventures to come.
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