Jimmy bought himself a ladder with the money he had saved up for many months, including several birthdays. A ladder is not a customary purchase for an 11 year old, and the checkout man at the giant home improvement store was not sure he should be making this sale at all. But he took Jimmy’s pile of carefully arranged bills and an amazing number of coins, and then watched the boy maneuver the ladder through the parking lot. Jimmy carried the ladder to his house and set it up in the yard right outside his window. Since his window was on the side of the house, in the narrow, damp passage separating their house from the neighbor’s, no one noticed the ladder. Nor did they notice Jimmy’s absence from his bedroom every evening.
But when Jimmy fell asleep one morning with his face in the cereal bowl, his mother said, “you haven’t been sleeping.” Jimmy said, “so you say,” and his mother reprimanded him for being smart. That night she carefully opened his door expecting to catch him reading or playing. But the room was dark and she heard nothing, so she eased the door shut and went to bed. She checked several times over the course of the next couple weeks. Jimmy continued to fall asleep at odd times and places, so his mother took him to the doctor. To the doctor’s questions about his sleeping, Jimmy said he had no trouble falling asleep and that he stayed asleep until his mother woke him up in the morning.
An appointment was made with a specialist. The night before the appointment Jimmy’s father came home late since he was taking the next day off for the special doctor visit. As he walked towards his front door, he spied a strange sight in the neighbor’s window. It looked like a boy climbing out a window and down a ladder. When he came closer, he saw that it was a reflection of a very familiar boy.
No amount of threats or cajoling ever revealed where Jimmy had been going every evening. He was allowed to keep his ladder, but it was moved to the garage and put back after each use. Jimmy’s stubbornness and enterprise became legendary. His parents teetered between pride and exasperation. The ladder found many uses.
Oh, look at these babies... and mum so proud. Intriguing and thought provoking story as we've come to expect. Françoise, you may not take this as a compliment - even though it is meant as such - but since you have been writing stories to accompany your images, the images themselves have moved into another dimension... kudos where it's due.
is it the look on that young juvenile's face that prompted this story I wonder. I enjoyed reading it. My apologies - I don't always have time to read all the stories. There is no knowing what the youngsters will get up to behind their parents back - and perhaps it is best kept that way sometimes.
@vignouse thanks. many of the pictures were taken last month during our week on the Olympic Peninsula. I've been going through and picking out some favorites. So happy that there are some good ones since the trip was a spectacular nature extravaganza.
July 31st, 2019
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