car accident

Share Your World — Crime and Punishment

Fandango8 Comments

Share Your WorldMelanie, at Sparks from a Combustible Mind, has Law & Order: Criminal Intent on her mind for this week’s Share Your World episode.

Have you ever ‘dined and dashed” (i.e., eaten the meal and then run out the restaurant door without paying)?

I’m ashamed to admit it, but back in high school, my buddy and I would go to a Hot Shoppes restaurant and we’d each order a Mighty Mo sandwich (a Big Mac precursor), French fries with gravy, and a Coke. When we were done, we’d go to the restroom, which was on the lower level, and then, after doing our business, walk back upstairs and exit the restaurant.F59043E5-B447-4F12-90FD-DA868FB68C1B

Have you ever been in a car accident and either left the scene of the accident (providing it was a fender bender and not serious) or denied culpability for causing it when you did, (if it were minor or serious)?

I’ve been in car accidents, but as to leaving the scene of the accident, no. Well, other than after lightly tapping another car’s bumper while trying to squeeze into or maneuvering out of a tight parking spot.

Have you ever found a wallet or purse or some money (over $20) in the street and just taken it, thinking ‘finders keepers, losers weepers’? Or would you be ‘good’ and hand it in?

If I found a wallet or a purse, and there was some identification in it, I’d either try to contact the owner or I’d take it to the nearest police station. That said, if I found a $20 bill on the sidewalk, I’d pick it up and go to the nearest convenience store and buy $20 worth of Powerball tickets.

What was the last thing you stole or shoplifted?

In high school I shoplifted a live chameleon from a pet store at a mall…and got caught.D4B35C74-39DA-4478-B920-2DDDA04738A9

An Easter Story

Fandango15 Comments

Heavens Open Ornate GatesThree women — a brunette, a redhead, and a blonde — find themselves standing in front of Saint Peter at Heaven’s Pearly Gates after having tragically died in a freak auto accident. They are surprised to hear Saint Peter tell them, “Whoa, ladies. You don’t just walk in here. You’ve got to pass a test!”

With that, Saint Peter turns to the brunette and says, “Tell me about Easter.”

She responds, “Oh Easter is my favorite time of year. We all get together and cook a turkey with stuffing and all the trimmings and eat too much. And then we sit and watch football on the television!”

“Sorry that’s not correct,” Saint Peter replies. Turning to the redhead he asks the same question.

She responds, “Easter is fabulous! We get a tree and put lights on it and exchange presents and sing carols. Easter is my favorite time of year!”

With a sigh, Saint Peter says, “Sorry, that’s also not correct.” Suspecting he’ll hear even a bigger mistake from the blonde, he nonetheless asks her to tell him about Easter.

The blonde replies, “Well, about two thousand years ago a child was born to a couple in a manger and he grew up to be a carpenter and good men liked him until one day, while he was having dinner with friends, he was captured and taken away and nailed to a cross and his body was put into a cave and the cave was closed with a large rock.”

Saint Peter is just about to congratulate her when she continues, “And every February they roll the rock away and if he sticks his head out of the cave and sees his shadow, there’s going to be six more weeks of winter.”

Happy Easter and/or Passover everyone.

Image credit alswart – Fotolia

The Girl and the Model House

Fandango21 Comments

Girl holding a model houseShe stood on the near bank of the canal, a blank expression on her face. In her hands, she held a scale model of house similar to those on the opposite bank of the canal. When asked about it by various passersby, she said nothing and continued staring ahead, expressionless.

As twilight approached, the lights behind the windows of the model house came on. Still, the young woman remained motionless and by that time, a small crowd, curious about what she was doing, gathered around her. A few more people inquired, but she remained silent.

It was almost 8 pm and dark when a police officer approached the young woman, now surrounded by more than 100 townspeople. The policeman, standing directly in front of her, said, “Young lady, you’ve gathered quite a crowd around you, but no one seems to know what it is you’re doing out here. Can you please enlighten me?”

The young woman looked at the officer. She bent over and set the model house on the ground. She stood back up and started to tell her story, speaking in a hushed voice so that only the officer could hear her.

“My name is Anna,” she said. “I am seventeen and have lived in the next town over for the past thirteen years. This,” she said, pointing to the model house she had just set down, “is a model of the house I lived in. I was taken from my first home by a man and woman when I was around four. They said that they were my uncle and aunt and took me in, claiming that my parents had tragically died in a car accident.”

Anna continued, “At first I was very grateful. They took very good care of me. They taught me to read and write and gave me religious training. But I was not allowed to leave the house alone, which I thought was strange. But I accepted it because they fed me, clothed me, and cared about me.”

Anna stopped for a moment, sighed deeply, and then gathered herself. “But when I was about twelve, as I grew from a little girl into womanhood, everything changed. The couple started to do things to me. Sexual things. They told me that this was how parents and children show how much they love one another. I knew it wasn’t right, at least it didn’t feel right, but I didn’t know what to do.”

The officer looked perplexed. “I’m sorry about what they did to you, but I’m not sure I understand what it is you’re doing here and what this is.” He pointed to the model house.

“I had to get away from my uncle and aunt and I tried to plan my escape. But they found out about my plan, and locked me in a room in the house. They came in my room to bring me food and to make me do sexual things with them. When I was alone, I put together this model house and was going to use it to show the police what my house looked like if I ever escaped. It took me almost a year to make it.”

“So you ultimately did escape,” the officer said. “Where are your uncle and aunt now? Can you take me to their house? I can arrest them.”

“There’s no need for that,” Anna said. “They’re gone.”

“Where did they go?”

Anna reached into a dress pocket, pulled out a book of matches, struck one, and dropped it on the model house she had made. When the match hit it, it quickly burst into flames. “They’re in there,” she said, pointing at the model. “What I just did to this, I did to their actual house this morning, before they woke up. They can’t hurt me anymore.”

Written for this week’s Photo Challenge from Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie. Photo credit: Oleg Oprisco.