Typical Day For A Kid In The South

Around age 10 my dad got me one of those little badass compound bow
beginner kits. Of course, the first month I went around our land
sticking arrows in anything that could get stuck by an arrow. Did you
know that a 1955 40 horse Farmall tractor will take 6 rounds before it goes down?
Tough sumbich.

That got boring, so being the 10 yr. old Dukes of Hazzard fan that I
was, I quickly advanced to taking strips of cut up T-shirt doused in
chainsaw gas tied around the end and was sending flaming arrows all over
the place.
Keep in mind this was 99.999% humidity swampland so there really wasnt
any fire danger... Ill put it this way...a set of post-hole diggers and
a 3ft. hole and you had yourself a well.

One summer afternoon, I was shooting flaming arrows into a large rotten
oak stump in our backyard. I looked over under the carport and see a
shiny brand new can of starting fluid (ether). The light bulb went
off... I grabbed the can and set it on the stump. I thought that it
would probably just spray out in a dissapointing manner... lets face it
to a 10 yr. old mouth-breather like myself, ether really doesn't
"sound" flammable. So, I went back into the house and got a 1-pound can of
pyrodex (black powder for muzzle loader rifles)... At this point, I set
the can of ether on the stump and opened up the can of black powder. My
intentions were to sprinkle a little bit around the ether can but it all
sorta dumped out...
No biggie... 1 lb of pyrodex and 16oz of ether should make a loud pop,
kinda like a firecracker you know? You know what? Screw that. Im going
back in the house for the other can.

Yes, I got a second can of pyrodex and dumped it too....Now we're
cookin'.

I stepped back about 15 ft and lit the 2-stroke arrow. I drew the nock
to my cheek and took aim. As I released I heard a 'clunk' from behind
me as the arrow launched from my bow... In slow motion, I turned to see my
dad getting out of the truck... OH SHIT... he just got home from work.
So help me God, it took 10 minutes for that arrow to go from my bow to
the can. My dad was walking towards me in slow motion with a WTF look in
his eyes. I turned back towards my target just in time to see the arrow
pierce the starting fluid can right through the main pile of pyrodex at
the bottom.
OH SHIT!!!

When the shock wave hit it knocked me off my feet. I don't know if it
was the actual compression wave that threw me back or just reflex jerk
back from 235 decibels of sound. I caught a half a milisecond glimpse of
the violence during the initial explosion and I will tell you there was
stuff hovering 1 ft above the ground as far as I could see. It was like
a little low-to-the-ground layer of dust fog full of grasshoppers,
spiders, and a crawfish or two.

The daylight turned purple. Let me repeat this... THE DAYLIGHT TURNED
PURPLE.

There was a big sweetgum tree out by the gate going into the pasture.
Notice I said "was". That mother got up and ran off. So here I am, on
the ground blown completely out of my shoes with my Thunder-cats T-shirt
shredded, my dad is on the other side of the carport having what I can
only assume is a Viet Nam flashback, 'ECHO BRAVO CHARLIE, YOUR BRINGIN'
'EM IN TOO CLOSE!! CEASE FIRE, DAMNIT CEASE FIRE!!!!!'

His hat has blown off and is 30 ft. behind him in the driveway. All
windows on the north side of the house are blown out and there is a slow
rolling mushroom cloud about 2000 ft over our backyard. There is a Honda
185s 3-wheeler parked on the other side of the yard and the fenders are
drooped down and are now touching the tires.

I wish I knew what I said to my dad at this moment. But I just don't
know- I know I said something. I couldn't hear. Heck...I couldn't hear
inside my own head. I don't think he heard me either.... not that it
would really matter. I don't remember much from this point on....I said
something, felt a sharp pain, and then woke up later. I felt a sharp
pain, blacked out, woke later....repeat this process for an hour or so
and you get the idea.
I remember at one point my mom had to give me CPR so dad could beat me
some more. Bring him back to life so dad can kill him again. Thanks mom.

One thing is for sure... I never had to mow around that stump again.
Mom had been bitching about that thing for years and dad never did
anything about it. I stepped up to the plate and handled business. Dad
sold his muzzloaders a week or so later, and I still have some sort of
bone growth abnormality, either from the blast or the beating. Or both.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, get your kids into archery. It's
good discipline and will teach them skills they can really use - like to get
the butt kicking of a lifetime.

dammm