Lesson Learned

My father, Lloyd, loved hanging out with his sister, Bernice. He would grab some beer, something for the barbeque and head over to her house after work on a Friday night. It was a rowdy place, full of youngins running in and out of the house, slamming the screen door and screaming. But they were family and of the eleven sibling, they were each other's favorite.

Bernice's husband, Harold, was a god fearing, church going, man that did not approve of drankin' but tolerated his brother-in-law because his wife loved him so. Harold never missed an opportunity to advise my father of his need to mend his ways, find forgiveness from the Lord and part from the evils of alcohol. My father thanked him kindly and cracked open another beer.

On one particularly stifling Mississippi afternoon, my father was carefully nursing a cold beer in a glass, when he noticed a troubling occurrence. Each time he went to the restroom, upon returning, he would find less beer in his glass. Once he was sure he was correct about what was happening, he devised a plan.

Pretending to go to the restroom, my father stepped just out of view and waited. Suddenly, a wretching sound foretold a successful plan.

Harold stood with beer spit up upon the table and down his shirt. He was still gagging and covering his mouth as my father stood by laughing heartily.

Lloyd stuck his fingers in the glass, fished his upper false teeth from the beer and returned them to his mouth. Needless to say, Harold never drank my father's beer again.

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Tomorrow is National Tell a Story Day in Scotland and the UK. In honor of that and the time of year we are in I want you to write a story or poem based on a story that has been with your family as long as you remember. It can be scary or funny or even sad. A story your family will continue to pass down long after you're gone. Be creative with it. Don't tell it exactly as its always been told but find a new way to tell it. Remember to limit it to 1000 words or 30 lines.