Through the Trees

 

My brother and I grew up in the country.  We couldn't ride our bikes to our friend's house down the block.  We couldn't go play at park down the street.  We couldn't walk down to the convenience store to grab a Dr. Pepper and a Snickers.  We kept ourselves entertained doing other things, like catching frogs and lightning bugs, climbing hay bales in the barn, and riding the four wheeler.  Our favorite was riding the four wheeler.  We got ourselves into quite a bit of trouble riding four wheelers when we were younger.

We had grown up quite a bit since those early four wheeler almost catastrophes.  I was finishing up my 4th grade year and Derek was finishing up 1st grade.  We were practically grown-ups.  We tried to prove it with our mad four wheeler driving skills.  It was boring just driving up and down the dirt roads.  We wanted excitement.  We wanted adventure.  So we created our own four wheeler track.

We would fly around our house, go back by the out buildings, go up and over the little bump by the cellar, turn sharply to miss the long row of gnarly cedar trees, and zoom back out to the driveway.  I had it down.  I drove it like I was a pro.  It was Derek's turn.  We got on and drove on our track.  He drove it several times with me hanging on behind him.  He decided that he had it down and that it was time for some speed.  Each time around we got a little faster, a little faster, a little faster.

He flew around the front of the house, went back by the out buildings, went up and over the little bump by the cellar, and he turned.  It wasn't a sharp enough turn though.  We ended up in the long row of trees.  Thankfully we hit a tree in the middle of the row.  Derek turned around and found me on the ground.  I had scratches on my face, arms, and a huge gash on my knee.  The four wheeler's cattle guard was dented.  Derek was...Derek was...he was fine.  He had a few small scratches.

Derek's first words after brushing ourselves off, "Why didn't you duck?"

From that moment on, I refused to ride with him.  I told him that I wouldn't ride with him ever again.  It was one week later.  I was riding the three wheeler in front of him.  He was on the dented four wheeler.  I stopped for a low-lying branch and I kid you not, he ran right into the three wheeler.  The three wheeler tipped on its side. 

Thanks for stopping by,

Carrie

There is one more four wheeler story involving my brother.  It is a doozie.  Stay tuned.