Aug. 5, 2008 - "Just Henry" - A Story By Renee a.k.a CrochetCrazy
A story by Renee aka CrochetCrazy.
“Yes, Momma?” Henry answered, wondering if he was in trouble.
“Henry, what did I tell you about bringing snakes into the house?” his mother said in an irritated tone.
“Don’t bring any snaked in the house, especially the ones with rattles.” replied Henry in a downcast tone.
“Well… This looks like a snake to me, and it sounds like it’s rattling!”
“But Momma-!”
“No ‘buts’! To your room immediately, young man.”
“Yes, ma’am.” As Henry stomped up the stairs he began to think of what he’d done. He wondered if he should feel sorry for the snake, or sorry for brining it in the house. He opted to feel sorry for bringing it in the house, in fear of further frustrating his momma. "She may be my momma, but she can’t keep me from helping out the things God’s created," Henry thought, while he was holding back his tears. Once he got to his room, though, he couldn’t hold them back any longer. He broke down.
"They make it so clear—they don’t love me, they think I’m just a nuisance… I’m not going to stay here if they don’t want me. That’s it! I’m gonna’ run away! That’s a great idea! Then I can open up a veterinary clinic and help all the animals," he thought. That’s exactly what he did. He ran away from home. Lots of children have ideas to do such a thing, but most of them don’t ever do it.
But Henry did. His parents wept when they read the note he left behind… it read the following - "Momma and Pa, I have decided to run away, and I don’t believe I’ll be coming back anytime soon. You can chase after me if you want, but you won’t find me. I’ve run far, far away. I left at midnight, when y’all were asleep. I believe that y’all are glad I’m gone. Y’all didn’t want me or my slimy, slithery friends… especially the ones that have a musical instrument built-into their tails. Bye-bye… forever, --Henry ".
They immediately sent out a search party, but had no luck for a week. What Henry was doing for that week is rather surprising! "Alright, I’m gonna’ need an axe, a hammer, some nails and screws, and a screwdriver…" he said to himself. He went down to the local hardware store’s dumpster and found an axe, a hammer, some nails and screws, and a screwdriver that the store had discarded. Now all he needed was some help…
But who was gonna’ help a kid who had run away from his family? Then one day, he found someone. It was a gentleman, who was sitting on the side of the road. Henry walked up to the man and started a friendly conversation, like you would have with one of your old pals.
“Hello, old sir!” Henry said with a smile.
“Well hello, young sir!” The gentleman said as he laughed.
“How are you today?” said Henry to the gentleman.
“I’m doing just fine.” he said in reply. “Might I interest you in some employment?”
“How much does it pay?” “Hmm… That all depends on how long it takes…”
“Why, whatever do you mean?” the man said curiously.
“I’m going to open a veterinary clinic, and I need somebody to help me build the building. Would you be willing to help?” Henry asked.
“Well, sure! I got nothin’ better to do!” cried the old man.
“Great! Follow me!” So the Henry and the gentleman set off to the site that Henry had been clearing.
“Here she is!” Henry said, beaming.
“Son, you don’t have a foundation laid or nothin’!” the old man cried in a tone of dispair.
“A… foundation?” Henry asked , shakily.
“Yes, son," replied the old man. "If you don’t got a proper foundation, your building’s gonna’ shake and rattle whenever a heavy wind comes ‘round!”
“Oh… Well, we can chop down some trees real quick, come on!” said Henry as he scurried to get the axe.
“No, son, you gotta’ use concrete. By the way, where’d you get such a nice axe, anyway?”
“I found it in an alley behind the local hardware store.”
“You do know that’s considered stealin’, right son?” asked the old man.
“No, it was in the alley, by the trash can," Henry said. "So I figured they didn’t want it anymore! That’s where I found the hammer and the nails and screws! Did I steal those, too?”
“Look, boy," said the old man, in a softer tone, "I don’t know where you come from and I don’t know your name, but you’re a thief. Where are your parents?”
“Back home,” Henry replied, looking at the ground as he spoke.
“What do you mean, ‘back home’?” asked the old man. Henry explained the whole story to the gentleman and here’s what their verdict was… “First off, you need to go return those things to where you found them. Second, you need to go back home. I bet your parents are worried sick about you!”
“No, sir, they’re not. They don’t like me,” Henry said.
“Oh, son, what makes you say that?” cried the gentleman.
“They don’t let me take my snakes in the house,' Henry replied, trying not to sound like he was going to cry.
“Son, that’s just for your safety!" the old gentleman said in soft tone, as he took Henry into his arms. "They want what’s best for you. All they want is for you to have fun—and stay safe at the same time.”
“Alright, sir," Henry said, wiping his eyes. "I’ll go home and ask ‘em if they missed me.”
“Good for you," the old gentleman said. "By the way," he added as Henry walked down the street, "what’s your name?”
“Henry,” Henry replied.
“Just Henry?” the old gentleman said, eying him curiously.
“No, but that’s what I like to be called," Henry said. "Just Henry.”
After leaving the old gentleman, Henry returned the stuff to the hardware store. The he went home. It turned out that his parents did miss him, and that they only wanted what was best for him.
"Guess that old man was right…" Henry told himself as he lay in bed that night. "I wonder what his name is…?" and he drifted off to sleep with the question still ringing in his
Thank you, Renee. This was a great story. Now, I have decided to do a little thing on here for each week. If anyone has a picture they think is neat or a picture of something they saw, please send it to Renee, and she will make a story out of it. If you have an incident that happened in your life, tell me what it is! I will write a story based on that. Does that sound ok? Please... send 'em in! You can go to Renee's blog and leave her a comment telling her you have a picture you want her to make a story out of. Ask her how she wants you to contact her in a comment. :) (her blog is linked above.)
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