“What should we
do with these?” Mark asked, holding the
bag containing our sweaty flight suits.
“The hotel will
get them dry cleaned for us. All you
need to do is leave them in the bin by the door.”
I was stretched
out on the bed willing my headache to dissipate. It was fading, but I just needed to relax.
“How are you
feeling Dad?” Josh asked me with concern in his voice. He sat down beside me and gently placed his
hand on my forehead.
“Not so bad bud,”
I replied. I wrapped an arm around him
and rubbed his back.
“We should get
our laundry done before we head out tomorrow,”
“Good idea Bry,”
I said softly and started to sit up.
“Not so fast,”
Josh gently and
yet firmly pushed me back down on the bed.
“Let us take care of it,” he said.
“I know something that’ll help your head until I get back and give you
another massage,” he said before jumping up and going into the bathroom.
I heard the water
run for a few seconds and then Josh returned with a cool damp washcloth which
he folded carefully and placed it on my forehead and eyes. “Better?”
He asked softly.
“Yeah, that’s
nice,” I replied.
Josh bent down
and kissed the tip of my nose and then went to help Bryan and Mark get our
laundry together. While they were gone,
I drifted off to sleep.
I managed to
sleep right through dinner. Josh, Mark
and Bryan must have been extremely quiet because I didn’t wake up for even a
second until the next morning. When I
did wakeup, I was tucked in neatly under the covers and Josh was sitting
propped up against the headboard watching me.
“Morning Josh,” I
whispered, not wanting to disturb Mark and Bryan who were still sleeping. “You’re up early.”
“I didn’t sleep
much last night,” Josh yawned. “I was
worried and I wanted to keep an eye on you.
I just dozed for an hour or two at a time. I spent most of the night just watching you.”
I smiled and
reached out my arms for a hug. Josh
smiled back at me and accepted my embrace.
“You’re the best. You don’t have
to worry about me Joshy. I’m fine.”
“It’s just that I
love you so much and I get scared when you get a bad headache like that. I keep remembering that night that you went
to the hospital. Promise me that you’ll
see a doctor if you start getting bad headaches more often like you did
before,” Josh said firmly.
“I love you too
son and I promise,” I said sincerely. I
looked over at the clock and noticed that it was only
“Sounds like a
plan Dad,” he said as he maneuvered himself under the covers and snuggled up
against my side.
I wrapped my arms
around him and gently rubbed his back as he drifted off to sleep. Having already slept for eight or nine hours,
I wasn’t tired so I just lay there and enjoyed watching and holding my son as
he slept. As I often did, I silently
thanked God for Josh. That amazing boy
had become the single most important part of my life. We gave each other so much. Just the touch of his hand on my shoulder, or
the flash of his smile had the power to ease my mind or to give me comfort, and
I knew that my smile and my loving touch had the same effect on him. We both knew that no matter what, there was
at least one person in this world who would love us, who would be there for us,
and who would never let us down.
As I contemplated
the depth of the bond that Josh and I shared, I glanced over at the next bed
and smiled at the sight of Bryan and Mark.
I thought about
what lay ahead. It was to be our last
day at the West Edmonton Mall. We
planned for a day of shopping and sightseeing at the mall before heading out to
see some of the other sites in
It was hard to
believe that the medal presentation was only eight days away. Time had been flying since the shooting and I
was amazed to realize that we were a full two weeks into our trip. I chose to look on the bright side and
calculated that we still had eight weeks to go.
That morning,
after a customary large breakfast in the Fantasy Café, we checked out of the
Fantasyland Hotel with our clean flight suits and baggage and embarked on our
first and only shopping trip since arriving at the mall.
After loading our
purchases into the vehicles, we had one final stop to make – the famous West
Edmonton Mall submarines. The subs are
functional underwater vessels which follow a track along the floor of the
lagoon. All along the route of the subs
there are various displays of undersea life including sharks and numerous
species of fish.
You climb into
the sub via a hatch in the conning tower.
After all the passengers have boarded, the crew seals the hatch and then
submerges the sub. It’s a good thing
that none of us was claustrophobic otherwise, we’d have been in trouble. Inside the submerged sub, it was cool and the
lights were kept dim to enhance the view of the outside water world.
Bryan and I sat
back and smiled as we watched Josh and Mark just be boys and have a great
time. The two of them were transfixed by
the sight of the colourful fish streaking past the windows. Josh was filming everything he could with the
video camera and Mark snapped pictures like mad with my digital camera. Both of them were cutting up and laughing
like a pair of loons. The sound of their
laughter was heartwarming.
“It’s so nice to
see those two together again,”
“Yeah, it is. I’d like to see it a lot more often. The two of them have been friends for so
long, that I hate to see them apart.”
“The sooner you
can move out here, the better!”
“It’s going to be
a long 30 months. How about you guys
come out and visit us during spring break next year?” I asked.
“You won’t have
to twist my arm,”
The sub ride
lasted about 20 minutes but it was a lot of fun and well worth the price of
admission. We all wore silly smiles by
the time we exited and went in search of lunch in the food court.
“Well guy’s its
time to bid farewell, at least for now, to the West Edmonton Mall,” I said as
we headed for the doors after eating our final meal at WEM.
“I could spend a
week or two here,” Josh said.
“People do, all
the time,”
“Wait ’til you
guys move here,” Mark added. “It’s only
a two hour drive or so from
After leaving the
mall, we headed in convoy to downtown
After leaving the
legislature, we hopped on the Edmonton Transit subway system and took a
whirlwind tour of the city, stopping at and touring places such as Commonwealth
Stadium and the Skyreach Centre. We
completed our last day in
By
“Let’s get all of
us in it,” I said. I set the timer on my
digital camera while Josh, Bryan and Mark posed themselves with the magnificent
We rolled into
the town of
The boys, bless
their hearts, insisted that Bryan and I get some rest while they tended to our
luggage and securing the vehicles for the night. After my head hit the pillow that night, I
couldn’t remember a single thing until I woke up the next morning to a
wonderful shoulder rub from Josh.
By
“My God, this is
even more beautiful than I ever imagined,” I said.
“I never get
tired of seeing it,”
The rugged peaks
rose majestically before us. As far as
we could see to either the north or the south, the horizon was dominated by
towering peaks of rock. The summit of
each mountain was capped with a glorious coating of pure white snow and ancient
glaciers could be seen clinging to the sides of most.
We were on
Highway 16 just north of the town of
“Look!” Josh shouted suddenly and pointed at something
off in the distance.
“I’ll be damned,”
I said.
Just a short
distance from the opposite bank of the river, there was a herd of approximately
20 caribou grazing peacefully in the mountain meadow. The herd seemed to be comprised of mainly
females with a number of young. On the
edges of the group, there were a number of large males keeping watch.
“Those are
caribou,” Mark said. “They’re a species
of deer.”
“I’ve never seen
caribou before,” Josh said. “I’ve never
seen so many wild animals together in one spot before.”
After a few
minutes, we piled back into the vehicles and resumed our trek. Highway 16 began to turn south as it
continued to follow the
Once again, we
stopped our small convoy and admired the striking beauty of nature. Mark and Bryan, who had seen all this before,
were playing the role of tour guide.
Josh and I were enthralled with the beauty of this place. I could see the wheels turning in Josh’s head
as he stood on the banks of
I walked up
behind him and put my arms around his shoulders. “Amazing, eh bud?”
“Totally,” he
replied. “It looks like its right out of
a post card. I hope the government is
protecting this. This is something that
everyone in
“They are
Joshy. It’s a national park and it’s
very much protected.”
“I’m glad. This is too beautiful to mess up,” Josh
replied. He sounded hopeful but
unconvinced.
A few minutes
later, we crossed a long bridge which placed us on the western shore of the
We ended up
spending the next two days camped out in various campgrounds within
We had finished
our supper, the tents were all set for crawling into bed, and it was still
pretty early.
“Hey Dad, could
we go over and have a look at the Jasper Lodge?” Josh asked, “and maybe when it gets dark,
could we show Mark and Bryan the things you showed me in the night sky in
“Son that’s a
great idea... what’d’ya say guys, want to have a look at the Jasper Lodge
before dark?”
“Sure it sounds
like it might be half of an adventure,”
It seemed lately,
Bryan and I were smiling a lot when we looked at each other, and when we did,
the boys would start to giggle and shake their heads, looking the other
way. We didn’t want to embarrass them,
it’s just the way
All four of us
jumped into the Jeep and took off down the highway, following the side road off
to the lodge. It was an impressive
building of about five storeys. We took
a tour through the lobby and then out onto the immaculately kept lawns and
gardens.
As we traversed
the immense lawn, Bryan and I held hands as we followed the boys, between the
lake and some guest cottages.
“Hey guys,
look!” Mark exclaimed quietly. “They’ve got a stuffed elk out here right on
the lawn.”
“What a lawn
ornament that would be at home!” Josh
smiled as he looked back at us.
We were about
twenty feet from the elk’s rear from where we stood, and the boys drifted off
to the right to see it from the side, still approaching the ‘stuffed’
beast. Its horns were more than eight
feet across. As we got closer, I could
relate to its size. The top of its back
was above the top of Mark and Josh’s shoulders.
“Whoa!” Mark exclaimed, now facing the elk and
walking backwards faster and faster, until he bumped right into me. I wrapped my arms around him, giving him a
reassuring hug. Admittedly, its size was
a bit overwhelming for anyone to see a beast that size wandering about on this
manicured lawn. I held Mark until he
quit shaking. Josh wasn’t so
intimidated. He simply stopped, leaned
casually, holding its eye contact, waited as the elk turned it head again to
the front, and started to move off, very slowly, very quietly.
“WOW!” I was a bit overwhelmed by the size and
beauty of the natural environment we were in.
“Double
WOW!”
“Holy shit!” Mark said.
“It scared the hell out of me. I
really thought it was stuffed. It looked
so perfect. Like there was no old fur
hanging out of its coat... or any dirt on it.... it looked like it just had its
coat brushed!”
Josh turned and
walked toward us with a big smile on his face.
“Don’t feel bad Mark, I was scared too, but I didn’t want to scare it
away, so I just stood still. I didn’t
think it would hurt us.”
“Josh it’s
probably used to the few humans that invade his territory during the summer and
it knows that no harm will come to it.”
I said, tongue in cheek, because individually, we wouldn’t have stood a
chance against it, if it were mad or if it were the rutting season.
“Well if he stays
in the National Park, no harm should come to him. Without hunters to bother him, he may live to
a ripe old age.” Mark said.
We sauntered back
to the Jeep, actually following the elk, until he turned and went his separate
way.
It was starting
to get dark, and I wanted to find an open area where we could set up the
telescope. Although the mountains would
cut down on the horizon limits, I was pretty sure we could get a good look at
the night sky out here away from any city lights.
That night, we
ended up staying up quite late and Josh thoroughly enjoyed the experience of
playing the role of interstellar tour guide as he relayed to Mark and Bryan the
things that I had taught him about the wonders of the night sky.
“I had no idea
that there was so much to see up there,” Mark said. “I knew about the planets and things but I’ve
never seen them like this. This is
amazing.”
“It’s because of
light pollution,” Josh explained.
By the time we
packed up the telescope, it was well after
The next day, we
experienced another of the highlights of the Jasper tour; the Columbia Icefield
and the Athabasca Glacier. The Columbia
Icefield is the almost 400 square kilometers in size and it’s the largest
icefield south of
The Snowcoach is
basically a bus with monster truck tires on it and they take you right out onto
the surface of the glacier. We also did
the walking tour of the Athabasca Glacier and we were all glad that we had
brought along warm clothes.
“Look how far
down that goes,” Josh said pointing down one of the towering crevices in the
ice. The colour of the ice was the same
striking turquoise colour of the various lakes that we had seen along the way.
“You don’t want
to fall down there,”
“It’s like winter
in July,” Mark chuckled.
On the third day,
we crossed into
Since it was
still at a very high elevation, it was quite cool at night. The night that we spent there, we had a
roaring bonfire and then the four of us crowded into one single tent with our
sleeping bags packed tightly together to conserve heat. In order to keep the boys as comfortable as
possible, we put them in the middle and
We spent our
final night in
The drive east
from
Geographically,
“Are we going up
there?” Josh asked, pointing to the
tower.
“You betcha
Josh,” I replied with a smile.
At that point,
Mark and Bryan had taken the lead in our mini convoy. Josh had programmed their address into the
GPS and we could have found it, but they decided to lead us through the more
scenic as opposed to the more direct route.
We arrived at
“Welcome to our
humble abode,”
“Nice place,” I
said.
“Cool, this is
bigger than our house and you have a great lawn,” Josh said.
“Wait ’til you
see my room,” Mark replied.
The single story
house was set about 30 feet back on a nicely manicured lawn that featured waist
high hedges as a sort of fence which marked the property line. The right side of the house was comprised of
a double car garage and the front featured a wide porch adorned with well-made
wooden patio furniture. There was a
large bay window looking out from what must have been the living room. What must have been the bedrooms were located
on the left side of the house.
“Lets go inside
and I’ll give you the grand tour,”
The entry way featured
a nice, well cared for hardwood floor.
To the right, a door led to the garage and straight ahead was a hallway
that led to the kitchen and dining room.
To the left, was the entrance to the living room, bathroom, and a
hallway leading to the bedrooms. There
was also a doorway leading to the basement stairs.
Bryan and Mark
showed us around the house. The living
room featured a big screen TV, leather furniture, and a well stocked library of
DVDs and VHS tapes. The house featured
three bedrooms.
Mark proudly
showed off his room to Josh and me. It
was obvious that it was a boy’s room.
The walls were painted blue, there were movie and sports posters all
over the place and the room contained the clutter typical of young boys. Mark had a nice set of bunk beds placed
against the far wall with a computer desk containing his laptop to one side of
the room, and a wall unit containing a television, Playstation game console and
DVD player against the opposite wall.
“You can stay
with me tonight Josh. I always sleep on
the bottom bunk so you can take the top,” Mark said.
“Cool. You have a great room,” Josh replied.
“
“
“Well, at first I
thought it was just a good investment.”
“I think so
too!” Josh and I both said at the same
time. Once the four of us quit laughing,
we continued with the tour.
The spare room
was located at the end of the hall. It
was well decorated and featured a queen-sized bed, a dresser, and a nightstand
with a lamp.
“Since we were
only going to be here for one night out of more than two weeks, we let the food
stocks get down pretty low. All we have
is canned and frozen stuff, so I’m going to order a pizza.”
“Sure bro,” Mark
replied.
“I think a party
size should take care of us,”
“Sounds about
right Bry,” I replied with a grin.
“Once you get
your stuff unloaded, let’s move the vehicles into the garage. We can take a cab to the airport tomorrow.”
“Good plan. I’d better bring in the rifles. Do you have somewhere secure to store them?”
“No problem. We can lock them up in my office in the
basement.”
“Great,” I
replied and then went to help Josh and Mark unload the vehicles.
It took us each
several trips to unload our gear. We
brought in anything that was valuable or perishable along with our clothes and other
personal items that we’d need for the trip to
Josh took all his
stuff back to Mark’s room, but I wasn’t sure where I should put mine, so I
defaulted to the spare bedroom. We put
the rifles, the IMPs, and all the other stuff that needed to be secured, or
would fare better with cooler storage, in the basement.
The basement of
Bryan and Mark’s house was fully finished and featured an office area that
Bryan used when working from home, along with a rec room featuring a full sized
pool table and a well stocked wet bar complete with stools.
“Cool! You’ve got a pool table,” Josh enthused when
he saw it. “Can we play later?”
“Sure, you guys
knock yourselves out,”
While Mark and
Josh started up a game of pool,
“Yeah, it’s a
nice neighborhood, but you can never be too careful,”
“Good idea. I don’t think the Governor General would
appreciate it if we showed up nude to get our medals,” I laughed.
“I guess it would
make it hard for her to find somewhere to pin them,”
By the time we
got back into the house, we were laughing so hard that it drew the boy’s
attention. They both poked their head
out of the basement doorway wearing almost identical questioning looks.
“What are you two
up to now?”
We explained the
joke to them as best we could and we were rewarded with two pairs of rolling
eyes and two shaking heads.
I went to Mark’s
room to collect Josh’s dirty laundry, then to the spare room for my own, and
then I followed
Our WestJet
flight to
I wandered into
the living room and sat down on the incredibly comfortable leather sofa and
turned on the TV.
“Want a
beer?”
“I’d love one,” I
replied.
A moment later,
“This
“I was looking up
some of those places on the Internet and apparently one of them has an actual
Apollo space capsule what was flown to the moon.”
“The boys will
love that. It’s good seeing them happy
like this.”
We sat quietly
and watched television for a few minutes before the doorbell announced the
arrival of our dinner.
“I’m starving,”
Josh announced.
“Me too,” Mark
agreed.
“I can’t wait
until tomorrow; I’ve never been in a big plane before,” Josh said between
mouthfuls of pizza.
“It’s a lot of
fun. If the skies are clear, you can see
quite a bit on the ground,” I responded.
“You should have
seen it when I flew out here. It was
amazing – I could see all the lakes, the roads and all sorts of stuff,” Mark
said.
“It’s going to be
a pretty busy trip,”
“Yeah, we have a
pretty full schedule, but its going to be a hell of a lot of fun. Have any of you ever been to
“I went when I
was in 8th grade, but that’s it,”
“I’ve never
been,” Mark added.
“Neither have I,”
Josh said.
“It’s a gorgeous
city and there’s tons of stuff to do.
We’ll check out the parliament buildings, the
“They have a real
Apollo moon capsule at the
“Cool!” The boys said in unison.
After supper, I
put Josh’s and my coloured clothes in the dryer and started washing our whites
while Bryan got the boys settled in the living room and the three of them
decided on a movie to watch. They ended
up selecting “Fight Club”.
When I returned
to the living room, Mark was sitting one end of the sofa, leaning against Bryan
who was sitting in the middle.
About an hour
into it, both boys began to yawn. I
looked down and saw Josh doing the old “head snap trick” every once in a while.
“Hey son, why
don’t you hit the hay? You look pretty tired,”
I said softly.
“Yeah, I’m kinda
wiped out,” Josh mumbled.
“Can you make it
on your own or do you want some help?” I
asked.
“I’m ok. Goodnight Dad, I love you,” Josh said and
gave me a big hug before standing up and giving
“I think I’ll
turn in too,” Mark said with a yawn before hugging his brother.
“Goodnight
kiddo,” I said as I got my hug.
“I’m glad those
two are going right to sleep, I was worried that they’d be up half the night,”
“They’re a pair
of great kids,” I said.
“The best, we’re
so lucky to have them.”
“We never did get
packed,” I lamented. “We’d better be up
by around
“Yeah, I just put
the last load in the dryer a few minutes ago,”
Once the movie
was over, we watched the evening news and then decided to turn in.
Josh was lying on
his back on the top bunk and snoring softly.
He had pushed the covers part way down, so I gently tucked him back in
and then softly kissed his forehead. As
soon as I did that, Josh rolled onto his side, wrapped his arms around me, and
nuzzled against me. I wasn’t about to
climb up into the bunk bed with him so I stayed there for a few minutes and
lightly rubbed his back before carefully extricating myself without waking
him. With Josh tended to; I turned my
attention to Mark.
Unlike Josh, Mark
was sprawled all over the place with arms and legs going just about every which
way. The covers were pooled at the foot
of his bed. I chuckled softly to myself
and then gently pulled the covers up and over him. His right leg was sticking out and resting on
the floor, so I reached down and carefully lifted his leg and tucked it under
the covers with the rest of the sleeping boy.
As I had done with Josh, I leaned down and placed a soft kiss on his
forehead.
Before leaving
the room, I turned around and looked at both sleeping boys. They were so peaceful and content and it was
obvious that they both felt completely safe and secure in their environment.
“I love you
guys,” I whispered softly before leaving the room and gently closing the door
behind me.
I bumped into
Bryan just as he was leaving the bathroom.
“Goodnight Bry,”
I whispered and hugged him tightly.
“Goodnight Tom,”
he replied and kissed me on the lips.
“You know, you don’t have to stay in the guest room if you don’t want
to.”
I looked at Bryan
for a moment and replied. “I don’t? I mean...
I really don’t want to be alone in there.”
Bryan took my
hand and led me into his bedroom, shutting the door softly after we passed
through it.
That night, I
experienced a complete gentleness to the act of love – to the art of love; one
that I’d craved since that fateful summer with the abusive Struthers
family. Bryan was patient, tender,
fulfilling, sweet, understanding, kind, but more than any one thing -
loving. With Josh, I felt like I was the
protector, the guidance instructor, but in Bryan’s bedroom that night, Bryan made
me feel as if I was the protected and nurtured one, and that night I gained a
renewed emotional one-on-one strength that had been missing from my life.
Before we slept
that night, Bryan looked at me with a satisfied smile and asked, “A match made
in heaven?”
I thought for a
moment in my euphoric haze. “I honestly
love you Bryan, and you’re a dream come true, but dreams come from the
subconscious, and you’re real. I think
Mark and Josh made the reality of this match, and... they’re real too. I know the love between us will always come
in second to our love for them.”
Bryan kissed me
gently. “I agree Tom, but in our old age
when the boys are grown up, I’ll need your love surrounding me forever.” He kissed me again. “Goodnight.”
As I returned his
kiss, I could only reply, “Forever.” Bryan
gently spooned behind me until we woke.
The next morning,
we were all up bright and early. Bryan
and I got up about 30 minutes before waking the boys, and we used the time to
shower and get breakfast started. I
wasn’t surprised when Mark got up right away with no fuss, but was I a little
surprised when Josh did the same. Josh
normally isn’t a morning person, but I thought the excitement of the coming
flight and the medal presentation was enough to motivate him to overcome his
lack of enthusiasm for rising early.
I was in the
bathroom brushing and flossing my teeth while Josh showered. He climbed out just as I finished rinsing out
my mouth with mouthwash.
“Tomorrow’s the
big day, eh?” I said as Josh began to
dry himself off.
“Yeah, I’ve been
looking forward to it. It’ll be nice to
see everyone again too.”
“Me too son,” I
said with a smile.
“Are you ok with
all this? I mean, it’s not bothering you
again is it?” Josh asked with a great
deal of obvious concern in his voice.
“No, it’s ok
Josh. Every once in a while I think
about it and I still feel guilty, but mostly I’m fine with it now.”
“I’m glad. I was worried about you last night. I got up to take a piss and I went to the
spare room to check on you and you weren’t there.”
“I was with Bryan
last night,” I replied gently.
“I know, I kind
of figured that,” Josh replied.
“Are you ok with
that?” I studied his face carefully in
the mirror; just a bit worried how he really felt.
“Of course. I’m more than ok with that. I’m glad that you two are getting on so
well. It’s just….” Josh trailed off.
“It’s just what
son?” Now I was concerned.
“It’s just that I
don’t want to be replaced or anything,” Josh said softly.
I held out my
arms and pulled him into me and gave him as warm and loving a hug as I knew how
to give. “Joshy, you’ll never be
replaced by anyone. Not now, not
ever. Before I went to bed last night, I
went in to check on you. I tucked you in
and kissed your forehead and you immediately rolled over and hugged me
tightly. You were asleep but you knew it
was me. That’s love Joshy. You’re my son and you’ll always be my
son. Now and forever.”
Josh continued to
hold me tightly and looked up at me with those amazing eyes of his. “I know that Dad. I don’t know why I ever worried about it.”
“Remember Joshy,
there are different kinds of love. You
and I love each other like dad and son.
Bryan and I are developing a romantic love for each other. One doesn’t affect the other. Personally, I think the family sort of love
is stronger than any other and our bond is stronger than most.” I leaned down and kissed Josh’s temple. I noticed once again just how much he was
growing. I used to be able to tilt my
head down and kiss the top of his head, now he was too tall for that. “Actually Josh, Bryan and I are in love, but
that comes second. Both of us know that
you and Mark come first in our lives.
Always will!”
Josh and I
released each other and then we proceeded to shave and finish getting ready for
the day. Bryan and Mark were all ready
dressed and getting breakfast ready in the kitchen when we walked in.
“Smells great
guys,” I said enthusiastically as I took my seat.
Josh sniffed the
air and licked his lips as he slid into the chair next to me. “Smells like Back Bacon,” he observed.
“That’s part of
it,” Bryan replied. “We’re losing about
two hours of our day here, so I’m making a BIG breakfast which should keep us
well fed until we land.”
“That’s a pretty
tall order trying to keep these human trash compactors fed,” I snickered.
“Wise guy,
eh?” Mark replied in a passable Curly
imitation.
I didn’t notice
when Mark and Josh exchanged glances before Mark said, “Hey Tommy, how about
getting the Captain Crunch from the cupboard next to the sink?”
“Sure bud,” I
replied innocently enough. I didn’t see
Josh pull out the video camera behind me in order to video tape the fun. I reached up and pulled open the cupboard
door and suddenly there was a blinding flash of white light.
“WHAT THE
FUCK?!?!?!?!?” I shouted in surprise.
I turned my head
and all I could see was four big spots in front of my eyes. I could distinctly hear Josh and Mark roaring
with laughter in the background. As my
eyes began to clear, I could see Bryan standing in front of the stove with a
spatula in his hand and a look of complete and total surprise on his face.
“What happened?”
he asked in an absurdly subdued voice.
I managed to find
my seat while Josh and Mark tried to explain what they had done.
“Flash bulb…
batteries….. booby trap….” Was all they
managed to get out between bursts of laughter.
Bryan went to the
cupboard to investigate. He gingerly
opened it and looked inside. “You little
buggers!” He said as he pulled a
makeshift contraption from the cupboard and placed it on the table.
My vision finally
recovered enough that I could see properly.
On the table was a nine volt battery an old disposable flash strip from
a camera, a clothes peg and some duct tape.
The wires had been soldered to the battery and the flash strip with a
makeshift switch that would be triggered by the opening of the door. It was designed to make the victim, me in
this case, think he’d been blown up. It
was actually quite ingenious.
“You two clever
little monkeys are really going to get it this time,” I said as seriously as I
could manage. In the end, I burst out
laughing.
“I saw that trick
on the Internet and I had to try it out.
We rigged it up last night when you thought we were playing pool and we
snuck down last night and installed it,” Josh said gleefully.
“You should have
seen the look on your face,” Mark said and then burst out laughing again.
“I’m sure I’ll
see the video. Good thing that didn’t
trigger a migraine,” I replied. That
sobered the boys up in a big hurry. The
both suddenly wore stricken looks on their faces.
“You don’t have
one now do you Dad?” Josh asked in a
very worried tone.
“No, I’m ok
bud. If I did have one, that would have
been extremely painful, but I’m fine. I
just saw spots for a while.”
“We didn’t
think,” Mark said softly. He looked as
if he expected to be seriously punished.
“Don’t worry
Mark, no harm was done.” I pulled both
boys into a big hug to reassure them.
“Guys, these
pranks are pretty funny but you have to be careful. Sometimes people can get injured or have their
feelings hurt, even when you didn’t intend it,” Bryan said.
“This was a good
one guys. Just be careful of who you
play it on. If you did it in the wrong
place, you could end up with the police bomb squad called out.”
We finished
breakfast and then all four of us went off to pack and prepare for the trip to
Ottawa. By 9:30 we were all in a cab and
by just before 10:00, we were at the airport checking in for our flight.
The WestJet
737-700 had only three seats on each side of the isle so we elected to take
three seats on one row on the right side of the plane and the aisle seat on the
left side of the same row. Throughout
the flight, we played musical chairs to give everyone chance to sit at the
window seat. It was a smooth and
uneventful four-hour flight and the skies were clear enough to afford us a
glorious view of the prairies and the rugged terrain of Northern Ontario. We even managed to catch a glimpse of Toronto
as we flew past well to the North. As
the plane began to descend into Ottawa, we were treated to a spectacular view
of the parliament buildings, the national war memorial, and the Chateau Laurier
hotel.
After deplaning,
we retrieved our luggage and headed into the main part of the terminal to
pickup our rental car. I was just completing
the paperwork for the car when I heard the dual excited shouts.
“Uncle
Tommy! Josh!” Matthew and Richard shouted in unison as they
tore across the terminal and launched themselves into my arms and smothered me
with sloppy kisses and hugged me just as hard as their little arms would allow.
“It’s my favorite
nephews,” I grinned as I hugged the matching pair of adorable little boys. They cuddled in my arms for a couple of
moments before jumping down and giving Josh the same treatment. I turned around in time to see my mom, Andy,
James, and Anne walking towards us.
Their flight had arrived just before ours did.
My newly extended
family was together. Susan would arrive
later that night to complete the picture.