Bad Behaviour  ©  *

    Satisfied and smug, we stuffed the last pieces of straw into our life-size, life-like mannequin.   Halloween was the perfect time to test the reality of our creation.  Standing up our version of Frankenstein in front of a makeshift brace, the four of us rang the doorbell and quickly hid behind the window bushes.
    The door opened and a little old lady stepped forth with a dish filled with candy.  Just as she held out her goodies, our straw man collapsed and fell in a heap on the porch.
    “Aaaaaagh!” screamed the little old lady as she slammed shut her door while we four collapsed in hysterics.
    Tittering wildly we continued from house to house pulling our great stunt over and over again.  Naturally, after seeing how wildly successful our scheme was, we needed to up the ante.
    A great idea hit us immediately. A highway overpass presented the perfect opportunity.  We’ll throw our straw man over the bridge just as a car came careening into sight.... what fun!
    And that’s exactly what we did.
    The driver of the car slammed on the brakes as our mannequin hit the road just in front of him.  With squealing tires he pulled over to the side while we ran to hide in the nearest cover.  We heard him curse and swear and then start up the hill with a flashlight.  What to do?
    At that moment, we knew we had overstepped the boundary from harmless prank to bad behaviour.    
  * Published as part of the CBC Writes Series, 2011      

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