THE PRANKS

One weekday, one of the aunts wearing a strong perfume drove over and asked me the date of my birthday. I told her "Next Sunday". On that Sunday I received a mountain of gifts that included a bright red bicycle to use while I was there. My birthday was to be the next January with my family hundreds of miles to the west of where I was. Not a chance for greedy me to get a gift bonanza like what came on that Sunday. A week later I was stalled at the bottom of a hill I could not climb with that bicycle. Worse I was too tired to pedal 16 miles back to grandma's house. Uncle Victor picked me up at sunset on his way to the police station to report a missing kid. And then they found out about the birthday scam. I had a bad week and the laughter grew louder. My grandma never whistled with big people around her.

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