Families logo

The Thanksgiving Rock Throwing Incident

This is based on a true story where the author admittedly stood by and watched the whole thing take place like a doofus/silent observer.

By Benjamin Alexander HousePublished 6 years ago 3 min read
Like
Wish the moment were as serine as seen here.

Okay, let me state first that the following story was quite true so I changed some names around. Though I have to admit I'm better remembering details than names, so I should be covered. This was Thanksgiving 2001. It ended up being the last one I'd spend at my grandmother's house, as she would pass on that next April. As usual, there was a lot of family present.

Though it was mostly a warm occasion, there was some awkwardness in the air. My brother and I went outside and were running around the exterior of my grandma's, then some other little kids, of no relation, came running out. The oldest of the three kids was a girl maybe 6 or 7, a little sister who was 4, and the youngest was a boy at maybe 2 ish. I wish I could say my brother and I, him being 13 and me being 9, would have been a little more than stunned observers for what happened next. It's very funny to look back on now, but it really could have been quite serious and at the time wasn't funny at all.

The middle child had slighted her older sister in one way or another, so the older one grabbed a rock and hit her sister's leg with it. The girl went in crying, and the older one seemed to gloat a little in that her parents didn't seem to notice or care. My brother and I were talking with our cousin so there was a good while between, but the middle child came back out. She was running around just fine and the rock I guess had only barely bruised her. Then our cousin went back inside, and all we could do was watch the issuing chaos.

All it took was a phrase. "You better do it or I'm going to hit you with a rock again." Just imagine that being said by a 6 year old, an as innocent a tone as possible. It was troubling to hear to say the least. "NAWOOOOOO!!!" screamed the middle child and stamping her feet. Perhaps what happened next was inevitable.

The way my grandma's house was set up was that it had a massive berm which sloped downward in the backyard. It had rather large boulders of rock and concrete on its mound. A stairwell that led to the top of the berm, and lined by a small concrete border wall, holding it all in. It was like having a cliff face in your backyard. The middle child got on the edge of the wall and began looking for something.

The older child was being continuously loud and annoying, and if memory serves me right, I think she scratched me. But right around the time she made another threat to her sister, karma struck, sort of. "YOU WILL NEVER HIT ME WITH A ROCK AGAIN!" the middle child yelled out suddenly. My brother and I watched mere feet away, observing this drama like we were watching TV. We both simultaneously realized the middle child had picked up a rock almost as big as she was, and was holding it high over her head.

Her annoying older sister was mere feet away. We could have pushed her out of the way, or at least warned the middle child to not throw the rock. Neither of which my brother and I did. We watched in stunned silence as the middle child threw the rock. It flew threw the air for only a second and hit her older sister in the shoulder, spinning her like a top as she fell to the ground.

The girl bursts into tears as my brother goes to get our cousin. He came out later with the girl's father and he took them both inside. I think they might have gone home because I didn't see them again the rest of the day.

"Wow. That rock got really close to her head!" my brother says later.

Hope you have a nice thanksgiving, and that rock throwing children will leave you alone.

extended family
Like

About the Creator

Benjamin Alexander House

Just a 29 year old writer trying to do what I do, MAYBE earn some cheddar, and hopefully encourage, warn, amuse, and help people with the power of words. One weird dude, with a beard.......dude.

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments

There are no comments for this story

Be the first to respond and start the conversation.

Sign in to comment

    Find us on social media

    Miscellaneous links

    • Explore
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Support

    © 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.