The Boy at the Bottom of the Ladder – Part XIX
Mar 1st, 2010 | By Tom Sheehan | Category: Fables Fairy Tales and Folklore, Series | 385 viewsThe boy came down his street and saw a ladder leaning against a house, but he did not see anybody on the ladder or on the roof of the house. He wondered why the ladder was there, so he decided to wait and see what happened. He sat at the foot of the ladder and was biding his time, when a man came down the street and said, “You’re not thinking about climbing that ladder, are you, young man?”
“No, sir,” the boy said. “I’m just waiting to find out why the ladder is here and nobody’s using it. I can’t see anybody up there at all.”
“Did you ever think the man who set up the ladder might be on the other side of the roof?”
“He should have put the ladder up on that side.”
“Maybe he went off to get some tools or supplies to do the work he means to do.”
“Then why would he put up a ladder so little kids like me might dare to climb up it and maybe fall off the roof?”
“You have a lot of questions for such a little tyke, haven’t you?”
“One less than you,” the boy said, counting on his fingers.
Reason is often made up of addition or subtraction.
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About Tom Sheehan: Bio note: Tom Sheehan’s books are Epic Cures and Brief Cases, Short Spans, from Press 53; A Collection of Friends and From the Quickening, from Pocol Press. His work is currently in new anthologies from Press 53, Home of the Brave, Stories in Uniform and Milspeak: Warriors, Veterans, Family and Friends Writing the Military Experience. He has 14 Pushcart nominations, the Georges Simenon Award for fiction, a story in the Dzanc Best of the Web Anthology for 2009 and a nomination for Best of the Web 2010. His novels include Vigilantes East, Death for the Phantom Receiver and An Accountable Death. His poetry books include The Saugus Book; Ah, Devon Unbowed; and This Rare Earth & Other Flights. He served in Korea, 1951-52, with the 31st Infantry Regiment. He has many Internet and print magazine appearances, has appeared in 11 print issues of Ocean Magazine, has 134 cowboy stories on Rope and Wire Magazine, recorded works in Qarrtsiluni, work in Rosebud, Lady Jane Miscellany, Perigee and Writing Raw, etc. He helped co-edit and issue two books on his hometown of Saugus, MA, sold 3700 to date of 4500 printed ( 842 total pages in the two books) with color sections, text, timelines, nostalgia and history, all proceeds for Saugus High School graduates via the John Burns Memorial Scholarship. Tom’s web site is at http://www.milspeak.org/TomHome2.htm. |
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