Hang Him Out To Dry

 


I remember the time...

They hung Toby out to dry... 

It was a beautiful day...

Not a cloud in the sky...


We were playing with the hose... 

My brothers and me...

The air was really hot...

A little shade under the tree...


When all of a sudden...

A hose fight broke out...

As my brothers squirted each other...

They all began to shout...


“Look at Toby over there... 

He’s as dry as a cork... 

Quick, wet him down... 

Go spray the little dork...”


As we drenched little Toby... 

He began to cry...

“I’m going to tell mommy! 

You got water in my eye...”


We laughed and we laughed... 

As Toby stood there soaking wet...

We knew he would tattle on us... 

In big trouble we would get...


We needed a plan...

To get Toby not to tell...

So we hung him out to dry... 

On the clothesline, very well...


We left Toby there to hang... 

All afternoon, till near night... 

He dried out in the sun... 

Everything seemed alright...


But when Toby got home... 

Just in time for dinner... 

He spilled his beans to our mom...

We called Toby a bad sinner...


So Toby took off his shoe... 

Banged it hard on the table... 

“It happened! Yes, it did!

To escape, I was unable!”


Then our parents started laughing...

They thought it was hysterical, indeed...

“It’s not funny at all!”

As poor Toby began to plead...


“It’s not funny!” Toby yelled...

As he ran out the back door... 

We all fell down laughing...

And rolling around on the floor...


Later on, after sundown...

Toby returned home to his bed...

“I hate being in this family!”

He cried with his pillow over his head...


Once Toby finished crying...

He moved away from the home... 

He never once looked back... 

Across the state line he did roam...


Eventually Toby would find his way...

He married a girl with one blind eye...

He made a promise to his wife...

“No one will ever hang us out to dry...


© 2022 Jeffrey Pipes Guice

My Wonder Years: A Book

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