Written on November 26, 1984

Sonny Boy and Little Red had been to the Saturday afternoon cowboy movie matinee.  Their Dad had given them twenty-five cents apiece.  This amount would buy their tickets, pop corn, and soda pop. The tickets paid for the western feature movie, a serial, a cartoon, a newsreel, and coming attractions.  The feature on that day was a "Picture Show" about Cowboys and Indians.  The Cowboy, wearing a white hat, was captured by the Indians and tied to a stake in the middle of the village and  straw and limbs  placed about the stake.  The crowd gathered round. The Braves waved their hatchets and spears, danced and whooped  as they circled about the stake. One of the Indians put a torch to the straw.  A blaze of fire began to engulf the hero.  Just when Sonny Boy and Little Red thought the Cowboy was a goner, the sound of a bugle came from the silver screen.  It was the U.S. Cavalry.  They came riding hard into the village, guns blazing.  Fighting ensued and the Indians were scattered.  A brave soldier jumped through the flames to release the Cowboy.  Wow!  What a story...what a movie!  There was clapping and cheering by the children who had filled the movie house. Sonny and Little Red headed for home.  Along the way they talked of how they would re-enact the whole scene themselves just as soon as they got home.  That's what they always did after an exciting Cowboy Show.

At home, Little Red tied an old necktie around his head and stuck a chicken feather in it.  Sonny Boy dressed up with his toy pistol and cowboy hat.  The hat just happened to be a white one.  Little Red painted himself like an Indian Brave.  They searched until they found an old piece of cow rope and took several matches from the kitchen cupbord. They mounted their faithful stick horses and rode off into the nearby field.  Standing alone in the field was an old cedar fence post in the mist of broom straw.  Sonny Boy allowed little Red to tie him to the post with the rope.  Litle Red gathered straw and placed it about the fence post.  He finished the preparations and began his imitation of a war dance.  He stopped and lit the straw with a match and continued dancing about the post.   Sonny yelled for help ...playing out his part of the drama.  Suddenly the wind caused the fire to blaze up about his legs.  He yelled for Little Red to untie the ropes.  His cry for help was real.  Little Red was unable to untie the rope.  He remembered  the broken-bladed old pocket knife that he carried in his overall pocket.  He cut with the knife and stamped the fire with his feet, but, to no avail.  At last, the knife cut the rope and Sonny Boy jumped to safety.  They found a limb and scattered the fire until it was extinguished.  With tender feet they made  their way back home...dragging their stick horses behind them.  Sonny Boy said, "You know what Mom always says about playing with fire.  She says that if you play with fire you'll get  burned!"  Little Red  said, "Yeah, we'd better stop trying to do everything we see in the movies."  With trembling voices they told their mother about the frightening experience that they had out in the field.  They promised her that they would never, never play with fire again.

                                                                                                               JWB