Don`t know where this came from but it`s realistic.
Around age 10 my dad got me one of those little beginner's badass archery kits. Of course, the first month I went around our property shooting arrows into anything that could get stuck by an arrow. Did you know that a 1955 Forty-horse Farmall tractor tire will take 6 arrows before it goes down? Tough "critter".
That got boring, so being the 10-year-old
Dukes of Hazard fan that I was, I quickly advanced to taking strips of cut up T-shirt doused in chainsaw gas and was sending flaming arrows all over the place. One summer afternoon, I was shooting flaming arrows into a large rotten oak stump in our backyard when I spotted something shiny over by the tack shed. It was a brand new can of starting fluid (Ether). A light bulb went off in my head! I grabbed the can and set it on the stump. I thought that it would probably just spray out in a disappointing manner. Lets face it, to a ten-year-old, "ether" really doesn't "sound" too flammable. So, I went back into the house and got a 1 pound can of pyrodex (black powder for muzzle loader rifles). My intentions were to sprinkle a little bit of powder around the Ether can but it all sort of dumped out somehow. No biggie eh? One pound of Pyrodex and 16 ounces of Ether should make a loud pop - kinda like a firecracker you know?
On second thought, I wanted a louder noise than a firecracker. To heck with that - I'm going back into the house for another can. So I got a second can of pyrodex and dumped it too. Now we're cookin'.
Well, I stepped back about 15 ft and lit the flaming arrow. I drew the nock to my cheek and took aim. As I released I heard a "tick" as the arrow launched from my bow. Just then, in a slow-motion time frame, I turned to see my dad getting out of the truck... OH SHOOT! He just got home from work.
So help me - it took 10 minutes for that arrow to travel from my bow to the can. My dad was walking towards me in slow motion with a
"what the heck" look in his eyes. I turned back towards my target just in time to see the arrow pierce the ether starting-fluid can. Wow! Right through the main pile of pyrodex and into the can. Oh shoot!!!!
When the shock wave hit, it knocked me off my feet. I don't know if it was the actual compression wave that threw me back or just reflex jerk back from 235 decibels of sound. I caught a half a millisecond glimpse of the violence during the initial explosion and I will tell you there was dust, grass, and bugs all hovering a foot above the ground as far as I could see. It was like a little low to the ground layer of "dust-fog" full of grasshoppers, spiders, and a worm or two!
The daylight turned purple. Let me repeat this... THE COTTON PICKING DAYLIGHT TURNED PURPLE!! There was a big sweet gum tree out by the gate going into the pasture. Notice I said "was". That sucker got up and ran off.
So here I am, on the ground blown completely out of my shoes with my face blackened and my T-Shirt shredded. My dad is lying on his back on the other side of the carport, having what I can only assume is, a Vietnam flashback: ECHO BRAVO CHARLIE YOU'RE BRINGIN' EM IN TOO CLOSE!! CEASE FIRE. DARN - IT CEASE FIRE!!!!!
His hat had blown off and was 30 feet behind him in the driveway. All the windows on the north side of the house were blown out and there was a slow-rolling mushroom cloud about 2000 feet over our backyard!
Now, on the other side of the yard, there had been a parked, three- wheeler, Honda. Now, I`m not sure what it was, but what used to be "fenders" are now all drooped down and touching the tires. I wish I knew what I said to my dad at this moment. I don't know - I know I said something. I couldn't hear. I couldn't even hear inside my own head. Shucks, I don't think he heard me either... not that it would really matter. I don't remember much from this point on. I said something, felt a sharp pain, and then woke up later. Then... I felt a sharp pain, blacked out, woke up later.... and repeated this process for an hour or so and... well, you get the idea.
I remember at one point my mom had to give me CPR, and Dad screaming,
"Bring him back to life so I can kill him again". One thing is for sure... I never had to mow around that stump again. Mom had been complaining about that danged stump for years and dad never did anything about it. Shucks, I stepped up to the plate and handled business. Dad sold his muzzle loader a week or so later and I still have some sort of bone growth abnormality, either from the blast or the beating, or both. I guess what I'm trying to say is, get your kids into archery. It's good discipline and will teach them skills they can use later on in life.
Hey folks, we`ve got two new members with us today. Welcome to Wedliny Domowe "
Giannisk" in
Ilioupoli, Athens, Greece, and "
slickric" in
Tampa, Florida. Nice to have you with us boys! Pull up some campfire and pour the Arbuckle`s.
Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon