The Ice Cream Escapade
Every morning at quarter till 8, little Dennis would hear grandmother Short yell, “Dennis, its time to wake up for school.” He would lazily rub his eyes, when he sat up and gave a long groan and a big stretch. Only a tiny bit groggy, the room spun for a second as he stood up, but it came right. He put on a comfortable t-shirt, his uniform blue pants, and pulled a large school sweatshirt over his head. He combed the blonde mess of hair on top of his head. In his book bag, he would stuff a neatly folded school shirt and tie. Then he would go to his money jar under his bed and pocket some small change.
Still half asleep he thudded downstairs and slumped over at the breakfast table. “How did u sleep Dennis? It was quite chilly last night.”
Lois I'm tired, leave me alone.” He turned around and glared at his older sister. He munched slowly on his toast and drank his milk. Glancing at the clock he grabbed his bag and jumped up, it was a quarter past 8.
“Hurry Dennis, morning assembly starts in 15 minutes.”
Dennis rushed out the front door, letting it slam shut behind him. He took a flying leap, missing the stairs down the front porch and bounded along to the front gate. He let himself out. School was to the right and 2 blocks away, an easy 5 minute stroll. But Dennis really disliked morning assembly, and really, nobody even knew you were there. So this morning Dennis took a left, deviating from his routine school day. He jogged briskly to get out of sight of his house, his mother, and two annoying older sisters.
While jogging he could hear the faint clinking of the small coins he had hidden in the depths of his pants pocket. And then it hit him, ICE CREAM. Dennis loved ice cream, and his older cousin’s friend worked at the ice cream parlor down the road. He was walking in that direction already, and continued right on down the street. He walked up to the doorstep and with a heave, swung the door open. A tiny gold bell jingled as he walked inside.
“Dennis, what are you doing here? It’s nice to see you but aren’t you supposed to be in school?”
“Oh hello, you startled me. Nah, it’s only the morning assembly, class starts at 9:30. Don’t have to be there till then.”
“Ah alright then. Want some ice cream, I'm guessing that’s why you came,” he chuckled. “Chocolate, am I right?”
“Oh thanks yum. This is way better than morning assembly. I think ill hang out with you every morning. What good is morning assembly? Anyway, who is ever going to know, I just can’t be late to class.”
So there sat Dennis, eating away at his oversized chocolate ice cream. He had a grand-old-grin on his face and a little smirk too. ‘Ha-ha fooled you all’ was running through his brain and was over confident he would never be caught. He glanced down to his watch, 9:10. He got up and slowly departed from the ice cream parlor. He pulled his hood on his sweatshirt over his head, to not be recognized by his mother or sisters if they were passing by along the street.
He kept a brisk pace, glancing around as he neared the school campus. Dennis was a sneaky little one and made it onto campus without being spotted. Dashing for the restroom, he went inside and switched his shirts, into the uncomfortable uniform and tie. He stared at his watch, the minutes slowly ticking by until he heard a commotion coming from the auditorium. Dennis looked himself over and quickly slipped into the long line of students shuffling their way to the classrooms.
Dennis was in a great mood all day long, high spirits and a sly smirk still on his face. At the end of the school day, he walk back home. Instead of a huge leap, like he took on his way out, Dennis climbed the porch steps one at a time. He entered the house and closed the door behind him, careful not to make enough noise to draw attention to himself and fearful his mother might have seen him. He survived a normal evening with no suspicion. So little Dennis went to bed that evening with the happiest feeling in the pit of his stomach. He was the master and was so smart, he didn’t have to go to boring morning assembly, and he could eat ice cream instead.
The following mornings, Dennis decided to repeat his mastermind plan, and executed it very successfully. He would scarf down his breakfast and dart left, right to the ice cream parlor. Dennis would sit there, daydreaming, playing with his ice cream, and enjoyed a different flavor every day. Even though the time Dennis spent there was in day dreams, the minutes seemed as though they were hours. Each day Dennis returned to that ice cream parlor, what seemed like the hours turned to days, and what seemed like the days turned to weeks. The time spent in day dreams sped up, traveling forward at the rate of a minute. The thought hit him, look in the mirror.
“OH MY GOODNESS!” A sound of panic and shock ran through Dennis’s voice when he yelled.
His friend banged on the door to the bathroom, “Dennis are you alright, what happened.” He heard the turning of the lock on the door handle.
“I’m, I’m I’m, OLD.” And with that Dennis let the door slowly open, revealing himself to his friend.
“Oh my Dennis what are you talking about. You must have been in quite the dream but oh my, you have 5 minutes before your class starts. RUN.”
Dennis ran, and he ran faster than he possibly ever could. He ran faster than the cars driving down the road, and faster than the birds flying above his head in the sky. As he barreled onto the campus, he saw his teachers back close the classroom door. And that was it, Dennis was caught.
“So Dennis, I heard you were late to class this morning after morning assembly, but its funny, nobody knew you went to the restroom, and in fact, nobody really saw you in morning assembly. I have my doubts because I saw you leave the house, but you were in assembly this morning, weren’t you? Where else could you have gone, not in the back yard, or with your sisters or father, and surely you didn’t go get ice cream or food. I just don’t know what happened. Care to explain?”
‘Oh no, she knows, but how?’ thought Dennis. “Uhhh, I don’t know how you knew about this. I was just late to class, really.”
“Oh really, that’s not what our neighbors said two doors down. They said they saw you running about the time you arrived at school, because I know you weren’t there, did you forget something at home?”
“Ok fine you win I know you know. I skipped that stupid morning assembly and got ice cream. Ok? I won’t do it again.”
“Oh I know you won’t do it again and you have done it many times. I know the whole story, don’t worry about it. But you know what, I think ill walk you to school tomorrow, and the best part is I’m going to hold your hand all the way until you are sitting in your seat. Then I know you are at school.”
His mother walked Dennis to school each day, holding his hand and escorting him to his seat. It was probably the most embarrassing week of his life. From the painful grip of his mother’s hand, to the stares from his friends burning holes of humiliation into him, to just knowing he got caught and in trouble for such a dim-witted mistake, Dennis learned his lesson. He never missed another morning assembly again, that year especially. No matter what, he was in his seat every morning from then on.
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