Before Harry Potter.....

Have you ever wanted to pretend to be something you’re not….just to see if you could pull it off? I have and actually managed to convince a couple of 10 year olds, although they’ve been sworn to secrecy and probably are still afraid I’d turn them into a couple of toads or something if they told.

Hubby was into dirt bike riding, climbing hills and falling and getting hurt and all that kind of stuff. He bought me a smaller version of his dirt bike and thought I would participate. Wrong. I did enjoy trail riding, which to me means leisurely cruising around on country back roads and enjoying the scenery. So one weekend we got together with old friends who also had dirt bikes and we traveled about 200 miles by truck, with bikes on a trailer, so we could ride in the country and he could climb all the hills he wanted and get as dirty as he pleased. We met up with a bunch of other people, families with kids, who also had dirt bikes. The next morning the men set out to get hurt on the hills and the women and smaller children set out on the trails to do some cruising.

It was a beautiful day and the scenery was gorgeous. About noon some of the women knew of the location of a small restaurant so we headed there for lunch. We had a great lunch and when we went to start up our bikes to resume our journey back to the camp area (probably a good 25 miles), one of the boys in the group could not get his started. I would say that he was probably about 10 years old. He didn’t know me at all and I had never seen him before either but his mom was there with others in the group. He had his friend with him, also about 10. After many attempts, he was very upset that he couldn’t get the bike started so I went over to him and whispered to him that if he could keep a secret I would start his bike for him. I swear my horns were out that day and I was really feeling my oats. I told him that I don’t normally tell anyone this but because I felt bad his bike wouldn’t start, I revealed to him that I was a witch and to stand back while I did my work. They both looked at me with widened eyes. In the dirt parking lot, I made an X in the sand on all four points of the bike with my boot, saying some stuff under my breath at each. Then I wiggled my finger and mumbled some more stuff. Looking over my shoulder, I whispered to him that he could go ahead and start the bike now. He got on it and it started right up. The look on those kids’ faces was worth a million dollars. I reminded them to keep our secret with a wink and a wave and we all went on our way. I’ve never seen that group or those boys since then.

Every time Halloween comes around I think about this with a smile on my face and have often wondered if those boys ever told anyone. I wonder if they still remember me and further, if they still believe…….rather than realizing it was just flooded and needed to sit awhile before being started.