John and the Crooks

I was in my backyard peeking through a hole in the fence separating my house and my Neighbors house, The Crooks, trying to see what was going on at their house. 

OK, before I spit out anything else I would like to tell you more about me. My name is John Murphy. I am 13 years old and currently in the 8th grade. My dad’s name is Cooper, and he owns an alcohol shop called C and M Liquor. My mom's name is Stacey, and she owns a Coffee shop called Murphy’s Coffee. 

Today was Wednesday and my dad decided to take a day off from work so he could get rid of the bird's nest on the top of our roof. He told me I had to climb up the ladder because it would be easier and faster for me to get the job done. I groaned in frustration, but my dad ignored me and went to retrieve the ladder from our basement. 

As I finished clearing the bird’s nest that was on our roof, I noticed something in our Neighbors backyard. It was a huge shiny red button right in the middle of their backyard. The Neighbors that had the red button were the Crooks family. They always seemed suspicious and sometimes I wonder if Crooks was really their last name or just defines who they are. 

I waited for my dad to enter back into the house, and then I climbed down the ladder and started to investigate by spying on them to see if I could get any clues on what the red button could do. I found a little hole in the fence about the size of my eye peeking through it. It was not that clear, and it was hard to see the red button, but I was able to see the button closer. The hole was not big enough, so I decided to climb my treehouse so I could get a better view of the Crooks Backyard 

I climbed up my treehouse and sure enough I received a better view of the Crook’s Backyard and more importantly the red button. I decided to write down some ideas on what the red button might be able to do, so I got a pen and piece of paper and wrote down some ideas on what it might do once it is pushed. Some of my ideas ended in explosions, fire, and some ended in floods and water. Now I know all that sounds crazy, but you never know what a button could do. I decided to investigate it further and that is when I got an idea. I decided to go up to the Crook’s house and tell them that I had lost my ball in their backyard. When they let me look at their backyard, I can secretly inspect the button. 

I headed to the Crook’s house and rang the doorbell. Mr. Crook answered, and I told him, “I lost my ball in your backyard, could I please go and find it.” He then gave me permission so now I could proceed in what I call “Mission Red.” I looked up the button closer, but I could not find anything that could give away on what the button could do. I then decided to head home and call this mission unsuccessful. As I left their house, I could see two men walk into their house and headed towards their backyard. I then ran back to my house to see what they were about to do. I did not have enough time to climb back into my treehouse, so I looked through the hole in the fence instead. 

While I was peeking through the fence, I was able to see what was happening in the Crook’s backyard. At first, I could not see anyone but then, unexpectedly, I saw the same two people walking towards the button. I started to panic and was about to run away and tell my dad, but I was curious to see what might happen. I waited and as soon as they pressed the button, I braced myself for what terror I might witness. But then instead of something terrible ballons and decorations started popping out everywhere. At first, I was really confused and had no idea what was happening. Then I figured it out, it was a birthday party. 

All this time I thought they were planning something terrible and that the red button could possibly end the world. I could not believe that the red button was simply there just for a birthday party. I guess I should not have raised my suspicion too much and probably not see everything in a negative way.  

I know this sounds corny and everything but my misunderstanding with the Crooks made me believe that they were bad people and were probably going to do something bad. This proves that you should never judge a book by its cover.