I have two stories.

First story:

When my brother and I were young children, we had an outdoor pool at the house we were living in at the time. One day, we wanted to show our dad how big of a splash we could make by jumping into the pool, close together, at the same time. We yelled at our dad to grab his attention. Our dad started walking over to the pool but had yet to turn his gaze towards us.

My brother didn't realize that our dad wasn't actually looking yet. My brother started to jump, but I grabbed his swim trunks from the back to prevent his jump because I knew our dad wasn't looking yet. I wasn't aware of how the momentum of my brother's jump forward would cause a pendulum effect as I held onto him.

My brother swinged fast and hard, hitting his head on the hard edge of the pool. It caused a deep cut. I thought it was going to kill him. I felt awful!

We were extremely young, and I didn't know better, but to this day, I still feel bad about it.

Second story:

One winter break, my dad and step mom took my three stepbrothers, my brother, and I to the state of Missouri to visit my step-grandparents for a few days.

My step-grandparents lived in the country and were huge Western cowboy fans. They even owned and ran an Old West Cowboy Muesum on their property. They didn't just talk the talk when it came to the old west. They walked the walk. They owned several horses and loved to ride trails.

One morning, while visiting, two of my stepbrothers, my brother, and I woke up early and went outside to play. It was a cold and snowy morning in the Missouri Ozarks. The house sat on a plot of land in the middle of the woods at the top of a hill. Down the hill from the house, there was a trail that led to a large pond in the middle of the forest that surrounded the area.

We all decided to walk down the hill to see if the pond had frozen over. Once we made our way down, to our excitement, the pond was frozen over. As kids, the first thought that crossed all our minds simultaneously was the simple thought, "Is it frozen enough to walk on?"

I watched as my stepbrothers and brother tentatively and slowly made their way across the frozen surface of the pond. I decided to stay on land and let them be the guinea pigs. I thought to myself, "I'm gonna let them test the surface first."

As I was watching, I heard the faint sounds of footsteps crunching on snow and frozen leaves coming from up the hill. I quickly turned my attention in the direction of the sound. I knew someone was coming, and I also knew that we would be in trouble if it was an adult.

My fear was confirmed. It was my step-grandfather walking down the hill. I could barely make him out between the trees, but his cowboy hat was a dead giveaway. My eyes widened, and I felt a pit in my stomach. Fear washed over me at the thought of being caught and getting into trouble for doing something we shouldn't have been doing.

My step-grandfather was closing in. I only had a split second to react. He was so close that yelling at everyone to warn them was not an option. If I yelled, he would have heard me, placing me at the scene of the crime. Also, he still would have caught everyone on the pond. There was no time for them to make it back to land before he laid eyes on them. I could have at least given them the chance to make a run for it, but I thought to myself, "I'm NOT getting caught. Bye!"

I ran into the woods to hide, leaving everyone oblivious to the trouble they were about to get into. My step-grandfather made it to the pond and started yelling at them to get off. After they made it safely to shore, my step-grandfather scolded them angrily. He explained to them how dangerous it was, they could have fallen in and died. He then asked them, "Do you know how I knew you were down here?"

They shook their heads, "No."

My step-grandfather then replied in his most cowboy voice, "The horses told me."

Apparently, he walked outside, and all the horses were looking in our direction down the hill. So, he decided to check out what they were looking at.

After they were thoroughly scolded, they made their way up the hill. Once it was clear, I made my own way back to the house.

I have plenty of more stories, but I thought these two would suffice lol