Pointy Hat
Whether it’s spilling milk on the family carpet or frantically running through the forest to escape a lynching, the feeling of being subject of a witch hunt can make hairs stand on end and your heart beat out of rhythm. That feeling of being targeted and singled out from everyone else is a feeling like no other. Just knowing you have no chance of running away from it, and having to suffer the consequences however harsh it may be. There are several points in my life when I have felt subject to a witch hunt. One of the times that stands out most is a mischievous (school appropriate) event that took place when I was in the sixth grade.
Maybe it would have ended better if I wasn’t so anxious for summer to start. Furthermore, the sneakiness of the situation was what put me in the most trouble. Bailing out of half of the school day to go hang out with friends on the last day of school sounded like a good idea at the time. Forgetting to tell the teachers was not such a good idea. It was just too tempting to walk out with my friends on a nice summer day. I thought about it several times and knew how it could all end, but I was in the sixth grade. It was my last year in the elementary School, I didn’t think there would be such a complication. The teachers didn’t know where we were and must have really been freaking out. I went to a small school and everybody knew everybody. It wasn’t too long after that we received the urgent word that the whole school was looking for us. We went along with our day and were too scared to return to the school. We knew we would just be in trouble and have to sit through a long talk about letting the teachers and our parents knowing where we are at all times. We went along with our day, but finally returned home that afternoon to worried parents and numerous phone calls from concerned teachers and administrators.

Long story short, it’s all part of being a kid though, making mistakes and learning from them. I definitely learned to put myself in my parent’s shoes and imagine how it must feel not knowing where your kid is. It must be a terrible feeling. I can’t even imagine. With that knowledge I’ve always told my parents and my teachers for that matter where I’m going. Even though skipping school is tempting for everyone, I restrain myself from being the subject of yet another wild witch hunt.