Forget Trying to Sell Them...

My dad and us three girls were out on a drive in the desert one time when I was about six years old. We stopped for a moment by a big hill and got out of our Jeep Cherokee to survey the area.

We were only there for a minute or so when my dad suggested that Corinne and I climb up the big hill. We had climbed up only a few yards when I heard the Jeep's engine start. My dad and Annie had climbed back into the Jeep and were now starting to drive away. Corinne and I looked at each other for a moment and then I freaked out.

I was screaming and bawling, running towards the ever distance Jeep as fast as I could go... "Don't leave me!" I yelled through my panicked tears. I was sure my dad was keeping the cutest kid and leaving Corinne and I in the desert to die. I had no idea where we were, no food, no water.

Corinne had been running too, although not quite so panicked as I was. Just as she caught up to me my dad stopped, backed up the Jeep, got out and started laughing hysterically... "You guys thought I'd really leave you here?!" he exclaimed, slapping his knee. "We didn't know" we mumbled through embarrassed/frightened voices. "You crazy kids. Get in let's go."

It took a little while for me to calm down, but I was finally able to laugh at the situation. My mom had always threatened to take us down and sell us on the corner for two cents, so I just figured they'd decided to save the trouble of actually finding a buyer. I'm sure they weren't the only parents who'd thought of that. I foiled their plans by pushing the sympathy button in my dad that day by crying, otherwise, Corinne and I probably would have been goners. I pretty much saved our lives.