THE WATER WAR

 

There were several elementary-school-age kids involved, and actually we weren’t all friends.  We chose who was on each side, and Martin Street was our dividing line, with the two blocks between 4th Street and 3rd Street being our two territories.  So the Blaine Water War took place within two blocks.  And anyone who crossed Martin Street was a guerilla fighter, taking a great risk.

The weapons were anything water, and if you got wet, you were dead or mortally injured and were out of the fight.  Squirt guns were the common weapon, but there were also hoses for napalm and water balloons for hand grenades.

I didn’t venture out, but stayed in my own yard on the corner of 4th and H Streets, because there I had a tree house, a barn and garage and other places to hide.  I thought I was pretty well set.  But guerillas had crossed Martin Street, and I didn’t have a clue where they were.  Houses were in the way.  I got a bucket and filled it with water and climbed up into the tree house with it, and waited.

But after a while, with nothing happening, a kid will begin to get bored, and think. Surely the tree house would be a target, and water grenades and even good squirt guns might go beyond clumsy bucket water.  I had a squirt gun, too, but could always be sneaked up on.  I saw no one around, and heard nothing, so wondered if the war might even be over.

I took the chance.  I left my bucket and tree house and darted across my yard to the tree at the front corner of my house.  The growth on the tree was thick, and I thought it was a great place to hide, and with a squirt gun, too.  Also I could look south on 4th Street and maybe spot some action.

All of a sudden a loud bang exploded in my left ear and my cheek stung!  An enemy soldier had secretly trespassed into my yard, passing the tree house, and somehow spotted me in the tree.  And he was very accurate with his hand grenade.  I was drenched, dead and out of the fight.  I didn’t realize how much a water balloon could hurt!

The army on the other side of Martin Street won the battle.  The victory was decisive:  It was our first and last water war.