A BOBBY STORY: BOBBY AND THE BURGLARS

BY BLACKWIND

The school bus stopped across from the end of the long, curvy driveway, and Bobby got off, waving to Al, the unsmiling driver, as he crossed the road. Al didn't so much as blink, just pulled the doors shut, killed the flashing lights and moved on. That was Al and after two years of riding the bus, Bobby was used to it.

Bobby was six, three feet one inch tall, with light brown hair that was more blonde than brown, freckles, blue eyes. He was small for his age, slender, not much bigger than most three year olds. He was cute, but so small, shy and quiet he was almost invisible. Except that he was hard to ignore with his shapely legs and the habit he had of wearing short shorts to show them off.

Bobby was on his third day in second grade, and his outfit today was a yellow polo shirt with short sleeves, bright green short shorts, and white sneakers. "Lemon-lime", the kids at school called him today; they always had names for him, but Bobby was used to being picked on. He was different and he knew it, and he didn't care. Besides, his teacher, Mr. Block, thought it was cute. During recess, which Bobby didn't go out for, Mr. Block had talked to him, telling Bobby how cute he was and how nice he looked in those shorts. Despite his friendliness Bobby was very shy around Mr. Block, just as he was shy around all men.

All that was behind him as he walked up the driveway, carrying a pink Barbie backpack in one hand and with a worn panda bear sticking partway out of it. He rounded the bend in the long driveway and headed toward the house, and noticed as he did a van parked in the driveway.

Bobby didn't recognize the van. His mother didn't drive and nobody he knew had one like that. Maybe a repair guy, he thought. Maybe the furnace guy. It seemed like the furnace guy was always coming to fix the furnace.

The van was closed up so Bobby couldn't see in, and it didn't say anything on the side, so he ignored it and went inside. He started to call out to his mommy that he was home, then froze and let out a little gasp of surprise.

Three men were unhooking the stereo in one corner, and another one was reaching behind the TV. At the sound of Bobby's gasp they all stopped and turned. "Uh oh", one muttered, and the one by the TV moved, grabbing Bobby's little arm before he could run away.

"No, let me go!", Bobby shouted, frightened. "Let me-mmmph!" The man's big hand closed over Bobby's mouth.

"Easy now", the man insisted, holding Bobby tightly. The little boy didn't resist, much; but he was very scared. "We aren't going to hurt you. Just don't yell again, okay?" The man lowered his hand from Bobby's mouth. "There, that's good. What's your name?"

"B-Bobby", Bobby responded. "Where's my mommy?"

The man didn't answer. "What should we do?"

"Get him out of the way and get done, that's what", another man said. "Take him outside and lock him in the shed or something."

The man holding Bobby's arm turned the little boy around and led him outside. Just outside the door they stopped and the man used a white kerchief to gag Bobby, tying it over his mouth. He lifted the little boy then by the waist and carried him through the back yard and into the woods beyond. After some searching he found a small tree and sstood Bobby against it. He pulled the youngster's hands behind the trunk, then tied them with rope. Then he knelt and tied Bobby's ankles.

"Hey, Bobby, nice legs", he whistled. He looked up. "You know, you look pretty cute tied up like that." He stood up and tousled the boy's hair. "Now be good." Then he walked away.

Bobby started to struggle, like on TV, but gave up quickly; the man tied too tight and the trunk of the tree made it hard to really move his small arms. He finally gave up and stood there, tears of frustration running down his face. Finally, after what felt like years, the man returned-but he wasn't alone.

He was holding Bobby's black haired, blue eyed eight year old sister, Bonnie, by the arm. Like Bobby she was gagged with a white kerchief over her mouth. Bonnie normally came home from school after Bobby, and the little boy knew she'd walked in on the men. She whimpered when she saw him-Bonnie loved and was protective of her baby brother-and ended up tied to a tree next to him a few minutes later. Like Bobby Bonnie had shorts on, white short shorts with a pink short sleeve blouse and white Mary Janes. Though two years older she was only two inches taller than Bobby and just as slim.

"Your mother must be gorgeous to have to kids as pretty as you", the man said, standing back to admire them. "And I hope you're the only ones! Sheesh, how's guy supposed to rob a house with all these kids coming in?" That he shouted as he walked off.

Bonnie struggled, looking helplessly at her brother, then gave up too in frustration when she couldn't get loose. Both children were scared what would happen to them, neither really knowing. They were also pretty upset their house was being robbed!

Still more time passed; the sounds of the men loading things into their van drifted through the quiet air, which was interrupted otherwise only by the whimpers of the bound and gagged kids.

Eventually they heard a motor start, then fade away. Each felt a moment of relief, but it didn't last; they still couldn't get loose. And both kids were thinking something else-where was Mommy? She hardly ever went out, so had the man tied her up in the woods too?

Bonnie began to struggle again. She was a very limber girl and the tree she was tied to was narrow than Bobby's so she could move better. She kept tugging and pulling and finally the ropes loosened enough for her to pull one hand free. Her wrists were kind of red but not hurt, she found, after she got the rope off. Getting it off her ankles was harder; the man tied a good knot, but Bonnie was able to get it off. She removed her gag and hurried over to hug her brother. Then she removed his gag and set about trying to untie him. Again her luck held out, and she soon had Bobby free. Holding her little brother's hand, they ran for their house.

Both children nearly started crying again when they got inside. Everything was gone-the TV, the stereo, their mom's computer (each of them had their own), the furniture-everything. They went from room to room, but the men were thorough; even their toys and clothes were gone! Worst of all, there was no sign of Mommy. Bobby started to cry, afraid they had taken her away. Bonnie did her best to be brave but was afraid Bobby was right. She went to call the police but the men had taken the phones, too. Their only choice was to try their neighbors, the Andersons, down the road.

Just then they heard the sound of an engine approaching. The burglars were coming back! The kids looked around for someplace to hide but nothing was apparent. Then Bonnie noticed through the curtainless windows that it wasn't a van pulling up, but a small blue car-their older sister, Merry. The car stopped and they watched Mommy get out, carrying shopping bags. She waved to Merry, who backed out, and stepped inside.

"What the-what happened here?", she asked. Neither child answered; crying with relief, they ran to her and hugged her, nearly knocking her over in the process. It didn't matter that all their stuff was gone; all that mattered was they were all safe and together.