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Ah, to be home alone is what Barley often thought about. However, he knew he wasn’t anywhere near responsible enough to be home alone AND take care of his little brother. That was a lot of work, he had no clue how his mom was capable of doing it. So that’s why Barley was thankful that she hired a sitter to watch them on nights when she had to go out and couldn’t take him or his brother.
Tonight was one of those nights. But, this night would surely be different from the rest, and Barley didn’t realize it until a whole hour after his mom was gone.
The sitter should’ve definitely been there by now, but alas, they were nowhere to be seen. Ian was on the floor, building a train track out of the small wooden pieces in the living room, and here Barley was, standing in the kitchen, not quite tall enough to reach the sweets in the cabinet that he wanted oh so badly.
“Hey Ian? Do you know where the sitter is?” Barley asked, walking into his brother’s view.
“Um, no,” the quiet five-year-old replied, shaking his head.
“Huh. Well darn, I don’t think mom would be too happy about this.” Barley paced the room, tapping his finger on his chin. “Hey, I want some sweets, but I can’t reach them.”
Ian looked up at Barley with wide eyes.
“So, get on my shoulders, brother!”
“What?!” Ian’s brain did a flip. “No, Barley.”
“C’mon, Ian! I want to munch on something!” Barley threw his hands up.
“If you wanna munch on something, then get something off the lower shelves,” Ian looked back at his small train stations. He needed to get the trains running or else all the little elves would be late, and that’s no good.
“Ugh, but there’s nothing good on those shelves!” Barley huffed. “Please?”
“No,” Ian shook his head.
“Please?”
“...no.”
“Iannnnnnn-”
“Okay! Fine, just be careful.” Ian stood up and set his trains down. The poor elves wouldn’t get to their destination.
“Wicked! Now then,” Barley pulled his brother into the kitchen. “I’ll lift you up on my shoulders, and then you’ll grab the bag. Sound like a plan?”
“Uh huh. Just, please don’t drop me,” Ian sighed. “Remember what happened last time we did something like this?” He opened his mouth to reveal a spot where a tooth was missing.
“Yeah yeah, but I’ve grown now.”
“Barley, it’s been two weeks.”
“... Oh.”
Ian rolled his eyes and stepped behind his brother, waiting for him to crouch down so he could get on his shoulders.
“Okay, you ready?” Barley asked.
“Ready as much as possible…” Ian was scared beyond belief, he could literally die.
Barley stood up slowly, wobbled a bit, and brought himself and his brother up close to the cabinet, and pointed to the bag. However, when he let go of Ian with just one hand, that was enough to throw off his balance, so just as Ian was grabbing the bag, the both of them tumbled to the ground.
“Ow… did you get it?” Barley asked, completely forgetting about the fact that Ian literally just fell to the floor.
“Yeah,” Ian held up the bag, and Barley grabbed it from the boy laying on the ground.
“We did it! Thanks brother-” Barley looked into the bag and saw that it wasn’t sweets, but instead just cookie cutters.
“Aw man! That’s okay, maybe next time,” Barley put the bag on the counter, and Ian sat up, his brows furrowed.
“So I just nearly died for nothing?” Ian asked.
“Pretty much, yeah. But now you can say you had a near death experience!” Barley smiled, going back to sit on the couch, and Ian followed. They sat down, and did absolutely nothing. Until Barley spoke up.
“Well what now?” Barley asked.
Ian shrugged.
Barley thought hard, and while he was thinking, he was sure he heard pounding outside. His eyes went big, and he grabbed Ian by the arm, and when Ian tried to speak, he shushed him.
Barley took his brother sneakily into his room, and before Ian could ask what in the world was going on, Barley shut the door. He snuck back to the couch, ducking and rolling every now and again. If someone was outside, he surely didn’t want them to see him.
This is when he realized how truly vulnerable he and his brother were. Sure, the door was locked, but that never stopped bad guys. So Barley thought about a plan to keep himself and his brother safe. He snuck into the kitchen, and began gathering the supplies he would need.
Oh, it was foolproof. Absolutely genius, Barley had just made the world’s greatest boobytrap. If anyone was to walk into the door, they would be incredibly sorry. Ropes and string lined the floor, all connected to something that could surprise a person if they came in unexpectedly. Such as Barley’s favorite, the water bucket above the front door. It took quite awhile for him to get it up there, but he eventually made it work.
He once again dropped to the floor, and crept around the house. He needed to make sure everything was secure, that no one could get in no matter how hard they tried. Barley grabbed a bunch of game pieces and sprawled them all out of the ground, including jacks and small marbles. Whoever tried to infiltrate his home and hurt his brother would be sorry!
He made sure to line the floor with all he could think of, from the living room to the kitchen, and when he decided it was up to par, he knew he could hide with his brother now. So he snuck back into the room, and saw that Ian was playing with his hands.
“Alrighty brother! The boobytrap has been set!” Barley announced proudly.
“Boobytrap?” Ian started. “What’s that?”
“It’s a protection device! If someone was to come into our house, then they would be stopped and caught immediately!” Barley exclaimed, but then when he heard something moving outside, he jumped down to the ground, pulling Ian with him, with a finger over his mouth.
Ian looked genuinely scared, so Barley put an arm over him to let him know he was there to protect him.
They heard the front door jiggle open, and a loud shriek when Barley heard the water drop on whoever came in. They yelled, sounding like they tripped over everything Barley had set out. Barley grinned, and when the movement was over, he stood up and yanked his bedroom door open to see who had just intruded.
“Ma?” Barley nearly passed out, because there was his mother, drenched in water and on the floor, looking infuriated.
“Barley Lightfoot,” Laurel stood up, ringing her shirt out, “what on EARTH is all of this? Where is your sitter?”
Barley glanced back at Ian, who was peeking out the door.
“They didn’t show up…” Barley looked down, “So I needed to make sure that I kept Ian and I safe! I set a boobytrap so that no one could get to us!”
Laurel’s eyebrows relaxed, and her angry expression was turned into a happy one.
“Well gosh, Barley. You sure do know how to set a trap,” Laurel said, and her son looked up at her with the widest eyes. She would never discourage his bravery. “But, this is a little crazy. I was only gone for two and a half hours.”
“That’s a long time!” Ian squeaked, coming up behind Barley. “We missed you.”
“Aw, my boys, c’mere.” Laurel sat on the couch and patted the sides next to her, and the brothers took a seat. “You guys are so lucky to have eachother, and I love you both so much. But please. Please, don’t do this again unless you know for sure that I will not be the one getting soaked. Alright?”
“Okay,” they said in unison.
“Now, let’s get this all cleaned up before bedtime. I would hate to step on… all of this in the middle of the night.”