Bugs' New Burrow

A memoire

When you’re thirteen and male, you might do some weird or dumb things, like getting a flattop haircut with fender skirts because the coolest guy in school had one. Yeah, I did that. It may have looked cool on him, but it looked awful on me. (I’ve got the old photos to prove it) Oh, but don’t you know I was way smarter at age fifteen when I dug myself a great, cozy burrow. 

Bugs Bunny always looked so comfy down in his underground home, so I decided I needed one. There was an empty field beside our house, I had a shovel, and so I went to work. Three days later, there it was! About five feet deep and six feet across, I could pop down the two foot wide entrance and enjoy underground living at its best!

Only it wasn’t comfy or cozy. It was cold, damp and smelled like worms. I “enjoyed” being in it for a couple of days, then left and never came back. Grass grew over the entrance. 

Five years later, I was in the Navy and received a letter from Mom. “They found your hole, Sammy. A man was mowing the field and his tractor got swallowed up. It took them all day to get it out.”

Author's Note

My mom and stepdad thought it was funny.

Reviews

[FlatDaddy]

I like it, Sammy, and it is funny (the tractor's death plunge, that is). I don't find the story funny, though, and I don't think you meant it to be. A slice of life, though, deftly told, reminiscent of my too short time as a boy. Why is it we have only those short sweet years of moronic bliss and fifty or more of hardship, stress, bills and failing health. Oh, wait! There IS love, if we're lucky, and I am, but boy ... well, you know.
FD

[Samuel Dickens]

Thank you. I dug a long jump pit in the front yard, too, but it filled back in by itself. (Eventually)

[Rachid Amrani]

A blend of two anecdotes that articulate the complexity and innocence of boyhood. Who would thought of digging a five feet deep and six feet across burrow simply to emulate someone living in an underground home. You pumped a great deal of satire in the two tales and you did it beautifully.
Pleasure to read.

[Samuel Dickens]

Thank you so much.

[emmajoygreen]

Should I have laughed! You always sway the reader into wondering what's waiting today! You, digging a hole doesn't surprise me, you've forewarned anyway.. but that description of how it is to be deep as can be into the earth must be as true as can be. Had a boar badger in my garden (later, more) after at least eight months of creating a chain of peanut butter sandwiches from clambered bank into the garden and a sturdy waddle down to the patio, and I could smell that smell you superbly describe, ' it wasn’t comfy or cozy. It was cold, damp and smelled like worms.' For me the badger's smell was near magic but the plot of your tale outpictured mine, no tractor trampled my garden, merely that smell and the core of your tale. As always, many thanks, Sam, sir.

[Samuel Dickens]

Thank you so much, Emma. Today I think I'd like a burrow even more, but it would have to be insulated and heated.

[emmajoygreen]

The choice and comfort is yours, my friend.. smiling!

[Kelly Scheppers]

Five feet deep and six feet across? Wow, that's a lot of digging. I can't remember much about being 15, but I'm pretty sure I wasn't into excavation. They say the mind is a terrible thing to waste. You certainly proved it to be so at such a tender age. Good for you. This world is in need of movers and shakers!

[Samuel Dickens]

Thank you. I was always up to something.

[SweetNutmeg]

Wow, that's quite an excavation. Did your mother know about it at the time? If so, did you know she knew? Or was it supposed to be your secret retreat? And wow again, that was quite a haircut. My brother always has the most popular and fashionable haircuts, even in his 60s, and sometimes it looks a bit... well, to be honest, ridiculous. lol. Not all fashions are for all people. Thanks for sharing this, Sam. I always love your story telling style, which shines through even in very short pieces. You've got a gift.

[Samuel Dickens]

Thank you. I know it's not much. Just a silly thing I did. And yes, i think mother knew what I had done.

[Lorry]

At least it wasn't Elmer ylthat found it looking for that pesky Wabbit!
😃

[Samuel Dickens]

Thanks. Yeah, there's no Bugs without Elmer.