I was remembering school days, when I wrote this.

As the big yellow school bus stopped, we jumped off. We walked down the tracks on the busy 311 toward home.
It took 20 minutes to walk at a steady pace to get home.We lived in a split level house down below Glenola Baptist Church.
On days when my brother and sister were not at school, it was scary to walk the tracks alone. We kept a watch for people that could stop and pick us up. When we got home, Mom always called to see if we were alright.
During the time we were waiting for Mom to get home, my brother was in charge. We always argued about who's day it was to do the dishes. The house had to be clean, when Mom got home. 
The end of the nine week period, came quickly at our house. I always knew what my grades were, before the big day. I ran and hid for hours, on the top of the house, one report card day. The grades were so bad, that I knew, I was in for a licking. I looked for a place to hide in a cabinet but, they were all full. I went out on the back porch and I saw a ladder. The ladder was up against the house going to the roof. My safe place I thought, so I climbed to the top. I sat on the flat part of the roof for hours. Mom had been calling my name but, I did not answer her. Dad came home. Somehow he knew, where I was at. He climbed the ladder and took me back down. My brother laughed at me. He said, "Why didn't you flush it down the toilet," like me. Another secret he had was to change the grades from D's to B's. 

Copyrighted 2006 S.L.Hartsell