The Escape Artist--a story by Mia

When we first moved up from Yuma we all lived in the Glendale house together. I think the only ones missing were the married ones: Rodrigo and Ish.

Abel had a huge 50 gallon fish tank (I think it was that big) full of all types of fishes and tiny fresh water crabs. It was a lot of fun to look at, but it was not fun to clean at all. It would get really slimy. Another problem, besides cleaning, was keeping the crabs from escaping.

One day, everyone was out, but Dad, Mom and me. Mom came into the living room without her glasses and saw something scurry across the carpet. She yelled (in Spanish), "Scorpion! A scorpion!" I had seen what it was because I had good vision back in those days. While Mom was screaming those same words over and over again. I was yelling it was not a scorpion, but a crab.

Then Dad came running into the room yelling, "Where? Where? Where is it?" He was not wearing his glasses either, but had taken off his shoe to use as a weapon against the critter. So, all three of us were yelling at once. Mom and Dad were only aware of each other, and not paying me any mind. Actually, Dad was only focused on where Mom was pointing.

As soon as he got sight of the creature, he began to bludgeon it to death. He picked it up after it stopped moving or he was tired smashing it into the carpet, and said, "Oh, it was a crab."

I was mad that they did not listen to me, and upset about the crab. I said, "I told you, but you did not listen to me! Why did you not listen to me? Now look what you've done. You killed it!"

I must have looked really upset because he said, "It will be OK. You'll see. Watch. I am going to put it back in the water and you'll see he will start moving around and be OK." (This is too funny!)

I told him it was dead, and not coming back to life. I was upset, but then I saw the crab, and could not help laughing. The so-called "OK crab" looked terrible. One eye was smashed so much that it did not even have an eye. The other eye was hanging down barely attached to his head. One claw was twisted in the opposite directions, and the other looked like it was going to fall off soon because it was "hanging by a thread". It was a ridiculous notion that he was "OK" and would be walking around in no time. I told Mom what Dad had said, and his insistence on the crab being "alright". She said to wait, and then we will take him out. I did not wait, but Dad kept going with his story about it being "OK".

After about 30 minutes, I convinced him that it was dead, and needed to be taken out of the tank. So, he took it out, and now I laugh every time I think of the poor "scorpion" who dared to tangle with the duo of Mom and Dad.

I guess the lesson you could learn here is to verify something people tell you before you react. If not, you'll end up with a dead crab.