SPARKY

I’d like to share a story with you.

This happened quite a few years ago, but you know how sometimes things occur through your day that lead you down a path of memories? Well, this one just popped into my head, and it still makes me laugh.

This is the story of Sparky.

Sparky was a young girl of about 10 or 11, who lived in the country with her father and step-mother.  She was a happy girl, with not a single worry in the world, and breezed from day to day through her simple existence.

So one day, little Sparky felt like a sandwich, and went into the study where her step-mother was, and asked if she could make herself a sandwich.

‘Of course you can, mate.  Go nuts.’

‘Would you like one?’ she asked politely.

‘No thanks champ.  I’m sweet; but thanks for offering.’

‘You’re welcome!’ she chirped, and off she went; as happy as a fat kid in a lolly shop with $5 in his hand.

Now kids; Sparky’s step-mum could hear her banging around in the kitchen, organising her condiments and bread, happy that the kid could fend for herself.  She reached for her bottle of water, only to discover that it was empty.  Time for a top up.  So, into the kitchen she wandered to get herself a bevvy.

Sparky was standing at the bench, making her sandwich.  However, there was a problem.  Sparky was making the sandwich on the bench top, not on a chopping board.  She was using the big knife, and was putting scratches into her step-mum’s new benchtop.

Step mum got a little upset at this.  ‘Sparky! What the hell are you doing? Where’s the chopping board?’

Sparky roller her eyes and sighed.  ‘Whatever…’

‘Sparky!  Don’t whatever me! Get the damn chopping board out and do it properly! You’re damaging the bench!’

‘All right! All right! Calm down…’ she snapped crankily, and opened the cupboard to get the board out.

‘Don’t give me your lip, child.  You’re doing the wrong thing, and you know it.  How would you like it if I didn’t take care of your things?  Pull your head in and do it properly.’ Step-mum barked, and stomped back off to the study with her newly filled bottle of water.

A few minutes later, step-mum hears this massive BANG from the kitchen!  What the hell…she wondered as she hurried into the kitchen.

Standing in the middle of the kitchen was Sparky.  She was looking a little flushed, and was rubbing her arm. 

‘What the hell was that bang?’ she demanded.

‘I don’t know…’ Sparky said quietly.  Obviously, step-mum didn’t believe her.  She looked closely at Sparky rubbing her arm… then at the kitchen bench, where her nearly completed sandwich was sitting patiently on the chopping board.  The condiments were there… the bread… the knife… what was that smell?  It smelt like burning rubber…

Within seconds, it clicked.  Step-mum walked into the kitchen, shoved Sparky out of the way, and grabbed the kettle cord.  It had been cut three quarters of the way through! 

Step-mum looked at Sparky, who was slowly turning a deep shade of crimson.  Sparky knew she’d been found out. 

Step-mum looked at the knife… no; no damage there.  Ahhh…. She pulled open the drawer and grabbed the scissors.  Yep; a massive burn mark and a partially melted blade were the dead giveaway there.

Sparky was a genius.  She had tried to cut the kettle cord with a pair of scissors, whilst it was plugged in and switched on.  Sparky had nearly electrocuted herself. 

‘Champ, do you realise what you have done?’

Sparky shook her head.

‘You nearly killed yourself mate.’ She said quietly.  ‘The kettle cord is alive with electricity.  When you tried to cut through it, the metal hit the live wire, and shot a bolt of electricity up your arm.  Let me look at it…’  Sparky held out her hand, and step-mum looked over it carefully to see if there were any signs of burning or swelling.  Thankfully, there were none.

‘Dude, do you know what a safety switch is?’  Sparky shook her head.  ‘Come with me.’  Step-mum walked Sparky to the fuse box in the hall way, and showed her the little red switch. ‘See this?  It’s normally on like this.’ Step-mum flicked the switch, and the house hummed back to life as the electricity flowed back through the wires.  ‘When there is a surge of power, like when you cut the cord, all the electricity went to one place.  The safety switch knew something was wrong, so it cut the power supply.’

Step-mum turned Sparky to face her, and held her shoulders.  ‘Mate, if this safety switch didn’t work, or if we didn’t have one, all of the electricity would have gone straight through your body and killed you.  The little red switch there saved your life.’

Sparky looked at her step-mum… the fuse box… then back to step-mum again, unsure whether she was telling the truth or not.  ‘Trust me Sparky when I say; you have no idea how close you came to dying today.  That was a stupid, irresponsible thing to do.  Why did you do it?’

‘I was angry…’

‘At what?’

‘You yelled at me…’

‘Aaahhhh…. So, instead of being responsible, and accepting that you got in trouble for doing the wrong thing, you decided to take out revenge and cut my kettle cord?’ Sparky looked away, embarrassed.  ‘Don’t you think that I would’ve have figured that one out?  Like, I would have gone to make a cuppa and discovered the cord?  I mean, your Dad and I aren’t going to cut the kettle cord, are we?  So it only leaves you, and you do silly things like this all the time mate.’

‘Whatever…’

‘Well, you know what champ?  Whilst your arm is throbbing away there, you have a think about it.’

Sparky just grunted.

‘And you know what else champ?  For making the wrong choice, and choosing to damage someone else’s property in such a way, you’ll be buying me a new kettle.’

‘What? That’s totally unfair!’ Sparky protested.

‘You know what’s unfair champ? That someone chucked a temper tantrum and ruined my kettle.  That’s unfair.  Now have a mug of concrete, and get back to your sandwich.’

‘Whatever…’ Sparky sooked, and stomped back into the kitchen.

‘Oh, and buy the way…’ step-mum called over her shoulder as she walked back toward the study.  ‘…from now on, I’m calling you Sparky.’