{"id":6234,"date":"2014-05-03T21:58:31","date_gmt":"2014-05-04T01:58:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=6234"},"modified":"2025-02-18T19:12:46","modified_gmt":"2025-02-19T00:12:46","slug":"curiosity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=6234","title":{"rendered":"Curiosity (by Annie K Cowgirl)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summary<\/strong>:\u00a0<\/span>They say that curiosity killed the cat, but\u00a0what happens when one of the Cartwright boy’s let’s his nosiness get the better of him?<\/p>\n

Rated<\/strong>:<\/span>\u00a0K+ (1,010 Words)<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0Curiosity<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n
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***<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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It stood there in the gloom just waiting for me.\u00a0<\/strong>I had exited\u00a0my room on the pretext of getting something to drink before returning to the depths of\u00a0Hamlet<\/em>, but I couldn’t even take that first step past it towards the stairs. For Pete’s sake, I\u00a0was twenty-two-years old, not some snot-nosed child! So why did I suddenly feel the urge to break\u00a0my father’s golden rule? Maybe it was a little late rebellion or perhaps all the mystery novels I’d ever read were finally pushing\u00a0me over the edge and this was the beginnings of a mental break down,\u00a0I could not tell.<\/p>\n

This is ridiculous, get a grip!\u00a0<\/em>I fumed within myself, making up\u00a0my mind to \u201cresist the devil\u201d rising up in me.\u00a0I picked up one foot,\u00a0put\u00a0it down on the ground about a foot and a half\u00a0in front of\u00a0me and then repeated the process until\u00a0I was standing before sin itself. For some odd reason,\u00a0I could go no further without at least looking at the forbidden fruit. It was six feet high, two feet wide and was crafted lovingly of sturdy pine; it was a thing built to withstand the test of time\u2014or three nosy boys. All in all, it was a normal door that one might see in any home this side of the Sierra Nevadas. No, it wasn’t the barrier in and of itself that was special, but what lay behind it. Reaching up with\u00a0my right hand,\u00a0I just touched the door nob; it was cool under\u00a0my sweat-streaked palm.\u00a0I turned my\u00a0head\u00a0first to the left and then the right. No one was in sight. I grinned.<\/p>\n

What harm would there be if I just took a little peek? Anyways, it’s not like I’m gonna get caught or anything. Pa’s asleep and Hoss and the little tattle-tale are playing checkers downstairs. I can get away with it.<\/em><\/p>\n

The fruit proved to be too sweet to pass up and feeling a bit like Pandora before she unlatched her box of horrors,\u00a0I turned the knob.<\/p>\n

Squeak!\u00a0<\/em>My heart leaped in\u00a0my throat as the hinges protested at being forced to move, but\u00a0I\u00a0was soon\u00a0able to get the organ to return to its respective place in\u00a0my body.\u00a0My boot toes scuffed the rough wooden floor lightly as\u00a0I began to cross the threshold,\u00a0my spirits lifting at the prospect of what\u00a0I might discover within the murky darkness of the room.<\/p>\n

I did it! I’m in!<\/em>\u00a0Triumph flooded through\u00a0my veins.<\/p>\n

\u201cAdam Stoddard Cartwright, what do you think you’re doing?\u201d A voice that\u00a0I knew all to well bellowed from barely three feet away.<\/p>\n

Busted!<\/em><\/p>\n

Hastily,\u00a0I backed out and slammed the door closed before turning to face the wrath of Benjamin Cartwright\u2014which was worse that any evil wing\u00e9d creature the Greek gods could have created.<\/p>\n

\u201cI-I-I….\u201d I stammered as\u00a0my wits seemed to desert\u00a0me like rats jumping from a sinking ship.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou what? There isn’t anything you can say right now that will get you out of trouble, young man. Even so, I demand an explanation!\u201d\u00a0I scoured the empty recesses of\u00a0my mind, coming up with nothing. Finally, I\u00a0hung\u00a0my headin shame. I was too old to let curiosity get the\u00a0better of me, especially around this time of year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’m sorry, Sir, I don’t have a reason for disobeying your orders.\u201d\u00a0I mumbled. Ben glowered at\u00a0me, his\u00a0oldest son. I glanced up in time to see the twinkle of amusement\u00a0in my\u00a0father’s eyes that he was trying hard to\u00a0suppress. He failed miserably as the humor of the situation hit him.\u00a0He finally mastered himself enough to speak sternly to me.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, if that’s the case, we’ll skip the reasons and get right to the punishment phase of this whole affair.\u201d\u00a0I scrunched\u00a0my eyes closed as dread flooded over me. Pa might find this funny, but he still had to deal out judgement on me–even if he didn’t want to.<\/p>\n

\u201cTomorrow you will have charge of Little Joe when he is in the yard for the entire day, do you hear me? You will be responsible for all of his actions\u00a0outside<\/em>\u00a0of this house!\u201d Stunned,\u00a0my eyes popped open and\u00a0I stared in disbelief at the man in front of me.<\/p>\n

\u201cWha-what?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDo I need to repeat myself?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cN-no, Sir!\u201d\u00a0I hastily responded, although\u00a0I was completely befuddled by\u00a0my parent’s words.<\/p>\n

\u201cVery well.\u201d The older man stated and then headed for his bedroom, the door swinging soundlessly shut behind him.\u00a0I could not figure it out; in the past, any \u201csnooping\u201d in the gift room the day before Christmas had always ended in some kind of severe punishment, but this…?\u00a0I headed down the staircase and towards the nearest window to peer out into the whitening world. The blizzard still swirled endlessly past the leaded glass showing no signs of letting up in the near future and\u00a0I shook my head.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’ll be.\u201d\u00a0I proclaimed. Maybe\u00a0I was getting too old for punishment or maybe it was just\u00a0my father’s way of welcoming\u00a0me home from college at last. Either way,\u00a0I felt relieved and a little baffled, but there was no way\u00a0I was ever going to cross that particular threshold ever again\u2014not unless hell itself and the devil with it froze over!<\/p>\n

~THE END<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Author’s Note: I wrote this story as a response to a picture challenge on Bonanza Boomers. Also, I changed voice in this because I thought it would flow better in first person, so I hope I got all of the “hes” changed to “I”.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
Disclaimer:<\/span>\u00a0All publicly recognizable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.<\/div>\n
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<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Summary:\u00a0They say that curiosity killed the cat, but\u00a0what happens when one of the Cartwright boy’s let’s his nosiness get the better of him?<\/p>\n

Rated:\u00a0K+ (1,010 Words)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":159,"featured_media":3733,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-full-width-post.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1016,23,30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adam-pa","category-drama","category-prequels","wpcat-1016-id","wpcat-23-id","wpcat-30-id"],"a3_pvc":{"activated":true,"total_views":1549,"today_views":0},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/ben-aam.jpg?fit=400%2C320&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6185,"url":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=6185","url_meta":{"origin":6234,"position":0},"title":"The Scent of Posies (by Annie K Cowgirl)","author":"Annie K Cowgirl","date":"May 9, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Summary:\u00a0One never forgets their first scent of posies...and Hoss Cartwright\u00a0is no exception! \u00a0 Rated:\u00a0K+ (1,010 words)","rel":"","context":"In "Chaps and Spurs"","block_context":{"text":"Chaps and Spurs","link":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?cat=39"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Hoss.jpg?fit=640%2C480&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Hoss.jpg?fit=640%2C480&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Hoss.jpg?fit=640%2C480&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5347,"url":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=5347","url_meta":{"origin":6234,"position":1},"title":"A Quartet of Limericks (by Puchi Ann)","author":"Puchi Ann","date":"May 1, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Summary: \u00a0Ben Cartwright reflects on his three sons in this quartet of limerick verses. 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