2022/2023
Collection 18

The Runaway Brother

1965; La Mirada, California, USA

“I do not wanna do that!” yells Tony.

My mom sighs.

“I am gonna run away!” Tony declares.

“Okay,” says my mother in a relaxed tone.

I look at her like she has three heads. She notices my facial expression and gives me a look telling me it will be okay. I could not believe that my mother just agreed to letting my six-year-old brother run away! We live really close to Disneyland, so he could just run away to Disneyland!

I follow my mom and Tony into the kitchen, still shocked from the agreement. Mom grabs a handkerchief from the counter. Then she opens the pantry and grabs an apple, peanut butter, jelly, and bread. She makes a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, lays the sandwich and the apple in the handkerchief, then ties the handkerchief to a stick. Finally, Mom hands Tony the makeshift bag and says, “There you go!”

“Hmph!” Tony pouts as he stomps out the door.

Mom and I watch Tony as he marches to the front yard. I get really nervous. What if he never comes back? What if he gets lost? I cannot let my brother just leave like that — he is part of our family.

My mom looks down at me, smiles, and says, “He will not be going that far.” Immediately, Mom tells me the whole plan of how we will follow Tony. After she soothes me, I get ready for our plan.

A few minutes later, Mom and I sneak outside, and we hide by the side of our house. Tony wanders around the front yard for a while before he sits down under our old bush there. I smile, realizing that Mom was right about Tony not going far.

She motions to me that we can go inside; I happily follow her. I race into my mom’s bedroom, plop down on the floor, and watch Tony’s every move. My mom finishes up with what she was doing; then she walks into her room and joins me by the window.

Around 4:00, Tony starts to snack on his apple and eat his sandwich. I stay by the window as my mom goes to make some dinner. I watch Tony as he sits out there, lonely and still. I walk into the kitchen and wonder out loud, “Do you think Tony will ever come back in?”

My mom smiles. She stops what she is doing and walks over to the door. She opens it wide and looks at Tony.

Tony sees the light of our house beaming on the grass; he turns around.

“Looks like you ate all of your apple and sandwich already,” my mom says, smiling.

Tony walks towards us and calmly says, “I’m ready to come home now.”

Mom chuckles and says, “Okay.” Then we all go inside.

My mom’s tough love of letting Tony run away helped him realize what good things my mom does for him that he takes for granted.

Madyson Pohlman, whose grandmother was the ten-year-old narrator of this story; Missouri, USA

This copyrighted story may be copied and/or printed for limited classroom or personal use. To reprint this story in an article about The Grannie Annie, please contact The Grannie Annie Family Story Celebration for permission.

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