The Great Houdini Trick

“Kiley! Stop fighting with all your brothers!” my mom said. This is something I constantly hear everyday- whether directed to me, or any one of my three brothers. Everyday, the dinner table is like a war zone, everyone arguing over who deserves more money for allowance, or who is the “stupidest.”
Usually to stop us, my parents just yell at us, but if they are in a different kind of mood, the lecture turns into a full autobiography of their childhood. One story in particular that really made me think about how lucky I am that I only have three brothers is a story my mom always used to tell me when I was younger.
My mom grew up in Ireland, and lived on a ranch-type property that was very big. Her father was a horse vet, so they kept lots of horses, and therefore had to have a barn. My mom had four brothers, three older, and one younger. They were always fighting, alike my brothers and I, so my mom can relate to.
My uncles (on my moms side) were always looking for things to do, because they got bored of the same daily routine, with nothing to do. One day, they got a new book, about the famous magician Houdini. They thought he was great, and so they tried to be like him. They saw one page of this book, where Houdini was in a coffin, all tied up, but he was able to get out, with no help from anyone. They thought surely my mom could do this, and so they decided to tie her up in the barn, and see how long it would take her to get out.
“Stop it!”, yelled my mom as she was dragged out to the barn, against her will. However, her brothers just continued to force her out to the barn.
Fighting over the best way to tie her up, so she would not be able to get out, they just wound the rope tighter and tighter around her.
“STOP IT!”, my mom screamed at them, but of course they didn’t stop. After deciding that their “tying up” was successful, they ran back into the house. After awhile, they forgot about my mom and let it slip their minds.
It turns out that my mom was left there for quite awhile, and wasn’t discovered by her mom until hours later when she went out to the barn to get something. My uncles got in trouble of course, and I don’t think that they attempted to do another Houdini trick again.
Stories I am told like this from my mom and dad, make me laugh and appreciate my brothers a little bit more. Although sometimes I really wish they were not alive, other times I know that they really are the people that entertain me in our house, and make me laugh. Hopefully when I am older, I can look back on the good times we have had, and remember them, to share the stories with my children.