Stand by Me

Several of the adventures we had as boys were dictated by movies we
had seen. Top Gun came out and we were all about jets and call signs.
Robin Hood Prince of Thieves came out and we laid down out toy guns
and took to the woods for weapons. We would pull bamboo out of the
ground and use them as spears or carve out branches into fighting
sticks. One Friday night we all watched the movie Stand by Me. The
movie is about a bunch of boys set out on an adventure to find a
missing boy or boy's body. Inspired by the movie, we had all agreed
that night to take our own little adventure the following day... minus
the missing boy of course.

We had each packed our backpacks with the necessities for such an
adventure. Sack lunch, canteen of water, camo paint, a knife, bug
spray, and of course our camo clothes bought at the Millington Army
Surplus store. We agreed to meet at Stevies house at 6:00am that next
morning which means I got up at 5:30 to get there on time via bicycle.
Looking back my parents never really questioned us on all of our
bizarre adventures but again it was a different time and they had
nothing to fear. Mike, Stevie, and I set out on our adventure
promptly at 6:00am towards the woods behind Stevie's house.

Geographically speaking these are the woods to the southwest of
Oakhurst rd, goes to the edge of Sykes rd, and backs up to Crenshaw
rd. Big area to cover and uncharted territory to us adventurers. We
had walked for hours covering various fields, crossed many barbwire
fences, and walked upon several little ponds. This might not seem like
much but to us we were living out the movie in every aspect.

We had circled back around to a water tower towards the very back of
Oakhurst and stopped for lunch. We sat there, ate our lunch, and just
laughed and talked forever. We were boys being boys and there is no
other way to describe it. We had finished our lunches and slowly made
our way back to civilization just as the sun was setting on the
horizon. An ordinary Saturday to most but a memory filled with
exploration and adventure for the three boys of Lucy.

Steve Childress