Most level-headed people might think Ralph was out of his mind, and they would be right. Ralph, however, believed he was doing something good. You see, years ago, when Ralph was a kid, he had accidentally set his tree house on fire while playing with matches. So Ralph’s father, in an effort to teach him a lesson, had driven him out to the same spot and dropped him off. Ralph’s dad thought he needed to be shocked into understanding. It had worked for Ralph. He cried for twenty minutes, and then his father had driven back up the mesa and picked him up. Since that day, Ralph had never lit anything on fire. Even now he still had a hard time using a gas stove or lighting a water heater. Ralph reached the bottom of the mesa and turned onto the two-lane road. After a couple of miles, he exited the road and stopped near an abandoned rest area. He shut off the car and listened to the tiny raindrops hitting the top of the roof. He knew his children would be terrified, but he was hoping the terror would teach them a powerful lesson.
