As a kid, I was rebellious and wayward. Hardly ever did I listen to my parents. If my parents told me to go west, I would head east just to annoy them. Thus, I committed many “crimes”.

The worst crime I had ever done was in Grade 3. It was a sunny day. I went to a veggie patch near the school with my classmates during a lunch break. In order to have fun, we came up with a game, which was called Veggie War. The rule of the game was to find veggies and pick them, then to throw them at the enemies. If you hit an enemy, he should die. Your team would win the game if you and your team mates killed all the enemies.

Rules laid down, the game started. It was great fun. In order to show off my prowess, I uprooted a lot of veggies and went at my enemies. It was not long before we turned the patch into a mess.

All of a sudden over our heads came a menacing male voice. “Stop! For God’s sake! What are you bastards doing?” It was an old farmer, who was the owner of the field. The anger in his voice startled all of us. We tried to flee right away. Unluckily some of us were seized and taken to the head teacher. The next day all the pupils who had been part of the fun were punished, me included.

Although it happened years ago, I still remember all the details. I really regret it. Should there be a chance, I would go and say sorry to the farmer.