We
lived about four miles from Gladewater
on an oil lease. My brother, Sam, and I thought nothing of walking that little
jaunt into town to take in a movie. One Saturday in the fall, we heard that there
was a real good “picture show” playing at the Liberty Theatre, the one that charged
only 25 cents admission. When we started the trek into town, dark clouds were
gathering above, but that was no deterrent to a couple of adventurous teenagers.
We stubbornly marched on toward town, but as we entered the city limits, the skies
started to open up. Making a mad dash across the street to seek shelter, I slipped,
fell into the gutter, and became completely submerged in the muddy water. My brother
was also thoroughly soaked. The temperature had dropped into the mid 60s, and
we were shivering badly. At this point we should have given up and headed for
home. Not this stalwart duo!
We entered the air-conditioned theatre looking
like a couple of drowned rats. To us, it seemed logical to go into the restroom,
take off our clothes, and wring them out. As we stood there in our underwear,
the usher walked in. He was ready to throw us out, but we did some fast talking
and explained what was going on. He went away shaking his head. We put our damp
clothes back on and sat in the theatre for two hours with our teeth chattering
so loudly you could hear them several aisles away. When we went outside to face
that four-mile walk back home, the temperature had dropped into the mid 50s, and
it was still raining hard. Both of us were sick for a week. I don’t remember the
name of the movie, but it must have been a real good one. |
