AJ At The Fire Station

It was a glorious day for the Gremlin. Not only was he able to go downtown on the train, but then he had his class, and even after that the Gremlin went to lunch with Daddy! It was an amazing and exhausting day, that got even more amazing.

Coming back from the fountain where he lunch with Daddy, the Gremlin was looking around and saw a recessed area surrounded by scaffolding. It intrigued him, and he was determined to see what was in ... oh look, a bus!

They were almost up to the bus when he saw it out of the corner of his eye. The Fire Truck. He leapt towards the shiny red and black vehicle, causing his father (whose shoulders he was on) to arc violently over and almost crack both their heads open. Once he was on the ground, he immediately sprinted towards the open bays, stopping just short of actually going in. He was so excited he was breathing in huge gasps, and even more so after a young fireman waved the Gremlin in.

"Come on in!" If only the fireman knew what he was getting into, he may not have been so welcoming, however the Gremlin was ecstatic and wasted no time in running up to both. He stared up at the black and red behemoth, his head just barely coming up to the top of the tire.

It was here the fireman made his egregious error. He asked the Gremlin if he wanted to sit in the truck and play with the lights. The Gremlin put all of the athletic prowess he contained into climbing up the truck as fast as he was possibly able. The fireman was so impressed, he let the imp climb, and got in on the passenger side - leaving the keys in the ignition.

And it was the little string that hung from the ceiling that did it. As the Gremlin climbed up to get to the fireman and where he was pointing, he grabbed onto that string for support, letting the full blast of the horn echo throughout the station and into the city.

"Whoa!"
"Hey!"
"Oh!"
"Ha!"
"What's that?!"

The blast of the horn was immediately followed by a rush of firemen, and the Gremlin stared as they slid down the pole and came through various doors to see what the commotion was. Of course, he thought this was a noise that *made* firemen, so before the poor young fireman who put him in the truck could reach over and pull the keys out (as he was attempting to talk to the firemen next to him to explain what was going on), the impish boy let another blast trumpet through the station.

The chaotic scramble that followed was hysterical to the Gremlin, who giggled as he watched the various firemen attempt to reach him and the horn, only to do such interesting things as trigger the lights, siren, and some odd hissing noise that we weren't able to place.

We left the fire station shortly after, the Gremlin even getting a coloring book given to him by a real fire man! Of course, now he thinks that he can climb into any old fire truck he sees on the street, but that's a story for another week.