My Canterbury Tale

"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls,"
John said as he smiled.
"I am ready to give my story,
and I'm sure it'll drive you all wild.
My story has no princes,
In fact, it's not much of a tale.
But rather a true story about myself and my friends,
It'll teach you a lesson, without fail!
Here begins the Student's Tale:
First I must introduce my friends,
For if 'all the world�s a stage,'
Then a world without the actors,
Would be as empty as a blank page.
First there was Sean Allen,
Loyal follower and friend.
He always was my adviser,
He stuck with me until the end.
Next was John Giovati,
Another John, as you can see.
But that's not all we had in common,
He is almost as loud as me!
Andrew Schnider and Jeff Rohr are last,
The quietest guys that can be found.
They are great listeners and great thinkers,
Generally good people all-around.
What are players without a setting?
So of the place and time I will now preach.
Our adventure occurred six years ago
In the sleepy town of Manhattan Beach.
I was the leader of our group
When we were going into grade four.
Being followed by loyal people,
What more could I ask for?
It was a sunny day in July,
The 2nd if I can remember.
We still had a couple of months
Before school began in September.
This date was very special,
Sean Allen's day of birth.
And indeed from dawn till dusk,
Our schedule was filled with mirth.
As we ran through the sprinklers,
The light outside was shinning.
But many hours were spent on fun,
And the sun was now declining.
And that is when John had a great idea,
'Let's sleep under the stars tonight,
And if there are no stars
We'll bring a flashlight.
We'll stay up late
Eating snacks and telling ghost stories.
We can feast like kings,
And we won't bother your parents, no worries!'
We voted on this, all for and none against,
We set up the tent with much feeling.
It was spacious enough, but a little bit dark,
So we strapped a lantern to the ceiling.
We all began enjoying ourselves
As part of Johnny's great plan.
'But we have no food here,' Jeff soon realized.
'Let's get some as soon as we can!'
So we began plotting and thinking,
But it soon was apparent,
That we could not get food
Without awakening a parent.
I'll admit it was I
Who thought of the audacious plot,
Because I guess I am always ready
To do what others will not.
'Let's all go,' I said,
'To get food at A.M.-P.M.
And as for your parents,
We just wont tell them.'
No one agreed at first,
But I won Sean and John over.
Jeff and Andrew on the other hand,
Were just too serious and somber.
So we left them behind
To lay without the light,
And to lie to Sean's parents
If they checked on us that night.
So there we were, dressed
In nothing more than our boxers,
Running and shivering,
As if we were being chased by monsters.
We ran down the street in a jiffy.
But in truth we had no way of knowing
Where A.M.-P.M. was, only Andrew knew
How to get to where we were going.
So there we were, ladies and gents,
Jogging in our underwear.
Everything was going well,
But then we had quite a scare.
For we found ourselves on Sepulveda,
Right near the big Taco Bell sign.
I was beginning to feel really sorry
That this bad idea had been mine.
But Taco Bell was near,
And we were gonna get some food,
Although it was dark and cold,
We were in a good mood.
That is, of course, until
The cops grazed the scene.
They must have been confused,
And what they did was not keen.
They picked us up,
And took us to Sean's home.
But when we got back,
We were not alone.
On the way back to his home,
We were not blaming each other.
I was far to busy worrying
What I would say to my mother.
Sean's dad had woken up,
Feeling something was wrong.
He checked on the tent
But we had been long gone.
Andrew and Jeff
Had done their job well.
They had lied to Sean's father
But they set off a warning bell.
So he had taken a short walk around the house,
And all seemed well, but to his dismay
As he was going back inside,
A police car pulled in the driveway.
I need not tell you what happen next,
Indeed, Sean was grounded forever.
And I must say, besides myself
Everyone else's punishment wasn't much better.
The lesson that I took from this,
Was a very simple one.
You shouldn't do lots of stupid things,
But if you're going to, at least have some fun!"