» I should have been arrested

I should have been arrested
I was a bit of a pyro as a child and liked playing with matches in a field behind some local businesses. One afternoon, after exhausting my stash of matches, I wandered off up the road a bit. After a few minutes, I heard sirens, and then watched the fire trucks scream by me, heading in the direction of I had just come. I walked back and found the local firemen putting out a small brush fire where I had just been "playing". I overheard one of the bystanders say "It's a lucky thing some one spotted the fire before it got to the tanks". It was at that moment that I realized that those big, hulking things were gasoline (petrol) storage tanks, and that I had been lighting fires behind one of our local fuel and heating oil companies. At that moment, one of the firemen approached me and asked if I knew anything about the fire or who may have set it. Trying desperately not to burst into tears and praying I didn't look guilty, I stammered I thought I saw an older boy run away from the field just before the trucks arrived. He just looked at me and said "Ok, thanks". I never set another fire and for years couldn't hear a siren without jumping.
(Sun 29th Jan 2012, 23:15, More)