|
|
|
|
|
ATLANTA, GA How many of us have had a perfectly good sibling battle disrupted by the infamous parental threat: “Don’t make me stop this car…”? Most of us know exactly how it feels to have a family road trip ruined by a parent who just couldn’t take a little fun. But how many parents have actually followed through on that threat? According to our records, none—until last week.
Last weekend, two children, Brandon and Samantha Roberts, were on their way with their parents to a relaxing family vacation in Palm Beach, Florida, when they tested the limits of their father's threat--and the impossible happened.
The two children were in the back seat of their Dodge Caravan, listening to their parents argue over an unfolded
road map, when Brandon threw one of his Matchbox cars at his sister. Samatha shrieked and hit her brother in the back of the head with a book.
“Stop that!” snapped their father, Benjamin.
But it was too much fun now—much more fun than coloring or playing the alphabet game or counting cows or trying to get truckers to blow their horns. So the two continued to hit each other with heavy objects and scream louder and longer than large jungle animals.
Then came the threat: “Don’t make me stop this car!”
The two became silent for a while, but they just couldn’t take it any longer. And besides, there was no way Dad would really do it, right? So the sibling battle continued.
Just minutes later, it happened. With a “That does it!” Benjamin stepped on the brakes, and the car stopped. Right on the side of the highway. The children suddenly became very quiet. In fact, they stopped their battle, their fists frozen in mid-swing.
Upon stopping the car, Benjamin got out and walked away. Witnesses in the Atlanta area claim to have seen a man resembling Benjamin Roberts driving alone in a rented convertible, headed for the Florida border.
The van and the children were found along the side of the road, just 15 miles down the highway from its first stop. The children’s mother was nowhere to be found.
The children, who were still fighting, didn’t seem to notice.
|
|
|
|
