Rescued!
By Morley Hunt
@Morleyhunt (21741)
Canada
January 25, 2016 5:54am CST
Funny how someone else's discussion can trigger an old almost forgotten memory.
The first thing I read this morning by @ScribbledAdNauseum was her account of being locked in her bedroom.
I was five years old. One of the three grade one students in our one room school house. Our school house was special. It was constructed in such a way that you did not need to go outdoors to use the outhouse. It was off the entryway at the back of the classroom.
One afternoon, I needed to go to the bathroom urgently. The teacher, was busy with the older students and did not see my frantically waving hand.
I decided to crawl to the back and go to the outhouse without permission. That part was successful. Unfortunately, when my business was finished the door would not open. I tugged. I pulled, I tugged harder. So much for sneaking to the outhouse. I cried desperately for help.
The teacher could not get the door open from the outside. Eventually one of the grade eight boys was enlisted to crawl through the attic storage space into the cubicle to open the door.
I'm not sure if I ever used the 'facilities' at the school after that day.i
The photograph is of that schoolhouse as it is today.
15 people like this
16 responses
@Morleyhunt (21741)
• Canada
25 Jan 16
And I was very small. I was a very small five year old at that time.
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@Morleyhunt (21741)
• Canada
25 Jan 16
Being locked in the outhouse was not only scary, it was also a bit smelly.
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@gudheart (12659)
•
25 Jan 16
@Morleyhunt I would have been scared. Smelly! I could probably just about cope with that.
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@Morleyhunt (21741)
• Canada
25 Jan 16
@gudheart it was scary, no one knew I was there. I wasn't actually supposed to be there. I hadn't asked for permission.
@simone10 (54180)
• Louisville, Kentucky
27 Jan 16
@Morleyhunt I'm sure he was. I can only imagine how scared you must have been at 5 years old.
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@Morleyhunt (21741)
• Canada
25 Jan 16
That grade eight boy was a hero in my five year old eyes.
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@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
26 Jan 16
@Morleyhunt Glad it wasn't at the end of the school day You could of been stuck in there all night.
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@Morleyhunt (21741)
• Canada
26 Jan 16
@poehere somehow I don't remember worrying about that. I think I was more concerned about not having permission to go.
@Morleyhunt (21741)
• Canada
26 Jan 16
Eventually someone else would have needed the outhouse and found it already occupied.
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@Morleyhunt (21741)
• Canada
26 Jan 16
A lot of one room school houses in Ontario are still standing. Many have been converted for other uses. Homes, community centres, storage buildings, offices. The possibilities are endless.
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@nottoooldtowrite (2715)
• Philippines
25 Jan 16
Aww.. must really be terrifying especially that you were just a very young kid then.
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@Morleyhunt (21741)
• Canada
26 Jan 16
It was frightening. I seemed to get into many scrapes because I was fearless. Somewhere along the way, I learned to approach life much more cautiously.
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@nottoooldtowrite (2715)
• Philippines
26 Jan 16
@Morleyhunt yes.. there should be a balance between fierce and cautious 
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@41CombedaleRoad (5966)
• Greece
25 Jan 16
You were a very enterprising little girl and did not deserve what you got for doing your best to quietly relieve yourself!
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@Morleyhunt (21741)
• Canada
26 Jan 16
The teacher had one of the boys rescue me. She didn't feel the need to further punish this traumatized child.
@TiarasOceanView (70020)
• United States
25 Jan 16
What a lovely schoolhouse too.
I am sorry that happened to you..I can imagine you never did use them again haha
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@Morleyhunt (21741)
• Canada
25 Jan 16
I couldn't say never, but very infrequently.
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@Jackalyn (7558)
• Oxford, England
26 Jan 16
Oh dear. What an awful experience for a child. I know at that sort of age I would have been mortified. I too would have tried to creep out unnoticed. I guess the teacher was having a bad day that day too. It cannot be easy getting a small child out of a locked lavatory!
1 person likes this
@Morleyhunt (21741)
• Canada
26 Jan 16
That poor teacher dealt with all kinds of situations. She had to keep the wood stove going in the back of the classroom to provide heat. Some of the kids showed up with bare feet in rain boots in the middle of winter.
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104615)
• United States
25 Jan 16
I would not have blamed you for not using the facilities at that school after that. I can only imagine how terrified you were and even more so because no one knew you were gone. Did the teacher punish you for not getting her attention?
1 person likes this
@Morleyhunt (21741)
• Canada
26 Jan 16
I think she realized, punishment was unnecessary. That lesson was learned and learned well.
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@LadyDuck (502573)
• Italy
25 Jan 16
@Morleyhunt And I remember that we were not allowed to use the lift 
so I was even guilty to have done something forbidden.
so I was even guilty to have done something forbidden.1 person likes this
@Morleyhunt (21741)
• Canada
25 Jan 16
Those 'painful' memories are never forgotten. A lesson well learned.
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@Morleyhunt (21741)
• Canada
25 Jan 16
I don't remember the smell as much as I remember the sight of the grade eight boy coming through the ceiling opening.
@Morleyhunt (21741)
• Canada
25 Jan 16
@Gillygirl I remember using the boys washroom when the new classrooms were added. There was no sign....I wondered what that funny thing in the floor was.
1 person likes this
@Daljinder (23193)
• Bangalore, India
25 Jan 16
That must have been scary for a little girl. 
This reminded me of the incident when my friends locked me in a bathroom at school. 
But I guess I deserved that. Serves me right for playing prank on them. I was ten I think?? I wasn't scared since another classroom was right next to the bathrooms. I knew some one would listen to the knocking and come. They did.
This reminded me of the incident when my friends locked me in a bathroom at school.
But I guess I deserved that. Serves me right for playing prank on them. I was ten I think?? I wasn't scared since another classroom was right next to the bathrooms. I knew some one would listen to the knocking and come. They did.1 person likes this
@Morleyhunt (21741)
• Canada
25 Jan 16
I'm not fond of being locked in anywhere.
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@Daljinder (23193)
• Bangalore, India
25 Jan 16
@Morleyhunt Neither am I and I wasn't there for long.
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@LeaPea2417 (40032)
• Toccoa, Georgia
27 Jan 16
That would be a scary thing for a young child like yourself to have experienced.
@Morleyhunt (21741)
• Canada
25 Jan 16
My guess would be that he has forgotten. It wasn't as traumatic for him...in fact he probably had fun up there in the attic.
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