It Was My Dad’s Fault

There, I said it, well wrote it at least. I can't actually tell anyone or my Dad could end up in prison, or worse. That is, of course, if anyone is left to convict him. Sorry, let me gather my thoughts and start from the beginning. It's been pretty crazy lately, so you'll have to forgive me. My Dad has been raising sheep and selling their wool for quite a few years now. Unfortunately, we have a lot of wolves and coyotes around these parts, and they've been attacking our sheep on a weekly basis. We used to have a great guard dog, but he got old and died. Instead of training a new dog, my Dad, (who is not your typical dad) decided it was time our sheep learn how to defend themselves. He began researching genetic modification, and insisting that we would become rich once he could create a type of sheep that could fend off predators on its own. My mom seemed concerned from the get go, but once my dad gets an idea in his head there is no stopping him! Day and night dad would be out in the barn, which we began to refer to as the lab. He ordered lots of stuff online, beakers, hotplates, test tubes, a microscope, you name it and he probably had it out in the barn. One day, after school, I headed to the "lab" to see what he was up to. I walked in to see a live wolf in a cage! Dad said he shot him with a tranquilizer when he caught him attacking one of our sheep. I watched as he plunged a syringe deep into the wolf's thigh, and sucked up the bright red blood. He asked me to hand him a bottle of formaldehyde as he squirted the wolf blood into the centrifuge. He was pretty excited that night and said he would be conducting live trials in the following days. A few days later I went out to check on the sheep. One of our Ewe's was about ready to lamb and I wanted to be there when it happened. As I came up to the pasture, I saw a horrific sight. A ram was gnawing on the newly born lamb. The mother Ewe was bleating and charging at the ram, who just went on eating the little lamb! I started screaming for Dad, who quickly came running from the barn with his tranquilizer gun. He shot the ram but it only aggravated him! The ram ran right through our electric fence and began chasing after my dad and I! We ran into the house and shut the door. Peering out the window, we watched as the crazed sheep kept ramming his head against the door. Dad said he was going to sneak out the backdoor and head to the barn to get his shot gun. He told my mom to keep us kids inside the house. My mom, my 4 younger siblings, and I, continued to watch the ram as my dad hightailed it for the barn. Suddenly, the Ram lost interest in the door and turned towards the neighbor's yard where the neighbor kids had just come outside to play. He took off in their direction. We opened the door and began yelling at the kids to go back inside! They were so busy throwing a football back and forth, that they didn't notice the ram before it was to late! The ram pushed my neighbor, Nick, to the ground and chomped down hard on his arm! His brother, Adam, whipped the football as hard as he could and hit the ram in the head. The ram promptly turned towards Adam and was about to charge towards him, just as my dad fired his gun and shot the sheep right in the head. He fell to the ground. Dad apologized to the neighbor kid's parents, who were just thankful my Dad had taken out the sheep when he had. Nick had a pretty nasty bite mark on his arm, but his Mom is a nurse, and she didn't think it would need stitches. Just some peroxide and gauze. Dad didn't tell the neighbor's about his experiments, I guess he was embarrassed. He said something about that Ram being odd since birth. Dad dragged the dead sheep back home, and into the barn. He said he planned to run some tests on it the next day. When I got on the bus in the morning, I thought Nick looked kind of pale. I asked him how his arm was and he snapped, "It's fine!" I said, "Ok," and turned towards my brother David. What a crab!" I whispered, "He's probably just acting tough," said David, "I bet he's embarrassed by it." "I guess getting bit by a sheep is kind of embarrassing." I whispered back. Later, during recess, Nick ended up biting a bunch of boys he was playing tackle football with. He bit them so hard he drew blood! He got sent to the principal's office, where I hear, he even bit the principle! His parent's had to come and pick him up, and they brought him to the ER. I know this, because they called my Dad, and he told us that they wanted him to have the dead ram tested for rabies. After that phone call, my dad headed out to the barn to take a sample from the Ram. Soon, he came back yelling to get in the van. Apparently, the ram was alive again and attacking the other sheep! Sure, it had a hole in it's head, but that wasn't stopping it! My mom wanted to know where we were going and my Dad said "Anywhere but here!" After driving for several hours we arrived at a trailer in the woods. My Dad said it's his cousin's hunting shack. He said we have to stay here for a while, until he comes up with a plan. We've been here for about a week. We've been eating a lot of peanut butter and stale saltines. That's what we found in the trailer. Yesterday we caught and ate a large snapping turtle, it was actually pretty tasty! I like not having to go to school, although I do miss my friends, running water, electricity and television. There's a battery operated radio here that we've been listening to. It sounds like it's become a real zombie apocalypse out there! The country is now under marshal law! They are trying to quarantine the infected, but it's a challenge! If we don't make it, and someone out there finds this diary, just know that we're really sorry! My dad is currently working on an antidote. In fact he is injecting my brother David with a mixture of pond scum, and dove blood at this very moment. Oh, did I forget to mention that David got bit? He was one of the boys playing football with Nick during recess. He didn't tell us he got bit, I guess he was embarrassed. We figured it out the next day when he bit my sister Sherry. Don't worry, we have them chained up here in the trailer! I'm sure my Dad will find a cure! I've got to go now, my dad wants me to find willow tree bark and a salamander. Wish me luck!