Pressed It to Test It ©

Story Concept ----

This is clearly just for fun.
The story is a collection of amusing individual incidents caused by children pressing the wrong buttons.
It acts as a warning against pressing buttons just to test what will happen.
The verse alone can not fulfill a wide variety of funny ideas.

Illustration Examples:

"When the dust finally settled, Larry's brother was gone."
( The illustration shows Larry's brother is not missing, but he is found isolated at the top of a nearby tree, hanging over a branch.)

"When the refrigerator door is closed, the light always goes off!"
( The illustration shows the refrigerator tied up solidly with very thick ropes, so that Kenny cannot open it again.)

"Now the town fishes in Sheepwash lake."
( The illustration is a calm lake, with a man fishing out in the middle; he is pulling out, hooked to his line, a car steering wheel .)

"The swimming pool drained. The swimmers were gone."
( The illustration is of a giant swimming pool whirlpool with all the pool occupants going down the drain.)

"Some people tumbled, and others just jumped."
( The illustration shows a ball of people at the bottom of the escalator)

"...only press buttons you know are okay."
( The front cover illustration is a large red button and the last page is covered with a variety of tempting button illustrations.)


Some children press buttons.
It's more than just play.
They must press one,
at least one, every day.
They won't flip a switch,
twist a dial, or knob.
The habit they have is really most odd.

Not with his fingers and not with his toes,
Dempsey Nesbitt pressed buttons with only his nose.
He pressed it and pressed it, just couldn't stop,
until the end of his nose went really quite flat.

Larry Richard's small brother, named Gary,
got lost in a storm that was scary.
Larry pressed a small button, to test what it did,
and the back of the vacuum popped off the dust lid.
The room was all dusted;
It swirled and gusted.
The house disappeared.
For an hour it blew.
The dust cloud was seen for a mile or two.
When the dust finally settled, Larry's brother was gone.
It could have been worse,
if the vacuum was turned on.

Kenny found a small button,
behind the refrigerator door,
and pressed it to test it;
he had to know more.
He kept up his pressing, and asked everyone,
" Does it go off? or does it stay on? "
He just wouldn't stop.
Each day was the same.
His mother screamed, " Stop!, no more of this game! " That's enough! "
" When the refrigerator door is closed, the light always goes off! "

Myrtle Carmichael lives high on the top,
in the tallest apartment,
forty-six stories up.
Myrtle Carmichael pressed a button that's red. "
I pressed it to test it,"
That’s what she said.

On her way down, the emergency button was there.
She gave all the people a terrible scare.
The elevator stopped,
alarm bells rang out,
and everyone in the elevator started to shout.

Myrtle can't ride anymore.
She climbs up the stairs to the forty-sixth floor.

Now, every time Christopher Tate goes out,
there's a sitter to watch, just to look out.
Pressing the button was wrong.
The swimming pool drained.
The swimmers were gone.

The picture flipped up, the colour was wrong,
the sound was too loud, and faces were long.
Marty Stinton pressed buttons,
when no one could see.
He liked pressing buttons on the family TV.

Sherri wanted to test one, but no one knows why.
There weren't very many, if any, she'd try.
She didn't like red; this was true.
No matter what colour, it had to be blue.
If it was round, it had to be square.
If it was here, it had to be there.
She never could find a button just right.
She wants to press one,
but one that she likes.

Luisa Marino walked in her sleep,
and dreamed about buttons, all over her street.
She woke the whole neighbourhood up in the night.
Doorbells are just buttons;
I'm certain that's right.

When the garage door came down,
Dave's dad was much louder,
than their new family car,
the ‘Turbo Thunderclouder’.

Danny Sheepwash's dad owned the junkyard in town.
There were lots of old buttons, just lying around.
Pressing each one, every chance he would get,
none of the buttons made people upset.
Then, he saw a small button,
above a small spout;
He pressed it, to test it, and water came out.
He pressed it again.
It was a mistake.
Now the town fishes in Sheepwash Lake.

Alistair Shaw liked amusement park rides.
There wasn't a ride that he hadn't tried.
He'd stay on each one, no matter how quick.
He rode all the worst, and never was sick.
Then he spotted a small button, at the front of his car.
He wanted to press it;
It was shaped like a star.
Reaching and stretching, he pressed it at last.
The ride car sped up;
it was moving too fast.
The car started swirling,
rolling and swooping,
bobbing and spinning,
whipping and looping.
He won't ever press the button again.
Most of his lunch was mistaken for rain.

The sign said, " HOLD HANDS AND STAY CLOSE TO THE RAIL."
It only left out one little detail;
" DON'T PRESS THIS BUTTON ", is something it needs,
even if Billy still doesn't read.

Some people tumbled, and others just jumped.
When the escalator stopped, they ended up clumped.

The teacher said, to a class of twenty-two,
"Don't wander off, whatever you do."
And the man told them all,
"Don't press that small button, over there, on the wall."
Twenty-one of them pressed it;
but before Mickey did, it started to spark.
When all of the lights went out it was dark.

Now the whole city doesn't have power;
The rest of the class blamed Mickey McGower.

Don't press any buttons, especially when new,
it may cause you trouble, whenever you do.
If, for some reason, you think that you may;
only press buttons you know are okay.

THE END