Thing you did as a kid that got you in the most trouble

[Cadfael]

15. a little inadvertent arson

I was around 8 and there was a fad going around our neighborhood of lighting little fires (surrounded by a ring of rocks) in the field behind our house. The first (and obviously last) time I tried it was a scorchingly hot, dry and windy day and the little camp fire - which started about the diameter of a baseball - quickly spread to engulf about 1/4 acre. All of my co-conspirators ran home and I ran to tell my mom what I did so that someone with a clue (obviously not me) could do something about it. There ended up being no property loss of any kind (unless you count 2 foot high weeds and weedy trees) I apologized to the people whose property it was, and my folks ended up grounding me for a week. I think they thought I'd learned my lesson (which was very true) and I have always had an overly well developed capacity for guilt.