them inside his backpack. He wouldn't stay here
again tonight, but the sky was a brilliant blue and sunlight
sparkled golden on the waves. Tommy took off his shoes and socks
and rolled up the legs of his jeans to his knees. He left his
backpack and his shoes and socks in the hollow next to Jessie's
log, picked up the fishing pole, and stuck a small piece of jerky
he'd softened in his mouth on the hook. He managed to fling the
hook out into the waves perfect the first time.
As the sun rose in the sky, Tommy flipped
the sunflower sunglasses down from the top of his head to his nose.
He might look stupid, but who was here to see?
He'd saved the note she'd left him, too. It
was folded up neat and safe, and tucked carefully in the zipper
pouch next to the picture of his parents.
"I'm glad you taught me to fish, too," he
said.
Someday he might even learn to like the
taste.
~ ~ ~
Missy and
the Man
Missy just wanted to see the kittens, that
was all. She'd seen cats before. All kinds of cats—orange cats with
white paws, white cats with pink ears and noses, and black cats
with yellow eyes that looked like they should be mean but they
weren't—but she'd never seen little baby kittens. Missy knew how to
pet cats good. Mommy said cats liked to be petted soft, like Missy
did with her doll's hair. Missy and her mommy both liked cats, but
her daddy didn't, so they didn't have any of their own.
Their neighbor did, though. He didn't seem
like he was a very nice man, but he had a pretty gray cat with a
white face and long fur and a fat belly that Mommy said was full of
kittens, so the man couldn't be all that mean. Missy didn't think a
cat, especially a cat about to have kittens, would live with
someone who was mean.
The man wasn't really
their neighbor neighbor, like Missy's friend Laura's daddy, who lived next
door to where Missy and her parents lived. The man with the kittens
was just the man who lived in the house next to the house where
Missy's daddy had his shop.
Missy's daddy fixed other
people's furniture, and her mommy helped. They were always too busy
to play with Missy, so when she was done watching Gilligan's Island or My Three Sons on the little television in the back room where Mommy worked,
Missy went outside all by herself to play in the backyard behind
Daddy's shop, just like a Big Girl.
The backyard behind Daddy's shop didn't have
grass like the backyard at home. Instead it had lots of dirt and
rocks and weeds, and grasshoppers that were almost as big as her
fingers. Sometimes Missy took her dolls outside and pretended the
backyard was a great big desert and her dolls needed Missy to
rescue them. But sometimes she left her dolls inside so she could
play her absolute most-favorite game: being a cat.
When Missy pretended she was a cat, she'd
walk as quiet as she could through the weeds along the edge of the
yard so she could surprise a grasshopper. Grasshoppers were fun to
play with, but Missy was careful never to hurt them, even though
she was pretty sure a real cat wouldn't be so nice to something it
was hunting.
Stalking along the fence in search of
grasshoppers was how Missy found the hole in the fence.
One of the big, tall boards in the fence was
broken. The hole was just big enough that Missy could look through
the fence into the man's backyard. It was as full of weeds as the
backyard behind Daddy's shop. Daddy didn't have time to take care
of two yards, Mommy had told Missy, he was too busy working. Missy
didn't care. Besides pretending to be a cat and playing with her
dolls, Missy got to dig in the dirt with a big old spoon. Sometimes
she pretended to dig for buried treasure and other times she dug
just to see what was there. Mommy called Missy her little explorer.
Missy wasn't quite sure what Mommy meant, especially since whenever
Mommy said that, she also told Missy never to go exploring in the
front yard and especially not in the street.
Mommy never said Missy couldn't explore in
someone else's
again tonight, but the sky was a brilliant blue and sunlight
sparkled golden on the waves. Tommy took off his shoes and socks
and rolled up the legs of his jeans to his knees. He left his
backpack and his shoes and socks in the hollow next to Jessie's
log, picked up the fishing pole, and stuck a small piece of jerky
he'd softened in his mouth on the hook. He managed to fling the
hook out into the waves perfect the first time.
As the sun rose in the sky, Tommy flipped
the sunflower sunglasses down from the top of his head to his nose.
He might look stupid, but who was here to see?
He'd saved the note she'd left him, too. It
was folded up neat and safe, and tucked carefully in the zipper
pouch next to the picture of his parents.
"I'm glad you taught me to fish, too," he
said.
Someday he might even learn to like the
taste.
~ ~ ~
Missy and
the Man
Missy just wanted to see the kittens, that
was all. She'd seen cats before. All kinds of cats—orange cats with
white paws, white cats with pink ears and noses, and black cats
with yellow eyes that looked like they should be mean but they
weren't—but she'd never seen little baby kittens. Missy knew how to
pet cats good. Mommy said cats liked to be petted soft, like Missy
did with her doll's hair. Missy and her mommy both liked cats, but
her daddy didn't, so they didn't have any of their own.
Their neighbor did, though. He didn't seem
like he was a very nice man, but he had a pretty gray cat with a
white face and long fur and a fat belly that Mommy said was full of
kittens, so the man couldn't be all that mean. Missy didn't think a
cat, especially a cat about to have kittens, would live with
someone who was mean.
The man wasn't really
their neighbor neighbor, like Missy's friend Laura's daddy, who lived next
door to where Missy and her parents lived. The man with the kittens
was just the man who lived in the house next to the house where
Missy's daddy had his shop.
Missy's daddy fixed other
people's furniture, and her mommy helped. They were always too busy
to play with Missy, so when she was done watching Gilligan's Island or My Three Sons on the little television in the back room where Mommy worked,
Missy went outside all by herself to play in the backyard behind
Daddy's shop, just like a Big Girl.
The backyard behind Daddy's shop didn't have
grass like the backyard at home. Instead it had lots of dirt and
rocks and weeds, and grasshoppers that were almost as big as her
fingers. Sometimes Missy took her dolls outside and pretended the
backyard was a great big desert and her dolls needed Missy to
rescue them. But sometimes she left her dolls inside so she could
play her absolute most-favorite game: being a cat.
When Missy pretended she was a cat, she'd
walk as quiet as she could through the weeds along the edge of the
yard so she could surprise a grasshopper. Grasshoppers were fun to
play with, but Missy was careful never to hurt them, even though
she was pretty sure a real cat wouldn't be so nice to something it
was hunting.
Stalking along the fence in search of
grasshoppers was how Missy found the hole in the fence.
One of the big, tall boards in the fence was
broken. The hole was just big enough that Missy could look through
the fence into the man's backyard. It was as full of weeds as the
backyard behind Daddy's shop. Daddy didn't have time to take care
of two yards, Mommy had told Missy, he was too busy working. Missy
didn't care. Besides pretending to be a cat and playing with her
dolls, Missy got to dig in the dirt with a big old spoon. Sometimes
she pretended to dig for buried treasure and other times she dug
just to see what was there. Mommy called Missy her little explorer.
Missy wasn't quite sure what Mommy meant, especially since whenever
Mommy said that, she also told Missy never to go exploring in the
front yard and especially not in the street.
Mommy never said Missy couldn't explore in
someone else's
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