Read Online Stick Dog Dreams of Ice Cream by Tom Watson - Free Book Online
Authors: Tom Watson
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others heard the urgency in his voice and saw the controlled panic on his face. They hidâand hid fast.
Stripes ran to the flagpole and hid behind it. Mutt ran to the climbing dome, stoopedlow on the ground under it, and covered one eye with a paw. Poo-Poo hid behind a swing. Karen sprinted toward the sandbox, jumped nine inches into the air, and plummeted down into the sand pile, burying herself the best she could.
Stick Dog watched his friends find their hiding places.
Unfortunately, he could see them all quite clearly. He waved frantically at them and pointed across the street to the mailboxes where they had hidden before. Poo-Poo, Mutt, Karen, and Stripes all understood his motions instantly and raced across the street to their previous hiding place.
Knowing they were safe, Stick Dog turned his body around to look and listen out the truckâs windows.
He knew he was on his own now.
What he didnât know was this: he was about to be seen by a human.
Chapter 12
WOGGY!
Stick Dog stretched out across the long bench seat in the front part of the truck. He listened for two distinct sounds.
First, he wanted to hear the screen window slide shut. He knew that would mean the driver was done serving ice cream to the other humans.
Second, he would hear the driver climb out and close the back door. That would mean, Stick Dog knew, that the driver was about to return to climb into the truck and drive away.
It was then that Stick Dog would need to put the rest of his ice creamâsnatching plan into action. He nodded his head backward, flopping his ears back a bit to hear even better. He looked up and out of the passenger-side window and listened. There were fewer human voices with every minute that passed.
Finally, there was just one voice left. It was female and sounded like a large human. âIâll just take a vanilla cone for me and my doodlebug here.â
âComing right upâ was the answer that Stick Dog heard.
He also heard the large female human pacing a little bit outside the truck as she waited. The steps seemed to come closer, and Stick Dog crouched down even lower. He listened and stared up out of that window.
Then a small human stared right at him through that window and yelled, âWoggy!â The little human began bouncing up and down. Stick Dog could see a larger human arm holding the tiny human.
And the tiny human pointed at him and exclaimed, âWoggy! Woggy! WOGGY!!â louder and louder.
Stick Dog instinctively held his paw up to his mouth to try to hush the tiny human.
This had an enormous impact.
It started screaming, âWOGGY! WOGGY!! WOGGY!!!â and bounced even more wildly in the big humanâs arms.
âYes, yes, I know. Youâre a little doggy,â the big female human said in a calming voice. âAnd the little doggy is going to get an ice cream cone, donât worry. But calm down. Youâre going to jump right out of my arms.â
With that, the tiny human was gone.
Stick Dog panted his relief and heard the big female hand some coins to the ice cream man. There were no more voices near the truck. All the humans had returned to the playground to eat their sweet treats. Stick Dog heard the screen window slide shut. The truck vibrated. He guessed the man had just stepped out from the back of the truck. Two seconds later the back door slammed shut.
The man was returning.
And Stick Dog knew he had to get outâfast.
He reached out the passenger-side window as far as he could with his front paws. For a split second, sheer panic coursed through his body. His paws found nothing but air.
But then, with extra stretching effort, they scratched against metalâthe shelf that ran along the side. Using his front paws to balance on that shelf, Stick Dog lifted his back legs onto the lower edge of the passenger-side window. He closed his eyes, shifted his weight forward, and pushed hard with his back legs.
For the shortest
Stripes ran to the flagpole and hid behind it. Mutt ran to the climbing dome, stoopedlow on the ground under it, and covered one eye with a paw. Poo-Poo hid behind a swing. Karen sprinted toward the sandbox, jumped nine inches into the air, and plummeted down into the sand pile, burying herself the best she could.
Stick Dog watched his friends find their hiding places.
Unfortunately, he could see them all quite clearly. He waved frantically at them and pointed across the street to the mailboxes where they had hidden before. Poo-Poo, Mutt, Karen, and Stripes all understood his motions instantly and raced across the street to their previous hiding place.
Knowing they were safe, Stick Dog turned his body around to look and listen out the truckâs windows.
He knew he was on his own now.
What he didnât know was this: he was about to be seen by a human.
Chapter 12
WOGGY!
Stick Dog stretched out across the long bench seat in the front part of the truck. He listened for two distinct sounds.
First, he wanted to hear the screen window slide shut. He knew that would mean the driver was done serving ice cream to the other humans.
Second, he would hear the driver climb out and close the back door. That would mean, Stick Dog knew, that the driver was about to return to climb into the truck and drive away.
It was then that Stick Dog would need to put the rest of his ice creamâsnatching plan into action. He nodded his head backward, flopping his ears back a bit to hear even better. He looked up and out of the passenger-side window and listened. There were fewer human voices with every minute that passed.
Finally, there was just one voice left. It was female and sounded like a large human. âIâll just take a vanilla cone for me and my doodlebug here.â
âComing right upâ was the answer that Stick Dog heard.
He also heard the large female human pacing a little bit outside the truck as she waited. The steps seemed to come closer, and Stick Dog crouched down even lower. He listened and stared up out of that window.
Then a small human stared right at him through that window and yelled, âWoggy!â The little human began bouncing up and down. Stick Dog could see a larger human arm holding the tiny human.
And the tiny human pointed at him and exclaimed, âWoggy! Woggy! WOGGY!!â louder and louder.
Stick Dog instinctively held his paw up to his mouth to try to hush the tiny human.
This had an enormous impact.
It started screaming, âWOGGY! WOGGY!! WOGGY!!!â and bounced even more wildly in the big humanâs arms.
âYes, yes, I know. Youâre a little doggy,â the big female human said in a calming voice. âAnd the little doggy is going to get an ice cream cone, donât worry. But calm down. Youâre going to jump right out of my arms.â
With that, the tiny human was gone.
Stick Dog panted his relief and heard the big female hand some coins to the ice cream man. There were no more voices near the truck. All the humans had returned to the playground to eat their sweet treats. Stick Dog heard the screen window slide shut. The truck vibrated. He guessed the man had just stepped out from the back of the truck. Two seconds later the back door slammed shut.
The man was returning.
And Stick Dog knew he had to get outâfast.
He reached out the passenger-side window as far as he could with his front paws. For a split second, sheer panic coursed through his body. His paws found nothing but air.
But then, with extra stretching effort, they scratched against metalâthe shelf that ran along the side. Using his front paws to balance on that shelf, Stick Dog lifted his back legs onto the lower edge of the passenger-side window. He closed his eyes, shifted his weight forward, and pushed hard with his back legs.
For the shortest
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