Is That a Turtle?

 “Hey Jake!” called Booker-T as he and Midge hurried onto the porch at Jake's place.

“Where are you?” called Midge. “We are here to go to the park.”

They stood staring at the front door. Jake didn't answer. “Hey Jake!” called Booker-T again. “Where are you?”

“Booker-T and I are ready to go to the park,” said Midge jumping into the swing and peeking into the window.

“Do you see him?” asked Booker-T.

“No,” said Midge shaking her head. “It's dark in there and I only have a tiny little hole to look through.”

“Tap on the window,” said Booker-T. “His owner isn't home.”

“How do you know?” asked Midge.

“One good way,” laughed Booker-T. “Her car is not here.”

“Maybe it is time for Jake's vet visit,” said Midge turning around in the swing and sitting down.

“I don't think he is going to the vet's til next week,” said Booker-T.

“Maybe he went early,” said Midge. “My owner sometimes takes me early and sometimes she takes me late.”

“Maybe,” said Booker-T. “I'm going to go look in the back yard.”

“I'll go with you,” said Midge as she followed Booker-T to the back yard.

They stood at the corner of the house and quickly looked around the yard. “I don't think he is back here,” said Booker-T.

“I don't see him either,” said Midge. “What is that over there? I never saw that before.”

“I don't know,” said Booker-T. “Come on, let's go check it out.”

They hurried to the corner of the garage where something lay against the outside of the building.

“It looks like a hat,” laughed Midge. “I thought it was a turtle.”

“A turtle?” asked Booker-T. “That looks like a turtle?”

“From over there, it did,” said Midge. “Now I see it is a funny looking hat.”

“I wonder who's hat it is?” asked Booker-T getting a closer look at it.

“Well, the only thing I can be sure,” said Midge. “It's not Jake's hat.”

“How do you know?” asked Booker-T.

“Jake don't wear hats,” laughed Midge. “He's a dog.”

“The man at the cafe where I used to hang out,” said Booker-T “He used to put hats and sweaters on his dog in the winter.”

“Oh, that must have been funny looking,” said Midge. “Did he like it?”

“I talked to him one time and he wasn't happy wearing them,” said Booker-T. “He always thought everyone was laughing at him.”

“I have never seen Jake in a hat,” said Midge. “The hat must belong to his owner.”

“That's a strange hat for a girl,” said Booker-T.

“Maybe,” said Midge. “Maybe Jake knows who the hat belongs to.”

“I don't see him around here at all Midge,” said Booker-T. “He was going to the park with us today, wasn't he?”

“He told me he wanted to go,” said Midge. “Lets go sit on the porch for a little while and see if he comes back.”

The two hurried back to the front yard and jumped into the swing on the front porch and sat watching all the cars going up and down the street.

“Over there Booker-T,” said Midge. “Here comes Jake now.”

“Hey you two,” called Jake as he hurried to the porch where Jake and Booker-T were sitting. “Where have you two been?”

“Us,” said Booker-T. “We came over here to go to the park with you. Where were you?”

“I just came from your house,” laughed Jake.

“I didn't see you along our walk over here to your house,” said Midge.

“I walked the other way around the block,” said Jake. “Misty was here this morning so I walked her home on my way to your house.”

“Oh that's too funny,” laughed Midge. “We are here looking for you and you are at my house looking for us.”

“Are you ready to go to the park?” asked Jake.

“Sure,” said Booker-T. “But first Midge wants to know what kind of hat is that in your back yard?”

“What hat?” asked Jake. “I don't have a hat in the back yard.”

“At first, I thought there was a turtle hiding back there,” said Midge. “But when we got close to it, I saw it was a hat.”

“There shouldn't be a hat in the back yard,” said Jake walking toward the back. “Come on I want to see what you found.”

The three hurried to the back yard so Midge could show Jake what she found. They carefully approached the hat and Jake nudged it with his foot.

“It won't move,” laughed Booker-T. “It's just a hat. We've never seen a hat like that.”

“Oh, I know what this is,” laughed Jake.” My owner's nephew was here yesterday playing Safari.”

“Safari?” asked Midge. “What is safari?”

“People go on something they call a safari in some other country,” said Jake. “And my owner's nephew likes to play safari and pretend he has gone on a safari to another country. He pretends I'm a lion.”

“But what kind of hat is that?” asked Booker-T. “Is that his hat?”

“He calls it a safari hat,” said Jake. “I think they wear them in the jungle.”

“You know about the jungle?” asked Midge.

“No,” said Jake. “How would I know about the jungle?”

“You know a lot Jake,” said Booker-T. “I thought you might know about the jungle.”

“Only what the little boy says when he is playing,” said Jake. “Sometimes my owner will play with him and she pretends be a gorilla.”

“It sounds like they have lot of fun,” said Midge.

“Why did you think that hat was a turtle?” laughed Jake.

“From across the yard, it looked like that was the shell of a big turtle,” said Midge. “But when we got closer to it, we saw it was just a hat.”

“Are you two ready to go to the park?” asked Jake. “I thought we were going to take a quick swim in the pond. Soon it will be too cold.”

“Can we play safari sometime?” asked Booker-T. “I think I would make a good tiger for the safari.”

“We can try to play,” said Jake. “Maybe when the little boy comes you can come same day and play with us.”

“That will be fun,” said Midge. “Okay, I'm ready to go take a little dip in the pond.”

The three hurried along the sidewalk to the park. They ran across the park and jumped into the pond for a little swim.