Jake met Booker-T
at his fence gate on the way to Midge's house.
“Hi
Booker-T,” greeted Jake. “What are you doing?”
“I was
waiting for you,” said Booker-T.
“Lets go,”
said Jake as he started walking along the sidewalk, the short
distance to Midge's house.
They entered
the yard and found Midge sitting on the porch next to a stuffed dog.
“Where did
you get the stuffed dog?” asked Booker-T.
“My owner's
niece left it here last night when she came for dinner with her mom,”
said Midge.
“What are
you doing with it?” asked Booker-T.
“I want to
be one of those ventoquists,” said Midge.
“A what?”
asked Jake.
“A
ventoquists” said Midge.
“What is a
ventoquist?” asked Booker-T.
“They all
have dummies,” said Midge. “And they make the dummies talk.”
“Oh!” said
Jake. That is a ventriloquist.”
“I was
close,” said Midge.
“You don't
know how to do that,” said Jake. "How are you going to make it talk?"
“I can
learn,” said Midge. “Watch.”
Midge picked
up the stuffed dog and set it on the ground next to her.
“Hello
Jake,” said Midge trying to disguise her voice.
“Your mouth
moved Midge,” said Booker-T. “ Don't ventriloquists talk without
without moving their mouths?”
“Yes”
said Jake. “You need a lot of practice, Midge,”
"I can practice," said Midge.
“Why do you
want to be a ventriloquist?” asked Jake. “You can't do it for
the humans to see because they don't understand anything when we say.”
“I can do
it for our animal friends,” said Midge. “They will think I'm
really smart and funny when I make the stuffed dog talk.”
“But you
can't move your mouth Midge,” said Jake. “And you have to sound
different.”
“I will
practice every day,” said Midge. “With the stuffed dog.”
“Won't your
owner's niece want her stuffed dog back?' asked Booker-T.
“Maybe,”
sighed Midge. “Maybe if I carry it around all the time and sleep
with it, my owner will buy me one.”
“You could
try that,” agreed Jake. “Without the stuffed dog, you can't be a
ventriloquist.”
“Can we go
to the little zoo place or go the park now?” asked Booker-T.
“You can
practice later,” said Jake.
“Who's
that?” asked Booker-T when he saw a blue car pull up in front of
the house.
“That's my
owner's sister,” sighed Midge. “Maybe she came to get the
stuffed dog.”
The woman saw
the stuffed dog sitting on the porch next to Midge and walked to the
house to get the dog.
“Hi Midge,”
said the woman as she picked up the stuffed dog and patted Midge on
the head.
“Well,
Midge,” said Booker-T. “There gores your stuffed dummy dog.”
“Will you be
my dummy Booker-T?” asked Midge.
“I don't
want to be a dummy,” said Booker-T shaking his head.
“You can
pretend,” suggested Midge. “I want to be a ventriloquist.”
“I think
maybe your have to find something else to do,” said Jake.
“Why don't
you just be a dog,” said Booker-T. “Don't you like being a dog?”
“But I want
to be a famous dog,” said Midge.
“You are
famous to Booker-T and me,” said Jake. “You do a lot of things
and you are really good at begging for food for us.”
“Midge, the
famous begging dog,” laughed Booker-T.
“Very
funny!” sighed Midge. “Lets go to the zoo building”
