New Friends at the Park

 

Midge was sitting on the front porch watching the little humans walking along the sidewalk on their way to school. Booker-T walked through the gate and sat down on the porch with her.

"What are you doing?" asked Booker-T.

"I was watching all the little humans walking to school," said Midge. "I think this is the last week of school and they will be out running around and playing."

"I think they are excited for summer to come," said Booker-T.

"I know," said Midge. "The pond at the park will be full of the little humans playing in the water. Where will we play in the water?"

"We can play in the sprinklers when they come on," suggested Booker-T. "Maybe we can go the park early before the little humans get there."

"I think so," said Midge. "The little humans are too little to go to the pond without their moms or dads so we can maybe go before they come to play."

"Do you want to go play in the pond this morning?" asked Booker-T. "We can go get Jake and go the park and swim in the pond."

"Okay," said Midge. "Lets go get Jake as she stood up and started to walk to the gate.

Booker-T ran behind her as they started to walk along the sidewalk to Jake's house. As they reached the corner, they saw Jake coming their way.

"Hi Jake," said Midge. "Are you coming to my house?"

"Yes," said Jake. "I was coming to your house."

"But I'm not there," said Midge.

"I see," laughed Jake. "I see you walking along the sidewalk. Are you and Booker-T going to my house?"

"We were coming to get you to go the park," said Midge.

"We want to go swim in the pond," said Booker-T.

"I'm not at home either," said Jake.

"We all are not at home," laughed Booker-T. "We are standing out here on the sidewalk."

"Lets go to the pond," said Midge.

The three started to walk to the park. They stopped at the corner and looked up and down the street looking for cars. They then ran across the street into the park. Gabby came flying down from the trees and landed on the ground in front of them.

"What are you guys doing?" asked Gabby.

"We are going to swim in the pond this morning," said Midge.

"Do you want to come play with us?" asked Booker-T.

"It will be fun," said Jake. "Come on. You like the water."

"Okay," said Gabby.

The three ran across the park to the pond as Gabby flew above them. As they neared the pond, they heard a lot of splashing from the pond. When they got close to the pond, they could see a lot of dogs playing in the water. They stopped at the edge of the pond.

"Hello," said Midge. "Is the water nice today?"

"Hi," said a small white dog. "The water is good this morning."

"What is your name? asked Midge.

"I'm Cotton," said the small white dog. "Who are you?"

"I'm Midge and these are my friends, Jake and Booker-T," said Midge. "We came to swim in the pond."

"We did too," smiled Cotton. "This is Butch and that big dog over there is Buddy."

"Where do you live?" asked Jake. "I don't think we have seen you before at the pond."

"We live near the school," said Cotton. "Come on in the water."

Midge, Booker-T and Jake jumped into the water and swam around with the three dogs who were already playing in the water.

"Booker-T is your friend?" asked Cotton.

"Yes," said Jake. "We are all friends."

"I never had a cat for a friend," said Cotton. "All my friends are dogs like me."

"We are friends with a cat, a turtle, a bird," said Midge. "We also have some friends who are cows and horses."

"Wow," said Cotton. "That is cool. Will you be my friend too, Booker-T?"
"Sure," said Booker-T. "I would like to be your friend too."

"Do you like to play with dogs?" asked Cotton.

"I used to be scared of dogs," said Booker-T. "But then I met Midge and she was really nice to me. She even helped me find a nice home."

"You didn't have a home?" asked Cotton.

"No," sighed Booker-T.

"He was homeless living in an alley behind a small cafe," said Jake. "He looked so sad and Midge was worried about him sleeping in the cold."

"What did Midge do?" asked Cotton.

"She always told him he needed a home," said Jake. "But Booker-T acted brave and said he was fine living in the alley."

"Do you have a home now?" asked Cotton.

"Yes," replied Booker-T. "I live in the house next to Midge's house."

"That's nice," said Cotton. "We all need a good home."

"We play near the school sometimes," said Midge. "But we have never seen you guys."

"We just moved in last week," said Cotton.

"Do you three live together in same house?" asked Jake.

"Me and Buddy live in the same house and Butch lives next door to us," said Cotton.

"I live next door to Booker-T," said Midge. "Jake lives about 3 or 4 blocks from us."

"What is blocks?" asked Cotton. "Is that a different kind of house?"

"When you walk along the sidewalk," said Jake. "And you cross the street at the corner and then walk for a while and cross another street, between each street is a block of houses or businesses."

"Oh, okay," said Cotton nodding his head. "What do you guys do every day?"

"We do a lot of things," said Midge. "Do you guys want to do things with us?"

"Maybe," said Cotton. "Sometimes, I wish I was human."

"You sound like Midge," laughed Jake. "She does too. She likes to try human things."

"I haven't done that," said Cotton. "But humans have a lot to do. My owner likes to go ride horses. I want to ride too."

"Me too!" smiled Midge. "I tried it one time."

"Wow!" said Cotton. "What happened?"

"I fell off," sighed Midge. "It is really hard to stay on top when they are walking."

"Were you okay?" asked Cotton.

"I was holding onto the horse's hair and then I let go and fell on the ground," said Midge. "But I didn't get hurt. We are friends with the horse."

"That's cool," smiled Cotton. "Maybe I can go with you and try to ride the horse."

"Sure," said Midge. "Next time we go to the farm, you can come along with us."

"Okay!" smiled Cotton.