New Friends at the Pond

 

Let's hurry to the little train station over there," said Jake as he started walking over there with Midge and Booker-T following along. They stood in the front of the building looking for the train.

"Where is the train?" asked Midge. "I don't see one."

"I don't know," said Jake. "Maybe it is not running now because the little humans are in school."

"Do you think so?" asked Booker-T. "But here comes a big human and two little humans. They will want to ride the train."

"Maybe," said Jake. "Maybe they don't run the train when they are in school and only run it when it is the weekend."

"What does that sign on the door say, Jake?" asked Booker-T.

Jake looked up and walked to the door to read the sign. "It says," read Jake. "The train hours are from 10:00am to 6:00 pm every day til September 1st. After the the 1st of September, the train will only run on the weekends."

"It should be coming today," said Midge. "Where is it?"

"I don't know," said Jake looking around the area.

"Hey guys!" called Booker-T. "Here it comes now."

Before the train stopped at the station two more human moms came walking up with two little humans. They got on the train when it stopped and Midge, Jake and Booker-T ran to the last car on the train and climbed on and jumped into the seat so they could see out the windows.

"Choo choo," said Midge.

"Toot toot," said Booker-T.

Slowly the train began to move along the tracks. As it neared the small building near the pond, it slowed down and blew the whistle as it came to a stop. The moms got off with the little humans. They walked to the pond while Midge, Jake and Booker-T walked to the other side of the pond. They saw two big dogs splashing in the water. They walked to the edge of the water and watched them playing.

"Hi guys," said one of the dogs. "Come on in."

"Hi," smiled Midge. "Is the water nice today?"

"Yes," said the other dog. "Jump in!"

Jake ran fast and leaped into the air and splashed down into the water, splashing water on Midge who was still standing at the edge of the pond. Midge turned and walked away from the pond. She turned and ran fast toward the pond and leaped into the air and splashed down into the water near Jake.

"Come on in, Booker-T," said Midge.

Booker-T walked to the edge of the water and stuck one of his paws into the water.

"Come on in," laughed Jake. "The water is warm."

Slowly Booker-T stepped into the water. The two big dogs were laughing.

"Is he afraid of the water?" asked one of the dogs.

"No, not really," said Jake. "He used to be afraid of the water, but he is better now and loves to swim around in the water now."

"Do you live close to the park?" asked Midge.

"We live near the school," said one of the dogs. "I'm Freddie."

"I'm Kelsey," said the other dog. "We are brothers. Our owner moved here last week."

"You do look like brothers," said Midge. "How do we tell you apart?"

"Kelsey has a white spot on his back," said Freddie.

"I'm Jake," said Jake. "And my friends are Midge and Booker-T. Booker-T is the cat. We like to come play in the pond when the little humans are in school."

"Do you have any little humans in your house?" asked Midge.

"Yes," said Freddie. "We have two big humans and three little ones."

'The two big humans are at work and the little humans are in school now," said Kelsey. "How many humans do you have in your homes?"

"We don't all live in the same house," said Jake. "We each live in a house with one big human."

"Is it fun having little humans in the house?" asked Booker-T.

"Sometimes," said Freddie. "They like to play ball but they get tired."

"Do they play ball with you all the time?" asked Midge.

"The oldest human don't play with us too much now," said Kelsey. "They like to go play with their friends."

"Who do you guys play ball with?" asked Freddie.

"Sometimes our owner will toss the ball for us to chase," said Midge.

"We find other things to do when they are at work," smiled Jake.

"Can we come play with you?" asked Kelsey.

"Sure," smiled Midge.

"What do you do every day?" asked Freddie. "Do you come to the park all the time?"

"Oh no," said Booker-T.

"We do a lot of different things," smiled Midge.

"What do you do?" asked Kelsey.

"Sometimes we go to the zoo transfer building to see the animals there," said Jake. "We like to ride the train here at the park."

"I like to do human things too," said Midge.

"How do you do human things?" asked Freddie. "Isn't it hard to do what the humans do?"

"She tries," laughed Jake.

"What kinds of things do you try?" asked Kelsey. "Can Freddie and I try them with you?"

"We like to ride the sled down the snowy hill," said Booker-T. "But we can't make a snowman because we only have feet."

"I tried to ride a horse at the farm one day," said Midge. "But I fell off and landed on the ground."

"She also entered a dog show and got chased away by the people there," said Jake. "She also entered a dance contest one time."

"Wow," smiled Kelsey. "You do some fun stuff."

"We got into the water park one time and slid down the big slide into the water," said Jake. "When we landed in the water, the security guard chased us out of the park."

"We want to play with you too," said Freddie. "We think you have lot more fun than we do."

"Sure," said Jake. "Do you want to go to the zoo building with us tomorrow? I think we are going to see what new animals are there and maybe we will visit the petting zoo in the back."

"We'd like that," said Kelsey.

"Okay," said Midge. "We will meet you here at the pond tomorrow morning."

"Okay," smiled Freddie.