Winter Cold is Coming

 

Midge and Booker-T walked to Jake's house. When they entered the yard through the gate, they saw Jake and Lucy sitting on the porch swing.

“Hi guys,” greeted Midge. “What are you doing?”

“Hi Midge, Hi Booker-T,” said Jake. “We are talking about what we can do today.”

“Do you have any ideas?” asked Booker-T.

“We don't know,” said Lucy. “Do you guys have any ideas?”

“Winter is here now,” said Midge. “Soon we will have snow and we can ride the sled on the hill again.”

“Do you like Winter?” asked Lucy.

“No,” said Booker-T. “I feel cold in the winter time. I like the warm weather better.”

“Me too,” said Midge. “But we can have fun in the snow.”

“My feet get cold,” sighed Booker-T. “I need some socks and shoes.”

“I never saw a cat with socks and shoes on,” laughed Jake. “I saw dogs with shoes but no socks. Winter is cold and sometimes, I wish I had shoes and socks on my feet.”

“How do we tell our owners we need socks and shoes?” asked Lucy.

“I don't know,” sighed Midge. “We can understand what they say but they don't understand what we say.”

“That's sad, you know,” said Jake. “All we can do is bark or meow to our owners, but they don't know what we are saying.”

“How did we learn what our owners are saying?” asked Lucy. “Did they teach us?”

“I think they did a little,” said Jake. “They repeated what they said with action and we learned it.”

“Can you meow, Midge?” asked Booker-T. “I'm a dog so I bark. Can you bark, Booker-T?”

“What would our owners think if we meowed instead of bark?” said Jake. “Or if Booker-T barked instead of meowed?”

“That would be funny,” laughed Midge. “Let's try it.”

The four sat there on the porch practicing meowing and barking and were laughing at how funny they sounded.

“Maybe we can show our owners what we want,” suggested Midge.

“How do we do that?” asked Booker-T.

“Do you know where your owners puts her socks?” asked Midge.

“She puts them in something she calls a drawer,” said Booker-T.

“Can you open the drawer?” asked Lucy.

“I don't think so,” said Booker-T. “Sometimes the socks are in a basket before she washes them and then puts them in the drawer.”

“You can pull the socks out of the basket and take them to her,” said Jake. “Then try to show her you want them on your feet.”

“I might try that,” said Midge. “It worked on time when I wanted a sweater.”

“How did you tell your owner you wanted a sweater?” asked Lucy. “Maybe I can try that.”

“My owner gets a catalog of dog stuff and I pushed the pages open and found the sweaters,” said Midge and I had it open when she came home. “When she looked at the open book, I put my paw on the page. I don't know if she understood me or not, but she got the idea to get the sweater by seeing it on the open page.”

“We are smart,” said Jake.

“Does your owner still have the dog book of stuff?” asked Lucy.

“I think so,” said Midge.

“Find it and push open the page again to the shoes and socks,” said Lucy.

“Do they make socks for dogs?” asked Booker-T. “I know they have shoes but I never saw socks.”

“I will look for the book when I go home,” said Midge. “But what are we going to do today?”

“I don't know,” said Jake. “We can go to the zoo building again. It is warm inside.”

“Hey guys!” said Gabby as he flew down and landed on the porch railing. “What are you guys doing?”

“Trying to stay warm,” said Midge. “It's cold today.”

“I know it,” said Gabby. “Winter is here now.”

“Don't your little feet get cold in the winter?” asked Booker-T.

“Yes,” said Gabby. “I get into the bird house and stay warm in the straw.”

“How do you keep your feet warm when you go look for food?” asked Midge.

“The barn where Polly and I stay in,” said Gabby. “The owner there puts food out for us to eat. In the winter we stay in the barn most of the time.”

“But you must have cold feet when you come to see us in winter,” said Jake.

“I do get cold,” said Gabby. “What are you guys doing today?”

“We were talking about going to the zoo building where it is warm inside,” said Jake.

“That's a good idea,” said Gabby. “You can go to Midge's house and visit with Snappy too. It is warm in the house.”

“I think we can do that too,” said Lucy. “Snappy would like us to visit him too.”

“Do you want to go to my house?” asked Midge. “I have food in the kitchen we can eat too.”

“Do you want to go to Midge's house, Booker-T?” asked Jake.

“Sure,” smiled Booker-T. “It is warm there and we don't need socks in the house. Lets go!”

“Okay,” said Midge. “Lets go. We can go to the zoo building later.”

The four of them hurried along the sidewalk with Gabby flying above them. When they turned the corner to enter the yard gate at Midge's house, Gabby said good-bye and flew back to the barn where his friend, Polly was staying warm.