Midge Talks About the Old Times

“Hey Jake!” sang Midge as she strolled up the sidewalk to the porch. “Oh Jake! Where are you?”

“I'm here Midge,” answered Jake sitting up.

“What are you doing?” sang Midge.

“I was napping,” answered Jake. “Why are we singing?”

“I don't know,” said Midge. “We sound little silly don't we?”

“You sure do,” said Booker-T and he hurried up the steps.

“How do you know we sound silly?” asked Midge. “You weren't eve here.”

“I just heard you say you sounded silly,” said Booker-T “So I agreed with you.”

“And you are always agreeable,” laughed Midge.

“Sure Midge,” said Booker-T. “I think most of the time I am, aren't I?”

“You are,” laughed Jake. “Midge is fooling with you.”

“Sometimes you are hard to convince,” said Midge. “But that is okay. It is good that you have to think about things before you agree with them.”

“So what were you talking about when I wandered up the steps?” asked Booker-T.

“Midge came over here singing,” said Jake.

“You were singing Midge?” asked Booker-T.

“Yes,” said Midge. “I was singing what I said instead of just saying it.”

“Why?” asked Booker-T.

“I don't know,” said Midge. “I saw them doing it in a movie last night that my owner was watching. It sounded kind of cool.”

“I think that's one of those musicals I hear my owner talking about sometimes,” said Jake.

“Your owner likes them too?” asked Midge.

“She watches them all the time,” said Jake. “Sometimes I will hear her singing when she does the dishes or is cleaning the house.”

“She likes to sing too?” asked Midge.

“Sure does,” answered Jake. “Sometimes when she is cleaning, she will put on some music on the radio and she dances and sings while she cleans.”

“Oh wow,” said Midge. “She dances too? How does she get the house clean when she is dancing?”

“She dances with the vacuum cleaner and the mop,” said Jake.

“That must look funny,” said Booker-T. “Can I come over and watch some time when she is cleaning Jake?”

“Sure if you want to,” said Jake. “She always cleans on Saturday mornings.”

“She dances all the time?” asked Midge.

“No, she don't dance all the time,” said Jake. “It depends on what she has to do that day.”

“Oh, Okay,” said Booker-T. “I will come see if she will dance. I hope she dances that day. I bet she is a good dancer. She is really pretty Jake.”

“I know,” said Jake. “She is good dancer too. When she was going to school, she used to go to the Friday night dances in the gym.”

“How do you know that?” asked Midge. “You were not around back then.”

“I hear her talk about it with her friend,” said Jake. “Her friend calls it reminiscing or something like that.”

“What is reminiscing?” asked Booker-T.

“I think it must be talking about old things,” said Jake. “Because they are always talking about things that happened when they were going to school.”

“Did your owner go to school too Midge?” asked Booker-T.

“I think all the people go to school Booker-T,” said Midge. “Don't you remember all the kids in the neighborhood going to the school near the park when the weather is cold?”

“Yes,” said Booker-T. “I see them when they walk past the house.”

“But I don't think they have school dances until the kids are in what they call high school,” said Jake.

“Little kids don't dance?” asked Booker-T.

“Sure, they dance, but they do it playing around at the house,” said Jake. “They like to play in the playground on the swings and slides more than they like to dance.”

“I think sliding on the slides and swinging would be more fun than dancing,” said Booker-T.

“You always like to play Booker-T,” laughed Midge.

“Playing is fun, don't you think so?” asked Booker-T.

“I thought we were talking about old times when our owners went to school,” said Jake.

“I think we were talking about them dancing when they cleaned house,” said Midge.

“Oh I forgot,” said Booker-T. “Are we going to the park?”

“See there,” said Midge.

“See what?” asked Booker-T.

“You just want to go play,” said Jake.

“I do,” said Booker-T. “I like to play and we are supposed to go play with Snappy today.”

“Ok,” said Midge. “We should go to the park and we can talk about the old times later.”

“I like that idea,” said Jake. “And we can try to watch my owner on Saturday. Maybe she will dance when she cleans the house that day. I don't know.”

The three friends hurried along the pathway and out the gate to the sidewalk. They stopped at the corner to check the road before crossing into the park.

“I'll race you to the pond,” said Jake.

“You run too fast,”said Booker-T. “I can't keep up with you.”

“I'll race you Jake,” said Midge.

“Okay you two,” said Booker-T. “I will meet you at the pond. I'll be bring up the rear.”

Midge and Jake took off running, leaving Booker-T behind. They ran up to the pond and there sitting beside the pond, was Booker-T.

“How did you get here so fast?” asked Midge. “ I didn't see him pass us.”

Above them in the trees, the heard a lot of laughing. “Hi you guys,” said Gabby.

“Hi Gabby,” said Jake. “What are you doing?”

“What is so funny?” asked Midge.

“Tell them Booker-T,” said Gabby.

“Tell us what?” asked Jake.

“My friends and I picked up Booker-T and we flew him over here,” said Gabby.

“That was sneaky,” said Midge.

“But it was fun,” said Booker-T. “I never flew before.”

They all laughed at Booker-T's trick.

“Lets go swimming,” said Snappy.

They all agreed and and ran for the water.