Jake and the Strange Ball

The morning was early and Jake decided to go ahead and go to Midge's house.  He strolled along the sidewalk enjoying the quiet morning in the sun.  He saw something in the middle of the road that looked like a ball that some child must have lost. 

    “Looks like someone lost their ball,” thought Jake.

    He ran to the ball and when he got close to it, he thought, “That's a funny looking ball.  It isn't very round like most balls I've played with.”

     He put his nose close to the ball and quickly jumped back from it.  “Oh!” thought Jake.  “This is a really stinky ball.  No wonder they threw it away.  I think the ball is rotten.”

      Jake tried to pick the ball up and it was falling apart.  The outside covering was falling off in pieces.   He threw it down and pushed it with his nose.  More of the covering came off as he shoved it down the street.  Now the smell got worse and his eyes began to water and burn.

    “This is a very bad ball,” thought Jake.  “How can a ball get so rotten.  Maybe someone left it in some stinky water.”

     He took his foot and stated hitting it and made it roll a short distance.  He moved it little at a time because it would not roll like a good ball did.  He pushed it all the way to Midge's house. As he pushed it along, more and more of the thin covering came off the ball.  Little by little he pushed the strange ball along the street.  When he pushed hard it didn't roll very good.

    “What am I going to do with this strange ball?” thought Jake.  “It doesn't even roll good for us to play with.  How will we play with a ball that won't roll?  Midge always finds cool things to bring home, like the hula hoop.  I find a rotten ball that is falling apart.  I will show it to Midge and then throw it away.”

      He stood near his stinky ball a few minutes staring at it and then once again, started pushing it with his foot.  The covering was all gone now and he could now see the inside of the ball.  It was a pretty white color. 

    “The inside of the ball looks okay,” thought Jake.  “But it still smells funny and won't roll good.”

    He pushed the ball into Midge's yard and up to the porch.

     “Hey Midge!” called Jake.  “Where are you?  I have something to show you.”

     He listened but didn't hear anything from inside the house.  He ran to the back yard, but no Midge. 

     “I  bring a ball to show Midge and she's not here,” thought Jake.

     As he came back to the front of the house, he saw Midge and Booker-T walking back to the house from Booker-T's place. 

    “Hi guys!” said Jake.

    “Hi,” said Midge walking to the porch.

    “What are you two doing?” asked Jake.

    “What are you doing?” asked Midge when she got to the porch.  “What are you doing with that onion?”

    “An onion?” asked Jake as he raised his eyebrows.

    “Yes,” said Midge wrinkling up her nose at the smell.  “Don't your owner use onions when she cooks?”

     “I don't know,” said Jake. “I thought it was a funny smelling ball.”

     “It is funny smelling all right,” laughed Midge.  “But it sure isn't a ball.  It's an onion and people eat them.”

     “How do they eat them with that terrible smell?” asked Jake.

     “I don't know,” said Midge.  “My owner cooks them and the smell goes away.”

     “Look in your pantry when you go home,” said Booker-T.  “You might see  lot of the funny looking balls in there.”

     “Why don't you taste it,” suggested Midge..

     “You try it Booker-T,” said Jake. 

     “Do I look like Mikey?” laughed Booker-T.

     “Who is Mikey?” asked Midge.  “And what has he got to do with trying to eat the onion?”

     “He is a boy in the commercials for some kind of cereal,” said Booker-T.  I saws him on TV once when my owner was watching a movie.  “It says that Mikey will eat anything.”

     “Oh,” said Jake.  “You have been watching TV with your owner again.”

     “I like TV,” said Booker-T.   “When she watches those old movies, sometimes they have old commercials with them.”

     “Do you like the commercials?”' asked Jake.

     “I like the ones with cats,” said Booker-T.  “My favorite cat is Morris the cat.”

     “What does he do in the commercials?” asked Midge.

     “He is a picky eater and won't eat anything but 9-lives cat food,” said Booker-T.  “He sure is missing out on a lot of good food.  I like other things too.”

     “Do you like TV commercials, Jake?” asked Midge.

     “I don't know,” said Jake.  “I like when my owner watches movies that have dogs in them.”

     “Hi guys,” greeted Melody when she walked to the porch.

     “Hi Melody,” said Midge.

     “Oh my goodness,” said Melody.  “What is that bad smell?”

     “Jake brought home an onion,” said Midge.

     “An onion?” asked Melody. “What is an onion and why did he bring it home?”

     “He thought it was a ball,” said Midge.

     “But it smells so bad,” said Melody.  “Why does it make my eyes water?”

    “I don't know,” said Midge.  “It is bad.”

     “What do you do with an onion?” asked Melody.

     “Humans cook with them,” said Midge.  “They put it into all kinds of food.”

     “I don't want to eat food that smells that bad,” said Melody.  “Do they put that in our food?”

     “I don't know,” said Jake.  “If they do, we can't smell it.”

     “When they cook it, the smell goes away,” said Midge.

     “That's good,” said Melody.  “I think you need to throw that thing into the garbage.”

     “I think so too,” laughed Midge.