Snappy's New Friend

“Hey Midge!” called Booker-T as he poked his head through the doggie door. “I'm coming in wherever you are.”

“Come on in,” smiled Midge as she entered the kitchen after hearing Booker-T call out. “Com say hi to Snappy. He will be happy to see you.”

Booker-T followed Midge to the living room and leaped into one of the chairs next to the table where Snappy's tank home sits.

“Hi Snappy,” greeted Booker-T as he pressed his nose against the tank.

“Hi Booker-T,” replied Snappy. “What are you doing this morning?”

“I came in to see you,” said Booker-T. “It's been a long time since I came in to see you. We miss you at the park pond.”

“I'm happy to see you too,” smiled Snappy. “I see Midge every day. Do you like my new home?”

“You have a new home?” asked Booker-T.

“See it?” asked Snappy. “Our owner got me a little bigger one with a really nice pond for me to play in. I really like it. She is so nice.”

“It looks really nice Snappy,” said Booker-T. “I didn't notice it was bigger. Do you miss the pond at the park?”

“Sometimes I miss playing with you guys,” said Snappy. But I am in a safer place now and the weather is much better here.”

“Winter is too cold for a little guy like you, Snappy,” said Midge. “Here you stay warm all the time. No season changes.”

“What are you guys going to do today/” asked Snappy.

“I think we are going to the new little town Gabby told us about,” said Booker-T.

“You are going to another town?” asked Snappy. “How are you going to get there?”

“We will walk,” said Midge.

“Is it very far from our town?” asked Snappy.

“Not far at all,” said Booker-T. “It is inside our town.”

“Wow,” said Snappy. “A town inside a town. Where is it?”

“Someone built a little town of old buildings for tourists and we want to go see it,” said Midge. “We want to see what a tourist looks like.”

“Have you ever seen a tourist before?” asked Snappy.

“I don't know,” said Midge. “Maybe we did and maybe we didn't. We might have seen one and didn't know it was a tourist.”

“How will you know if you see one?” asked Snappy.

“I don't know,” sighed Booker-T. “How will we know if we see one, Midge?”

“Maybe a tourist is an alien from another planet who will come to live in the little town or maybe it is some kind of strange animal that some humans have.”

“Do you think the humans will have the tourists on a leash?” asked Booker-T.

“I hope so,” said Midge. “They might be dangerous.”

“Who might be dangerous?” asked Jake as he entered the room.

“Hi Jake,” greeted Midge.

“I didn't see you outside,” said Jake. “So I came inside to see if you were in here. Who might be dangerous?”

“We were talking about seeing a tourist,” said Booker-T.

“Do you think they might be dangerous?” asked Midge.

“I never saw a tourist,” said Jake. “I don't know if they are or not. I don't even know what they look like.”

“Maybe the humans will have them on leases,” suggested Midge. “Or maybe they are aliens from another planet and they came here to live in that little town.”

“Hi Snappy,” said Jake. “Sorry I forgot to say hi when I came in. Did you get a new home? It looks bigger to me.”

“Our owner set it up for me last night,” smiled Snappy. “Do you like it?”

“It looks really nice,” said Jake.

“I have a new friend too,” said Snappy.

“Do you have another little Ant in there?” asked Booker-T.”

“Where is your new friend?” asked Jake as he pressed his nose against the glass. “Is he in there with you?”

“Tiny!” called Snappy. “Come out and meet my good friends. Don't be scared.”

From under the rocks, a small little green turtle crawled out to join Snappy on the large branch.

“They are really big,” said Tiny. “They don't look like you and I.”

“They are different,” said Snappy. “But we are all friends. They used to come swim in the park pond with me until Midge got her owner to give me a nice home when it was really cold outside.”

“Hi Tiny,” smiled Midge. “I'm Midge and this is Jake and that's Booker-T in the chair.”

“It is really nice you have a little friend to play with,” said Jake. “How did he get here?”

“Our owner brought him home last night when she got me the bigger tank,” said Snappy. “Now you can come visit me and Tiny. And I won't be lonely when you are all out there playing.”

“We will come back again to visit,” said Booker-T.

“Are you going to look for the tourists at the little town now?” asked Snappy.

“Yes,” said Jake. “Do you and Tiny want to come along? I can pull you in the wagon if you want to come with us.”

“Thanks,” said Snappy. “But we will stay here. You can tell us all about the tourists when you come home.”

“We will do that,” agreed Midge. “Come on Jake and Booker-T. Lets go check out this new little town and try to find some tourists. I want to see what they look like.”

“See you later guys,” said Snappy.

“Bye,” said Jake as the three of them hurried through the kitchen and out the back doggie door.

“How will we know if we see a tourist, Jake?” asked Midge. “We don't know what they are?”

“I don't know,” said Jake. “Maybe Gabby knows what they are.”

“Is Gabby going to come to the little town?” asked Midge.

“I think so,” said Jake.

“Hey Jake!” said Booker-T. “Is that the town over there?”

“I think so,” said Jake. “Lets go into the town.”

They hurried across the street and stood staring at all the buildings and all the people walking around.

“Okay,” said Midge. “Lets go in.”