| Hi! My name is Todd Scott. I'm seven years old. I live in the country in the state of California, with my dad, mom, and baby sister, Brooke. Oh, and can't forget the most important member of the family Jingles, my dog.We live in a three bedroom mobile home, with front porch and back deck added. It's only temporary until Dad and his work buddies finish building our log home. Dad and I are buddies, or that's what he says. I love to spend time with him, but he doesn't always have time. He has to work, spend time with Mom and give, what he calls, equal time to Brooke. As baby sisters go Brooke is okay, I guess. I gotta admit she's kinda cute, though she doesn't do much besides sleep, make funny faces and cry. Mom says that's because she's only three months old. All I know is she sure knows how to get Mom's attention with all that crying. Mom use to have more time for me before Brooke came along. For that matter so did Dad. Grownups, I'll never figure them out. Dad and Mom are always saying how Brooke is a gift from God, cuz they didn't think they'd have another child after me. So what does that make me? Dog food? Speaking of dogs, here comes Jingles. He comes running every time I come out on the back deck. Jingles is what Dad calls a mutt. He's a big dog that comes almost to my waist, with big floppy ears and shaggy tail. He's white and brown, with different colors of brown, curly fur and brown eyes. Mom calls them puppy dog eyes. Good going Mom. What else would a dog have but puppy dog eyes. Dah-ha. I sit down on the back steps and pat Jingles head, as he gives me kisses with his big wet tongue. I start telling him about my day at school. I tell him all about what my friend Brandon and I did and said. Brandon lives about a mile away. We don't get to see each other all that often, except when we are at school. I'll miss seeing him everyday when school is out next week for summer vacation. I'll get to spend time with him at Boy Scout camp though. Brandon and I both love camp; though it makes me a little sad, cuz I can't take Jingles. I yell to Mom in the kitchen, "I'm going to take Jingles for a walk. Okay?" She calls back "Okay. Just don't wonder far and stay away from the lake's edge. Be back by sundown, for dinner." "I know. I will." She says the same thing every time. You'd think by now she'd know I got the drill down pat. Jingles and I always have the greatest adventures on our walks. I try to tell Mom and Dad all about them but I don't think they really believe me. Mom is always saying I have such an imagination. Dad always says something like: "That's nice" or "Son you really need to spend less time with Jingles and more time with kids your own age." We start on our walk. I pick up a stick. Actually it's a small, broken limb from our old oak tree. It makes for a good stick to throw for Jingles. He likes to play the game of fetch and retrieve while we take our walks. We start down the path that runs along the lake, but not right at the edge. Mom's afraid I'll fall in, if I walk too close to the edge. The path leads to where Dad is building our other house. I throw the stick and Jingles bounds off to retrieve it. In no more than a minute he brings it back and drops it at my feet. He's ready for me to throw it again. Just as I'm about to throw the stick a squirrel scampers up a nearby tree. Jingles runs over and puts his front paws on the tree trunk and barks at the squirrel. I call him back and knee down to scold him. "Don't bark at the squirrel. You'll scare him." Jingles does not take my words to heart. He gives me a sloppy kiss and runs off down the path. Dad says that we have to respect the wildlife. That's the animals in the woods. He says that we can't touch them or feed them because if we do we will up set the nature of their life. In other words we'll mess up the way they live. According to Dad we have to learn to co-exist (that means live along side of) the animals but not disturb their way of life. Just like they have to learn to live with us and not harm us or mess up our life. He says animals are better at this than humans. All I know is that the whole thing is too heavy a thought for me to think about for very long. Jingles and I hadn't gone far when he suddenly stopped, dropped his tail and stared out into the woods. I was a little ways behind him. I stopped and looked around. I didn't see anything, but my heart started to beat a little faster. I slowly approached Jingles and put a hand on his back as I looked in the direction he was looking. There, not very far in front of us, was a baby deer, a fawn. He looked scared. I started to look around to see where his mother was, when I heard Jingles start to growl, a deep and low, scary growl. "What is it boy?" I held my breath as I followed Jingles stare. Oh my God! A bear. There was a big brown bear on the ridge above where we were standing. My heart started to beat so hard I thought it was going to jump out of my chest. Dad's words came to mind. "Son if you are in the woods and ever see a bear, stop. Don't go near the bear, but don't run away. Slowly back away and walk swiftly home. Make sure Jingles is with you and that he doesn't go near the bear. The bear could kill Jingles." I grabbed for Jingles collar. Too late. He was bounding up the incline toward the bear. "No Jingles! No! Come back boy!" He wasn't listening. He wasn't charging the bear, but he was close and fiercely barking. The bear stood up on it back legs and pawed the air in Jingles direction, letting out a big frightening growl. Oh no Jingles is going to die. I started toward him. Then stopped. If I went to close to the bear he might kill me too. What was I going to do? I was so scared I wanted to cry, but couldn't. The fawn was standing so close I could have reached out and touched it, but knew I would scare him if I tried. Jingles was still running back and forth in front of the bear barking. The bear took a step towards Jingles. "Jingles come back! Jingles the bear is going to kill you! Come back! Come back!" I was screaming so loud that it hurt my throat. Jingles made a lung toward the bear barking. I closed my eyes I couldn't watch. I heard both growling and what sounded like a scuffle. Then I heard what sounded like breaking branches. I opened one eye and peeked out. It's a miracle! The bear is lumbering off into the woods. I again called to Jingles. At first Jingles didn't come. He stood his ground and watched as the bear walked off. Like he was making sure the bear wasn't going to return. Then he started running back towards me. When he got back to where I was standing he jumped up, putting his paws on my shoulders. I gathered him in my arms and gave him a big hug. He pushed so hard against me that we both toppled over onto the ground. We were both so happy that we just rolled around, letting each other know how much we loved the other, for several minutes. Then I picked myself up off the ground and brushed myself off. Jingles started to go off again. "Jingles where are you going? Come back." Then I saw the fawn making its way up the incline. It's mother, a pretty doe, was standing on the ridge where the bear had been. Jingles, at a safe distance, followed the fawn until it got to its mother's side. Then he headed back to me. The doe looked as if she nodded her head in thanks and then her and her baby walked out of sight. All the way home I told Jingles how brave he was and how proud I was of him. I couldn't wait to tell Mom and Dad. When we reached the house I raced in he back door. "Mom! Mom, guess what? Jingles...." Mom yelled, "Todd look what you did to my clean kitchen floor. How many times have I got to tell you to take your dirty shoes off before you come in the house." "Sorry Mom, but... "No buts. Just get out on the back porch and take your shoes off." Why did she always have to yell. "Yes Mom." I went out on the back porch and took my shoes off. Then returned to the kitchen. "Mom, Jingles and I..." "Not now Todd. I haven't got time for one of your stories. Go wash up. Dinner will be ready in a few minutes. And don't wake up Brooke." "Yes ma'am" I headed down the hall toward the bathroom. Half way down the hall I met Dad. "Dad, you won't believe what Jingles did." "Later son. I have some things I have to do." "But..." "Not right now. We'll talk later." "Yes sir." Well you see how it goes around here. Thanks for listening to my story. No one else is ever interested, except. Brandon. I can't wait until tomorrow to tell him. THE END |
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| JINGLES AND ME by Kenna Marie Clayton |
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| Copyright �2002 Kenna Marie Clayton |
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