Barky and Bill’s Rocky Road

                                            The New Truck
             Becky and Quentin were watching Barky running after Bill in the back of Gran and Granpa’s house.

            “You would think they were litter mates or something. They act like they’re best friends.” Becky said, “When Bill first got here, Barky was afraid of him.”

            “Yeah,” Quentin agreed with his cousin, “Not to mention that Barky is a dog and Bill is a cat. How often does that happen?”

            “Gran says that it just takes some adjusting sometimes until you’re comfortable with someone.” Becky said. “But they do look like they grew up together.”

            “Kind of like us,” Quentin said, smiling at his cousin. They had met a year ago and had become good friends almost immediately.

            “Yep, two peas in a pod,” Becky repeated the same thing that Gran always told her friends.

            They watched Barky running past the tall grass near the creek while Bill was hiding, low to the ground getting ready to leap out when Barky got close. It was like they were playing a game that they both enjoyed. They could see Wild Bill with his black fur sticking out from his face like a little black lion. Bill’s back haunches were moving rapidly back and forth getting ready to make his attack.

            Bill jumped out at Barky at the last minute, dancing sideways with his tail straight in the air and all puffed up to twice the normal size. Barky dove in the opposite direction, anticipating the attack. Then Barky rolled away into the tall grass. They could see the grasses moving while Barky kept running.

            Becky and Quen laughed so hard when they saw the animal’s antics they almost “busted a gut”. That’s what Grandpa liked to say sometimes.

            “Let’s eat our lunch now before Grandpa gets back with his new truck,” Gran said to the kids sitting on the back porch.

            “Ok, I can’t wait to see it,” Quen said with excitement. “I hope he got the red one.”

            Grandpa had been talking about getting a new truck for the longest time. He wanted to start taking the kids camping and fishing. He was planning on getting a cap for the bed of the truck so they wouldn’t have to pitch a tent. That way they would be out of the weather and all their gear would stay dry if they were caught in a sudden storm.

            They had gilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup for lunch. After that they helped Gran clear the table. While Gran washed the dishes in the sink, the two kids went onto the front porch to wait for Grandpa to pull in with his new truck.

            “He got the red one!” Quen said jumping up and down, pointing down the road.

            Grandpa pulled into the driveway and smiled at the kids running toward him.