This is a first draft, and the sketches are rough, mostly to determine composition. You'll probably have some suggestions on the reading techniques.
BUSTER & BUDDY
And the Mysterious Messages
Buster was just waking up from a really good nap one Saturday, when his best friend Buddy came along.
"Hi, Buster," said Buddy, "Why do you have a balloon tied to your collar?"
"Hi, Buster," said Buddy, "Why do you have a balloon tied to your collar?"
"I have a balloon tied to my collar?"
"Yes, and it's got a big blue envelope fastened to it. Here, Let me get it."
Buddy pulled the string of the balloon down and grabbed the blue envelope.
"Someone must have done that while I was sleeping," said Buster, "Is there something in it?"
Buddy took a piece of paper out of the envelope, looked at it, and frowned. "It's got pictures on it," he said, "and writing."
"What does the writing say?"
Buddy did not look happy. "I'm not so great at reading," he said, "Some words are kind of easy, but a lot of them just look like squiggles to me. And we're having a reading test on Monday."
"Well, can you just TRY to read this?" said Buster, "I want to know why it's on my collar!"
"OK," said Buddy, with a big sigh, "There are two lines."
This is what the note looked like to Buddy.
Buddy folded the blue envelope like a bookmark, and put it under the first line.
"Find—wh-W-H-is-like whistle, wh-ere—the-something-go-up and-down."
Buster put his nose close to the paper. "These look like horses in this drawing," he said, " Could the something-word be 'horses?'"
"It starts with an 'h,' and then there's an 'or' and a 'ses.'
"That sure sounds like 'horses,' to me" said Buster. "What about the second line? That picture below it looks like a clown."
"Thats IT!" said Buddy, "'Clown' rhymes with 'down,' except with a 'C-L.' But what's this big word in the middle? I can't read it."
"Well, are there any parts of it that you can read?" asked Buster.
"I'll try. OK, 'M-E-S-S—mess.' I sure get in enough of those. And—I know this one! 'Age!" Mess-Age. Message!' 'Find where the horses go up and down/And look for a message under the clown.'"
"That's a very strange note," said Buster.
"Yes it is," said Buddy, "but I bet I know what it means! The merry-go-round in the park and the clown that sells balloons like this one on your collar."
"Clowns make me nervous," said Buster.
"No," said Buddy, "It's just my Uncle BooBoo. You remember him; he came to dinner and gave you a whole meatball."
"Let's go see Uncle BooBoo," said Buster.
They ran to the park, where the merry-go-round was tootling around, with its horses, sure enough, going up and down. And sitting on a stool nearby, behind a table, was Uncle BooBoo in his clownsuit. Floating above him was a big bunch of balloons, tied to his tank of balloon-blowing gas.
"Buddy and Buster!" said Uncle BooBoo. I see that you already have a balloon. Did you want another one?"
"No thank you," said Buddy politely, "But could you look at this note?"
"I can't wear my glasses with my clown makeup." said Uncle BooBoo, "You'll have to read it to me."
"OK," said Buddy, smiling because it was much easier this time.
"Under the clown?" said Uncle BooBoo. He got up and looked at the seat of his stool. He picked up the stool and looked at the bottom of it. He bent over to look under the table, and that's when Buddy and Buster saw it. A blue envelope was taped to the backside of Uncle BooBoo's clownsuit.
"It's back here!" said Buddy, and pulled it off.
"Now how did that get there? asked Uncle BooBoo.
Buddy opened the envelope and pulled out another note. This is what he saw.
Buddy and Buster said goodbye to Uncle BooBoo and went to a shady spot to read the note. Buddy read: "Look for the P-L-ace, place! where the—there's an 's' on the end of the next word—'somethings play—What does something something have to say?"
"Those pictures look like fish." said Buster, "Do you think it means the lake?"
"Those aren't fish," responded Buddy "They look like dolphins; dolphins are mammals like us. But 'dolphin' has an 'f' sound and I don't see any 'f's."
"What do you see?" asked Buster.
"D-O-L, dol, and then a P-H—and I just remembered! 'P-h' can sound like 'F,' like in Grandpa Phil's name. And then there's the word 'in' and the 'S.' Dol-ph-in-s. I guess we're looking for a bunch of dolphins. Or maybe two."
"What about the second line?" asked Buster.
"It has a question mark at the end," Buddy noticed, "and that first W-H word ends in the word 'at,' so it's probably 'what.'"
Buster put his paw on the paper. "What's the drawing on the bottom?"
"It looks like a crown, and—a fork?" Buddy read the second line again. "What, D-O—that's 'do'—do-E-S, dooz?— No, that doesn't make sense. What does K-I-N-G—a king wears a crown! but I have no idea about the next word."
"Maybe it's the king's name?" guessed Buster.
"It begins with 'N,' said Buddy.
"What does it sound like?" asked Buster.
"N-E-P, nep," said Buddy, And the second part I kind of know. It's 'tune,' like a tune you play."
"I never heard of a king called 'Nep-toon,' said Buster.
"Me neither." said Buddy "But let's go ask Ms. Biblius at the library. She knows just about everything, and if she doesn't, she knows where to find it."
"Neptune?" said Ms. Biblius, who didn't mind dogs in the library if they were as nice as Buster. "Why, to the Roman people long ago, he was the ruler of the sea. Look out the window."
Outside, in the quiet courtyard of the library, was a fountain, with water squirting up from a large stone fish's mouth and landing in the raised pool below.
"Look at the edge of the pool!" whispered Buster. Sure enough, Buddy could see that was decorated all around the edge with small leaping dolphins that were the same color as the rest of the stone. " "All this time I never noticed that those shapes were dolphins," Buddy whispered back. They all went outside.
Beside the pool was a statue of a man with long hair and a beard that flowed like water. He wore a crown of what looked like seaweed on his head, and in one hand he held a book. It looked like he was reading it to the fish that was spouting water out of his mouth.
"Meet King Neptune," said Ms. Biblius.
"Oh," said Buddy, we always called him 'Old Mr. Gugglefish,' because of the sound the fountain makes."
"Well, he's the ruler of the sea," said Ms. Biblius "or at least of this fountain. And we finally got him a new trident;" he pointed to the fork-like thing the king held in his other hand, "The old one got broken off four years ago. Now who put that there?"
She pointed at a blue envelope that had been woven through the three points of the trident. "That's for me," explained Buddy.
"Who's sending you letters from King Neptune?" asked Ms. Biblius, leaning over and pulling the envelope out of the trident,
"We don't know, answered Buddy, "They've got directions in them, and we're following them."
They ran to the park, where the merry-go-round was tootling around, with its horses, sure enough, going up and down. And sitting on a stool nearby, behind a table, was Uncle BooBoo in his clownsuit. Floating above him was a big bunch of balloons, tied to his tank of balloon-blowing gas.
"Buddy and Buster!" said Uncle BooBoo. I see that you already have a balloon. Did you want another one?"
"No thank you," said Buddy politely, "But could you look at this note?"
"I can't wear my glasses with my clown makeup." said Uncle BooBoo, "You'll have to read it to me."
"OK," said Buddy, smiling because it was much easier this time.
"Under the clown?" said Uncle BooBoo. He got up and looked at the seat of his stool. He picked up the stool and looked at the bottom of it. He bent over to look under the table, and that's when Buddy and Buster saw it. A blue envelope was taped to the backside of Uncle BooBoo's clownsuit.
"It's back here!" said Buddy, and pulled it off."Now how did that get there? asked Uncle BooBoo.
Buddy opened the envelope and pulled out another note. This is what he saw.
Buddy and Buster said goodbye to Uncle BooBoo and went to a shady spot to read the note. Buddy read: "Look for the P-L-ace, place! where the—there's an 's' on the end of the next word—'somethings play—What does something something have to say?"
"Those pictures look like fish." said Buster, "Do you think it means the lake?"
"Those aren't fish," responded Buddy "They look like dolphins; dolphins are mammals like us. But 'dolphin' has an 'f' sound and I don't see any 'f's."
"What do you see?" asked Buster.
"D-O-L, dol, and then a P-H—and I just remembered! 'P-h' can sound like 'F,' like in Grandpa Phil's name. And then there's the word 'in' and the 'S.' Dol-ph-in-s. I guess we're looking for a bunch of dolphins. Or maybe two."
"What about the second line?" asked Buster.
"It has a question mark at the end," Buddy noticed, "and that first W-H word ends in the word 'at,' so it's probably 'what.'"
Buster put his paw on the paper. "What's the drawing on the bottom?"
"It looks like a crown, and—a fork?" Buddy read the second line again. "What, D-O—that's 'do'—do-E-S, dooz?— No, that doesn't make sense. What does K-I-N-G—a king wears a crown! but I have no idea about the next word."
"Maybe it's the king's name?" guessed Buster.
"It begins with 'N,' said Buddy.
"What does it sound like?" asked Buster.
"N-E-P, nep," said Buddy, And the second part I kind of know. It's 'tune,' like a tune you play."
"I never heard of a king called 'Nep-toon,' said Buster.
"Me neither." said Buddy "But let's go ask Ms. Biblius at the library. She knows just about everything, and if she doesn't, she knows where to find it."
"Neptune?" said Ms. Biblius, who didn't mind dogs in the library if they were as nice as Buster. "Why, to the Roman people long ago, he was the ruler of the sea. Look out the window."
Outside, in the quiet courtyard of the library, was a fountain, with water squirting up from a large stone fish's mouth and landing in the raised pool below.
"Look at the edge of the pool!" whispered Buster. Sure enough, Buddy could see that was decorated all around the edge with small leaping dolphins that were the same color as the rest of the stone. " "All this time I never noticed that those shapes were dolphins," Buddy whispered back. They all went outside.
Beside the pool was a statue of a man with long hair and a beard that flowed like water. He wore a crown of what looked like seaweed on his head, and in one hand he held a book. It looked like he was reading it to the fish that was spouting water out of his mouth.
"Meet King Neptune," said Ms. Biblius.
"Oh," said Buddy, we always called him 'Old Mr. Gugglefish,' because of the sound the fountain makes."
"Well, he's the ruler of the sea," said Ms. Biblius "or at least of this fountain. And we finally got him a new trident;" he pointed to the fork-like thing the king held in his other hand, "The old one got broken off four years ago. Now who put that there?"
She pointed at a blue envelope that had been woven through the three points of the trident. "That's for me," explained Buddy.
"Who's sending you letters from King Neptune?" asked Ms. Biblius, leaning over and pulling the envelope out of the trident,
"We don't know, answered Buddy, "They've got directions in them, and we're following them."
"Imagine that. Well, best of luck to you," said Ms. Biblius, and went back inside.
Buddy pulled another piece of paper out of the envelope. "Oh no! There's a bunch of really tough words in this one."
This is what he saw:
"Calm down," said Buster, "Why don't you just take it one word at a time? What parts can you read?"
"Run-to-the-C-O-R-N, corn! Like in the picture at the top. Corn and then something. P-A-T is 'at' with a 'P'—pat. 'C-H' is a 'choo-choo' sound. Pat-ch, patch! Corn patch! Have you ever seen a corn patch around here?"
Buster thought for a moment: "What about Farmer George's corn maze at the edge of town?"
"I bet you're right, said Buddy, "Let's go!"
"Wait." said Buster, "What about the rest of it? We know where the corn patch is, but we don't know what to look for."
"Oh," said Buddy, "I guess you're right again."
"Don't worry," said Buster, "you're getting pretty good at this. What's that next long word? It's got a little straight-line mark in the middle of it."
"That's called a hyphen," said Buddy. My teacher says that when it's between two words, it means they're acting like one word. But I can't read that one at all."
"Well, said Buster," Why don't you just skip over it and see if it makes sense later?' That drawing on the bottom looks like birds."
"OK, I'll do that." said Buddy. "Now the second line: And 'F-I-N-D, find, the S-pot, spot, where—I know that one now—the black—it-rhymes-with-back, and there's the B-I-R-D-s, birds, sit. 'And find the spot where the blackbirds sit.'"
"But the blackbirds around here don't sit in corn patches, " said Buster, "They like to be near a pond or a stream. Are you sure it says 'blackbirds?'"
"Yes," said Buddy, "Oh, wait, there's a space between 'black' and 'birds.' So maybe it just means birds that are black and sit in—"
Buster and Buddy looked at each other: "Crows!"
"Let's go to the corn patch!" said Buddy excitedly.
"Wait a minute!" said Buster, "What about that long word with the hypheny-bar-thing?"
"Oh, all right," sighed Buddy, who had been hoping to forget it, "The last letters are I-T, so it rhymes with 'sit.'And the first part looks like 'lick.' Lick?" He stopped. "This is too hard."
"Back up," suggested Buster, "Take a run at it."
"OK," said Buddy, "'Lick.' Then 'E-T.' 'Licket?' And a 'Y.' 'Lickety'—Oh wait! I know! It's what Grandpa Phil says when he means really fast! 'Lickety-split! I got it!
"Good job!" said Buster, "That was a HARD one."
So they ran lickety-split to the corn maze, where one of the first things they saw was a very droopy-looking scarecrow in the middle of it. The cornstalks had started to get dry, and the maze looked like a thousand people had walked through it that summer.
"That's a pretty sad-looking scarecrow," said Buddy.
"He was a lot scarier when I first put him up," said Farmer George, who had walked up behind them. "He really kept the darn crows away for awhile, but now—"
Just as he was speaking, two big black crows flapped down from the sky and landed on each of the scarecrow's shoulders. One of them pecked at the figure's beat-up old straw hat—and pulled out a blue envelope.
"Hey," yelled Buddy, "That's mine!" The crow jumped, squawked, and dropped the envelope into the middle of the corn maze, and both birds gave Buddy a dirty look and took off.
"How am I going to get to the middle?" asked Buddy, "This is a very mazy maze."
Suddenly Buster ran into the maze. The balloon tied to his collar got snapped off by the cornstalks and floated up after the birds. He was small enough to slip between the stalks and go straight to the middle, where he picked up the envelope in his teeth and came running back.
"That's some smart dog," said Farmer George.
"You have no idea," said Buddy. He and Buster thanked Farmer George and went to sit on a hay bale, where they looked at the paper from the envelope,
"Another long word at the beginning," grumbled Buddy.
"Oh, come on," said Buster, "you're getting good at this. Can you sound it out?"
"I'll try," said Buddy,"Re-mem-ber, Remember! 'Remember a place where the door is blue?' Can that be right? Who paints a door blue?"
"See how the second line goes with it." suggested Buster.
"A something something is wait-ing for you," read Buddy, "Both somethings begin wit a 'T.'"
"A turkey tail?" wondered Buster, "A turtle trot? "
"'T-A-S-T-Y,'" read Buddy, "It looks like it should sound like 'nasty,' except with a 'T' in front."
"I'm not going anywhere nasty," said Buster. "What's that round thing doing? It looks like it's thinking about something to eat?
"Hey," said Buddy. "You're right. The second word ends with 'eat." "'T-R-eat,' Treat.' Tasty, long-A-not-like-nasty, tasty treat"
"Now we're talking," said Buster. Isn't that the name of the ice-cream shop on Main Street? Does that place have a blue door?"
"No," said Buddy, "But I just remembered. The back door to our kitchen!' It's always got the screen door in front of it, so I forgot that my mom painted it blue last spring."
They ran to Buddy's house. The closer they got, the better it smelled.
Buster's tail was wagging. "My sniffer tells me someone's baking vanilla cookies."
And we only do that," said Buddy, "when we're making—
"Ice-cream cookie sandwiches!" they both yelled, heading for the blue kitchen door and rushing in.
And there they stopped, because, sitting at the kitchen table, drinking tea with Buddy's mom, was his teacher, Ms. Ponder. Buddy's big sister Janet was there, too, watching hungrily as her twin, Jack, pulled a pan of vanilla cookies out of the oven.
"Hey!" said Jack, seeing Buddy and Buster, "Look who figured out all the clues! Mom made up the rhymes, but I was the one who put them everywhere."
"And I drew the pictures," said Janet.
"Congratulations, Buddy," said Ms. Ponder, "You just passed your reading test. Some of the words on those clues were harder than the ones on the test."
"I'm proud of you, Buddy," said his mom.
"It was kind of fun," said Buddy, "It was kind of like being a word detective, and I had lots of help."
"Don't tell me you got other people to read the clues for you!" said Jack.
"No I didn't," replied Buddy, "But I couldn't have done it without Buster." Everyone looked at Buster, and then back at Buddy.
"Dogs can't read, silly," said Jack.
"Woof!" said Buster.
Buddy pulled another piece of paper out of the envelope. "Oh no! There's a bunch of really tough words in this one."
This is what he saw:
"Calm down," said Buster, "Why don't you just take it one word at a time? What parts can you read?"
"Run-to-the-C-O-R-N, corn! Like in the picture at the top. Corn and then something. P-A-T is 'at' with a 'P'—pat. 'C-H' is a 'choo-choo' sound. Pat-ch, patch! Corn patch! Have you ever seen a corn patch around here?"
Buster thought for a moment: "What about Farmer George's corn maze at the edge of town?"
"I bet you're right, said Buddy, "Let's go!"
"Wait." said Buster, "What about the rest of it? We know where the corn patch is, but we don't know what to look for."
"Oh," said Buddy, "I guess you're right again."
"Don't worry," said Buster, "you're getting pretty good at this. What's that next long word? It's got a little straight-line mark in the middle of it."
"That's called a hyphen," said Buddy. My teacher says that when it's between two words, it means they're acting like one word. But I can't read that one at all."
"Well, said Buster," Why don't you just skip over it and see if it makes sense later?' That drawing on the bottom looks like birds."
"OK, I'll do that." said Buddy. "Now the second line: And 'F-I-N-D, find, the S-pot, spot, where—I know that one now—the black—it-rhymes-with-back, and there's the B-I-R-D-s, birds, sit. 'And find the spot where the blackbirds sit.'"
"But the blackbirds around here don't sit in corn patches, " said Buster, "They like to be near a pond or a stream. Are you sure it says 'blackbirds?'"
"Yes," said Buddy, "Oh, wait, there's a space between 'black' and 'birds.' So maybe it just means birds that are black and sit in—"
Buster and Buddy looked at each other: "Crows!"
"Let's go to the corn patch!" said Buddy excitedly.
"Wait a minute!" said Buster, "What about that long word with the hypheny-bar-thing?"
"Oh, all right," sighed Buddy, who had been hoping to forget it, "The last letters are I-T, so it rhymes with 'sit.'And the first part looks like 'lick.' Lick?" He stopped. "This is too hard."
"Back up," suggested Buster, "Take a run at it."
"OK," said Buddy, "'Lick.' Then 'E-T.' 'Licket?' And a 'Y.' 'Lickety'—Oh wait! I know! It's what Grandpa Phil says when he means really fast! 'Lickety-split! I got it!
"Good job!" said Buster, "That was a HARD one."
So they ran lickety-split to the corn maze, where one of the first things they saw was a very droopy-looking scarecrow in the middle of it. The cornstalks had started to get dry, and the maze looked like a thousand people had walked through it that summer.
"That's a pretty sad-looking scarecrow," said Buddy.
"He was a lot scarier when I first put him up," said Farmer George, who had walked up behind them. "He really kept the darn crows away for awhile, but now—"
Just as he was speaking, two big black crows flapped down from the sky and landed on each of the scarecrow's shoulders. One of them pecked at the figure's beat-up old straw hat—and pulled out a blue envelope.
"Hey," yelled Buddy, "That's mine!" The crow jumped, squawked, and dropped the envelope into the middle of the corn maze, and both birds gave Buddy a dirty look and took off.
"How am I going to get to the middle?" asked Buddy, "This is a very mazy maze."
Suddenly Buster ran into the maze. The balloon tied to his collar got snapped off by the cornstalks and floated up after the birds. He was small enough to slip between the stalks and go straight to the middle, where he picked up the envelope in his teeth and came running back.
"That's some smart dog," said Farmer George.
"You have no idea," said Buddy. He and Buster thanked Farmer George and went to sit on a hay bale, where they looked at the paper from the envelope,
"Another long word at the beginning," grumbled Buddy.
"Oh, come on," said Buster, "you're getting good at this. Can you sound it out?"
"I'll try," said Buddy,"Re-mem-ber, Remember! 'Remember a place where the door is blue?' Can that be right? Who paints a door blue?"
"See how the second line goes with it." suggested Buster.
"A something something is wait-ing for you," read Buddy, "Both somethings begin wit a 'T.'"
"A turkey tail?" wondered Buster, "A turtle trot? "
"'T-A-S-T-Y,'" read Buddy, "It looks like it should sound like 'nasty,' except with a 'T' in front."
"I'm not going anywhere nasty," said Buster. "What's that round thing doing? It looks like it's thinking about something to eat?
"Hey," said Buddy. "You're right. The second word ends with 'eat." "'T-R-eat,' Treat.' Tasty, long-A-not-like-nasty, tasty treat"
"Now we're talking," said Buster. Isn't that the name of the ice-cream shop on Main Street? Does that place have a blue door?"
"No," said Buddy, "But I just remembered. The back door to our kitchen!' It's always got the screen door in front of it, so I forgot that my mom painted it blue last spring."
They ran to Buddy's house. The closer they got, the better it smelled.
Buster's tail was wagging. "My sniffer tells me someone's baking vanilla cookies."
And we only do that," said Buddy, "when we're making—
"Ice-cream cookie sandwiches!" they both yelled, heading for the blue kitchen door and rushing in.
And there they stopped, because, sitting at the kitchen table, drinking tea with Buddy's mom, was his teacher, Ms. Ponder. Buddy's big sister Janet was there, too, watching hungrily as her twin, Jack, pulled a pan of vanilla cookies out of the oven.
"Hey!" said Jack, seeing Buddy and Buster, "Look who figured out all the clues! Mom made up the rhymes, but I was the one who put them everywhere."
"And I drew the pictures," said Janet.
"Congratulations, Buddy," said Ms. Ponder, "You just passed your reading test. Some of the words on those clues were harder than the ones on the test."
"I'm proud of you, Buddy," said his mom.
"It was kind of fun," said Buddy, "It was kind of like being a word detective, and I had lots of help."
"Don't tell me you got other people to read the clues for you!" said Jack.
"No I didn't," replied Buddy, "But I couldn't have done it without Buster." Everyone looked at Buster, and then back at Buddy.
"Dogs can't read, silly," said Jack.
"Woof!" said Buster.
No comments:
Post a Comment