Little Timmy and Big Red

            by Darcey Kurashige-Elliott

 

            Once upon a time, in a small town called Clamberville, there lived a child named Timmy Toominator. Timmy was a small boy, so small that everybody in town called him Little Timmy, even his mom and dad. Little Timmy loved to play games. He knew every single rule of every playground game from kickball to capture the flag. However, Little Timmy’s favorite game was Hide and Go Seek., because he could fit into places so teeny that the other children he played with could never find him.

            Little Timmy loved to play games at the playground near his house. It was a HUGE playground, with a GIGANTIC slide and a HUMONGOUS play structure. Sometimes Little Timmy would play on the monkey bars at one side of the playground. Other times he would swing on the swings at the other side of the playground, where he would swing so high that he could almost touch the sky. Every kid in the entire city of Clamberville would ride their bike or skateboard clear across town just to play at Little Timmy’s playground.

            Every group of kids had their own part of Little Timmy’s playground. Some kids liked to climb to the very top of the play structure and act like they were pirates. Some liked to dig in the sand and pretend they were explorers looking for buried treasure. And the daredevils always claimed the tireswing, where they would spin and spin and spin for hours and never get sick.

            Little Timmy loved to do everything at his playground, and although he was small all of the children respected him. If anybody got into a pickle, he or she would go to Little Timmy, who would help them solve the problem. Little Timmy had always been a good problem solver.

            One day, as the pirates were on the top of the play structure and the explorers were digging in the sand and the daredevils were spinning on the tire swing, Little Timmy noticed a new face. But it wasn’t just a new face that stood out. This new kid was the biggest kid that Little Timmy had ever seen! He wore a red shirt, red pants and even sported red hair. It was hard not to notice him as he approached the play structure and s-l-o-w-l-y began to climb the ladder to the top.

 

 

            When he reached the very top, one of the pirates noticed him. “Hello,” she said. “Want to play pirates?”

            “No,” the big kid replied. “My name is Big Red, and this is MY play structure now.”

            “NO!” the pirates yelled. “This is our play structure, and everybody gets to use it!”

            “OK,” said Big Red, “then I’ll challenge you. Whoever can see the furthest building will own the play structure forever.”

            The pirates eagerly agreed. Who else would be able to see further than the pirates, who had played at the top of the play structure every day?

            But the pirates soon saw their mistake. Big Red was taller than anybody else and could see all around for a mile. The pirates could barely see a building at the very edge of Clamberville, but Big Red could see a building two towns over. Defeated, the pirates climbed down the ladder. The entire play structure, from the monkey bars to the swings, was now owned by Big Red.

            It was not long before Big Red tired of the play structure. After all, there is only so much a kid can do with one. Big Red now eyed the sand, and walked over to where the explorers were digging.

            “Hello,” an explorer said to Big Red. “Want to play explorers?”

            “No,” Big Red said. “My name is Big Red, and this is MY sand now.”

            “NO!” the explorers yelled. “This is our sand, and everybody gets to use it!”

            “OK,” Big Red said, “then I’ll challenge you. Whoever can dig the deepest hole will own the sand forever.”

            The explorers eagerly agreed. Who else would be able to dig further than the explorers, who had dug in the sand every day?

            But the explorers soon saw their mistake. Big Red was so big and so strong that soon he had dug a hole deeper than any of the explorers had ever dreamed of, let alone dig. Big Red had dug halfway to China! Defeated, the explorers climbed out of the sand. All of the play structure and all of the sand now belonged to Big Red.

            However, it was not long before Big Red tired of the play structure and the sand, and eyed the tire swing, the last remaining piece of the playground. He walked over to the daredevils, who were spinning in a blur.

            “Hello,” a daredevil said to Big Red. “Want to be a daredevil?”

            “No,” Big Red said. “My name is Big Red, and this is MY tire swing.”

            “NO!” the daredevils yelled. “This is our tire swing, and everybody gets to use it!”

            “OK,” said Big Red, “then I’ll challenge you. Whoever can spin the fastest will own the tire swing forever.”

             The daredevils eagerly agreed. Who else would be able to spin faster than the daredevils, who played on the tire swing every day?

            But the daredevils soon realized their mistake. Big Red was so fast and so strong that the tire swing spun faster than any of the daredevils had ever seen. In fact, had the swing not been chained to the play structure, Big Red might have flown away on his new flying contraption! Defeated, the daredevils left the tire swing. The play structure, the sand and the tire swing now all belonged to Big Red.

            Little Timmy knew that there was something wrong when all of the children started to leave his playground. Every kid had left, except for one, and his bright red hair was easily seen at the very top of the play structure.

            “That no-good dirty troublemaker!” Little Timmy thought. “I should have known that he was up to something!” He walked up to Big Red, who was lounging in a beach chair from his lookout.

 

            “Listen here! I want to know where you sent all of my friends!” Little Timmy said.

            Big Red laughed. “HAHAHAHA, HAHAHAHA, HAHAHAHA! My name is Big Red, and this is MY playground now!”

            “No it’s not! This is OUR playground! Everybody can use it!”

            Big Red chuckled. “That’s just not true. I won each and every part of this playground fairly. I’d like to see what YOU can do about it, you tiny kid,” he said, poking Little Timmy in the chest and sending him flying backwards.

            Now, Little Timmy knew that he was little. But he had a big heart, and he knew that this kid didn’t respect him for anything. This led him to an idea.

            Little Timmy cleared his throat. “I’ll challenge you. I’ll challenge you for this entire playground. If you win, you’ll get to keep it and I’ll leave you alone. But if I win, you’ll give the entire playground to me and you’ll never come back here again.”

            Big Red laughed, this time even louder. “You’re going to challenge ME to something? Sure, you can challenge me. I’ll beat you at anything.”

            This made Little Timmy even madder. “Meet here tomorrow at noon,” he said with his fists clenched. “We’re going to play a playground game.”

            The next day, Little Timmy and Big Red met on the playground, surrounded by lots and lots of anxious children. Little Timmy could feel the tension in the air. As he faced Big Red, he felt a lump in his throat. He couldn’t lose to Big Red and lose the playground for everyone.

            “The game,” Timmy said, “is Hide and Go Seek. I’ll hide, and you seek, and if you find me you get to keep the playground forever.”

            Big Red laughed. “Hide and Go Seek? That’s a child’s game! I bet I’ll catch you in 5 minutes!”

            But Little Timmy stood firm. He knew where he was going to hide. “Give me 20 seconds. Then you can start.”

            Big Red closed his eyes and started to count as Little Timmy began to run.

            “1, 2, 3, 4 …”
            Little Timmy ran with all his might. He heard the cheers of the other children slowly fade away, and he quickly searched for the teeniest spot that he could fit into.

            “7, 8, 9, 10…”

            He began to get tired, and started to get nervous. He had no idea where to hide.

            “14, 15, 16…”

            Little Timmy searched and searched, and finally found a spot in a tree trunk. However, he was very nervous because it was an easy place to find. Little Timmy closed his eyes and hoped that Big Red wouldn’t find him.

            “20! Ready or not, here I come!’

            Big Red’s footsteps could be heard from a mile away. As Big Red got closer and closer to Little Timmy, he started to whisper.

            “…where are youuu….come out, come out, wherever you arreeee…”

            Big Red was but 10 steps from Little Timmy when he suddenly felt a woosh behind him. He turned and saw Little Timmy rush past him. Big Red was so fast and so strong that he caught up to Little Timmy and snatched him right up.

            “I got you, you little…” Big Red suddenly stopped. This kid wasn’t Little Timmy at all, but was dressed exactly like him! Big Red dropped the imposter and turned around when…

            WOOSH! Dozens and dozens of Little Timmys came rushing out of every building and off of the playstructure. Every kid was dressed exactly like Little Timmy, from the pirates to the explorers to the daredevils! Little Timmy saw everything from his hiding spot and smiled. This IS a playground for everybody! he thought.

 

 

            “ARRRRGGGHHHH!” Big Red yelled. He was so upset and confused that he didn’t know what to do. After an hour of grabbing kids only to find out that they weren’t Little Timmy, he finally gave up.

            “OK, OK, you win! You get the playground back. I’m leaving!” Big Red stomped off in a cloud of dust, and all of the children cheered.

            “Big Red is gone! Big Red is gone!” the children shouted. Little Timmy had never been so proud of his friends in his entire life.

            The next day, when Little Timmy came to his playground, he had a huge grin on his face. The pirates had the top of the playstructure, the explorers were digging in the sand, and the daredevils were spinning faster than ever.

            And Little Timmy grinned from ear to ear as he shouted “This is OUR playground, and everybody can use it!”