Otis and Sam

            by Anna E. McDowell

 

                  The sun shone bright in the sky and there was barely a breeze. Little Otis sat at the breakfast table with arms crossed. He was very grumpy this morning because he knew that there would be nothing to do all day. Otis was five years old. He had short brown hair, big blue eyes, and a hundred tiny freckles on his cheeks and on his nose. If only I had a friend to play with me, Otis thought. It was late summer time and all his friends had started kindergarten, but poor Otis was not yet old enough. So now it was a hot day and while all his friends were at school, Otis sat at the breakfast table pondering the boredom of his long hot day.            

                                                

 

 

                  “You musn’t pout Otis, I’m sure you will find something to do,” said his mother. But Otis only continued to pout.

                  “Otis, you must stop pouting,” scolded his mother.

                  “I am sick of summer and I am bored, bored, bored!” Otis yelled and then lay is head on the table in dismay.

Otis had played all the board games in the house, he had looked at all the pictures in his stack of books, and he had counted all the marbles in his jar. He did not want to play with chalk, or checkers, or dolls, or blocks.

                  “Why don’t you draw a picture?” His mother asked, she only wanted to help.

                  “Because pictures are boring, and I’ve made hundreds already,” replied Otis.

                  “Well my dear little Otis, you cannot pout all day. The sun is shining bright, take a look outside,” his mother suggested.

Otis did not want to budge; he rather enjoyed just sitting and pouting. But finally he summoned some energy with in and slowly walked to the back door. 

The backyard was very green and bright today. The sprinklers had just sprayed the lawn wet and each blade of grass shone in the light.

 

 

 

Otis liked the way the cold, wet grass felt on his little feet. To tell the truth, he was feeling better already. But he still wished he had a friend to play with. Mother appeared at the back door smiling at Otis. She had a stuffed tiger in her hands.

                  “Otis! Why don’t you play with Sam? He has been sitting on your bed all alone all morning.”

Otis had forgotten all about his stuffed animal Sam the Tiger. How could he forget? He loved Sam very much. Otis ran for the door and snatched Sam from his mother’s arms.

                  “Thank you mom!” yelled Otis. He felt much less lonely with Sam tucked under his arm.

                  Otis was hot and sat in the cool shade of a bushy shrub. “Ahhhh,” he sighed aloud. It was very relaxing to hide in the shade with Sam by his side. Before long Otis was sound asleep.

 

 

 

When he awoke he couldn’t believe his eyes. The backyard had transformed into a jungle with huge trees and tropical plants. A parrot sang a song. Snakes coiled around branches and hissed Otis was afraid.

                  “Sam! Mother!” He yelled, and to his surprised Sam woke up and spoke to him.

                  “Don’t fear Otis,” said Sam. “I am your friend and I will keep you company.”

                  “You can talk?” Otis asked.

                  “Of course I can talk,” said Sam.

                  “But you’re a stuffed animal!” Otis exclaimed.

                  “Silly Otis, you must learn to use your imagination. If you use your imagination, anything can happen,” replied Sam.

Otis hadn’t thought of this before. He was very excited that Sam could talk and walk around like a real live tiger. In place of stiff plastic whisker Sam now had real long ones. In place of plastic teeth Sam had grown tremendous sharp ones. His orange and black fur was soft and warm.

                  “Shall we go on an adventure?” Sam asked enthusiastically.

Otis thought for a second and then realized that an adventure was just what he needed to stop being bored.       

                  “Yes!” He replied and nearly jumped in the air with excitement.

                  “Good, follow me…” Sam turned on his paws and began to walk deeper into the deepest part of the backyard jungle.

                  Otis and Sam had walked a great distance when Otis’ feet began to hurt. He wasn’t sure he could walk any farther.      

                  “You can’t slow down, Otis. We have to reach my den before it gets dark or the mud monsters will wake up and try to eat us,” Sam warned.

                  “How far is your den?” Otis asked, he wanted to sit down but the thought of the mud monsters kept him going.

                  “Not far, but it will soon be dark, we have to quicken the pace.”

Otis could hear the mud monsters beginning to wake up. They moaned and bubbled and squished about. All of a sudden one of them reached out and grabbed little Otis’ leg.

 

 

                  “Sam! Sam!” He yelled.

Sam turned around and snarled at the slimy brown mud monster that grabbed at Otis’ leg. The mud monster quickly let go and slid back into the earth where it belonged. Otis and Sam began running; Otis did not want to run into another monster like this. But soon Otis become so tired he could not run one more step.

                  “Sam, Sam…I just can’t go on! What shall I do?” asked Otis.

                  “Jump on my back and I will carry you all the way there,” Sam replied.

So Otis jumped atop Sam’s furry back and away they walked deeper into the jungle. The trees made awful noises; they hissed and cackled. The mud underfoot bubbled and squished. Wolves howled far off. Otis squeezed Sam tighter.

                  Finally, the two reached Sam’s den. Otis couldn’t have been happier to be safe from the scary creatures of the jungle. Sam’s den was deep and dark but very cozy. Together Otis lay down on the den floor, exhausted from a long adventure in the jungle. Otis could hear the birds chirping outside the den, the mud squishing and the trees hissing. All of a sudden he heard his name.

                  “Otis! Otis! Come inside for dinner!” It sounded like his mother. Otis peeked outside the den and saw two purple slippers. He looked up. There was mother’s smiling face looking down on him. It was dark outside and the stars twinkled in the sky.

                  “You spent all day outside little Otis, it’s already dinner,” said his mother.

                  “But I was stuck in the jungle with my tiger Sam!” said Otis.

                  “Of course you were,” said his mother. “What an adventure it must have been.”

Otis’ mother took his hand and together they walked in side for dinner. Otis’ afternoon hadn’t been quite so boring after all.