It was the holidays, the sun was shining outside and little boy Matty didn’t know what else to play with. Today he had played with everything – cars, legos, he rode a balance bike, played a hopscotch, swinging on a swing, slid on a slide and there were some other things he couldn’t even remember. He would love to play Pairs with his mommy, but she’s making lunch. She promised him she would play with him after she finishes making lunch. He was looking forward to it. But what will he do until then?
Good thing he had a four-legged friend, Fluffy, who’s up for any game. Matty picked up Fluffy’s favourite ball from the grass and threw it towards the garden. Fluffy wagged his tail and went straight for the ball. He happily brought it to Matty so he could throw it again. Matty swung and threw. But the ball didn’t land on the grass. Did it fly away? Matty looked up at the sky. Balls don’t fly, they don’t have wings. Why didn’t it fall? Fluffy ran around the garden in confusion, trying to find where the ball had gone. If it had fallen on the ground, he would have sniffed it out and brought it back.
“Fluffy, look for it,” called Matty, but the dog was helpless.
So Matty went to help him. Fluffy sniffed around a tall tree with cherry trees growing on it. A blackbird was sitting on a branch and making fun of them.
“You mockingbird,” Matty admonished him. “Stop mocking us and help us. Where did our ball go?”
“Nowhere, nowhere, it didn’t fly. But I’ll fly, look,” said the blackbird, flapping his wings and flying away.
“He didn’t help us much,” grinned Matty.
“I’ll help you,” said the voice near Matty’ ear.
“Butterfly, did you see our ball?”
“I did. It flew up and stayed somewhere in the branches of the tree,” said the butterfly softly, fluttering up into the treetop. “There it is, but it’s stuck between the branches. I’m too weak to push it.”
Fluffy panicked under the tree.
“No, Fluffy,” Matty told the dog. “Neither you nor I can climb up there. We’ll have to ask for help from someone who can climb trees and has the strength to push our ball.”
Matty thought for a moment, then remembered that a squirrel was always running this way to pick the nuts that grew on the bush by the fence.
“Squirrel, are you home?” He called to the bush.
“Here I am, Matty. What do you need?” came the squirrel’s voice, peeking out of the thicket.
“Squirrel, please, we have a ball in the tree. Can you push it so it falls to the ground?”
“Of course, Matty, if you ask so nicely. I’ll be there in a second.”
With a few swift jumps, indeed, the squirrel jumped onto the tree and poked the ball. It fell to the ground. Just before Fluffy could run to it to pick it up, a mole emerged from the molehill, grabbed the ball, and disappeared into the brush, laughing. Before he disappeared, he stuck his tongue out at them.
“What a rascal!” Matty said angrily. “Give us back the ball!”
Fluffy began to dig a hole in the molehill to catch the mole. Matty helped him, in the heat of the fight, he only raked with his hands. But it paid off. The mole got scared of them, dropped the ball and ran away.
“Hooray! The ball is ours!” cried Matty, dancing around the garden with the dog. Just then he noticed that his mother, who had come to call them for lunch, was watching them.
“Mommy, Mommy, we won! Fluffy and I got our ball back!”
“Well, that’s nice,” said Mommy. “And let me give you both a good scrubbing before I let you go to lunch.”
Matty looked at his clothes. They were all dirty, as were his hands from all the digging. Fluffy’s fur looked exactly the same.
“Sorry, Mommy, we were just playing,” Matty hung his head.
“Oh, it’s all right, my darlings. You will wash yourselves and I’ll take care of the laundry,” Mommy said with a smile as she petted the two rascals. “The important thing is that you got the ball back.”
When Matty had washed and eaten, he helped his mother wash Fluffy and then they played Pairs together. Well, it was just Matthias and Mommy playing. Fluffy got so tired that he fell asleep under the table and snored loudly, like cutting wood. It was a really nice summer day.
