Buster and Friends

Posted: June 30th, 2010 | Filed under: All Submitted Stories, Animals

By Jacqueline H.

Buster and Oliver are friends. They live next door to each other.

Buster is brown and white with long, droopy ears. Oliver’s ears are short and stick straight up.

Every morning Buster and Oliver meet outside by the backyard fence. They talk dog talk when they bark and sniff and whine.

“Oliver, hurry up.” Buster barks and sticks his nose through a small space near the ground. He wags his tail fast when he sees Oliver jump through his doggie door.

“You sound excited, Buster. What’s going on?”

“Today is special—Billy turns six years old. He got a new bike.”

Oliver runs in circles and chases his tail. “Oh boy, I like Billy. He’s my friend – even if he is a people.” Oliver runs to the front gate and back again. “Will there be balloons and cake and ice cream?”

“I don’t know.” Buster’s long tongue licks his nose. “But I do know we’re having pizza for lunch.”

Buster and Oliver run to the front gate and bark.

A small boy with brown hair and blue eyes stops riding a shiny, blue bike. “You want to play with me?” he asks Buster. He lays his bike on its side in the grass and walks over to the fence.

“Me too, I want to play too.” Oliver barks and stands on his back feet.

Billy opens the gate for his two friends. They run circles around him and jump up to lick his face.

Buster and Oliver chase Billy as he rides his new bike up and down the street.

“Let’s go across the street.” Billy stops at the corner. They look both ways… no cars.

“This is fun.” Billy yells as he pushes the pedals hard and fast and rides up the driveway. Then he makes his legs straight and stands on the pedals while he zooms down the hill and into the next drive.

Buster’s ears flop up and down as he follows Billy. Oliver looks like a rocket racing the boy on the bike.

“Hey kid, get off my property.” Mr. Cratchet runs out his front door waving a newspaper in the air. “I’ll take your bike away and call the police.” He takes off his slipper and throws it at them.

Oliver runs after the slipper and jumps high into the air, catches it and brings Mr Chatchet’s slipper back and lays it at his feet.

“Well, I’ll be…” Mr Cratchet mutters.

“Come on Buster, Oliver.” Billy whistles. His dad showed him how. He likes the sound better than the one his mom makes with her lips… like a kiss.

“Let’s keep going.”

Buster‘s nose stays close to the ground as he follows Billy around the corner and onto a different street.

“Hey, stop.” Oliver barks and stands at the corner by the stop sign.

Buster looks back at Oliver. His ears stand straight up. His right front paw is off the ground and bent. He looks frozen.

“What? Come on. You’re getting left behind.” Buster’s long ears drag the ground as he looks from Oliver to Billy and back again.

“Remember?” Oliver keeps barking. “Billy’s mom said the stop sign and corner are the boundary.” Oliver’s tail points straight out as he looks back at Billy’s house.

“You’re right… Hey Billy, stop.” Buster barked. When Billy stopped and looked, Buster barks again and runs a few steps toward Oliver.

“Come on boys.” Billy whistled again. “We won’t go far. I can see the forest path ahead. Let’s go check it out.” He jumps on his bike and takes off.

Oliver runs toward Buster. “Do you think we should go with him or stay at the boundary?”

“He might need us.”

Billy stops by the forest’s edge and waits for his friends. He scrapes away a trickle of sweat running down beside his ear. He takes off his sweater and ties the arms around his waist.

Buster stops next to Billy and receives a pat on the head. Oliver’s tongue flops outside his mouth and his sides heave in and out as he sits beside Buster..

“Come on you two. Billy’s left foot moves the bike’s pedal to 12:00 o’clock so he can push down hard and coast fast into the shade. “It’s cooler in the forest. Let’s go.”

“He shouldn’t go in there.” Oliver runs half way down the path and then back to the sidewalk. “We’ve never been to the forest before. Don’t go.”

Buster follows Billy down the shady pathway and into the dark shadows. “Someone needs to go with him.”

Billy stops where the path divides and checks to see if his friends are following. “It feels good in here.” He shouts then jumps on his bike and moves further into the forest. The wide path becomes a narrow path and the shadows become darker.

Up ahead Billy sees a large tree standing tall. Its branches hang low and its big roots stick up from the ground. He slides down from his bike and sits on one of the tree’s roots.

Buster sniffs the ground around the big tree. He stops and sniffs the air. Everything seems safe.

“Buster.” Billy leans forward and scratches behind the long ears. “I think I’ve come too far. I should have stopped back at the corner by the stop sign. I’m afraid. Which way leads home?”

Buster jumps into action. With his nose to the ground, he sniffs along three different paths then sits in the middle of one.

“This one smells like the one we used.” Buster barks three times and then leans his head to one side and listens.

“Where did Oliver go?” Billy looks deep into the shady forest.

“Listen.” Buster runs down the path and then back toward Billy. “I hear Oliver. He’s waiting for us.”

Billy grabs his bike and pushes it up the path behind Buster. “It was easier riding down hill.”

The two friends move as fast as they can along the wooded path. They stop and listen then keep moving toward Oliver’s barks.

When Buster sees Oliver he runs faster. “There you are. I’m so glad you stayed here.”

“You saved us, Oliver. You’re a good dog.” Billy rubs Oliver’s head and scratches his ears. “You too, Buster.” Billy scratches Buster’s ears and gets a big lick in return.

“Are you Billy?” A tall man in uniform asked.

‘Yes, sir.”

“I believe that’s your mom standing on the corner by the stop sign.”

Billy glances at the policeman and then over at the corner. Billy’s chin drops to his chest and he looks at the ground. “I’m sorry to cause trouble, mister. I should not have gone past my boundary.” He tilted his head way back to look at the man’s face. “I disobeyed my mother.”

“It’s a good lesson learned, son. At least you admit you’re wrong.” The man rubbed the top of Billy’s head. You better hurry on back. I think she has some lemonade waiting.