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Giggle Book Two
Gordon the Goldfish
It was pouring down rain that day as Rusty looked out the window. He wished the rain would stop so he could go out and play. As he sat quietly watching it rain, there came a knock upon his bedroom door.
“Come in!” he yelled.
As the door slowly opened, he didn’t pay any attention to who it was until he heard his mama’s voice.
“I have something for you,” she said.
He quickly looked around and saw her standing there with a fishbowl. And inside the fishbowl was a goldfish.
“Wow, is that for me, Mama?” he asked.
“Yes, it is,” she replied. “It’s a gift for all those A’s you got on your report card. I’m so proud of you.”
“Gee, thanks Mama, can I hold him,” he jumped up and yelled.
“Here,” she replied, “he’s all yours.”
Gracefully, Rusty took the fishbowl into his hands and waltzed about the room. He was so excited that he wasn’t paying attention to where he was going. He stumped his toe, almost fell, nearly dropped the fishbowl and splashed water on the floor. Quickly, he placed the bowl on the nightstand beside his bed. But, as he turned, he accidentally hit the bowl with his arm and nearly knocked it off the nightstand. The goldfish looked worried and a bit afraid. But, Rusty settled down and everything was alright. He pressed his face against the side of the fishbowl and mashed his nose against the glass. His eyes looked so large to the goldfish.
“Hi, fishy,” Rusty said as he grinned real big at the goldfish. “Now, what can I name you?”
He called off different names; nothing suited him. Then he thought of the name Gordon.
“Yeah, that’s it,” he said, “Gordon is perfect.”
Well, the goldfish didn’t seem to like the name Gordon too much. He quickly turned his back to Rusty and faced the other way.
“Now, don’t be like that,” Rusty said.
Rusty stuck his finger down into the bowl and patted Gordon on the head. Gordon looked back over his shoulder and smiled. Rusty spent the whole day watching Gordon. He had forgotten about going outside to play. By the end of the day, Rusty was tired and so was Gordon. It was time for him to go to bed. At first everything seemed well; both Rusty and Gordon were sound asleep. The room was quiet and dark, except for a nightlight, when a terrifying sound filled the room, zzzzz. It woke Rusty out of a deep sleep.
“What on earth is that?” he cried out.
Sleepy-eyed, he looked about the room but he didn’t see anything. But, he still heard the zzzzz sound. He looked under his covers, in his closet and under his bed. Slowly, his little head appeared from under the bed and he looked over at the fishbowl on the nightstand. He knew then where the noise was coming from. Gordon was snoring.
“What on earth?” said Rusty. “Goldfish don’t snore.”
He thumped on the side of the bowl, trying to wake Gordon. But, he was sound asleep. Zzzzz Gordon went again.
“I can’t stand this,” cried Rusty.
He took a pencil and stuck it down into the water. He tried to turn Gordon over on his side. However, when he did, Gordon just rolled back and kept on snoring. When Gordon snored, it created bubbles. When the bubbles reached the top of the water, they burst and gave off a horrible sound. After awhile, Rusty got so tired he crawled back into bed, took his pillow and covered his head. But, it didn’t help. He pulled his cover over his head and tried to muffle the sound of the snoring. That didn’t help either. He tossed and turned from side to side. He tried laying at the headboard and then the footboard; nothing worked. He hung halfway on and halfway off the side of his bed. He lay on his back, turned side to side and then he noticed the snoring had suddenly stopped. But, now he was too awake to go to sleep.
Night after night, the snoring continued; Rusty lost more and more sleep. Finally, one night he came up with an idea. He put a top on the fishbowl to drown out Gordon’s snoring. It worked! However, as soon as Rusty turned over and closed his eyes to go to sleep, he heard a tapping sound. He turned back over and saw Gordon tapping on the inside of the bowl; Gordon couldn’t breathe. Quickly, Rusty removed the top from the fishbowl, crawled back into bed and pulled the cover over his head. He laid there thinking of what else he could try to stop Gordon’s snoring. He got up out of bed, picked up the fishbowl and poured some of the water out. He just knew that would work and it did, until Gordon went back to sleep. Taking some of the water out only made the snoring worse.
“I’ll never make anymore A’s,” cried out Rusty.
The next day one of Rusty’s friends came over to play. But, Rusty was too tired.
“What a pretty goldfish you have, Rusty,” said the little boy.
“Would you like to take him home with you?” asked Rusty.
“Sure,” replied the little boy.
“Then he’s yours,” said Rusty.
“Wow, you mean I can have him,” cried the little boy. “Thank you, Rusty, you are a good friend.”
“Oh, by the way,” said Rusty, “his name is Gordon.”
“Cool,” replied the little boy. “I’ll take good care of him.”
The day passed and it was soon night. Rusty laid awake thinking about what he had done to his friend. He knew he shouldn’t have done it, but it was too late now. He felt bad for not telling his friend about Gordon’s snoring.
The morning broke and another day came. Rusty’s mother sent him outside to get the newspaper. But, when he opened the door and looked down at his feet, he was surprised at what he saw. Gordon was there on the doorstep with a note attached to his bowl. I thought you were my friend, he read to himself. He grabbed the newspaper and the fishbowl and went back into the house.
Night after night, Rusty tried to sleep. He even bought another goldfish and put it into the bowl with Gordon. He thought they would keep each other awake so he could sleep. But, guess what? They both started snoring and he had twice the trouble. Then one night Rusty put cotton in both of his ears and put on some earmuffs. He couldn’t hear a thing. He was finally able to get some sleep. A few minutes after Rusty fell asleep, the goldfish were awakened by an awful sound; they were startled. As they looked about, they realized it was Rusty. He was sound asleep and snoring. Both goldfish started tapping on the inside of the fishbowl. Now, they couldn’t sleep.