8 More Short Stories for Children
By Anthony Mastro
Copyright 2015 Anthony Mastro
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Table of Contents
A First Plane Ride
Flying a Kite
Helping Dad Paint
Making Friends
Playing Pirate
The Empty Box
William and the Circus
William Meets a Beggar
A First Plane Ride
One summer day Williams mother came outside into the back yard where he was playing. William liked the back yard because of all the trees and bushes. They made good hiding places when he pretended to be a cowboy or sheriff hunting down desperados. "William." His mother called to him. "Come in. I have some news for you." She said. William said, "Not now mom. I am chasing the bad guys." But his mother said, "Come in. it's a surprise." When William heard that she had a surprise for him he dropped his toys and ran to her. She opened the door and William stepped into the kitchen.
"What is the surprise mom?" asked William after he sat at his place at the table and picked up the peanut butter and jelly sandwich his mother had made for his lunch. "Well." his mother started to say. "I just got off the phone with grandma in California. She wants us to go and visit her for a week. What do you think about that?" "Wow!" said William. "Where is California?" His mother said to him, "Well, it’s a long way from here. We will have to take an airplane to get there." William thought about that for a while as he took a bite of his sandwich.
After some time he looked at his mother and said, "You mean those airplanes in the sky way up in the air?" "Yes William. Way up in the air like those you see every day from the yard. "Oh boy.." said William and he got up off his chair and started to go. "Where are you going?" his mother said to him as he rushed past her. "I'm going to start packing." He said to her. "There is still a lot of time before we have to start packing William. Why not finish your lunch and go back outside and play." She said to him. So William finished his lunch and went out to play again but he was so excited that he didn't play cowboy any more but now he was a pilot flying a plane.
When the day came William got up and dressed and his mother took him out the front door to the waiting taxi. William said to the driver, "Were going to my grandmas on an airplane." The driver was nice and said, "That’s great. Say hello to her from me." And he smiled at Williams mother. When they got to the airport William took his small suitcase and walked inside to the counter. "Were going to grandmas." He said to the lady behind the counter. "That’s nice. " she answered as she handed the tickets to his mother. Then they walked out to the plane and sat there waiting for the call to board.
William got up and walked to the window and looked out at the plane that was there. "Is that our airplane?" he said to his mother. "Yes William. That is the plane we are going on." After a while the agent announced that it was time to get on the plane so Williams mother took his hand and they got on. When they found their seats William sat by the window. The door closed and the plans started to be pushed out." 'We are going backwards." He said. "Yes William, they have to push us out before we can take off." "What are they taking off?" asked William. "No dear. That means when we go up in the air." "Oh." Said William.
When the plane was at the runway the engines started to roar and the plan moved faster and faster. William looked out of the window and his eyes were wide open as the plane moved up into the air. "Wow." Was all he could say. His mother laughed and William held on to her hand. When the flight attendant came by later William got a glass of milk and some cookies from her. "Thank you." William said and his mother had some coffee. The flight was going to last for some hours. William never got tired looking out the window at the land below. After about an hour his eyes started to close and soon he was asleep next to his mother.
A few hours later his mother woke him up. The plane had landed and the people were getting off. William stood up and he and his mother walked off and went to get their bags. When they got there William saw his grandmother waiting for them. "Grandma!" said William and she hugged and kissed him. "We rode on an airplane." He said to her. "It was super grandma." He continued as they walked out to the sunny street and to her car in the parking lot. "I can hardly wait to go again." Said William as they drove out of the airport. "It was so much fun."
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Flying a Kite
William's father had weekends off from work. One such Saturday morning William's father sat down to eat breakfast as William was there eating some cereal. "William, how about we do something today?" his father said to him. William looked at his father and said, "What can we do daddy?" William's father squinted his eyes at him and said, "What do you think we can do?" William thought a little then raised his shoulders. "I don't know." He said.
"I think I know what we can do. Why don't we go buy a kite and fly it in the back yard?" said his father. "Yippee." Cried William. "Can we go now daddy?" he said getting out of his chair and coming around to his father's side. "Let me finish here and then we can go." William put his dish into the sink where his mother was standing and ran to his room. He pulled out a jacket from the closet and ran back to the kitchen where his father was just about done eating. When they were ready William and his father got into the car and drove to the store. When the got there William ran to the display where the kites were and started to pick out the one that he liked. When his father came over he said, "Is that the one?" and William said, "Yes, this is the one I want daddy."
William couldn't wait to get home. When they got there William rushed into the house to show the kite to his mother. "Look at this kite mommy. It's pretty don't you think so?" "Why yes William. It's very nice." She said to him. When his father came in they went outside into the back yard with the kite and a big roll of string. William's father tied the kite to the end of the string and told William to go to the other end of the yard with the kite. So William took the kite and ran to the far end of the yard. When he let go the kite took off. The wind was just right. "Wow." Said William. "Here William. " His father said as he gave William the end of the string. William held on tight as the kite moved left and right with the wind. "This is fun." Said William. That night William dreamed of the kite and how it took him up into the air. It was a very good dream for William.
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Helping Dad Paint
It was along about the first week of spring that William's father said to his mother, "I guess I will paint the family room this week." William heard this and ran over to his father and said, "Can I help, please?" and his father looked over to William's mother with a smile and said, "What do you think?" She looked at him then at William and said, "If you be careful I think you can help."
William jumped up and down and ran to his room. He opened his closet and looked around. When his mother came into his room she saw William in the closet and said, "What are you looking for William?" without turning around William breathlessly said, "I'm looking for my painting clothes." His mother laughed and said, "You don't have any but I am sure I can find something for you." After William's mother looked she found a pair of old pants that are getting too short for him and a shirt that had a rip on the sleeve. William put them over his desk chair so that they would be ready for when he wants to wear them.
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The next week William's father put some sheets over the family room furniture and covered the floor. William got into the clothes his mother gave him and rushed out to the family room. "Are we going to start now?" he asked his father. "Yes William." He answered "And be careful, okay?" "I will daddy." Said William. William's father opened a can of paint and poured some into the tray on the floor. He gave William a paintbrush and showed him how to dip it into the paint. Then he said, "Now William, I want you to paint like this over here on this wall." And he pointed the wall out to William. "Okay daddy."
William brushed the paint onto the wall just like his father had showed him. He brushed up and then down up and down until there was no more paint on the brush. "All done." He said. Then he said, "This is no fun." He put the brush down and went outside to play saying, "Thanks daddy." And with that William's painting day was over.
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Making Friends
One day William was playing in the yard and his mother came out to see what he was doing. She said, "William, let's go to the park and you can play on the swings while I read my book there. It's such a nice day." William looked up at her and said, "Okay, but can I take my cowboy hat with?" his mother said, "Sure. Let's go." So William and his mother locked up the house and walked to the park about a block away.
When they got there William went over to the swings and said to his mother, "Mom, give me a push on the swing." So William's mother helped him on then gave him a push to start him off. William learned how to keep himself going so his mother went over to the nearby bench and sat down to read her book. William swung up and back and soon was getting tired of the swing. Along about then another mother came by with her son too. He was about Williams age and size and looked at William when he came near.
"Hello." The women said to William's mother. "Hello." Said William's mother to the other mother. "And who do we have here?" she asked. "This is Johnny." Said the other mother. "He is five." She continued. "I am five and a half." Said Johnny. His mother rolled her eyes and said, "My mistake, five and one half." She laughed. "What is your son's name?" she said. "This is William. He is the same age as your Johnny." Said William's mother. "Say hello William." She said. William stopped the swing and went over to Johnny and said, "Hello. Do you want to play cowboys?" Johnny looked at his mother and she nodded yes. "Okay." Said Johnny. The two boys went o0ff a ways into the grass. "Don't go too far." Said Johnny's mother. "We won't/" they both said to her and then they sat down on the ground.
Johnny's mother and William's mother sat together and talked about the boys as the two boys played in the grass. "Why don't you be Billy the Kid and I can be the sheriff." Said William. Johnny said, "Okay, but I get to ride off on my horse." "Sure thing." Said William. The two of them played the whole afternoon until William's mother said to him, "Time to go home William." "Mom, do we have to?" he said. "Yes, I have to start dinner for us." She said. William turned to Johnny and said, "I have to go now but we can be friends, can't we?" Johnny looked at William and said, "I guess so. Maybe we can come to the park again sometime and then I can be the sheriff." So William and his mother said goodbye to their new friends and started walking home.
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Playing Pirate
Summer time is a great time for William. He likes to play in the backyard, one time a cowboy then another a soldier. One night his mother read him a story about pirates. William liked it very much and the next morning he made his mom make an eye patch to put over his eye and got an old hat that his father didn't use anymore then ran out back into the yard. William ran back and forth yelling like a pirate in the storybook his mom had read the night before.
He soon tired of running then remembered that the pirate in the book looked for buried treasure on an island. He went back into the house and into his room where he took a piece of paper and drew a map on it. Right in the middle he put a big X to mark the spot where the gold was buried. William looked at what he had drawn and nodded. "That should do." And with that he ran back outside.
William looked around and found a tree branch about just the right size to use as a sword. Then he walked over to the big tree at the back of the yard and stood under it for a while. He sat down and took out the map he drew and studied it. "If I start here under this tree and walk this way till I come to that stone over there I should find the treasure." So he got up and walked over to the stone. He looked at the map again then walked over to the trash cans. William turned around then walked to the center of the yard. "This is the spot where the X shows on my map." He said.
He bent down and looked real hard at the ground but there wasn't anything to see there. William's mother was watching him from the kitchen window and she saw him bending down in the center of the yard. When she saw William come back into the house she asked him what he was doing. "I'm looking for buried treasure mom but I have to fix my map." So William ran back to his room to draw a better map. William's mother had an idea and she went out to the yard and placed something in the center of the where William was looking before. She rushed back into the kitchen before William came out of his room.
"Is your map okay now?" she asked him. "I think so." Said William. "Why don't you try again? Maybe this time your map is right." She said smiling a little. "I will." Said William as he went back into the yard. He ran to the tree again then to the stone then to the cans and finally to the center and the X on his map. William got down on his hands and knees and looked real hard at the grass. All of a sudden his eyes lit up and he spotted something shiny in the grass. He picked it up. It was a quarter. "Wow!" exclaimed William. He ran into the house and showed the coin to his mother. "Look at the treasure I found." He said to her. "I told you that there was a treasure out there." "That’s great William." And then William went back out to the yard to look for more treasure. His mother gave a short laugh and went on cleaning the kitchen.
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The Empty Box
John Bixby turned ten on Sunday. He liked to play ball in the back yard of his home because it had no trees as yet since the family just moved in last month. The neighborhood was old but the house his parents were renting was newly remodeled on a vacant lot. John was playing there, hitting the ball and then running after it to hit it again. His mom and dad were going to the store to buy some food.
They had very little because John’s father had been out of work for so long and just got a job. John was old enough to be alone and they made him promise that he would not leave the yard. John hit the ball and it flew to the end of the yard where the shrubs of the neighbor in back ran up against his yard.
John went into the bushes to find his ball. He looked everywhere but the ball just seemed to have vanished. John was just about to give up when his foot tapped something buried in the ground under the bushes. He bent down and brushed away some of the dirt. Just under the surface he saw what looked like a small box, old and dirty, peeking out from under the bush. John dug with his shoe and pulled the box out from its hiding place. There were no markings John could see on the box, just smudges of dirt. He sat down right there under the bushes and tried to open it. It was tightly fitted and he had to pry one side then the other with his small pocket knife until the lid finally came off.
John looked in and saw that the box was empty. “Why would anybody bury an empty box?” John thought to himself. He was just about to toss it back on the ground and as he moved his hand back the box made a noise like something sliding. John opened it again and looked at it a little better this time. The outside bottom of the box looked to be longer then inside. “That’s strange.” said John to himself. He reached in and tapped the bottom. It sounded hollow.
Now John was curious and ran his finger along the inside bottom of the box. There, on one side, he felt a little tab or something. He gripped it with his finger tips and gave it a tug. As the false bottom came away John saw a piece of paper on the real bottom of the box. He grabbed it and unfolded it. It was some sort of map. John
could not make any sense of it. There were funny markings and lines drawn all over it. John looked into the now empty box again just to make sure that there wasn’t anything else there and tossed the box to the side.
There was a date on the map, 1941. “Wow!” exclaimed John. “That was a long time ago.” he thought to himself. He took the map and as he was going back to his own yard he spotted his ball and picked it up as he got out again. He ran to his room and sat on his bed looking at the map he had found. “What does it all mean?” he said. The map had lines here and there with small crosses and one large one off to the right. There were no names on the map but just three letters with numbers after them. The letters were, H, and R, and numbers after them.
John could not make heads or tails of it. He set the map down on his nightstand. I guess I will have to think about it some more later. John liked to play baseball and his favorite team was just about to play so he turned on his TV and propped up his pillow to watch the game. Now as John watched the game, after the first few innings, one of his team’s batters came to the plate. On the TV screen on the bottom up popped three letters John had seen earlier in the day. H, R, and E. “Hits, runs and errors!” shouted John. John grabbed the map again and looked at the letters on the map. There it was, H 2213, R 2174 for R, H 3415, R 1736 for W. What was the meaning of the R and W? John could not figure it out.
As he looked at the map again John turned it left then right. It still made no sense to him. Then he turned it up-side down. Again he couldn’t figure it out. John laid his head down and held the map up. Still nothing came to mind. Feeling frustrated John heard the announcer on the TV say something and he looked at it to see what was going on. The map in his hand hung down over his fingers and now when John looked at the map again he could see through the back side and the light from the window made it clear so he was able to see the map on the front.