Taking a Walk

by Samantha Bell

 

 Zack sat down on the front steps and frowned.  His friend Elizabeth came up the sidewalk and sat beside him.

“What’s wrong, Zack?” she asked.

 Zack sighed.  “I wanted to go for a walk today, but I don’t know where to go.”

“How about the park?  We could play on the playground,” said Elizabeth.

“I’ve been there already,” Zack answered.  “Remember the broken ladder?  They’ve closed the playground for repairs.”

“Hmm, well, we could go to the store,” Elizabeth said.  “I have fifty cents I can spend. I’ll share it with you.”

“My mom and I already went there today, too,” Zack replied.

 Elizabeth thought for a moment.  “I know!” she said.  “Let’s take a walk to the beach!”

“We can’t go to the beach,” answered Zack, still grumbling.  “The beach is too far away.”

“But we can pretend we’re at the beach,” said Elizabeth.  “Come on!  Let’s walk on the shore.”  She headed up the steps and through the front door.

“Humph!” Zack said, but he followed her into the kitchen.

 Elizabeth pulled some cups and bowls from the cupboard and stacked them high on top of each other.  “I’m building a sandcastle,” she said.  “Then I’m going to catch fish with my net.”

She held up a small saucepan.

“If you want to surf, you’d better be careful,” Elizabeth continued.  “I hear the waves are really big today.”

 Zack frowned.  He watched as the tower of cups began to teeter.  “But this isn’t the beach,” he argued.  The cups fell in a pile.

 Elizabeth put down the saucepan and grabbed a broom.  “All right, then,” she said, “I’m going to the jungle.”

She carried the broom like a walking stick, thumping it on the floor as she as she went into the living room.

“Humph!” said Zack, but he followed her anyway.

 Elizabeth ducked.  “Watch out for that monkey swinging from the tree!” she exclaimed.

“I don’t see a monkey,” Zack replied.

“But we can pretend there’s a monkey.  Look, I can jump over this river,” said Elizabeth, leaping over the wooden floor to the rug.

“If you’re brave enough to try, watch out for the crocodiles.  Hey, look!  We can ride that elephant.”  She pointed to the sofa with the two large pillows.

 Zack studied the sofa.  He thought the pillows looked kind of like elephant ears.  Kind of.  “But this isn’t the jungle,” he said finally.

 Elizabeth put down the broom and sighed.  “Well, I can’t think of anywhere else to go.  I guess you can’t go for a walk today after all.”

 Zack looked around the room.  He thought about the beach with the sandcastle, net, and fish.

 He thought about the jungle with the river, the crocodiles, and the elephant.  Then he smiled.  “I know!” he shouted.  “Let’s go to the mountains.  Follow me!”

 Elizabeth looked at him with surprise, but she followed him up the stairs.

“Shhh,” Zack said, pointing to one of the bedrooms.  “These are caves.  I heard that bears hibernate in these caves.”  Elizabeth nodded as she tiptoed behind him.

“Look,” Zack whispered, holding up a small box.  “I found a turtle.”

“And I found some wildflowers,” Elizabeth said, pointing to a basket of potpourri on the table in the hall.  She sniffed.  “And they sure smell good!”

“Let’s see if we can hike up to the highest peak!” Zack said, pointing towards the attic.

They trudged up the stairs and rested on the top step.  Zack took a deep breath.  “We did it!”

 Elizabeth smiled.  “We sure did,” she said.

Just then, they heard Zack’s Mom call from the kitchen.

“Kids, come on down. I have a surprise for you. We’re going to take a walk to the ice cream shop.”

 Zack looked at Elizabeth and grinned.  “I hope she’s not pretending,” he said.