Mostly Little Moose

Tommy took two giant steps into the pond and the ground disappeared. He was under the water. He wiggled his legs wildly and popped to the surface. Coughing and sputtering, he tried to yell for help. “Mmamabub,” he sputtered. He went down again!

One of the big moose jerked his head out of the water where he was eating. “What!” he said. “What is this?” Tommy came out of the water right under his nose.

“Helbubp!” he said spitting water into Big Moose’s face.

Big Moose shook his head in disgust. “Children,” he thought, “can be such a nuisance.” He put his head under Tommy and with a huge toss threw him to the edge of the pond. Tommy landed with a big splump!--right in front of his very angry mama.

Mama Moose grabbed Tommy’s ear in her mouth and started shaking him. He coughed, choked and spit up gallons of muddy pond water.

“Ma . . . ma . . . mama,” he said. “You’re hurting my ear.”

She gave one final shake. “You are a very lucky little moose,” she said. “I told you to stay out of the pond. Thank goodness Big Moose helped you. Now, you and your sister go play by the willows and stay out of trouble!”

Molly looked at her brother and laughed. “Your fur is sticking up,” she said, “and you’ve got mud and leaves and slimy yuck everywhere.”

Tommy glared at her. “I don’t care!” he yelled. He turned and ran into the trees and hid behind a bush.

* Wednesday: Tommy hides from Molly after his problems at the pond. What will he find as he wanders off?

* Joyce Glazier finds humor and lessons in watching animals in the wild.

* This story will be on The Times’ Web site at https://www.latimes.com/kids.

The story so far: Tommy has disobeyed his mother almost drowns.