Scare-Free Edition
Orlando sat with Vincent in their storytime chair, the boy delicately perched in his lap with a warm sippy cup full of hot chocolate. It was especially cold, today, so there would be no playing outside today. However, a fun story never hurt anyone. And this story would be scare-free. He didn’t want to scare his baby, especially when this was going to be his first proper autumn season
“Hey Vinny, are you ready for your story? We’re going to read a story about Clifford. You like Clifford?”
“Uhuh.”
“Well this is a story about Clifford’s first experience with autumn.” Orlando explained, “You ready to listen?”
“Mhm.”
"Clifford's First Autumn, by Norman Bridwell." Orlando read, before turning the page and gave the funniest falsetto voice, it sounded a lot like Toad, "Hi! I'm Emily Elizabeth and I have a dog named Clifford. When Clifford was a tiny puppy, he loved the summertime. We went to play in the park every day."
Vincent couldn't help but giggle, "Dada, das wrong!"
"What? What's wrong? Did I read it wrong?"
"Noooo, Emily Elizabeth doesn't sound like that, she sounds like Aunty Erica!" Vincent corrected, taking a sip of his hot chocolate.
"Oh yes, I suppose your right. Emily Elizabeth shouldn't sound like Toad. My mistake." He reread the part before continuing on, thankfully. "On the way home, we always stopped to smell the flowers. Then summer ended. One morning, Clifford woke up to hear the radiator hissing. I picked him up so he could see outside the window. He was surprised to see smoke coming out of his nose! It was just his breath in the frosty morning air. Fall had come. I put on a warm coat and took Clifford out. The park looked different, there were leaves all over the ground.
"Dada, Clifford looks 'fused." Vincent pointed out before counting some of the leaves on the page. Orlando nodded.
"That's because in summer, all the leaves aren't on the ground, right?"
"Right!"
"Clifford couldn't chase the birds. They were all flying south. The flowers were gone, and there were pumpkins in their place. Clifford had never seen pumpkins before." Vincent counted all the pumpkins on the page, though his numbers got confused. It was rather cute. Orlando continued, "Uh-oh! He jumped up and CRASH! Pumpkins rolled all over the street. What a mess, right Vinny?"
"Clifford was bad. He gotta sit." Vincent nodded.
"Now where did Clifford go? Sometimes Clifford was a naughty puppy. We said goodbye to the store owner and went into the park. A gust of wind blew more leaves off the treats. At first, Clifford was frightened." Orlando hummed, "Hey Vinny, what sound does wind make?"
"Whoosh!"
"Good job!" Orlando smiled, "Then he started to chase the leaves. It was fun!! We saw a big pile of fallen leaves. Clifford plunged in. Wheeee! That was even more fun! Then, a strange object bounced right in front of Clifford. What's that strange object, Vin?"
"Foo'ball!"
"Great job." The blonde kissed his cheek, "You're so smart. There was a long string on it. Clifford took hold of the string...and he ran. Suddenly a boy grabbed the object. I guess he didn't see Clifford. A lot of kids came running after the boy. One girl shouted, 'Hey, there's a puppy on the football!" Orlando hummed, "What a dense kid, I think Clifford weighed about as much as any regular old small dog by this point, so bullcrap he didn't see him."
"Right." Vincent nodded, "Bad boy! He hasta sit on the naughty stool!"
"Mhm. Thankfully, the boy dropped the ball and Clifford took it and ran." Orlando explained, "He crossed the white line, and all of the kids cheered. Clifford had scored a touchdown! Those kids told me Clifford was a very special dog. They should see him now. The end. Did you like that story, Vinny?"
"Yeah! Dada, Clifford good boy."
"He is, isn't he?"