Name: Tonja Drecker


“Dag nab it! Are you going to sleep all day? Those chickens got out again. I thought you done and take care of that!”


Uncle Bob grumbled something about feathered birdbrains and goofy lamb tails…or maybe he said something else. It was difficult to understand anything over the thunder of his work boots against the loose floor boards as he disappeared down the hallway.


Daniel Bim moaned and pulled the quilt over his head. It was Saturday, one of the rare mornings he didn’t have to throw hay to the cows or feed the chickens before he marched two-and-half miles up the dirt road to school. Not that he minded the walking part so much. It was a ton better than sitting near the back of the bus with the High School kids.


He blinked against the bright rays of sunshine beaming through the dusty window. The tops of the corn stalks in the next field waved in the gentle autumn breeze against a cloudless blue sky. It was going to be a warm day, perfect for one last cannon-ball contest against Pete over at the swimming hole.


Daniel snatched a pair of jeans from the floor and glanced around for a belt,but the piles of comic books were thicker than a carpet. He quickly gave up and unwound a piece of bail twine from the bedpost. It’d scratch his stomach, but he had to keep his pants up somehow. Thanks to the last growth spurt, they were several inches too short and much too wide.