Looking for Mr. Bill

Looking for Mr. Bill

? By John A. Mayer
786 words | Reading time ~ 5 minutes
Grade level 3.1 | Flesch reading ease ~ 90.5

Thomas gets lost looking for Mr. Bill the cat while visiting Grandma
for the weekend. Lesson: Don't wander away from home.

Mom and Dad waved goodbye as I stood with Grandma on her wooden porch.
Our blue family mini van disappeared down Old Orchard Grove Lane toward
Main Street. They were leaving me for two days. I started to cry.

"Don't cry Thomas. We are going to have a wonderful time together, just
you and I. We have all weekend to play games and read stories."

Grandma's soft voice and smiling green eyes made me feel better. She
always smelled like roses.

"You are almost 7 years old now, and big boys should try to be strong,"
she said.

We went inside to get some chocolates and milk.

I sat at the kitchen table and looked at the cats on her wallpaper.
Grandma liked cats. I counted all the magnets on her refrigerator. Most
of them were cats too.

"Where is Mr. Bill," I asked?

"Oh, that crazy pussycat is probably climbing Mrs. Swenson's apple tree
again. He gets stuck at the top and can't get down. I had to get my
ladder out to rescue him the last time."

"Can I go outside and play in the yard? Maybe I can find him and we can
chase each other," I said.

Grandma told me that was fine, as long as I didn't go anywhere else.
She opened the back door and said she would be right out after doing
the dishes.

I called for Mr. Bill, but he didn't come. He wasn't in the apple tree.
I asked the squirrels and robins if they had seen him. No one knew
where he was.

Then I saw him! Mr. Bill's fluffy, white, whiskered face was staring at
me from the woodpile. He scampered off running toward the road and down
the hill. I followed him, calling "Mr. Bill! Mr. Bill!"

Down the hill I ran. That crazy cat just disappeared, but I kept
searching everywhere. He wasn't in the bushes or under a car. He wasn't
up a tree or in a garden. I kept calling and looking, but he was
gone.

The sidewalk ended and then Main Street was in front of me. Cars and
buses sped by. Grown ups rushed past me as if I wasn't there. I was
LOST!

A man with a big nose in a tall white hat was cooking hot dogs, and I
could smell mustard and onions. Yuck! His silver barbecue on wheels had
a green and white umbrella on top. Two rude ladies wearing hats with
purple feathers started talking loud and scared me. I ran away from
them, and bumped into a mean looking man with a tattoo on his
arm.

"Come here little boy," he said. "I want to talk to you."

I backed away and tried to remember how to get home. A blinking ice
cream sign made me hungry. I went into the store and asked the ice
cream man if I could have a chocolate cone.

He had a long black moustache and wore a white apron with strawberries
on it. He smiled and told me to sit down. I could see him talking on
the telephone. When he was done, he scooped some chocolate ice cream
into a sugar cone for me. His name was Dario. I told him my name was
Thomas and that I was trying to find Mr. Bill.

A tall policeman wearing a blue uniform with a shiny badge came in and
sat down beside me. He asked if I was lost, and where I lived. Grandma
made me remember. She would say it over and over again. I told Officer
Bob my Grandma lives at 67 Old Orchard Grove Lane, and her phone number
is 727-5509.

He said I was a smart boy and took me to his patrol car that had a big
red light on top. I buckled my seat belt, and listened to the crackling
radio as he drove.

Before I could get scared again, Mrs. Swenson's apple tree was right in
front of me. Grandma was waiting on her front steps and she ran to the
police car when she saw us. Officer Bob had taken me home! I was hugged
and kissed and scolded all at once.

"Don't you ever run off like that again," said Grandma. "I was worried
sick."

Mr. Bill was sleeping on the porch. I ran over and gave him a big
hug.

"You little rascal! Don't you ever run off like that again," I
said.

Grandma took us both inside and we played games on the floor all
afternoon. Mr. Bill kept jumping into the middle of everything.

I was happy.

From now on, I will listen to Grandma and stay close to home until I am
bigger.