The Tales of Huckleberry Hound: Season 2

21. The Hill Street Shuffle

One beautiful morning, Huckleberry Hound had just gotten out of bed and stretched his arms, yawning. He put on a clean bow tie, walked to the mirror and combed his hair, then he glanced out the window. It looked like a really gorgeous day outside, and he had no shows to film, so perhaps he should spend the day doing something outdoors. As he brushed his teeth, he thought hard about what he should do.

"Hmm, I haven't been fishin' in a while," he muttered to himself after spitting out the toothpaste. "Say, that's it! It's a nice lovely day to head down to the river for some fishin'! But first, I'd better have a nice breakfast."

So he slid down the slide leading to the living room, and ran into his puppy dog Pudgy as he entered the kitchen.

"Good morning, Pudgy!" he beamed. "How'd you like to come fishin' with me today?"

Pudgy barked happily and wagged his tail. After Huck had fed him and gobbled down a nice hearty breakfast of eggs and bacon with a cup of coffee, he gathered up his fishing pole, his bait, his cooler and the rest of his supplies. Then he clipped Pudgy's leash onto his collar and the two headed out the door.

"Oh my darlin', oh my darin'," Huck hummed happily. "Oh my darlin' Clementine..."

As he and Pudgy walked along, he noticed a few people in town on their way to the river who were walking rather well...unusually. One, two, three, four and a skip! Huck blinked. They almost looked like they were dancing!

"Hmmmmm, what could be going on here?" he wondered.

He didn't think much of it afterward, thinking that perhaps they just had a good song in their heads. He soon reached the river and sat down on the bank, casting his line after placing a nice big fat worm on the hook. As he sat and waited, Pudgy sniffed around in the grass and tried to play with a grasshopper that jumped past them. Huck sighed happily. The warm sun, the flowing of the water, yes sir, there was nothing more peaceful than just sitting by the water with a pole, waiting for the fish to bite. It took him back to his puppyhood, when he'd spend long lazy afternoons with his father and brothers.

Soon he felt a tug on his line! "Oh boy!" he cried, reeling in his line. "I got one!"

He soon reeled in a medium-sized brook trout, and placed it in the cooler after removing the hook. Then he cast his line again. For most of the morning and into the afternoon, he and Pudgy sat there, as Huck sang to himself and chatted with the playful little puppy. He ended up catching three more fish as well! What a haul! He felt quite proud of himself for having such a successful day fishing!

"Boy, what a day!" he beamed as he walked back into town. "I reckon I should fry up these here fish for supper! I'll even invite the gang over too! Shuckins...we'll have us a big fish feast with some potatoes too! How would you like that, Pudgy?"

Pudgy barked and wagged his tail, then licked Huck on the cheek.

"Huhuhuhuhuh! Heeyy, that tickles, buddy!"

And he started to skip home happily carrying the cooler in one paw and Pudgy's leash in the other. But as he did, he suddenly did a jump, and a heel tap!

"Hey, that's not how it's done!" a voice suddenly called out.

Huck stopped and turned around in confusion. There was young Gregory, the boy who ran a paper route on his block! He was walking in that same strange fashion Huck had seen earlier. One, two, three, four and a skip!

"What are you doing, Gregory?" Huck asked.

"The Hill Street Shuffle!" Gregory replied.

"The Hill Street Shuffle? What's that?"