Adventures of Potato Dave

Chapter 4 - Stranger Danger

Potato Dave was riding his scooter down the sidewalk near his house in their middle-class neighborhood. He noticed one of the garage doors was open as he passed by. It was Mr. Ridley's house. Mr. Ridley was working on something at his work bench. When Potato Dave was riding past again, Mr. Ridley came out and said, "Hey! Potato Dave! Come over here. I want to show you something." Potato Dave was conflicted. Mr. Ridley was a nice man, but his parents had told him to never trust strangers who try to lead you somewhere. Mr. Ridley beckoned Potato Dave with a hand gesture. Potato Dave looked at his house, where his father was out in their driveway. This should be fine, Potato Dave thought, Dad is right there and I'll just stand outside the garage so he can still see me.

Potato pushed his scooter down Mr. Ridley's driveway right up to the edge of the garage door. Mr. Ridley was back inside. He looked over at Potato Dave and then motioned with his hand to come closer. "Come over here," he said in a slightly impatient tone. Potato Dave was even more conflicted. He would be all the way in Mr. Ridley's garage and no body would see him. But Mr. Ridley was a nice man and he seemed like he didn't want to wait around. Potato Dave took a deep breath and stepped into the garage. Mr. Ridley smiled. Then he reached up onto his work bench and grabbed a gun.

It was a big, bright blue squirt gun. He handed it to Potato Dave. "I found this in my garage and thought you might like it," said Mr. Ridley. Potato Dave was very happy. He was right, Mr. Ridley was a nice person. He said thank you and then quickly road back to his house on his scooter with his new gun.

Potato Dave was excited to show off his new squirt gun, but then he realized that his parents would want to know where he got it and then he would have to tell them he went into Mr. Ridley's garage. Potato Dave was scared. His father was the first to spot his new weapon. "Where did you get that?" His dad asked, "it looks pretty cool!" "Mr. Ridley gave it to me," said Potato Dave. Potato Dave waits to see if his father will ask more questions, but he doesn't. Potato Dave is in the clear. Nobody will know what he did. It might have been stupid, he thought to himself, but I got a free squirt gun so it was worth it.