The Adventures of Jim Bob and Waldo

Chapter 1

Bedtime

This was Thursday and so Pampawwould put the boys to bed tonight. Mom and Dad went out on date nightand Pampaw gave Atticus and Oscar supper and would put them to bed.So, when bedtime came, Atticus and Oscar put their pajamas on, gottheir teeth brushed, and then waited in their room for Pampaw.

When Pampaw came in, he said, "Well,goodnight, guys. See you in the morning."

"Wait!" said Oscar. "You haveto tell us a story."

"I do?" asked Pampaw. "I haveto tell you a story? I have to? Seriously?"

"Yes!" said Atticus. "You haveto tell us a story."

"Yes," said Oscar, "you do. Wealways get a story."

"Fair enough," said Pampaw."Once upon a time there were two small boys. They were named Waldoand Jim Bob. They liked to have adventures. So they went to explorethe woods behind their house. And they were eaten by wolves. The end.Well, sleep well. See you in the morning."

"No!" said Atticus. "That'snot a story."

"That's a bad story." saidOscar.

"What's wrong with it?" askedPampaw.

"Well," said Oscar thoughtfully,"you have to tell us a real story. Like from a book, with people init."

"A story we like," said Atticus.

"I think I can do that," saidPampaw. "Let me see what we have here in the bookcase."

Pampaw went over to the wall andlooked at the blank wall. He ran his finger across the wall, until hestopped, reached forward and picked up nothing and said, "Maybethis one will be good. What do you think?"

The boys did not know what to think.There was no bookcase and no book as far as they could see. Theylooked at each other but did not know what to say.

Pampaw said, "Well, maybe not. Ithink I will keep looking.." He went back to the invisiblebookcase, and very carefully put the invisible book back where he hadgotten it. He moved his finger down the invisible shelf until hefound what he wanted. "This is the one," he said. "You're goingto like this one." And then he showed them the invisible book fortheir approval. "Well, what do you think?" he said.

"Seriously?" said Atticus.

"Of course," he replied. "Thiswill be the perfect book."

"There's no book. You're trying tofool us," said Oscar.

"What?" said Pampaw, showinggreat surprise. "This is a great book. I don't know what you'retalking about. Just look at it. It's exciting, it's about boys likeyou. Look at the cover, isn't that a great picture."

The boys looked, but did not see anybook. Oscar said so. Atticus nodded his head, agreeing.

"That's because you are onlylooking with your eyes, not your heart," said Pampaw. When the boysboth looked down at their chests and got puzzled expressions, Pampawknew he had them.

"Seriously?" said Oscar.

"It's something you'll learn to doas you grow older. Let's begin the story."

The boys pulled their covers up,Pampaw sat down in the rocking chair. The room was quiet.

This is the story Pampaw told them.