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"Yard Work", by Cathy Franklin
Copyright © 1999
Albert Moss didn't like yard work. His hands always got dirty and
there were bugs crawling everywhere, but on the other hand they always had
fun when they were done with the yard. He looked forward to his dad cooking
out on the grill and roasting marshmallows over the open fire. But today
his mother insisted that their family help clean up his aunt Cindy's yard.
It was a mess! She lived at the edge of a forest and the vines, shrubs and
tall grass had nearly taken over. And to make matters worse, there were piles
of orange, red and amber leaves that had to be raked and burned. That was
his job.
Albert's sister, Tracey, had the job of dragging the limbs and vines
cut from the trees to the fire. Albert's father cut away the vines one by one
with his chain saw.
Tracey called to Albert, "Come over here and help me for a minute,
please." She tugged at a large healthy vine. Albert set his rake against the nearest tree and went to help. The
two tugged and pulled and finally the huge vine came free. Albert and Tracey
dragged the long, green pile of vines to the fire and heaved it on the hot blaze.
"You can help me with another one, too," Tracey said. "Do I have to?" Albert asked. Then their father called over and said, "Albert, there's a pile of
leaves over here you can rake." Albert stuck out his tongue at Tracey.
He went back to the tree where he'd left his rake. At least he
thought it was the tree. Maybe he'd put it somewhere else? He looked around at the yard, at each tree. He went over his steps in his mind. Tracey had called him and he'd laid the rake against the tree, gone to help her, and . . . now it's not here. Hmmm. Maybe it fell on the
ground and got covered with leaves. He kicked the leaves around looking for
the rake. "Mom! I can't find the rake! Did you take it?" From her place across the yard she shook her head and said, "No, I
haven't seen it."
Albert thought about his playful sister and guessed she'd hidden
it from him. "Tracey, what did you do with the rake? I can't do my work if
I don't have it, so give it back!" Albert secretly hoped she wouldn't give it
back so he could get out of doing the work. He said to his mother, "Mom,
Tracey hid the rake!" Tracey protested, "I did not! I haven't seen your dumb rake."
Albert's mother came over to where he stood and asked him, "Where did you have it last?" He pointed to the tree he thought he'd leaned the rake against and
said, "Over there." Tracey joined Albert and their mother and the three walked over to
the tree that Albert had pointed out. No rake or any garden tool was there, or anywhere around.
"Well, rakes don't have legs, it couldn't just up and run away. Maybe your father took it to use. Let's go ask him, " Albert's mother said.
They walked across the yard and saw that Albert's father did indeed have a rake, but Albert knew it wasn't his. The one his father had was green, his was red. "Dad, where did you find that rake?" Albert asked.
His father looked at him with a puzzled expression and said, "I got this one out of the garage a while ago. Why? Where's yours?"
Albert's mom spoke up, "It seems we have a mystery on our hands. Albert's rake has disappeared." She looked at Albert and asked, "Where did you go when you left the rake?"
"I went to help Tracey pull out a vine, " Albert answered. "Then where?" "We pulled the vine loose and dragged it to the fire. " Albert
pointed from where the vine had been to where the fire was burning.
Albert's mother looked puzzled for a moment, then a gleam danced in
her eyes and she said, "I think I know what happened to the rake! But I want
you to tell me what you think." She walked to where the children had pulled
out the vine. She motioned for them to come to where she stood. When they got
there, she said, "Now look behind you. What do you see?"
Albert frowned and said, "I just see the trees and the yard." "What about you, Tracey?" "I see the yard and further on -- the fire, " Tracey answered.
"Okay. Now look at the tree where Albert put his rake and then at the fire. Now what do you see?"
Then it dawned on Albert what his mother was trying to get him to see.
He smiled at her. It was the path where he and his sister had pulled the vines
to the fire.
The path that led beside the tree where he'd left his rake. He said
in an excited voice, "I think I know what happened too!" Albert and Tracey ran
to the fire, with their mother close behind them. Using a shovel, their mother lifted the now burning vine from the top
of the pile and poked around beneath it, there glowing with heat, was the
metal part of the rake, the wood handle had already burned.
"Mystery solved! You must have caught the rake on the vine as you
pulled it toward the fire under the vine and when you threw the vine on to
burn, you also threw the rake in with it."
Albert looked down at his shoes and said, "I'm sorry, mom. I didn't
mean to do that." "It's okay, Albert, I know you didn't mean to do it. I'm sure your
father can find you another rake." That wasn't what Albert had wanted to hear.
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