by Christine Collier –
Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! – Blake smacked the snooze button on his radio and fell back in bed. A mumbled voice went on and on. He shoved his head under the feather pillow. He heard words that sounded strangely like…. School has been canned.
“What, what did he say?” Blake cracked an eyelid. “All schools in Madison County have been canceled. An unexpected blizzard has dropped a foot of snow during the night.”
He was awake now. Blake jumped out of bed and ran to his bedroom window, tore open the curtains, and wiped the icy dew off the glass. Talk about luck, the last day of school before vacation starts and I’ll miss that history quiz!
Whoa! The front yard looked like a giant marshmallow had exploded. Everything was covered in a beautiful fluffy powder. The roof of Snoop’s doghouse poked above the thick blanket of white. You could barely see the wreath Blake’s mother had placed on Snoop’s dog house.
Blake ran downstairs.
“There’s no school today,” his mother said.
“I know Mom, Snoop’s house is buried in snow, I have to go get him.”
As Blake plopped down and started tugging on his boots, a familiar slobbery tongue brushed his hand. “Snoop, how did you get inside?” Blake laughed, hugging his furry friend.
“Your father must have brought him into the house.”
“I’m going to have so much fun building a snow cave today. I’ll hide a million snowballs in a secret place in the wall!”
Walking through a foot of snow was not easy especially with Snoop running in front of him every step he took. Slowly, he made his way to the Lonesome Pine, the name they gave the huge, spooky pine tree. It’s long, reaching boughs cast dark shadows over the deep snow.
Blake started building his cave. He saw his friend, Justin, making his way through the snow, just in time to dodge a well-aimed snowball. Snoop kept getting in the way as Blake continued to work.
“What’re you building…it looks like an igloo?” Justin asked.
“This is a snow cave. Igloos are for babies.”
“Oh.”
“Would you like to help me finish it?” Blake asked.
“Sure! It really reminds me of an igloo though,” Justin said as he packed together the final side of the cave and grinned. “How about a little snowball fight?”
“I’d love to throw some! I made a pile of them earlier. The cave’s window is perfect for throwing snowballs out of,” Blake said. “I’m ready when you are.”
Both boys ran for cover and in a moment the air was thick with snowballs. Snoop started barking loudly and kept running back and forth trying to play with the boys.
“HI YAH! Snoop get out of the way. You’re ruining our fun,” Blake yelled at his dog.
Five, ten, fifteen snowballs were flying through the air. Some slammed against the snow cave and broke into a million pieces. Each boy had snow dripping from his hat and coat. Blake grabbed a handful of icy snow to throw at Justin when Snoop jumped through the cave’s window and the entire snow roof fell in on him. He was buried underneath a mountain of snow! A tiny bit of his tail stuck out.
Blake was scared and yelled to Justin. “Snoop is buried under the snow cave. I have to get him out fast. I kept telling him to get out of the way and now he might be hurt!”
Blake grabbed the snow shovel he’d been using to build the cave and dug as fast as he could. When he got close to Snoop’s head he used his hands to dig so he wouldn’t hurt the dog with the shovel. Soon Snoop was free, barking and shaking the snow from his body. Blake wrapped his arms around his pet and hugged him tightly.
“What a Snow Day this has been! I’ll never tell you to get away from me again Snoop!
the end.
Question Time
1. Why was school canceled for Blake?
2. What did they call the big spooky pine tree?
3. How did Snoop get buried in snow?
4. How did Blake get Snoop out of the snow?
