The Daring Rooftop Rescue

By Brian Bakos

"Coming up in the world" can bring unexpected problems as Johnny Badger learns the hard way. When the cantankerous Mr. Hank suddenly disappears and leaves Johnny his house, all of Forest Towne is in an uproar. Johnny uses his new found wealth to bully his way to acceptance with disastrous, and humorous results.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brian Bakos
• Release date: Aug 31, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301043361

Brian Bakos

I like to write and travel. I'm from the Detroit area originally and try to see other places as often as possible. My most recent travels have been to China, Ecuador, and Belize. Am thinking of my next destination. It's wonderful how travel inspires the writing process. Attended Michigan State University and Alma College.Not much more than that. Anything else I have to say comes out in my books. If you really want to know more, please contact me through my website, https://www.theb2.net/. May life bring you many blessings!

Book preview

THE DARING ROOFTOP RESCUE

Coming up in the world can be dangerous

by Brian Bakos

art work: Othoniel Ortiz

Copyright 2013 Brian Bakos / revised 10-2019

Smashwords Edition

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. It may not be re-sold or given away to anyone else. If you want to share this book, please buy an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, please return to Smashwords.com and obtain your own copy. Thanks for respecting the author’s hard work.

Table of Contents

One: Coming Up in the World

Two: Struggle for Acceptance

Three: The Elite Meet

Four: Disaster

Five: A New Day

Six: Coming Down

Brian’s Other Books

One: Coming up in the World

1. Up on the Rooftop Oh, Oh, Oh!

The wooden ladder broke apart with a horrible CRACK!

Johnny Badger leaped off, grabbed the drain pipe, and held on for dear life with all four paws. Beneath him, the ladder tumbled away in pieces.

Whew! he gasped.

He looked at the ground below. It seemed very far away, like he was seeing it through the wrong end of a telescope.

What should I do now?

The drain pipe decided this for him as it started bending away from the gutter.

SCREECH!

The nails holding it to the wall groaned as they pulled free. Soon, Johnny would be taking a fast trip without a parachute.

He gathered all his strength and, with a desperate heave, flung himself onto the roof. He sprawled there like a cracked egg waiting to get fried. Every claw dug into the shingles as if his life depended on it.

Well, his life certainly did depend on it!

Johnny was too scared to move. Not only that, but he felt terribly sorry for himself – as only those who create their own problems can feel.

I’m not Santa Claus, he whined. I don’t belong on roof tops!

Minutes dragged past before Johnny got up the nerve to stand. He crept to the edge of the roof and peered over. Below him yawned a thirty foot drop to the hard packed dirt of the front yard.

Ohhh.

The sight made him dizzy; his heart beat a fierce rhythm. He sat down and slammed his eyes shut. A high-climbing squirrel might not be bothered, but for a badger used to living underground, this was maximo scary.

Worst of all, he knew the disaster was his own fault. He simply weighed too much to be climbing on such a flimsy old ladder. He smacked a fist into an open paw.

I’d feel so much better if I could blame somebody else!

Nobody else was around, though.

He-elp! Johnny cried, Helllppp!

The emptiness smothered his voice. Never had he felt so utterly alone. Dark forest pressed in all around him, and thunder rumbled in the darkening sky.

The air became hot and tense, as if it was getting ready to explode. The hairs on Johnny’s coat stood on end. The atmosphere seemed damp enough to swim through.

Thunder boomed again, closer now, and scattered raindrops appeared. They thudded against the wood shingles like a hammer driving nails into a coffin lid.

Earlier today, Johnny had been doing great. Now he was in this awful situation. How could things have turned out so wrong?

2. Mr. Hank Vanishes

Curmudgeon = someone who is bad-tempered, disagreeable, or stubborn. A killjoy, a wet blanket

Things started to unravel last week, on the day Mr. Hank disappeared. But Johnny didn’t know his life was coming apart; he thought he was doing rather well.

Mr. Hank (also known as the Old Curmudgeon) was an ornery, unpleasant, dislikable man. No one ever tried to get on his good side because he didn’t have one. Rumor had it he’d once been a forest ranger and had worked many years alone in the wilderness. Then he’d quit that job and moved into the house near Forest Towne.

It was an old house but much finer than anyone else’s. In the years it had stood empty, no one dared to move in. The place had been built by humans back when they’d farmed this area, and nobody wanted to cross them.

Forest Towne itself was small and hidden away