Short Stories and Tall Tales

By Roger J. and Wilma J. Burnett

Short Stories and Tall Tales tells of the bummer days of eight young people. Some days are normal living experiences and others are the result of over active imaginations with suspense and a touch of the paranormal thrown in for good measure.

Saturday Morning Surprise page 1

Brianna is twelve and talks her dad into having her own Puppy. She quickly discovers a part of puppy ownership she hadnt planned on.. Only her active imagination can rescue her from this dilemma.

Toboggan Hill Page 25

Josh and his brother Ethan have an advanced case of sibling rivalry. Who will be the fastest down Toboggan Hill, the steepest and most treacherous hill in town? Will one get hurt, like last year?

The Visit. Page 37

Isabel wakes up in the dark of the night to discover her Grandmother and a friend Miss Daisy are in her bedroom room and dressed as witches. If that's not scary enough, Miss Daisy has had a memory lapse and can't remember how to reverse the spell she's cast on Isabel's brothers, Josh and Ethan.

Halloween Page 51

Nates favorite holiday was Halloween, until the night he met a real ghost called Steadly.

The Dreaded Pantry Door. Page 65

Kenzees friend Goody shares a secret that she keeps hidden behind the kitchen pantry door in her house. If parents find out, it could change the lives of every kid in the neighborhood.

Paces and Pits Page 75

Aynslee and her siblings, agree to help their Grandfather test an experimental super modern ultra-reality computer game. The computer somehow beams them inside as real pieces of the game and now they must find the secret to getting out.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Oct 5, 2012
• ISBN: 9781475942651

Roger J.

Roger and Wilma Burnett are author and editor of numerous articles and an ongoing number of short stories. Both are retired: Roger from Corporate America and Wilma after spending 38 years as a college teacher in Kansas City Missouri. They divide their time between their eight grandchildren and traveling the world doing research for their next manuscript.

Book preview

Copyright © 2012 by Roger J. & Wilma J. Burnett.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

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Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-4759-5168-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4759-4265-1 (ebk)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012917891

iUniverse rev. date: 09/28/2012

Contents

Saturday Morning Surprise

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Toboggan Hill

The Visit

Halloween

Chapter 2

The Dreaded Pantry Door.

Chapter 2

Paces And Pits

For our children and grandchildren to whom we are very proud.

Our children will always remain our children regardless of how old they are.

Raising them was a full time endeavor. Trying to build a career sometimes distracted us from them.

However, all four children have become successful in their chosen paths. They have provided us with eight wonderful grandchildren whom we choose to spoil every chance we get. Why not? They go home every night.

The stories were inspired from observations of our grandchildren’s personalities as they have grown. We have exercised writers’ prerogative and embellished the facts a little for entertainment value.

We dedicate this book to our children and grandchildren with our love.

Grandpa and Grandma Burnett

Saturday Morning Surprise

My family and I live in Independence, a city outside Kansas City, Missouri. We have warm summers which sometimes turn to really hot and winters that are cool and sometimes turn to really cold. Since I’ve never lived anywhere else, I have nothing to compare to. But that’s okay; I like it here.

I was almost five years old before I found out my real name was Brianna not Bree or Poopy. Most everyone calls me Bree. My dad calls me Poopy and sometimes BREE—ANN—A! My mom calls that the ‘phonetic pronunciation’. When dad yells my name in three separate words, I am usually in trouble.

My dad calling me Poopy in front of people does not embarrass me and never has. He yells Poopy lovingly, even though I’d prefer Bree.

If you are twelve, so am I. I’m also about the same height and weight as you and others our age. Usually my brown hair is in a ponytail.

Does all this sound normal for kids our age?

To keep me busy, my parents sign me up for soccer, volleyball, plus dance classes. My family tells me I’m a really good dancer. I won a trophy for being the most outstanding dancer of the year at my dance studio so I guess some think I can dance.

My dad always kids me about the trophy. He jokes about having only two people in my dance class. The other girl broke her leg and was in a wheel chair all season. He’s always joking like that but at the end of a recital he’s always clapping and yelling the loudest for my performance.

Practicing dance can get on my last nerve sometimes. But the thrill of being on stage and entertaining an audience makes the practice time bearable.

The costumes, the smell of makeup, the music, and the roar of applause from the audience keeps me going. Who knows, perhaps one day, if I practice enough, I might become President of the USA. They say everything is possible, right?

For the past several months I’ve been walking a neighbor’s dog called Holly. When I went to the Caldwell’s to pick up Holly a few weeks ago, I got a surprise.

Mrs. Caldwell invited me in and took me to the garage where they kept Holly. Holly had become a mommy and had four tiny puppies cuddling her in her bed.

When I first saw one special tiny puppy, the word ‘mine’ rattled around in my brain.

As a reward for walking Holly, Mrs. Caldwell gave me the pick of the litter. You can guess what one I picked.

He was black and white spots and the smallest of the litter. He saw me and I saw him. It was love at first sight.

Mrs. Caldwell told me I’d have to wait a couple weeks until he was weaned and able to be on his own. The waiting was torture.

For as long as I can remember, a little voice from somewhere inside my head talks to me. We argue about what to do just like a brother or sister would do if I had one. I call the voice Victor.

Finally the day came when I could take my puppy home. I hadn’t told my parents yet.

On the way home, Victor, my little voice said, If you want to convince your dad to let you have this puppy, perhaps you should use the word ‘ours’ when you show him. You know… like in ‘our’ puppy. It’ll make him feel as if the puppy is also his.

I agreed. Good plan.

I stood on the front porch of our house, holding the sweetest black and white spotted puppy you’ve ever seen. I called for my dad: thought about it, then called my mom for added support.

Oh Daddy, he’s so cute. I said. He starred at the pup from inside, looking through the screened door, and then stepped outside for a better look.

I lifted the tiny puppy up so my dad could see his dark brown puppy eyes and smell his fresh puppy breath. I pushed him up close and his tongue flicked out and licked my dad’s nose.

He just gave you a kiss, I said excitedly.

My dad’s head jerked back in surprise. The pup wiggled, I giggled, and then he licked my face, too.

He’s sooo-presh-ush, I said in baby talk. I hugged the puppy snuggly to my chest and swung him slowly back and forth and from side to side.

Oh, Daddy, can we keep him? I’ve always wanted a puppy. I’ll take care of him: I’ll feed him, I’ll take him for walks, I’ll make his bed every morning and keep his room clean. I’ll even teach him to brush his teeth, I said. (Perhaps I went too far with the cleaning his room part.)

"You promised me I could have one someday and today would be perfect.

My dad looked at me kinda strange when he heard the teeth