Turn on Your Ears: My Adventures as a Duck

By Anton J. Kryka

This story is told by a young girl named Annie. Her grandfather's home is her school house. Her grandfather is her teacher.

One day after school, Annie meets a toad named Ike in her grandfather's garden. That night her grandfather leaves on a sailing ship. Annie and Ike attempt to follow him in a small boat. They fall asleep and

• Language: English
• Publisher: Anton J. Kryka Sr.
• Release date: Aug 4, 2014
• ISBN: 9781941696002

Anton J. Kryka

A. J. Kryka dreamt of being an author since high school, many years ago. After being laid off from his job of 37 years, it was time to take that step. He was born in Wisconsin. He earned a BS degree in mathematics from the UW-Stevens Point. He moved to Michigan after college. For most of his career, he was a computer programmer. His early interests were science, reading science fiction, and playing the guitar. Later in life, his world revolved around his wife, his four boys, and his job. His books are youthful fantasy adventures filled with suspense and humor. They also emphasize the strength of the family and the power of education. Everyone from grandparents to grandchildren can read and enjoy his books.

Book preview

EBookCover

Annie's Travel Adventures Book 1:

Turn On

Your Ears

or

My Adventures as a Duck

A. J. Kryka

© Copyright 2012 A. J. Kryka Sr.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.

ISBN: 978-1-941696-00-2 (e)

ISBN: 978-1-941696-01-9 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-941696-02-6 (sc)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012920348

First Edition 2012-10-30 Published by Trafford

Second Edition 2014-08-04 Published by Anton J. Kryka Sr.

Third Edition 2015-09-05 Published by Anton J. Kryka Sr.

Salem Township, Michigan USA

Books by A. J. Kryka

Annie's Travel Adventures:

1. Turn On Your Ears

     or My Adventures as a Duck

2. Get Your Eyes Open

     or My Photonic Adventures

3. Power Up Your Brain

     or My Mathematical Christmas Adventures

The first chapters of each of these books can be viewed at

www.AJ-KRYKA.com.

picName

01. Annette Annie Susan Baker

02. Grandfather (Nicholas Nick Baker)

03. Father (Joseph Joe Baker)

04. Austin (dog)

05. Holly (cat)

06. Ike (Isaac Franklin Scott)

07. Captain Bart (Bartholomew Bear)

08. Sheriff Scully Skunk

09. Officer Frank Blue-Snake

10. Mike Monkey (wagon driver)

11. Max Little-Dog

12. Sid Big-Dog

13. Guardian Frederick Fox

14. Judge Randolf Raccoon

15. Mister Tall-One Mushman

16. Mister Shorty Mushman

17. One Potato

18. Two Potato

19. Three Potato

20. Four Potato

21. Nurse Wilma Wolf

22. Crazy Tina Turkey

23. Henry Horse

24. Rita Reindeer

25. Senator Pugsley Pig

26. Senator Pudgy Pig

27. Tillie Turkey

28. Terrie Turkey

29. Tonnie Turkey

30. Torrie Turkey

31. River

32. Annabel Ant

33. Bill Blackbird

34. Carl Cardinal

35. Mister Engineer

36. Woody Woodchuck

37. Mister Conductor

38. Ida Idaho-Potato

39. Betsy McDonald

40. Roy McDonald

41. Harriet Horse

42. Ryan McDonald

43. Joanne (speaker)

44. Tom Turkey

45. Tim Turkey

46. Cowleen Cow

47. Beelinda Bee

48. Wylie Wolf

49. Wilbur Wolf

50. Annita Ant

51. Primo Pig, the Prime

52. Joanne (jailbird)

53. Helen Horse

54. Hadwin Horse

55. Harwin Horse

56. Bob Gale

57. Dorothy Gale

58. Rick Reindeer

59. Joanne Baker (Grandmother)

Contents

1. My Days with Grandfather or Grandfather's Imagination

2. The Talking Toad or Turning on My Ears

3. Five Card Draw or The Midnight Ship

Day One: With My Ears Turned On or I Am Not a Duck

  4. Knots Away or Paddle by Pedal

  5. I Am Not a Duck or Skunked

  6. Wobbly Wagon Ride or Go Directly to Jail

  7. Ike Escapes or Crazy Jail

  8. A Fine Retreat or Fined Again

  9. Judgment Job Fair or Collared

  10. Pooper Scooping or Talking Mushrooms

  11. The Eyes Have It or Potato Escape

  12. Let Freedom Ring or Smell Like a Duck

  13. Brain Surgery or Crazy Turkey

  14. Piggy Curious or War Stories

  15. Not So Crazy Turkey or If Pigs Could Fly

  16. Travels Plans or Sneaking Out of Town

Day Two: Traveling Companions or My Farm Adventures

  17. Flowing Words or The Right Direction

  18. Riverside Breakfast or Feather and Tail

  19. Ant Picnic or A Stitching Conversation

  20. River Crossing or Bird Travel Advice

  21. Feather Fare or Apple Aboard

  22. Train Ride or Food for Thought

  23. Going to Town or Jiggity Log

  24. Home Again or Sharing

  25. A Real Lunch or Duck Tales

  26. Dishwashing News or Off to War

  27. Lazy Forgetfulness or Farm Life

  28. Bird Brain or Chicken Soup

  29. Turkey Shoot or The Right Balance

  30. Milking Moos or Bee Good

  31. A Filling Supper or Musical Movements

  32. Ryan Returns or Surprise Attack

  33. Critical Thinking or No Cinch Adventure

Day Three: Slingshot Warriors or My Warrior Adventures

  34. Where Are We? or Slingshot Strategy

  35. Tale Ahead or Disappearing Act

  36. Cross That Bridge When We Come to It or Food with Thoughts

  37. Out Foxing Wolves or River Helps

  38. Catch-Up Battle or Direction Decisions

  39. Leaves in the Wind or A Ticklish Disguise

  40. A Ticklish Entrance or An Insightful Inciting Speech

  41. I Am Not a Duck or Jailed Again

  42. Untied, But Not Free or Fellow Jailbirds

  43. Hypnotized? or Acting Out

  44. Pooper Scooping Again or Stampede

  45. Following the Enemy or Pirate Ship Spotted

  46. Ready Or Not or Here We Come

  47. Surprise Return or A Sting in Time

  48. The Battle Begins or Bursting Bubbles

  49. A New Battle Plan or Reinforcements

  50. Suspenders Slingshot or Flying Reindeer

  51. A Little Rain Must Fall or Family Reunions

  52. Flying Lessons or Goodbye My Friends

  53. At Dream's End or Parting Thoughts

Chapter 1

My Days with Grandfather

or

Grandfather's Imagination

My name is Annette, but everyone calls me Annie.

From as young as I can remember, my father would drive me to my grandfather's home on his way to work. Wearing his red jacket, Grandfather would be waiting by the driveway to greet us. We would both wave to my father as he drove away. When I was very young, Grandfather would pick me up and carry me into his home. After I didn't need to be carried, he would just take my hand as we went up the walkway.

Breakfast was the start of each of our days together.

Grandfather always talked during breakfast. He talked with his cat, Holly, his dog, Austin, and me. The cat and dog never talked, except for a meow and a woof every now and then.

I have forgotten many of those breakfasts. Many of them were simply cereal and milk. Sometimes we had pancakes and maple syrup. As I got older, we would sometimes have eggs and bacon. On toast, we always had butter and strawberry jam.

I tried to talk as much as Grandfather did. He was always very interested in my thoughts, but more than once he had said, Don't talk with your mouth full. I want to hear you, but I don't need to see how good your teeth are working. I would close my mouth, and Grandfather would smile.

Grandfather would always say, This isn't much of a breakfast. Your grandmother could do a hundred times better. I never knew my grandmother, but her picture was on the piano. The piano was in the side room off the hallway to the kitchen.

I like your breakfasts, Grandfather, I always said, at least after I could talk properly.

You're just being nice, Grandfather would say with a smile. Now eat up before Holly finds out you're not paying attention. She's had her milk this morning, but she just might be interested in a little more.

Grandfather always had honey and lemon in his morning tea. It's good to wake up with a cup of hot tea, he always said. When I was old enough, I would have a cup of tea too. The sweet honey and the tart lemon were a good combination. Just like Grandfather, I was always careful to blow on it a little before taking a sip when it was first poured.

After breakfast, Grandfather and I would clean up the breakfast dishes. Grandfather usually did most of the work. We would then go sit in the living room on the big couch, and Grandfather would tell me a story. He sometimes read from a book, but mostly he just told a story. Many of them were about The Four Brothers. These were Grandfather's special adventure stories, but I don't remember all of them. I think that Grandmother was in many of them. Perhaps someday I'll write down the ones I remember, but I best be getting on with this adventure first.

If the weather was nice, we would go outside in the backyard after breakfast. Grandfather had a bench swing that we sat in while he told his stories. The stories always began with Once upon a time, there were four brothers and then the adventure would unfold. Austin would always lie down in the grass near the swing. I think he liked the stories too. Holly would wander around the yard. She would come back every now and then to rub against our legs. I don't think she was interested in the stories.

Later in the day, there was lunch and then perhaps a nap on the big couch in the living room. Sometimes, instead of a nap, Grandfather would tell me about colors, numbers, and letters. Then he might wander into talking about the earth, plants, and animals, or maybe air, wind, and sky. As I grew older, he talked about atoms, elements, and molecules. He also talked about equations, formulas, and logic. This may seem like very dull stuff, but with Grandfather, everything was always an adventure.

Electrons are busy little things, he would say. They are attracted to protons and love flying in circles around them and their sleepy brothers, the neutrons.

Grandfather seemed to know everything about everything. To him, red was not just something one can see with one's eyes. Red was just as much a number as it was a particle from the sun, and yet it was still a wonderful mystery.

Some afternoons we would go down the small hill to the pond on the other side of Grandfather's home. He had a small paddleboat there that we used to sail around the pond. It had pedals like a bicycle that turned the paddle. We would go all around the pond until our legs got tired. The dock where he kept the boat was called Pirate's Cove. Grandfather really had a vivid imagination.

Other afternoons we went down the winding stairs to Grandfather's little workshop in the basement. It had many shelves full of clear containers packed with stuff. He always had something on the workbench that was half together or half apart. I'm not sure which. He had a tall chair for me to sit on so that I could see what he was working on.

What are you making, Grandfather? I would always ask.

Oh, nothing really, Annie, he would say. I like to see how things work. I'm just tinkering.

He would look closely at his project. He would change something with a screwdriver. Then he would tighten something else with a pair of pliers. Now where did I put that other part? he would ask himself.

What part are you looking for, Grandfather? I would ask.

The blue box with the red wires, he would answer as much to himself as to me. He would turn to the shelves and look at the containers, scanning each one. I would look at the containers too. There it is, one of us would say. Then Grandfather would reach up to the container and bring it down to his workbench. The shelves were so tall that even Grandfather had to stand on a small ladder to reach the top shelf. Each container had lots of things in it. He would carefully take pieces out until he got down to the part he wanted. He always made some changes as he attached the part.

After a while, Grandfather would say, I guess I'll have to finish this tomorrow. Your father will be here soon. It's time to get you out of this dusty old basement. I don't remember him ever finishing one of his projects, but he certainly enjoyed them. I had no idea what these projects were for or what they would do. Sometimes they blinked and buzzed, sometimes they sparked and spun, and sometimes they did nothing. Whatever they did or did not do, Grandfather always seemed happy with the progress.

When it was time for Father to pick me up, we were usually sitting outside on the bench on the front porch. Holly would always be sunning herself on the porch rail. She would purr when Father arrived. Austin would always greet Father by circling around his legs.

Hi, Austin, Father would say as he rubbed Austin's side. Hi, Annie. Hi, Father. How was Annie today?

Annie's been a very good girl, Grandfather said. She's always very patient with her old grandfather.

That was how most of my days with Grandfather were until one day, when I was ten years old and Father was not there to pick me up, the telephone rang, and Grandfather and I went into the hallway to answer it. Grandfather's telephone was a very old sort that no one else uses today.

Hello, Grandfather said and waited for a response. Hello, Joe. Grandfather listened. Yes. Okay. Grandfather handed me the telephone. It's your father.

I took the telephone and said, Hello, Father.

Annie, I need to be away for tonight, Father said. I'm working on a big project. I need you to stay with your grandfather tonight. I'll pick you up tomorrow afternoon.

Okay, Father, I said.

You be a good girl, Father ordered.

I will, I said.

Goodbye, Annie, Father said. Let me speak to your grandfather again.

Goodbye, Father, I said, handing the telephone back to Grandfather.

Annie will be fine, Grandfather said into the telephone. I'll take care of her. Good luck and have fun.

Chapter 2

The Talking Toad

or

Turning on My Ears

We went back into the kitchen, and Grandfather hung up the telephone. We'll have a nice supper, he said. Perhaps we'll play a game afterwards. Then we'll get your bed ready. I thought we might have to do this some time.

Grandfather headed over to the stove. How about potatoes and sausage for supper?

Sounds good, I said, following him.

Grandfather pulled two pots from a cabinet and put them on the stove. Annie, can you get some green beans from the garden? Grandfather asked. Green beans would be a good addition to round out our supper. There's a basket on the counter that you can put them in. Just get a dozen or so long ones.

Grandfather got a sack of potatoes from the pantry. Annie, can you get two carrots as well? he asked.

Okay, I said and took the basket from the counter. I headed out the back door to Grandfather's garden in the backyard.

The beans were in a row in the middle of the garden with the carrots in the next row. I pulled out one carrot, but the next one was stubborn. I grabbed the stalk with both hands and pulled. The carrot finally came out, but I landed on my bottom in the bean plants.

Don't you be sitting on me, little girl, said a deep voice from behind me. I turned to look and saw a frog under a bean plant. At first, I thought it was a red frog, and then I realized it was wearing a red vest. What are you staring at, little girl? it asked.

It's a frog, a talking frog! I exclaimed.

I am not a frog. As you can plainly see, I am a toad, it stated.

But you can talk! I said.

Of course, I can talk, the toad said. Can't everyone? You can talk, and I do not find that so amazing.

I'm a girl, I said. Of course, I can talk.

So can I, the toad said.

What are you doing here? I asked.

I'm a guardian angel, the toad said, standing on his hind legs like a person and showing a sword that hung at his side.

Oh my! I said when I saw the sword.

Don't be shocked, little girl, the toad said. Guardian angels are most common.

But—but you have a sword! I said.

And a pistol in my vest pocket too, the toad added.

What for? I asked.

For your grandfather's protection, the toad said.

Why? I asked.

Everyone can use a little extra protection every now and then, the toad said.

From what? I asked.

There is evil in the world, the toad stated.

What evil? I asked. Grandfather is a very kind and gentle man. He has no enemies.

There is evil and good, the toad stated absolutely, and sometimes just plain stupidity. Your grandfather is one of the good ones, so he has enemies—the evil ones.

Who are they? I asked.

You are a young girl without the experience of knowing evil, the toad said. You are surrounded by good people who protect you, so you have not yet seen the evil.

I did not know what to think about this announcement. I want to protect my grandfather too, I said earnestly. Who are you?

I am Isaac Franklin Scott, a guardian angel and Protector of Good, the toad announced, but you may call me Ike.

Hello, Ike, I said. I am Annette Susan Baker, but you can call me Annie.

It is an honor to meet you, Annette Susan Baker, Ike said in a very formal fashion. Annie, may I have the honor of protecting you as well?

Yes, I said, hesitating a little. I expect that I also need all the protection I can get. I do not know evil.

I certainly will protect you as well, Ike said, but you must now finish your work out here. Your grandfather will soon be wondering what has taken you so long.

I picked myself up and started gathering beans. When I finished, I looked for Ike under the plant where he had been, but he was not there. From another part of the garden, I heard his voice. It would be best if you did not mention our meeting to your grandfather.

Why? I asked.

But there was no answer.

I returned to the kitchen with the carrots and beans. Grandfather had peeled all the potatoes, and they were already in a pot of water on the stove. Grandfather said, I was beginning to wonder if you had gotten lost under a bean plant.

I was still wondering about Ike, but I responded, I'm a little too big to be lost under a small plant like that, Grandfather.

Yes, you are, Grandfather said, looking directly at me, but sillier things have happened.

I didn't know what to say. It was as if he knew about my conversation with Ike in the garden. Had I really been talking with a toad? Or did I just hit my head and imagine it? Perhaps I have some of Grandfather's imagination.

Yes and no were the answers. I probably do have some of Grandfather's imagination, but there was a talking toad in Grandfather's garden.

Wash your hands, Annie, Grandfather said, snapping me out of my thoughts.

Grandfather kept a small step stool in the kitchen for me so that I could stand on it and reach things. I'm not very tall, but I am the right height for my age. I moved the step stool over to the sink and washed my hands.

Grandfather washed and cut the carrots, then added them to the potatoes. I'm making the carrots small, so they'll cook faster. Are you getting hungry?

Yes, I think I am, I said. I washed the beans and put them into the second pot to steam them.

It was a nice supper: boiled potatoes with carrots sprinkled with herbs from Grandfather's garden, sausage, and steamed green beans. Grandfather and I were both unusually quiet during supper. While I was working on my last potato, Grandfather asked, Did you meet Ike in the garden? He spends a lot of time there, keeping the garden free of bugs. I think it also gives him a good view of the house.

I was so startled that I almost swallowed that last potato without chewing it. I looked at Grandfather, chewed that potato, and swallowed. You know about Ike? He told me I shouldn't say anything about him.

That's okay, Grandfather said. He has good intentions. He's been around for quite some time.

Now I was really confused and said, "He said he was