The General's Cap

A short children's story (at about the 4th grade reading level) about a quiet boy, a soldier, and a lost puppy

                Adair was seven when it happened. That was the year that the soldier moved in next door and got a puppy.

                Adair liked the army. He liked to imagine that he was a great leader in a dangerous battle. He liked to wear his army Jacket and army hat. But before that day when the soldier moved in next door he had never met a real soldier.

                Adair was wearing his army jacket and sitting on the porch with his dog Hank. Adair and Hank had just finished patrolling the neighborhood. They protected the neighborhood. It had been a long patrol but they had met no villains. Then the new neighbor drove into his driveway, got out of his car, turned and reached inside the car to get his books. And that’s when it happened.

                The man wore an army uniform.

                Immediately, Adair stood up, looked across the grass at the soldier, and saluted.

                The soldier smiled and saluted Adair.

                Adair rushed into his house. “He saluted me! He saluted me!”

                His mother didn’t know what to think.

                His father didn’t know what to think.

                Adair was a quiet child. He could sit with Hank on the porch for hours, counting the cars that went by and watching the spaces between the cars. Adair had slowed his life for Hank, who was very old and very slow. But now, he rushed in shouting and leaving the dog on the porch.

                “Who saluted you?” His father had been busy cutting carrots for the salad, his mother was stirring something in a pot.

                Adair pointed out the window, “the soldier! The soldier!”

 

                Adair was up early the next morning. It was Tuesday. He grabbed his army jacket and rushed out the front door, not even stopping to pet Hank. But the soldier’s car was gone. A soldier’s day starts before a first-grader's day, Adair told himself. He went inside, put the leash on Hank, and headed out for the morning patrol. But that day was different, just a little different. He smiled at school. On Wednesday, climbed the jungle gym. By Thursday he wasn’t even hiding from the second-grade boys.

 His teachers didn’t know what to think.

                Then Friday came.  When the soldier came home Adair was there on his porch, back from his patrol. Hank was there, lazily snapping at passing fly. Adair stood to salute the soldier, but the soldier was slow getting out of his car. Before he stood up, he bent over, reached out the door and put something on the ground.

                Suddenly, a puppy darted toward the front of the car. It was white, with huge paws. Adair jumped off the porch and ran to the puppy who wagged his tails and strained at his leash. Adair knelt down and began to pet him as Hank wandered up beside him to take a sniff.

                “His name is Ike,” the soldier said. Suddenly, Adair remembered he had forgotten to salute. He bolted up and saluted. “At ease, soldier,” the soldier said, smiling.

                Adair looked at his uniform. He hadn’t seen one up close before and now he noticed a lot of badges and patches and other symbols. He pointed to one on his shoulders, an eagle, and asked “does that mean you’re a Sergeant? I know Sergeants are very important.”

                The solder laughed a little and said, “yes, Sergeants are very important. But, no, this means I’m a Colonel.”

                Adair stumbled over “Colonel” a couple times and then asked ‘is that more important than a Sergeant? It’s harder to say.”

                “it is harder to say, but I don’t think one soldier is not more important than another.” He looked down at the dogs. Ike was busy trying to get Hank to play, but Hank didn’t have the puppy’s energy, and he simply laid down.

                By Monday Adair had mastered the word “Colonel” and Ike had gotten Hank to play, at least a little. Adair saw the Colonel arrive home and ran across the yard to meet him: “can Ike come on patrol with Hank and I.” he blurted out without saying hello.

                Once on patrol, Ike smelled every flower.

                Every rock.

                Every tree.

                Everything.

                Hank and Adair followed behind. The next day’s walk was the same. And so, too, was the next day’s walk. Ike came to the door whenever he heard the rustle of Hank’s leash. Adair learned that soldiers don’t wear their uniforms at home. One day, he asked the soldier, “Don’t you have to be ready if there is a war?”

                The soldier nodded. “Yes, but that is only one part of what I do.” He smiled at told Adair the story of a small town cut off from the main roads by a flood, “and we used helicopters to get people groceries and troop transport vehicle to take kids to school.” Adair was surprised that soldier did more than fight wars.

                On the last day of school, Adair told his teacher he wanted to be a soldier because they protect people and help people.

Spring eased into summer. The days went from warm to hot. Then one day everything changed. Adair put a leash on Hank and walked to the soldier’s door.

                But he didn’t hear Ike.

                The soldier didn’t answer the door.

                “Looks like we’re on patrol alone today, Hank” but then Adair caught sight of the soldier coming around the corner. He was hurrying. He didn’t have Ike.

                “Ike got out of the yard. Have you seen him?”  The soldier looked worried. Adair didn’t know that Colonel could worry.

                Adair looked at Hank. Patrolling was about finding criminals and keeping the neighborhood safe. But it could also be about finding a lost puppy. “We’ll find him for you,” Adair said, “come on Hank, we have work to do.”

                Adair and Hank followed their normal route. Ike was not there. Adair and Hank went into the park, near the rocks. Ike was not there. They made their way to the lake. Ike was not there.

                Adair sat down on a rock. Hank sank into the grass beside him.  Adair thought hard, “where would I go if I were a puppy?’

                Suddenly, Hank jumped up and darted into a tangle of wild raspberries as if he were the puppy. Ike called him back. This was not the time for a raspberry snack.

                Hank didn’t come.

                Hank always came.

                Adair stood and walked over to Hank. Hank moved further into the bushes.

                Then Adair saw Ike. He was stuck, hurt, and tangled in the bushes. Slowly Adair moved into the bushes as the thorns scratched his arms and legs. He reached Ike, unwrapped his leg from the tangled branches, vines, and weeds.

                Adair carried Ike all the way back to the soldier’s house. He wasn’t there. But he would be back soon. They had agreed each patrol would report back to base every hour. So Adair carried Ike to his house and waited on the porch while his mother got a cloth to wash the blood off Ike’s leg.

                When Ike saw the soldier he began wagging his tail. When Adair saw the soldier he stood up, “patrol 2 reporting in, we have found Ike.” When the soldier saw Ike, Adair, and Hank he smiled with relief. He saluted Adair, “well done, patrol 2.”

                By summer’s end, Ike was almost twice as big as he had been when he got tangled in the raspberries. School began. Adair still patrolled after school, but now there was a new thing called homework he was expected to do.

                Then one day he came home to find the soldier sitting in his kitchen talking to his parents. They all smiled. Then the soldier stood up, “Adair, I’ve been promoted. And I want you to be part of the ceremony.”

 

                A month later, Adair looked out at the crowd on the parade grounds. Everyone smiled. People shook hands and laughed as if they had known each other forever. Adair wore his new army jacket and hat. His mother said he grew so much over the summer, he had to have all new clothes.

                The soldier came up to him. Two other soldiers were with him. One held a hat. The soldier smiled, got down on one knee to look Adair in the eye. “This is the cap you will give me. I will hand you the one I’m wearing and you’ll hand me this one. Sergeant Johnson will signal to you when it is time to get the cap from him.”

                Adair nodded. He was nervous but he couldn’t tell anyone that. Then, suddenly, the other soldier, a man he had only heard called “corporal” put his hand on his shoulder and said, “all soldiers get nervous, you’ll be fine.”

                Adair stood on the stage and waited patiently as friends and family changed the soldier’s uniform jacket and pinned stars on his shoulders. Then it was his turn. He took the general’s cap from the sergeant and stood in front of the soldier. The soldier bent down and he removed the beret with the eagle on it, and Adair set the new cap, the general’s cap, on his head.

                As the soldier stood, Adair turned around and saw the rows of smiling faces as applause erupted across the parade grounds.

                Second grade was going to be a breeze.

 

 

Author's Note

my first ever effort at a children's story; I'd very much appreciate any comments you wish to make! I don't have a 4th grade child, so if you do have one, I wonder if they can read this or if they enjoy it?

Reviews

[Shannon]

You will be great for the Children's Book Writer's or as I like to call it CBW