Free Watermelon Days and Firefly Nights: Heartwarming Scenes from Small Town Life by Annette Smith Page A

couldn’t believe it. Maggie lay very, very still.
    Ralph held Trey back. Doc bent to check. “Guys, I can’t believe it, but she’s dead.”
    “How? What happened?”
    “I don’t know. Best I can guess, horse must’ve kicked her in the head.”
    Trey began to sob. Ralph held him close.
    Back at the cabin, Trey lay on his bunk with his pillow covering his head. He didn’t move. He refused to eat supper, and even skipped swim time, which he loved. “You guys go on. Trey’ll be all right,” Pancho said, shooing the rest of the boys out of the cabin. When they were gone, he whispered to Ralph, “He’s pretty upset. You think we should call his mother?”
    “Not yet.” It was 9:00 by then and Trey had gone to sleep. “Let’s see how he is in the morning. I’ll sit up tonight in case he wakes up crying or needing something.”
    “You sure?”
    “Yeah. I’m not that tired, and I can sleep in the morning.”
    But at 1:30 Ralph fell asleep, in spite of his best efforts. It was Kevin who woke up and heard Trey sniffling. Not sure what to do, Kevin woke up Josh, who woke up Carl, who woke up everybody else—except for Pancho and Ralph. The boys slid out of their bunks and stood in a huddle on the cabin’s concrete floor, shifting and shivering in their boxers and T-shirts.
    “Trey’s crying,” Kevin whispered. “We gotta do something.”
    “What?” asked Josh.
    “I dunno. Talk to him or something.”
    “Trey? You all right?” Josh spoke to Trey’s back.
    “We’re sorry about Maggie,” said Rudy.
    “Yeah. She was a really good dog,” said Max.
    “When my dog got hit by a car, I cried for a week,” said Lindon.
    “You did?” Trey rolled over and faced the seven.
    “I cried for a month when my dog died,” offered Carl.
    “I cried for three months when my cat died,” topped Rudy.
    No one knew what to say next.
    “Man, I’m hungry,” said Kevin. “Anybody got anything to eat?”
    “I do. I’ve got Pringles and M&Ms,” said Lindon. “I’m starving too.”
    “Me too. I’ve got some jerky,” said Max.
    Just then Ralph rolled over and Pancho’s snoring stopped. “Shhh! Keep it down,” hissed Josh. “We’ll get in trouble if anybody finds out we’ve got food. Let’s go to the bathhouse. Nobody’ll catch us there. Everybody grab what you’ve got and let’s go.”
    “Come on, Trey.” Kevin helped Trey slide out of his bunk. “Where’s your shoes? Careful now. Do your hands hurt?”
    “Just when I move ’em.”
    “Stick your foot up here and let me tie.”
    “Thanks, Kevin.”
    “No problem. Ready?”

    T HE NEXT MORNING , when Ralph realized that he’d drifted off, he felt really bad. He told Pancho that he feared Trey might have cried during the night. “Trey? Time to wake up. You sleep okay, buddy?”
    Trey didn’t want to wake up.
    But, then again, neither did Josh, Kevin, Rudy, Carl, James, Max, or Lindon. The whole cabin acted like they were worn out.
    “What’s up with you men?” teased Pancho. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think that y’all had been up all night running around the camp or something.”
    Sixteen bare feet hit the gritty cabin floor. “We’re up,” said Kevin.
    “Yeah, we’re up, Pancho,” the rest agreed, suddenly intent on looking wide awake.
    Pancho looked over at Ralph and shrugged. “Whatever. Flagpole devo in ten. Let’s not be the last cabin there.”
    When he stepped out of the cabin, Trey must’ve remembered that Maggie was gone, because he looked like he was about to cry. Max, who had walked out with Trey, threw his arm across Trey’s shoulders. “Come on. It’ll be all right. You ready? We don’t have to wait on those guys.”
    The others, minutes later on their way down the hill to the flag, discussed a plan of action amongst themselves. “Man, he lost his best friend,” Lindon said.
    “Trey was crazy about that dog,” Josh agreed.
    “We gotta keep him company so he don’t feel so bad,” Carl said.
    And so