Stick Dog Dreams of Ice Cream by Tom Watson Read Free Book Online Page A

careful even as they sped along. They scurried through backyards and the edge of the forest whenever they could—but they always stayed on a parallel track with the street.

    It was only a matter of several minutes until the dogs caught up with and passed the ice cream truck. The truck, after all, moved quite slowly—and it was now stopped again to serve several more humans some ice cream.
    After running past the truck’s current parking spot for a few minutes, the dogs slowed and stopped near the street again. In the far distance, they could see where the truck was still parked behind them—and they could see quite a few humans still standing in line there.
    â€œOkay, we have a few minutes,” Stick Dog said as he looked in both directions along the street. “He’s going to hand out ice cream there for a little while and then driveslowly in this direction. The question is: where will he stop next?”
    â€œCouldn’t we just make him stop?” Karen asked.
    â€œHow would we do that, Karen?” asked Mutt.

    â€œYou know, run in front of the truck while he’s driving.” Karen shrugged. “He’s sure to stop when he hits us. When we get hit, the one who is hurt the least could climbinto the truck somehow and grab the ice cream.”
    Mutt considered this for a moment. “Sounds good. Do you want to just run across the street as the truck goes by or straight at it or what?”
    â€œOh, I think across is best. That would be more of a surprise—and increase the likelihood of being hit,” answered Karen. She then turned to address Stick Dog. “Do you agree, Stick Dog? Do you think running across would be the best way to get hit by the truck?”
    Stick Dog had noticed something down the street—a large open space without many houses around. But he wasn’tcompletely distracted—he still overheard the conversation. He shook his head and said, “We’re not going to stop the truck by getting hit by it.”

    â€œWhy not?” asked Karen, genuinely curious. “You don’t think it will work?”
    â€œNo, I mean—” he started to say and then stopped himself. His mind was busy working out the details of a possible plan, but he knew he had to stop this idea right away. “I mean, I guess it would work. But I don’t think we should get hit by the truck. I think it would hurt. A lot.”
    â€œOh,” Karen said. She considered Stick Dog’s response for a few seconds. Then she added, “So, it would work—you just don’t think it should work?”
    â€œUmm. Right.”
    â€œSo it’s a great idea. We’re just not going to use it.”
    Stick Dog hesitated in answering, butultimately said, “Right.”
    â€œI can live with that,” Karen said, and nodded. “But I don’t know how we’re going to get into that truck if we don’t make it stop.”
    While Stick Dog continued to think, Poo-Poo attempted to answer Karen’s concerns. He said, “I chase cars and catch them all the time.”
    â€œYou do?” Karen asked.
    â€œOh, yeah. It’s easy,” Poo-Poo replied. He came across as quietly confident on the subject. “You just have to know how to do it, that’s all.”
    Mutt asked, “How do you do it, Poo-Poo?”
    â€œYou just have to pick the right car,” Poo-Poo explained. He liked the way the others were paying such close attention to him.
    Stripes was interested now too. She asked, “Where do you find the right car?”
    â€œOh, just about anywhere. I find a lot of my car targets at the mall down Highway 16.”
    Karen observed, “That makes sense. Cars move much slower in a parking lot than on a street. And they don’t drive in long, straight lines. They sort of go around in circles—like I do when I’m chasing my tail.”
    Karen then started chasing her tail.

    Poo-Poo