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Here is a lovely short story about a boy on a farm ;

Troy's Adventure

The sun was bright above the golden hay standing ready for harvest. In
the distance a child ran towards the farmhouse. It was a small child,
not much more than four years old. His light hair gleamed in the sun.
A black dog ran close on his heels, yipping excitedly. The boy ran up
the front stairs into the house, slamming the porch door behind him.

"Mommy, mommy, look what Blacky caught," the boy said, holding out a
battered blue sand pail in his grimy hands.

"What do we have here, Troy?" his mother asked, peering into the pail
cautiously.

"It's a mice, Blacky catched it in the field. Can I keep it Momma? Can
I please?" Troy asked, looking eagerly at his mother.

"Now Troy, I have told you many times that you are only allowed one pet
and you have Blacky. Anyways, what would you want with a mouse?"
Troy's mother inquired.

"Aw, Momma, I'll keep him in my room. I won't let him get out and run
around," Troy begged.

"Don't aw me, Troy, you heard what I said. No mouse, now put that
disgusting thing back outside immediately," Troy's mother said. "And
don't slam the door this time."

Troy stomped out of the kitchen and went outside, slamming the door
behind him. He then took off running across the yard towards the barn.


"Troy, come back here and shut this door properly," Troy's mother
called. Troy ignored her and kept on running, the blue pail swinging
violently in his little hand.

"I hate Momma," Troy yelled to the wind. "She is mean and never lets me
do anything." He hurled the pail at the barn wall and watched the
mouse scurry out once the paid landed. The mouse took off into the
barn with Blacky close on its tail.

"Black, you come back here," Troy yelled, but, the dog wouldn't listen
to him. "Nobody listens to me; it's not fair." Troy slumped to the
ground and folded his arms across his chest. After awile a butterfly
fluttered by. Troy chased after it, forgetting his anger. The
butterly flew through the open doors of the barn. At the doorway Troy
stopped.

"Never go into the barn along, there are many dangers that await a young
boy like yourself," his father had warned. Troy hestitated briefly and
then shrugging his shoulders he followed the butterfly into the barn.
The butterfly was nowhere in site.

The interior of the barn was dark except for the light and filtered
through the open doors of the loft window. Troy immediately noticed
the ladder leading to the hayloft. When he looked up he could see the
rope that the older kids used to swing on over the hole between the two
lofts. Once again his father's warnings sounded in his ears.

"Troy, you mustn't ever climb that ladder," Troy's father had warned one
day when he noticed Troy eyeing the ladder. "It's too dangerous for
someone as young as you."

"Daddy just doesn't want me to have any fun, just like Momma. Nobody
wants be to have fun. Why can't I do what Kourtney and Cody are
allowed to do. Oh, yah, it's because they are older," Troy said.
mimicking his father. He scurried towards the ladder, clambering up.
He was out of breath when he reached the top. He crawled onto the hay
and sat quietly, trying to catch his breath. Once he recovered, he
peered cautiously over the side. A large tractor was parked in the
space far below. Troy quickly stepped back from the edge. Out of the
corner of his eye he saw the rope and ran towards it. Gleefully his
tiny hands clasped the rope tightly. Pulling back he swung out over
the open space just as he had seen the older kids doing. Once he had
swung back, he let go of the rope and flew into the hay, his heart beating rapidly.

"I think I will wait until I am older to do that again," he thought to
himself. "That was really scary." As he made his way to the ladder he
noticed the butterfly that he had originally chased into the barn.
With his arms outstretched he raced after it across the hayloft.
Suddenly, the floor seemed to fall out from beneath his feet and Troy
was cast into a dark narrow hole. He tried to clutch at the sides as
he fell, but to no avail. After awhile he landed softly in the hay at
the bottom of the hole. Troy looked around quickly trying to find a
means of escape. There was no way to escape except for the hole the
loomed high above him. Troy's wide eyes started at the opening. He
started to cry as he realized that there was no way out.

'Troy, Troy, where are you?" Troy heard his father's rough voice
calling.

"Daddy, Daddy, I'm down here. Help me out," Troy's voice came out as a
tiny squeak. Troy heard his father's footsteps on the loft above him.
Then his father's face appeared in the opening above.

"Now, how did you get down there, you little rascal," Troy's father
said, reaching down and pulling Troy out of the hole.

"Thank you for saving me Daddy. I promise I will never go into the barn
alone again," Troy said seriously. "The hay loft tried to eat me, but you saved me."

"What an imagination you've got kid." Troy's father said as they headed
back to the house.

Copyright Natasha Pichette 2005.
natashapichette@cogeco.ca