PeeWee's Tale Read Free Page A

waited for the worst.

CHAPTER FOUR
Lessons from Lexi

    Just as I expected to find myself in the jaws of the terrible creature, nothing happened. I opened my eyes to see what was going on. Suddenly, the dog had turned to run in another direction. I shivered with relief as I wondered why he had lost interest in me. And then I saw. It was all Lexi’s doing.
    My new friend had climbed down from his safe perch in the tree and set himself in thepath of the huge dog. Lexi knew he could avoid being caught by the big animal. As soon as the dog was about to jump at him, Lexi charged off in a different direction. At once, the dog changed course. The dog was too dumb to realize that he would never be able to catch a creature who could run and climb and jump with squirrel speed. Is was an amazing performance.

    Before long, Lexi’s game was interrupted by a human who came shouting and calling and waving a long strap.
    â€œFigaro . . . Figaro . . . Figaro!” it called out, then shouted, “Heel!”
    The animal stopped and looked at the human. He looked longingly at Lexi but he didn’t try to catch him.
    â€œGood dog,” the voice encouraged.
    I watched as the human connected the strap he was holding to a band around the dog’s neck and pulled the dog away. I wish Robbie would come calling for me, I thought as Lexi came running toward me.
    â€œ
A leap in time is mighty fine
,” he said. “Why didn’t you climb the tree?”
    â€œI tried.” I said. “But my legs are shorter than yours.”
    â€œI climbed trees when I was a baby, and my legs were guinea-pig size,” Lexi responded.
    â€œPerhaps it’s because I haven’t a tail,” I said.
    â€œMy cousin Sixty-seven was hit by a car and lost his tail. He can still climb even without it. You just need lessons” Lexi retorted. “I’ll teach you how to climb.
Practice makes perfect
.”
    Somehow, I guessed that no number of lessons would ever give me the speed and climbing skills of a squirrel. But I was glad of my new friend’s interest in me.
    â€œYou need a place to live, too,” said Lexi. “All animals in the park have their own shelters.”
    â€œAt Robbie’s house, I live in a cage,” I explained. That reminded me. Robbie was probably back home now, and he would be wondering where I had disappeared to.
    â€œThere’s a zoo with cages here in the park,” said Lexi. “But you’re better off finding your own place to stay. Then you can come and goas you please. The zoo animals are locked up. It’s better to have the freedom of the whole park.”
    I looked around me. So this was the park, I thought, suddenly realizing where I was. It was the piece of green that I’d seen so often from Robbie’s window. The place where he came to play.
    â€œWhat exactly is a park, anyhow?” I asked.
    â€œIt’s all these trees and grass and flowers,” Lexi explained. “It’s those benches where people will be sitting before long, and these paths for them to walk along. It’s the sky above us and the air around us. It’s our whole world.”
    â€œI never knew the world could be a park,” I told him. “I come from a much smaller world with a wheel and a door and pellets for food and paper scraps on the floor.”
    â€œSounds awful,” said Lexi.
    â€œIt wasn’t awful,” I told him. But I already knew that now I would find my old world very small. No wonder Robbie liked coming to the park to play with his friends.
    â€œWe’d better hurry,” said Lexi. “Pretty soon there will be a lot of people around. There will be small children and their parents, park attendants, roller skates, and bicycles. And
many
more dogs. You need a place where you can escape. If you can’t climb a tree, you’d better find a hole.”
    I looked down at the ground. It was soft and