A Rainy Day
Rodney looked out the living room window and gave out a long sigh. He sat down in the big stuffed chair, rested his chin in his palm and stared glumly out the window at the rain coming down in a slow, steady downpour. The rain was occasionally punctuated by a flash of lightning and a low roll of thunder. It was the kind of rain that could last all day. His Saturday was not starting out like he planned. Rodney slumped down farther in his chair.
All week he had made plans for Saturday. It was spring, and the weather had been perfect for kite flying. On the living room floor in front of the chair lay a red and yellow box kite he had assembled that morning after breakfast. He looked at it longingly. He was mad because he wasted his money on a kite he couldn't even use. A roll of thunder rumbled low and long, and the rain fell harder.
His mother was sitting on the couch reading a book. She looked over at the dejected boy. "Rodney," she said. "Why don't you go in your room and find something to do." She knew how much he wanted to go outside. "I'll get you something to eat in a little while. Now go and find something to do."
"Oh, all right," Rodney said glumly. He pulled himself up out of the stuffed chair and walked down the hall into his room. There he sprawled out on his bed. He hung his head over the bed and stared down at the floor. He listened to the rain pound on the roof and the wind rattle the window. "What am I supposed to do." he said to himself. He pulled out a comic book from under the bed and paged through it with his head still hanging over the edge of his bed. But comics were no substitute for kite flying, and after a bit, boredom forced Rodney to turn over and sit up on his bed.
Rodney looked over at his pet hamster and sighed another big sigh. The hamster lived in a wire cage on top of the dresser next to three car models and a plastic Godzilla. The hamster's name was Ernie, a light brown, baggy ball of fur that Rodney got from a neighbor for free. The boy walked over to the dresser and peered in the cage. Ernie trotted slowly on his wire exercise wheel. The wheel squeaked slowly with each rotation. Rodney tapped on the cage, but the hamster paid no attention. He just kept trotting on. Rodney looked up from the cage at the wall above the dresser where a picture of Dracula hung. His mom was mad when he brought it home. She didn't think it was a proper thing for Rodney to have. But since he had bought it with his own money, she agreed to let him put it up, at least for a little while. Rodney then looked down at his wooden toy box. The box held Rodeny's games, sports equipment, toy cars and trucks and lots of assorted junk. It also held a bag full of many different kinds of miniature plastic figures. Outside the the gutters were turning into rivers, carrying sticks and leaves into the sewers
Rodney pulled the bag out of the toy box and walked over to the bed. He opened up the bag and turned it upside down. Out fell dozens of little figures. There were knights in armor, Indians, cowboys and a bunch of plastic farm animals from an old farm set that was now long gone. A whole mixture of figures he had collected over the years. Some of the little men had horses. There was a chariot, a wagon, and three plastic fences from the old farm set.
Rodney sat on the edge of the bed and arranged the figures into piles. Each type of figure in its own pile. He crumpled the bedspread into a landscape of hills and valleys with a flat plain right in the middle. Two large mountains were made out of the pillows. It was an impressive landscape that made the boy smile. He started setting the figures up. The Indians were placed in bedspread valleys on one side of the bed. The knights were set in formation on one of the pillow mountains. The chariot waited in a little hidden place off to the side. Bowmen took the high ground. The cowboys made a stronghold out of the other pillow. Their horses were in a corral made from the farm fence. Pigs, chickens and cows stood neatly in rows on the flat plain.
Rodney had set the stage carefully. Everything was in place. He stood back and looked at it all proudly, eyeing it from all directions. He got down and looked at it from the level of the bed to inspect it for realism. He got up on a chair and viewed it from above to get a birds-eye view. Ernie the hamster paid no attention and just kept right on rolling his exercise wheel over and over. And outside, the rain poured down.
The cowboys charged first, running out into the flat . They were countered by the archer knights who cascaded arrows onto the flat plain. The pigs, chickens, and cows retreated to a safer spot behind a ridge. Next the Indians rushed out onto the field. The knights seized the moment and sent out the chariot to do battle against the opposing forces. First one side charged while the other held, and then the other side mounted an attack. The farm animals saw their opportunity and rushed the field, trampling opposing forces with their physical strength and size. More cowboys ran out to meet the other forces. Indians armed with spears went against armor clad knights challenging with and ball and chain. Pigs trampled everything in their path. They clashed fiercely. Gallant warriors lay strewn about the plain. Rain poured. Ernie ran faster on his wheel, picking up the pace as the battle continued. The struggle was at its peak now. The plastic men and animals battled each other with equal strength. An outside force would be needed to turn the tide of events. Godzilla descended down onto the bedspread battlefield-- the meanest ugliest movie monster ever. He towered over the other warriors and indiscriminately tossed soldiers here and Indians there. Cows were knocked to the ground. He crunched the knights in armor, and fried the chickens with x-ray vision. He stomped the cowboys like they were bugs. Ernie ran on his wheel. The wheel squeaked madly. The Dracula poster smiled down at the destruction.
"Rodney, RODney...RODNEY," The voice said. The third call jarred the boy out of his trance. His Mom had to yell it to get his attention, and the yell made Ernie stop dead in his tracks. The hamster stood looking out of his cage for the voice that interrupted his frenzy.
"Come on," Rodney's mom said. "I made you some lunch."
"O.K.," Rodney said, "I'll be right there." He dropped the Godzilla and walked out of room. Ernie stared after him with a puzzled hamster stare. Dracula still grinned on, but with a sad grin that was sorry to see the battle end. The toy figures lay strewn about the bed. Some were on the floor, and some were buried in the bedspread. Their faces and bodies were all still. Godzilla lay face down on the bed. Ernie sat quietly in a corner. Nobody had come out of the battle a winner.
On the way to the kitchen Rodney stopped in the living room and looked out the window. The rain was letting up, and some light was coming through the clouds.
