Pickle Patch Picnics and Tacos

Tully was glad his Mom wasn’t in the lunch room to see him trade his sandwich for a cupcake. But he wasn’t giving up his carrot sticks, not even for cheese puffs! Everybody traded items of their lunch each day, it was kind of like shopping only much more fun.

Another thing the kids traded at lunch was thoughts on important issues like bed time and the newest video game or latest movie at the theater. One freckle-faced kid was upset that his parents wouldn’t let him see a new movie because it was rated for older kids and might be too scary. A pretty girl with long black braids said it wasn’t fair since a kid could be scared by more than just a silly movie.  Tully knew she was right but he wasn’t ready to tell his story, it was just too terrible.

It happened one night after his parents wouldn’t let him watch a show because it might give him bad dreams and he had to watch a boring baby show instead. Tully thought the commercials were better than a polka-dot hippo having a picnic in a pickle patch and he thought he might die of boredom. Instead, Tully fell fast asleep.

It smelled like someone had spilled a jar of hot sauce in his room. When he opened his eyes in the darkness he could just barely see a giant shape leaning over his bed and it sure wasn’t his mom or dad! 

Tully leaped from his bed just as a long skinny green piece of lettuce tried to wrap around his arm. He saw black olive eyes glaring at him and a gigantic taco shell body blocked the way out of his room so he jumped out of the window and ran down the street toward the playground.

But the terrible taco followed close behind, dripping hot sauce and dropping little tomato turds as it chased him! Tully ran for the swings and swung one really hard at the taco but all it did was lose a little shredded cheese. He scrambled up the ladder to the slide and sat at the top to catch his breath. The terrible taco waited at the end of the slide, smelling like hot sauce and missing one evil black olive eye.

Just when Tully was about to give up hope a sweet new smell came on a gentle breeze. It was a Saturday morning in your jammies smell, the kind that makes you wake up smiling. And so he did.

Tully woke up smiling but his heart still hammered in his chest from his terrible taco dream. It was just a dream, only a silly scary dream that faded away with the delicious smell of cinnamon rolls in the kitchen. 

It would be a long time before he ate another taco, but Tully hopped out of bed with a smile on his face, ready to have a terrific day!

dee Kay

 

 Do you dream about food? Did you know the average American eats 9 pounds of pickles per year? What is your favorite part of a Taco?