Morty's Swim Surprise

Morty's Swim Surprise

Morty stared out his window as mice in flip-flops scampered to the country club pool in the bright morning sun. When Ben and Fred scurried past, Morty felt more down than ever. The night before, Father had announced that they wouldn't be joining the country club that summer in order to save money. He said that they could stay cool by scampering in the sprinkler instead. The cool mice all go to the pool, Morty thought. He reluctantly scuffled outside to join his younger brothers, Mack and Arnie, in the backyard.

After five boring minutes of standing in the sprinkler, Morty had a brilliant idea. " Let's dig our own pool! " he suggested. “ We can even make a slide and a diving board. It will be way cooler than the pool at the country club. " Mack and Arnie were excited about the idea. “ How about a swing, too?" Arnie squeaked. " Sure! " Morty replied. “ That tree in Mom's flower garden is perfect for a rope swing that would fling us right into the water. "

“ Will Mom be mad about her flower bushes?" Mack asked. " Not when she sees how great our new pool is, " Morty assured them. " Let's take an oath of secrecy. No one tells Mom or Dad until the pool is finished. " The brothers put their paws together and nodded in agreement. They scurried to the garage for shovels and began digging.

The soil began to pile up as Morty and his brothers dug and dug. The hole was misshapen, not perfectly square as Morty had imagined. It wasn't level, either, because he was digging faster than Mack and much faster than Arnie. Worst of all, after hours of work, the hole wasn't even knee deep. " Can I quit?" Arnie whined. " I'm tired. " " This is a lot harder than I thought, " Morty admitted. " Now I know why bulldozers were invented, " Mack groaned.

Morty dropped his shovel in exhaustion. " Let's just fill the pool now, " he said. " It won't be deep, but it's getting harder to dig through this packed soil. " " Yeah, we can have a wading pool, " Mack agreed. " But it's too shallow for a diving board, a swing, or a slide-we'll bruise our tails! " Arnie chimed in. “ That's okay, " Morty said as he turned on the hose. " Even a wading pool is better than the sprinkler! " It was late, and the boys headed inside for dinner. After their bellies were full, they promptly fell asleep, weary from an afternoon of digging.