Bo and Sam - 1

With this writing I introduce the adventures of Bo and Sam -- two friends from the same suburban neighborhood. These three stories started out in the form of letters written to a young friend of mine as he was enduring Marine boot camp. As the first story begins, they are in the woods behind Bo's house.

Bo: Can you tell me what kind of bug this is?
Sam: Not unless you open your mouth a little wider.
Bo: I can't -- it might get away!
Sam: Well take it out and hold it in your hand.
Bo: I'm not touching this nasty tasting thing again!
Sam: It would then appear that you have reached crunch time (pun intended) -- when you must either swallow it down or spit it out!
Bo: Patooie!!! ---that tasted awful!
Sam: I hate to ask -- but why did you have a bug in your mouth?
Bo: I'm in survival training -- learning to live off the land -- but I think I'll stick to things that can't move by themselves -- like grass and tree bark.
Sam: That brings me to another question -- why survival training?
Bo: In case of a disaster or national emergency or some other reason -- like if Mom is ever late with supper!
Sam: Suddenly I understand the urgency.
Bo: Nothing like a few flowers and some tree moss to tide a body over till suppertime.
Sam: Has anybody ever told you that you do some pretty weird stuff?
Bo: You might say it has been mentioned -- and I think I've figured out why I do things like this.
Sam: That would probably answer a lot of questions in my mind as well.
Bo: I think it's because I'm from a broken home.
Sam: I didn't know your parents were divorced.
Bo: They're not.
Sam: I think confusion is reigning supreme in one or both of our minds -- if we both have one!
Bo: I can't believe you don't know what a broken home is all about.
Sam: I know my definition -- but evidently it's different from yours.
Bo: I know mine is the right one cause my home is the one broken!
Sam: I've got to ask -- what does a broken home mean to you?
Bo: It's what happened when my Mom drove into the garage and hit the gas instead of the brake.
Sam: You always have neat stuff happen at your house!
Bo: Yeah -- our Ford Escort wound up on the couch -- hey -- you could say that my Mom was "Escort-ed" into the living room.
Sam: Anybody hurt?
Bo: Nah -- just pride, the living room and the Escort.
Sam: I bet your Dad really raised cane!
Bo: He couldn't say too much because it was his fault.
Sam: How could it have been his fault?
Bo: He made Mom nervous when he yelled at her.
Sam: Then he was in the car when it went through the wall?
Bo: No -- he had got out to check on the bike Mom had run over in the driveway.
Sam: I think I see why he yelled at her -- whose bike got run over?
Bo: Dad's new mountain bike.
Sam: Wow -- I wouldn't want to be the one that left the bike in the driveway.
Bo: I wouldn't want to be the one either -- but I am.
Sam: And you're still alive!
Bo: Temporarily --Mom told him that the dog did it.
Sam: He believed that?
Bo: Yeah -- she told him the dog's leash caught on the bike and he dragged it into the driveway.
Sam: That was quick thinking!
Bo: Mom never lies except to save her child's life -- cause she knew I'd be dead meat otherwise.
Sam: I guess you're not hanging around the house very much.
Bo: Right -- cause when Dad remembers that we don't even have a dog -- I'm still in deep trouble -- that's the main reason I'm in emergency survival training.
Sam: Wow -- I guess I better help -- do you eat grasshoppers?
Bo: I told you already -- nothing that moves by itself.
Sam: Well maybe we can find some more bark or leaves or something - - -
The scene fades as the two friends wander on into the woods, searching for something to sustain life.
John 10:10 ec