Becky opened one of the white cupboard doors under the double sink, and after critically surveying the cans of soup, chose chicken noodle. While she opened the can with a manual can-opener and emptied the contents into a kettle, she chattered to Konrad. “Konrad, remember I told you we Konrad storm door and tried to open the back door. It was docked. With a sigh, the fourth grader bent down and lifted the door mat whi had WELCOME painted on it in big white letters. ‘She mumbled yea ingly at the word as her slender fingers lifted the key from its hiding place. She straightened and expertly thrust the key into the lock, turning it to the right and listening for a click. Hearing it, she turned the doorknob and leaned against the door. As it swung open, she called, “Mother I’m home!” Her shrill young voice pierced the quiet. : In reply, Konrad came running to her, his feet patterin ki floor. His eyes danced with Sleseuke at Becky’s beat Scene “Hi, Konrad!” Becky listened for her mother’ i deafening silence. “Where's Mom and Dad?” kn en The three-year-old looked at a note on the kitchen table. Pulling off her red sweater and tossing it onto the seat of a chair, Becky walked to the ey i ae paper with her mother’s flowing handwriting. te Ss Hyon the kitchen light, ter flicking an setting i ght, and her book0 on the table, Dear Becky: Dad and I have gone out to eat tonight. Later, we will go to a movie. We will be home several hours after your 9:00 bedtime. You can warm a TV dinner or open a can of soup for your supper. You will find some cookies in the cookie jar. You can eat several, Please be a good girl and wash your dishes for Mother. Take good care of Konrad. Loads of Love, Mother Becky tric tried to smile. j “Well, ; Konrad, ad, | let’s get dinner.” i : She tried to sound sophisticated and cheerful; but her voic hoed i ! i chen, making her heart pound. a ey Konrad looked up at Becky mournfully with his brown eyes. With a shrug, Becky tossed the crumpled note in the waste paper basket by the refrigerator. ; “Cheer-up, ; pal. L It’s not, so bad. ; Wh ; q lots of fun tonight!” She tickled Konrad behind the ears. ia, 8 a new Oh, Konrad! library near school year?’ this Konrad nodded. shelves and “Well, today Miss Anderson, my teacher, let our class go there. The librarian gave each of us a library card and told us we can use the cards to check out books. by Debbie Spong paused, Becky af Becky skipped along the sidewalk on her way home from the library, the cool October breeze nipping her rosy cheeks. Impatient to tell her mother of the day’s activities, she started to run, her long golden hair shining in the autumn sun as it bounced on her sweater-clad shoulders. Breathless, she slowed to a walk as she passed her neighbor’s red-brick house. His frisky poodle, Dimples, barked a greeting. Becky smiled and waved her hand in reply as she turned and walked down her home’s cement driveway, carefully jumping over the cracks. Noticing how quickly the sun was sinking behind the distant mountains, she clutched her big library book close to her chest and ran to the back door. She opened the have She set You the medium-high. she had should see kettle “I the set on on choSe the the that electric book.” “Black table. books — the wonderful remembering stove, Becky Beauty”, building. and turned pointed it’s called. them.” of shelves | at the heat the I heard knob to green book two sixth grade girls talking about it yesterday. They said it’s about a beautiful black horse called Black Beauty. Miss Anderson thinks it’s a long book for a fourth grader, but I’m going to read it.” Becky looked down at Konrad’s attentive eyes. I’ll even read it to you if you'll sit and listen. Becky poured the heated soup into two glass bowls. Greedily eyeing the steaming soup,“ Konrad watched Becky carry one of the bowls to the table. She set the other near Konrad. “Let it cool,” Becky warned as she returned to the cupboards for spoons and crackers. Becky set several crackers by Konrad’s bowl of soup and the remaining by her own. She sat down on her straight-back chair. After Becky offered a short blessing, they started eating. While sipping her hot soup, Becky wondered what her parents were eating. Soup, soup, soup. Night’ after night after night. Finally, her bowl was empty. “Hey, Konrad, Mother bought some cookies. How *’bout cookies and ice-cream for dessert?” Becky watched Konrad lick his lips, then she stood and carried the empty soup bowls to the sink. She took the hat off the Smoky Bear cookie jar and removed a fistful of cookies. After putting the hat back on Smoky’s head, she returned to Konrad. Becky gave him two of the peanut butter cookies and kept two for herself. “Don’t eat them ’til I bring the ice cream,” she demanded with mock authority, walking to the freezer. Becky lifted a frost-blanketed package of vanilla ice cream out of the freezer. After opening the cold cardboard package, she skooped large dips of the hard ice cream out of the package with a large spoon and let them fall into small glass bowls. Becky closed the flaps of the box and returned it to the freezer. Then, she carried the bowls to the table and placed Konrad’s in front of him. While Becky sat down, Konrad surveyed his ice cream critically. He pushed it aside and munched on his cookies. Becky prepared to scold him, thought better of it, and stated sweetly, “So you don’t want your ice cream? Alright, I'll eat it. I like the way it cools my throat.” When she finished hers, she ate Konrad’s. When they had finished dessert, Becky began her nightly chore of washing dishes. As usual, it didn’t take long. There were only four bowls and two spoons. . : Becky talked to Konrad as she hung the dishrag and towel neatly on the towel rack near the sink. “I’m going to start reading “Black Beauty” now. The book is due in two weeks and I want to have finished it. We'll read it in the living room. C’mon, let’s go!” Becky lifted the book from the table and marched into the living room.