“Tommy’s Very Bad Day,” Friend, Feb. 2024, 4–5.
Tommy’s Very Bad Day
“I’m just going to sit right here so nothing else bad happens,” Tommy said.
This story happened in the USA.
Tommy sat on the front steps of his home and sighed. What a horrible day!
That morning, he had spilled his breakfast on himself. The only clean pants he found were too small. He was late for school. His teacher had him stay inside for play time because he forgot his book. Then, on his way home from school, he tripped on the sidewalk and hurt his knee. And when he went outside to play, his bike had a flat tire. Everything had gone wrong!
“I’m just going to sit right here so that nothing else bad happens,” Tommy said. But he felt worse and worse the longer he sat.
Then Tommy heard a crunching sound nearby. He looked up and saw Mr. Johnson raking leaves in his yard. Mr. Johnson lived all alone in the house next door.
Tommy did not like raking leaves at all. He watched Mr. Johnson try to gather the leaves and put them in a big bag. But he couldn’t get more than a few leaves inside. The leaves kept spilling back onto the ground.
Mr. Johnson is having a really hard time, Tommy thought. When Dad raked leaves, Tommy helped him hold the bag open. It would be really hard for just one person to do that job.
Why isn’t someone helping him? Tommy wondered.
Then Tommy realized something. He could help!
Tommy hopped up off the steps and walked over to Mr. Johnson. “I can hold that bag open for you.”
“Oh, thank you so much,” said Mr. Johnson. “My back doesn’t bend the same way it used to.”
Tommy held the bag and helped fill the next one too. Then he grabbed a rake and helped with the rest of the leaves.
While they worked together, Mr. Johnson told jokes and funny stories. Tommy laughed until his stomach hurt. Soon he began to forget about spilling his breakfast, missing play time, and hurting his knee.
When Mom called him in for dinner, Tommy realized they had raked the whole yard. And it had been fun!
“Thanks for your help,” Mr. Johnson said.
“No problem.” Tommy waved goodbye. “See you later!”
Tommy walked into his house and sat down next to Dad at the dinner table.
“How was your day?” Dad asked him.
Tommy smiled big. “It was the best day ever!”
Illustrations by Julia Bereciartu