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A ladybug spread her red
and black spotted wings and flew through the air. She landed on Malcolm’s
nose. He was lying on the grass sleeping and felt something tickling him.
When he opened his eyes he saw the ladybug perched on his wet black nose.
He started giggling. It really tickled. When it flew away, Malcolm was
disappointed.
A loud yawn escaped his
mouth along with his long red tongue. Malcolm stood up and stretched and
licked his nose. What a lovely day! Sitting on a branch in the rowan tree
sat a robin. It had brown wings and tail and a colorful red breast. It
started to sing. Malcolm sang back, or at least tried to, but all that
came out was an awful howl. That was enough to frighten the robin away.
The bright yellow buttercups and pretty purple violets were blooming
around the edge of the garden. The sky was brilliant blue and there wasn’t
a breeze blowing, which was unusual for the highlands.
Malcolm trotted off to get
a drink out of his dog dish. Angus MacScot was busy working in the rose
garden and had put the dish outside incase Malcolm had been thirsty. He
went over to the rose garden. It was filled with roses of many different
colors. There were red, yellow, pink, and white ones, and even a bush of
coral roses. Angus was proud of his rose garden and worked very hard
taking care of it.
As he was deciding what to
do with the rest of his day, Fiona, a Shetland collie, came running
through the wooden fence into the back garden. She’d come to play with
Malcolm. He followed her and soon they were running down the dirt road
towards the woods. A few days before, Fiona and Malcolm had buried their
bones under the roots of a large beech tree. They dug them up and ran back
to Malcolm’s house to chew on them.
Angus finished weeding the
roses and went in the house. After the Scotty dog and collie had finished
their bones, Malcolm showed Fiona the rose garden. Just then, Cinnamon, a
ginger-colored tabby cat, came running past and went into the garden.
Fiona started barking and ran after the cat. Malcolm didn’t dare go into
the rose garden. Angus had told him never to go near the roses. Fiona ran
around, bumping into the bushes. The cat run up and down the rows, trying
to hide from her. Malcolm stood helplessly and watched a rainbow of rose
petals fall to the ground. He let out a loud howl.
He watched in horror as
Cinnamon came running towards him, followed by Fiona. Malcolm jumped out
of the way as the two animals ran out of the fenced in garden and down the
dirt road.
Angus MacScot came back
outside after getting a cup of tea and saw his rose garden. "Malcolm! Bad
dog!" he said. He went into the rose garden and picked up the precious
petals. He walked up and down the rows looking at the mess of his
beautiful flowers. Most of the petals had been knocked off. Angus walked
over to Malcolm and was about to scold the poor little dog again when
Cinnamon and Fiona came running back into their garden and once more into
the roses. What few petals were left, now fell to the ground.
By the time the barking and
meowing stopped, Angus’s garden was destroyed. Fiona chased Cinnamon
around the house a few times then back down the road towards the woods.
Angus walked over to Malcolm. "I’m sorry boy. I shouldn’t have yelled at
you and blamed you. I see it wasn’t your fault." Malcolm wagged his tail
and licked Angus’s hand. "Let’s go and pick up the rest of those petals,"
Angus said, petting Malcolm’s black fur. He watched as Angus gathered the
petals and put them in a brown paper bag.
They went into the house
and Angus said, "Well, Malcolm, when life hands you lemons, you make
lemonade, or in our case, when life hands you rose petals, you make
potpourri." He started laughing and put the petals out to dry.
The two of them went into
the living room and sat in front of the fire. Angus gave Malcolm a special
treat – some hot roast beef. As they sat there they could hear Fiona and
Cinnamon, still running around. Angus started to laugh. "That silly cat
and dog," he said as Malcolm finished his roast beef. |
