My name is Jimmy and I am five years old, and my friendBobby is five years old too but he says he thinks he'sreally more than five years old because he's alreadygrown up and I'm just a little boy. We live out in the countrybecause that's where mommy and daddy live, and every morningdaddy takes the car out of the barn and rides into the cityto work, and every night he comes back to eat supper and tosee mommy and Bobby and me. One time I asked daddy whywe don't live in the city like some people do and he laughedand said you wouldn't really want to live in the city wouldyou? After all he said you couldn't have Bobby in the city,so I guess it's better to live in the country after all.
Anyway daddy says that the city is no place to raise kidsthese days. I asked Bobby if I am a kid and he said he guessedso but I don't think he really knows because Bobby isn't verysmart. But Bobby is my friend even if he doesn't know muchand I like him more than anybody else.
Mommy doesn't like Bobby very much and when I am badshe makes Bobby go outdoors even when it's cold outside.Mommy says I shouldn't play with Bobby so much becauseafter all Bobby is only a dog but I like Bobby. Everyone elseis so big, and when mommy and daddy are home all I cansee is their legs unless I look way up high, and when I dosomething bad I'm scared because they're so big and strong.Bobby is strong too but he isn't any bigger than I am, and heis always nice to me. He has a long shaggy brown coat anda long pointed nose, and a nice collar of white fur and peoplesometimes say to daddy what a nice collie that is and daddysays yes isn't he and he takes to the boy so. I don't know whata collie is but I have fun with Bobby all the time. Sometimeshe lets me ride on his back and we talk to each other andhave secrets even though I don't think he is very smart. I don'tknow why mommy and daddy don't understand me when I talkto them the way I talk to Bobby but maybe they just pretendthey can't hear me talk that way.
I am always sorry when daddy goes to work in the morning.Daddy is nice to me most times and takes me and Bobby forwalks. But mommy never takes me for walks and when weare alone she is busy and she isn't nice to me. Sometimes shesays I am a bad boy and makes me stay in my room even whenI haven't done anything bad and sometimes she thinks thingsin her head that she doesn't say to me. I don't know whymommy doesn't like me and Bobby doesn't know either, butwe like it best when mommy lets us go outdoors to play inthe barn or down by the creek. If I get my feet wet mommysays I am very bad so I stay on the bank and let Bobby go in,but one day when Bobby went into the water just before wewent home for supper mommy scolded me and told me I wasbad for letting Bobby go into the water and when I told hershe hadn't told me not to let Bobby go in she was angry andI could tell that she didn't like me at all that day.
Almost every day I do something that mommy says is badeven when I try specially to be good. Sometimes right afterdaddy goes away in the morning I know that mommy is angryand is going to spank me sooner or later that day because sheis already thinking how she will spank me, but she never saysso out loud. Sometimes she pretends that she's not angry andtakes me up on her lap and says I'm her nice little boy butall the time I can hear her thinking that she doesn't reallylike me even when she t