Milo and Thomas Steal the Moon

Milo sat at the kitchen table eating a grilled cheese sandwich that his nana had made for him. He loved the aroma of the cheese melting in the bread and the taste of the crisp sandwich dunked in ketchup. His nana took care of him when Milo's parents were at work and when he did not have kindergarten.

Usually, Milo played in the backyard jumping on the trampoline as his nana shouted out encouragements and took pictures of him to show his parents later on. Today, however, the skies were grey and Milo watched the rain trickle down the window's glass as he sat and ate.

Milo loved his nana very much but he was sometimes a little sad and lonely because he had no friends who lived in the row of townhouses where his nana lived. As he continued looking out the kitchen window he noticed the rain begin to slow and the sun peaked ever so carefully out from behind the gloomy sky. He watched as a door opened across the way and a boy stepped out in a blue rain jacket and bright yellow boots. Milo stared with great interest as the boy began to splash in the rain puddles. He thought that it looked like great fun.

His lunch forgotten, two at a time Milo raced up the steps to his nana's rocking chair. Milo asked with great gusto "Nana, can I play with the funny boy outside? He is splashing in the puddles and it looks like so much fun." Nana looked at Milo with a merry twinkle in her eye. She knew that it would be messy, but the look of excitement in his eyes made her decision for her. "Yes, Milo Bear, let's go make a new friend."

Milo didn't have rubber boots at his nana's house so he borrowed his cousin, Autumn's boots. They were pink and perfect. Milo flew out the door and ran towards the puddle jumping little boy.

As he approached, Milo suddenly wondered 'What if the boy doesn't like me? Maybe doesn't want a new friend.' Milo stopped, turned around and walked slowly back to his nana with his head hung low. Nana said, "Milo, you forgot your coat. Come here and let's put it on." Milo said, "Nana, I don't want to outside now. What if the boy doesn't like me?" "Milo Bear, what if he does like you?" said nana. "But I don't know what to say." " Just tell him your name and ask him if he wants to play." "Okay, nana." and Milo smiled feeling reassured.

Slowly, Milo sloshed his way back towards the strange boy who was now pretending the drainage was a river. He had plastic cowboys and Indians lined up on both sides of the river with boats and canoes floating in the water. Milo said "Hi. My name is Milo. Can I play with you?" The little boy said "Sure. May name is Thomas. Do you want to be cowboys or Indians?" In answer, Milo knelt down beside Thomas and started to play.

Soon, the sun warmed the boys and they no longer needed their coats. "Thomas, do you want to come to my nana's house and jump on the trampoline?" Milo asked. Thomas said, "Sure, but I have to ask my grandma first." Milo waited outside playing with the cowboys and Indians while Thomas asked his grandma if he could play on Milo's trampoline.

After a few moments, Thomas walked outside with his face lit up by a huge smile with his grandma following him. Thomas said "This is my grandma. She wants to meet your family before I can come over." Milo stuck out his hand and said "I'm Milo. Pleased to meet you. The trampoline is actually at my nana's house. It's just across the street. Come and meet her. She's really nice." So Milo, Thomas, and Thomas' grandma walked across the way to nana's house. Milo opened the door and called out "Nana, come and meet my new friend, Thomas, and his grandma.

Thomas and Milo's grandparents spoke with each other for a few moments laughing and exchanging phone numbers. It was okay for Milo and Thomas to play. "Thomas, do you want to jump on the trampoline?" Milo asked. Thomas said "Sure! Maybe we can rope some buffalo." "Yeah," said Milo. "Some Jumping buffalo."

Milo led Thomas into the backyard to play. After a while, Milo noticed his nana peaking out at the boys. Thomas was using a skipping rope as a lasso trying to rope Milo, the jumping buffalo, as he lurched and snorted his way across the trampoline. "I'm going to rope you, Mr. Buffalo." said Thomas. Sure enough, he did. They switched places when one of the boys roped the other and continued on with their entertaining game.

Soon, the boys grew tired of playing on the trampoline. Milo asked "Thomas, do you want to draw pictures on the sidewalk?" Thomas replied, "Sure. We can be space cadets, visit the moon, and meet some nice aliens." Milo thought that was a great idea. The two boys got a pail of chalk from nana's house and then set to work drawing picures on the now warm and dry sidewalk. They drew spaceships, the moon, aliens, and astronauts. Milo even drew the The Man in the Moon, whom he heard from his pops actually lived on the moon. They fnished their drawings.

Milo said, "Come on, Thomas, let's launch our spaceship to the moon and meet some aliens." "Yeah! Let's save them from a meteor shower with our meteor-proof umbrellas." Just as the two boys were about to blast off to the moon, Milo's nana called the boys.

"Milo and Thomas, come over to the stoop to have a snack. They were very hungry after all of their playing. They ran to the stoop and had juice boxes, oranges and bolonge sandwiches. The boys ate quickly so they could get back to playing space cadets. Nana said, "Boys it's getting late. Remember that when the moon comes that it will be time to go home with your parents." Milo looked at Thomas, and Thomas looked at Milo. What they were thinking showed on one anothers' faces. They were both having so much fun that they did not want to go home. Milo and Thomas decided at that moment that they would have to steal the moon and hide it so their day of fun would not end.

The boys came up with a plan. Milo said, "Thomas, lets jump on the trampoline as high as we can and use our skipping rope as a lasso to rope the moon." Thomas replied, "That's a great idea! I have a floating balloon at my grandma's house. We can use it as target practice." So, Thomas raced home, grabbed his balloon, and ran back to Milo's. The boys tied the balloon to the trampoline netting. "Ready?" asked Thomas. "Ready." replied Milo. Milo swung the rope towards the balloon, but couldn't rope it. He tried again, but still he had no luck. Milo said, "Thomas, you try and see if you can rope it. I'm not very good." Thomas replied, "You're good, Milo, but I will try too.: Thomas took the rope and tried and tried to lasso the balloon, but he also had no luck. The two boys sat on the edge of the trampoline frustrated, kicking their feet with slumped shoulders.

After a few moments, Milo had an idea. "Thomas, let's get your cowboys to teach us how to rope the moon. Then we can catch the moon easy. Thomas said, "Great idea!" Thomas and Milo walked over to the dried up river and Thomas picked up his favourite cowboy. He asked, "Mr. Sheriff would you show me and my friend how to lasso the moon?" The Sheriff laid quietly in Thomas' hand for a moment when suddenly Thomas could feel the cold plastic turn warm. The Sheriff opened his eyes and answered, "Yes siree. Well I'd love to teach you young whippersnappers how to toss a rope around the old moon. Trouble is, there ain't no moon up to rope right now." Milo hung his head sadly, but Thomas suddenly said, "We can use the chalk moon in our chalk space drawing." "YES!" hollered Milo and the Sheriff together.

Milo, Thomas, and the Sheriff ran over to the sidewalk and jumped into the sidewalk art. They boarded the rocketship and blasted off into chalk space. As they approached the moon, the Sheriff hollered out "Okay, boys. Stop the ship right there. The Sheriff and the boys put on their space suits and went for a spacewalk to practice lassoing the moon. The Sheriff said, "The trick is to let go of the lasso just as you swing it by your ear. Then it will float directly to where ya'll want it to go. Then as soon as it is around the moon, pull HARD on the rope and reel the moon in."

Milo and Thomas took a few practice swings and sure enought, they were both able to rope the chalk moon. "Thanks, Sheriff!" the boys said together. "Ya'll sure are welcome" said the Sheriff with a huge smile on his face.

The three friends drove their spaceship back home just in time to see the top of the sun getting ready to disappear behind the horizon. They knew that the moon would soon rise and they would have to catch it quickly if they didn't want their day of play to end. It was time to trigger their plan and catch the moon. They two boys said goodbye to the Sheriff and thanked him again for all of his help.

Milo and Thomas gathered a skipping rope, a pillowcase, and a toy tractor to help them catch the moon. Thomas tied one end of the skipping rope to the toy tractor while Milo tied the other end into a lasso. Thomas put the pillowcase in his pocket.

As the moon slowly started to rise, the boys grew excited and could barely wait until the moon was fully in the sky to enact their plan. Just as the moon rose up in the air, Milo yelled out "NOW!" and jumped on the toy tractor. Thomas swung with all of his might and let go of the lasso just as the Sheriff had show him. Sure eoungh, Thomas' throw was true and he roped the moon on his first throw.

As soon as he saw the rope settle around the moon, Milo pedalled his heart out and the moon slowly started sinking towards the boys. Milo cried out "Thomas, jump on the trampoline and use the pillowcase to catch the moon. Thomas jumped mightily and at the height of his jump he threw the pillowcase over the moon. He floated gently to the ground. The boys yelled out "YAY!". They'd done it. They captured the moon.

Milo noticed his nana looking out the window in disbelief. She had witnessed the boys capture the moon. She was so in shock that she farted, fainted, and fell back in her chair.

Milo yawned and looked over at Thomas who was holding the pillowcase filled with the moon. "Thomas, let's take a little rest befre we play all night." Thomas replied, "Good idea, Milo." The boys both fell asleep on the trampoline holding the rope tied to the pillowcase containing the moon.

A short while later there was a ring at nana's door. She opened her eyes, picked herself up, and hurried to the door yelling, "COME IN." As she made her way down the stairs, Thomas' grandma, Milo's pops, and Thomas' dad all stood at the door smiling. "Hello, mom" said Milo's pops. "I met these nice people on the stoop. They tell me that Milo has made a brand new friend." Pops' smile faded as he noticed how white nana's face was She mumbled, "The boys, they, they, they stole the moon." The three people stared at nana with quizzical smiles on their faces not quite sure to make of what she said.

They followed nana down the stairs and out the back door. There the group stood in awe as they took in the scene. Laying on the trampoline were the two boys who stole the moon. Pops looked inside of the floating pillowcase still grasped tightly in Thomas' hand. He couldn't believe his eyes. There was the moon. The grownups all watched as the moon floated back to its propper place in the sky. At the bottom of the pillowcase were two moonrocks. Pops gave one to Thomas' dad and kept the other moonrock for Milo. The group knew not to question what had happened. It was miracle made through true friendship. The dads gently scooped up their sons and drove them home lay them gently in their beds.

Later that night, the two boys awoke at the same time just on the edge of dreaming, where magic is still possible. Their moonrocks gently tucked under their pillows. It was at that precise moment that the the words 'Milo and Thomas, best friends forever' were etched into their moonrocks, a special gift from the Man in the Moon.

The boys closed their eyes and met in their dreams where they played cowboys, indians, and space cadets. They remained the best of friends for all their days and had many, many adventures together.

The End!