A Happy Discovery

Johnny Gage and his father were walking in their new neighborhood. They had just moved to the city because his father had gotten a new job there. Johnny had been reluctant to leave his home on the reservation. His grandfather still lived there. Johnny had wanted him to move to the city with them, but grandfather had said he did not want to leave his home. Grandfather and his parents had promised he could visit the old man in the summer. Now he and his father were walking around their new neighborhood, getting to know it. Suddenly the relative peace of the neighborhood was broken by the sound of sirens. At first he was frightened by the sound. But then, when he saw the big red truck his eyes grew round with wonder. His fright was forgotten as he watched the truck until it was out of sight.

"That’s really something, isn’t it, son?" father asked, smiling at Johnny’s wide-eyed expression.

"Yeah." Johnny breathed the word out on an excited sigh. "What is it?"

"A fire truck."

"A fire truck?" Five-year-old Johnny was puzzled. "Does it start fires?"

"No, son, it puts out fires." Johnny frowned at his father, uncomprehending. So his father explained, "when a building or something catches fire the fireman take the truck and go and put it out."

"Oh." And so had begun a slew of questions. "Who was that man on the back, was he driving the truck from there?" Johnny referred to the tillerman who had been riding on the back of the truck. "Can I drive a fire truck some day? I’d like to sit way up there and drive from the back, and everybody would see me and…"

Father laughed, but he answered as many of the questions as he could. Many of the questions, however, took years to be answered.

Stories By Linda2 Johnny Tillerman