Do you?
By Franki Lew
Sam, Gus, and "Green Eggs and Ham" do not belong to me. They belong to Dr. Seuss' estate and Random House. Gus was named by deviantART user SonyMae.
Genre: friendship
Rating: K
Disclaimer: Short story that takes place right before Green Eggs and Ham, when Sam first tries to get Gus to eat the dish. It turns out to all be an effort to make Gus his pal.
"Sam!" barked the dogthink at the top of his lungs. He took the small I-Am by the neck and threw it behind his chair. "Leave me be! Can't you see I am busy?" Then he folded his newspaper and read the headlines for Solla Sollew news.
Sam whimpered and dragged his sign back to his room. Waiting for him were his pets; Deviled the tiger and Canned the dog. He patted them on their heads and lay on his back to paint another sign with his name on it. Half way through the process his hand trembled and is flopped to the side, unable to finish.
"Why doesn't Gus like me?" thought Sam aloud.
"I do not like that Sam-I-Am!" was all Gus ever said around him growing up.
They were roughly five years apart from each other, even though Gus looked much older. Their mothers, Miss Pam-I-Am and Lady Duch-A-Fuss were good friends and met every Saturday for donuts. Every Saturday they brought the boys along.
Sam took a liking to Gus from day 1. Gus meanwhile was unused to the behavior of an I-Am and whined whenever Sam had the urge to put an ear of his in his mouth.
Later his mother would say, "Oh dear, be nice when miss I-Am is here."
Once Gus was old enough to move out he got away from his family and any I-Ams in a heartbeat. Sam continued with his own life, attending the famous Cat-academy to study the art of sign language. When he found a home and a future in Solla Sollew, Sam was overjoyed to discover that Gus would be his roommate. He was positive they would be the best of friends now that they had matured.
Nope.
No matter what Sam did he never won Gus's favor. Some thinks told him he was wasting his time trying to negotiate with a grump like Gus, but Sam knew better. He always could make friends. Besides, Gus was the closest he ever had as a childhood idol. He was an only child and had very little attention at school or in town. The next best thing was his cousin, Sylvester, the son of his uncle Scam-I-Am.
"If only I knew what Gus liked," Sam said aloud. "I don't think he likes anything. He certainly doesn't like me. He doesn't like Solla Sollew. He doesn't like our house. He doesn't like my name. He doesn't like my hat. He doesn't like Deviled or Canned. He doesn't like the I-Ams. He doesn't like green eggs and-"
Then Sam got an idea. How did he never think about it before? His favorite food in the whole wide world and he never thought to share it with good ole Gus!
"I'll prepare a plateful just for us! Ham and eggs are best due when you serve them for two!" He knew there was something he didn't think of. "And this time I know he'll like it!"