Kite
One spring morning, Silas Brown went into his young son's room. He had a big present gift-wrapped and he was presenting it to his boy. Silas was very proud of his son. He may have not have been that great at sports or even life, but his son always had that Brown determination. A determination that made Silas become a top-rate barber and his father, Silas Sr. a decorated war veteran.
"Charlie," said Silas, trying to wake up his young son. "Wake up, my boy. I have a surprise for you."
A groggy Charlie woke up and said, "What's going on, dad? It's Saturday. Can I sleep in until 11?"
"What and miss out on this big present I have for you?" said Silas. That sparked Charlie's curiosity.
"Present?!" he said in shock. "For ME?" And young Charlie got up to see the big box on his bed. He smiled from ear to ear. He immediately opened the present. He looked in to see a bright red kite with string and ribbons.
"It's a kite, Charlie," said Silas. "You said you always wanted to try to fly a kite. So here you are, my son."
"Dad!" said a happy Charlie. "Thank you so much!" And he hugged his father. He pulled the kite out from the box and went to show his mother, Maureen.
"Mom!" he said, with excitement. "Look what dad just gave me!"
"That's sweet, baby!" said his mother. "Just be careful flying that thing outside."
"I will, mom," assured Charlie. He went to the backyard to wake up his dog, Snoopy.
"Hey, Snoopy," he began. "Let's go to the field and fly this new kite I got from dad!" And the boy and his dog went to an open meadow.
When they got there, the wind was nice and breezy. Charlie remembered how to start out by getting a good running start to get the kite in the air. He laid his kite on the ground, tested the wind to see the direction it was blowing, and he started to run against the wind so it could pick up his kite. But young Charlie had a little trouble flying his kite. It just wouldn't go in the air. He wore himself out a few times that he had to take a breather a couple of times. When he started up again, he finally got it in the air, but it was coming down yet again. But even worse was it landed in a tree.
"Oh no!" exclaimed Charlie. "My kite went into that tree. Let me see if I can grab it." But when Charlie arrived at the tree, he heard munching sounds, like someone eating potato chips. It was then he realized that the tree was, in fact, "eating" his kite.
"I don't believe it!" said a shocked Charlie. "That tree ate my kite! It's a kite-eating tree!" Then the boy went from sadness to anger.
"YOU DUMB TREE!" he shouted. "MY DAD GAVE ME THAT KITE! IT WASN'T MEANT FOR YOU TO CHEW ON AND DEVOUR! GIVE ME THAT KITE BACK RIGHT NOW!" And the tree gave Charlie his kite back, all right, but not in the way he expected. All that was left of the kite was the frame it sat on.
"Good grief!" said Charlie. "He only left the bones!" And Charlie figured he might as well go back home. So he and Snoopy went back to their house.
"Snoopy," Charlie said to his dog, "one day I will fly a kite and get it in the air. And I WILL avoid all kite-eating trees!" And with determination, young Charlie Brown would continue to get kites and try to get them in the air. Although he would fail multiple times, he would come real close some other times. But that day was only the beginning of a battle between him and the dreaded kite-eating tree.
THE END