Janet Chandler reads Otis and the Puppy

0:03 >> Good evening. I'm Chandler Chandler and

0:21 I work here at the Cullman Tribune. Tonight, I'm here to read you a bedtime

0:25 story. We're going to be reading Otis and the puppy. It was springtime on the farm where the

0:34 friendly little tractor named Otis lived. The flowers bloomed, the trees were filled with leaves, and the

0:42 farm buzzed with the joy of a new season. There were fields to plow and crops to

0:48 plant, and Otis was right in the middle of it. Working hard, putt putt puttity chuff.

0:59 When the work day was over, Otis, the little calf, and all their farm friends

1:05 loved to play hide and seek. Otis loved to be it, counting one putt, two putt,

1:12 three puttity, four chuff, as his friends ran to hide. When he reached 10, it was game on, and Otis

1:21 motored here and there looking for his friends. He found the little calf hiding in the

1:30 deep thicket of wild flowers. He found the ducks hiding in mud pond, and he

1:36 found the bull hiding in the haystack. Otis and the animals would play until

1:43 the sun disappeared behind the trees, making sure to be home before darkness fell.

1:49 One evening, the farmer gathered everyone up in front of the barn and

1:54 gently placed a burlap sack on the ground. The sack began to wobble

1:59 and tumble and roll. It sat up. It stretched to the sky and went

2:09 What could be in there? Then out popped a little head. A puppy. The puppy shook his ears, raised his

2:20 head to the sky and yelped out another arf Then he burst out of the sack and

2:27 wrapped around greeting everyone with wet kisses. He wriggled from head to toe and his

2:34 spotted tail wiggled and wagged and wagged and wiggled. The farm animals smiled as they watched their happy new

2:41 friend. And then just as quickly as he had jumped out of the sack, he wobbled over

2:47 to Otis, leaned on his tire, yawned, slept uh slouched and popped off to

2:55 sleep. The farmer put an old dog house in front front of the barn, scooped up the sleepy

3:02 puppy, placed him in his new home and said, "Good night, little pup." Otis, the little calf, and all the

3:10 animals filed into the barn for a good night's sleep. Otis yawned and

3:15 nestled into his stall. He was thrilled to have a little puppy on the farm and

3:19 he smiled as he drifted off to sleep. Puff puff puffety All of a sudden he woke to a pitiful

3:28 whimper. The whimper turned into a whine and the whine into a yelp. It was the

3:34 puppy. It was dark as midnight. Otis took a deep breath, clicked on his headlights

3:42 and put it out to the dog house where he found the puppy trembling with

3:46 fear. He was afraid of the dark. With a chuff, Otis invited him into the

3:52 barn, where the puppy curled up and fell fast asleep. From that night on, the puppy would

3:59 slink from his doghouse into the barn with Otis, where he felt safe. After a hard day working on the farm,

4:07 the two friends would play hide-and-seek with the others. One day, it was Otis's

4:12 turn to be it. He sat counting to 10 while the others hid. One putt,

4:18 two puff, three puttity, four chuff. But the puppy had something else on his

4:24 mind. Otis finished counting, filled out, and motored here and there. Putt puff puttity chuff, swerving and darting

4:34 and skidding as fast as he could to find his friends. He found the little calf

4:38 hiding behind the old apple tree, and the ducks hiding in the scraggly growth

4:43 of honeysuckle, and he found the massive bull trying his best to hide

4:48 behind a lone dandelion. But where was the puppy? Otis and the animals searched high and

4:56 low. Even the farmer came to help, but they couldn't find the puppy anywhere.

5:03 Finally, the farmer stopped the search. "It's getting dark," he said. "Let's continue the search in the morning

5:10 light." By the time they reached the barn, it was already quite late, and all

5:14 the animals went right to bed. Yet, Otis couldn't sleep. His heart ached deep

5:20 inside his engine. He knew how scared of the dark his new friend was, and he was

5:26 worried that the puppy had wandered into the forest. He putted over to the barn

5:30 door, looked out into the night, and sighed. Like the little puppy, Otis, too, was afraid of the dark. But

5:40 he knew what he had to do. He clicked on his headlights and puff,

5:45 out into the night. Just inside the forest, Otis stopped dead in his tracks. The sounds

5:53 of the night crackled, thumped, and croaked all around him. His heart pounded, and he shook like a leaf. Every

6:00 part of him wanted to turn away, turn around, and run back to the farm.

6:05 Every part of him needed him. Yet, he knew his friend needed him. So,

6:11 he closed his eyes and began to count. One puff, two puff, three

6:16 puffity, four chuff. By the time he got to five, Otis felt a

6:20 lot calmer. When he hit 10, it was game on. He peeled out and motored here and

6:26 there. He swerved and darted and skidded and flashed his lights everywhere in the dark night. He crissed, he

6:33 circled, and crisscrossed the forest, making sure to see every possible place a puppy could hide.

6:41 Finally, his light shined across an old hollow log with a little spotted

6:46 tail poking out the end. The puppy was whimpering softly, too scared to come out. But when he

6:53 heard Otis, he squealed with joy. Arf, arf, arf. He wiggled and wagged and wiggled right

7:00 out of that log. He squealed and cried and covered Otis' face with whisper with

7:07 kisses. Then the two friends began to make their way home. They stood tall together as

7:12 they passed through the dark forest, and somehow the night sounds no longer seemed so frightening to them.

7:21 On the farm, a warm, safe bed awaited them. Before long, a new day would

7:28 arrive full of bright sunshine, work, and play. The end. I hope you have a good night and sweet

7:39 dreams. >> Woo!