by J. D. Stone

Created on: November 20, 2008

Little Bennie Beanhead watched Grandpa. Grandpa sat real still in his chair on the porch. Bennie thought that maybe Grandpa was trying to scare away the big dark clouds coming over the hill. They were scary clouds, dark, ugly, and mean looking. Sometimes they would growl real loud, like Mr. Jimmy's big dog. Mr. Jimmy's dog was scary too.
The clouds growled and Bennie jumped. Grandpa looked at him. "Come here, Bennie." Grandpa said.

Bennie shook his head and looked at his feet. "I'm scared, Grandpa. I don't like storms."
Grandpa's whiskers jiggled. He patted his knee and smiled at Bennie. "Well, why don't I move a little closer and you can come out and tell me about it." Grandpa scooted his chair closer to the door. "Is that okay?"
Bennie nodded. He opened the door and climbed into Grandpa's lap. "Grandpa, aren't you scared?" he asked.
Grandpa laughed, his chest rumbling against Bennie's ear. "Well, Little Bennie Beanhead, what do you think I should be scared of?"
"The clouds. They're big, and gray, and they growl like Mr. Jimmy's dog. They scare me. How come you can scare them away?" Bennie asked.
"Scare them away? I can't scare them away, Bennie. Why would you think that?" Grandpa asked.
"You don't look scared of them, and when you sit out here, they go away," Bennie said.
"Bennie, I can't scare them away. They just go away by themselves."
"Oh." Bennie frowned. "Okay." He curled up a little closer to Grandpa. "They still scare me though, Grandpa. How come they don't scare you?"
"Well, aren't elephants supposed to be big and gray? Did they change colors? Purple maybe?"
Bennie smiled, "No, Grandpa! That's silly!"
"Yellow then!" Grandpa said.
"No, Grandpa! Elephants are graybut I don't see any elephants." said Bennie.
"You don't? Well now, if you look real close and squint your eyes real tight like this." Grandpa squished his eyes almost shut, a little crack still open, looking at the clouds. "Almost all the way shut, you can see thousands of elephants playing in that cloud over there. They are pretty loud, aren't they?"
Bennie Beanhead nodded. "Why are they so loud, Grandpa?"
Grandpa tilted his head, listening to the clouds. Bennie tilted his head too and Grandpa smiled. "Why don't you tell me, Bennie?"
Bennie looked up at Grandpa, a frown on his face, "I don't know."
"Well, Bennie, what happens when Grandma tells you and TJ to play inside-only-hide-and-seek?"
Bennie scowled. "TJ likes to scare me!"
Grandpa laughed, his belly jumping up and down. "Yes, she does, my boy, but how

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