Uncle Josh’s Garden
Archie woke up today as if this was another normal morning.
And yet, looking back, this day would prove to be one
of the most important days of his life …
one that would start a chain of events that would
affect the lives of not only Archie and his friends,
but also the lives of many others Archie didn’t even know yet.
The sun was hot and a light breeze brushed the grass
when Archie strolled around the edge of the garden.
He heard “Hi, Archie,” many times as hewalked up to his friends
who were having breakfast together.Carly, Paul, Betty, and Larry were
already seated at the table and they were soon joined by Archie’s other friends.
As Archie sat down next to Carly Carrot to start breakfast,
he received a phone call from his dad. “Archie.
Hello, how are you?” said the voice on the phone.
“Dad. Hi. I’m fine, how are you and Mom?”
“Oh, fine too, but I want to talk to you about something
important if you have the time.”
“Of course I have the time,” said Archie.
Archie’s dad continued: “Your Uncle Josh is not doing very
well, I’m afraid. I spoke to him yesterday. It seems he and
many others are sick in his garden. Would it be possible
for you to go visit him to see what is the matter?”
“Sure, I guess so,” said Archie. “I haven’t seen Uncle Josh
in a while, though. Does he still live in the garden on the other
side of the forest?”
“Yes, that’s the one,” said Archie’s dad. “I would appreciate
your going to see Josh soon, and see if there is anything
that can be done for him and the others. I’m not sure what
the problem is, but it sounds serious, and your mother and I
are very worried. Someone needs to do something.”
After a couple more minutes of conversation, Archie said
good-bye to his dad and, putting away his phone, Archie said
out loud, “My dad doesn’t ask for help very often, so he must
really be worried about Uncle Josh. I’m going to hike to his garden right away.”
Archie started to get up, and Carly said, “Archie, where are you going?”
After Archie described the conversation with his dad, Carly said,
“If you think you could use help, I would go with you.”
Hearing this, Zack Zucchini said, “Hey, Arch, I want to go too. I can help.”
Then Betty Broccoli said, “May I go?”Soon everyone was asking Archie
if they could hike with him to Uncle Josh’s.
Archie started to get up, and Carly said, “Archie, where are you going?”
After Archie described the conversation with his dad, Carly said,
“If you think you could use help, I would go with you.”
Hearing this, Zack Zucchini said, “Hey, Arch, I want to go too. I can help.”
Then Betty Broccoli said, “May I go?”
Soon everyone was asking Archie if they could hike with him to Uncle Josh’s.
“Wow,” said Archie. “OK, I guess we can all go. I’m not sure what’s happening at Uncle Josh’s garden, but maybe it will help to have us all there. Thanks, everyone, for volunteering.”
In a serious voice, Archie said, “It sounds as if many are sick in Uncle Josh’s garden, so I don’t know what we’ll find when we get there. There might be some danger on this trip.”
Everyone said to Archie that if he was going, they were going too.
“OK, then. Let’s get our backpacks ready, and those who want to go will meet here in an hour. Better bring plenty of water and food. It will take two days to walk across the valley and through the forest to reach Uncle Josh’s garden.”
“OK” and “No worries” and “That sounds great” could be heard from the others. Everyone sounded excited by the idea of going on a hike to help Archie’s uncle.
As Archie walked off towards the garden, Larry Lettuce could be heard saying, “Here we go again … another Archie Artichoke adventure is on the way!”
While Archie packed his backpack with food and water, a change of clothes, and a toothbrush and toothpaste, he thought: It sure is good to have friends. Everyone sounded as if they wanted to help. But I wonder what we’re going to find when we get to Uncle Josh’s garden. I hope I’m not leading my friends into danger.
When Archie strode back to the breakfast area he could see a crowd of his friends standing and talking together. Everybody was there: Carly Carrot, Paul Pepper, Betty Broccoli, Larry Lettuce, Cindy Celery, Simon Squash, Rhonda Radish, Zach Zucchini, and Tommy Tomato.
“Oh my gosh,” said Archie out loud, “everyone wants to go!”
“Hi, Archie,” they called out as he approached the group.
“Hi, everyone. I made a map of where we’re going, and here it is.”
The other vegetables came over to look as Archie spread the
map out on the table. “We’ll follow the path down the hill and walk
across the valley to the forest,” he said, tracing the way on the map
with a finger. “We’ll walk through the forest, and on the other
side we’ll find Uncle Josh’s garden. It’s only a little ways away from
the far edge of the forest. We’ll walk all day today and spend the
night in the forest. We should be at Uncle Josh’s sometime tomorrow.”
Archie glanced at his friends for any comments.
Cindy Celery said, “That sounds good to me.”
In a worried tone, Simon Squash said, “I’ve
never been to the other side of the forest, and I have
never campedat night away from our garden. But we’ll
all be together, so it’ll be fine.”
And after that, the group started on the path
that meanders down the hill and passes the
little pond where everyone goes swimming
on hot summer days.
When they trooped past the pond, Archie yelled to Fred the
Frog, who was sitting on a lily pad in the pond: “Hello, Fred.”
“Hello, Archie,” Fred yelled back, and added, “Hello, Carly
and Paul and Betty and Larry and Cindy and Simon
and Rhonda and Zach and Tommy.”
Fred was pretty much out of breath when he finished yelling
all those names, and when they had gone by, he said to himself,
Wow! That’s a lot of vegetables. They must be going someplace important.
“Good luck,” yelled Fred as the group of hikers continued down the trail.
Once off the garden hill and past the pond, Archie and his
friends started walking across the valley, towards the forest.
It was a hot day, so everyone soon realized this wasn’t
going to be an easy hike. After an hour or so of hiking,
Archie looked back and yelled to everyone, “It’s hot today,
so make sure you drink enough water.
We’ll fill up the water bottles once we get to Uncle Josh’s garden.”
“Right,” said Rhonda Radish.
“Gotcha,” yelled Tommy Tomato in agreement.
The group proceeded on, past all the weeds and trees
that live in the valley. The friends saw birds and butterflies
and ladybugs all around; it was certainly a beautiful
day for a hike. Walking along, Archie thought, I wonder
what we’ll find at Uncle Josh’s garden. I hope it isn’t too
serious. Archie had heard of gardens sometimes getting
sick, and hoped he could solve whatever Uncle Josh’s
garden’s problem was.
Then Archie thought, It’s time for a song. He didn’t have to
think very much about what hiking song to sing. He had a
favorite and just started singing:
“I love to go a-wandering …”
First Carly Carrot joined in, then Zach Zucchini
and Betty Broccoli started singing along,
and soon everyone was singing.
"Val-deri, Val-dera,
Val-deri,
Val-dera-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha.
Val-deri, Val-dera.
My knapsack on my back!"
.
