Truck was a yellow toy dump truck. He loved it when his boy, Bobby, rode in his bed. “Yeah!! Lessgo backwards!!” Truck would yell as Bobby would sit and start moving his legs as if to walk while he were sitting down. “That’s it pump those little legs of yours! Pull, pull, pull!” Truck was an inside toy, which means he was not to be used to haul dirt outside like the other dump truck like Scratch did. Scratch was an old worn out dump truck. His colors were faded but the boys of the Dawson family did not mind, for his job was to get dirty and not to stay all clean and comfy.

One day, Truck was placed by the window where he could see Scratch as he was just having a shovelful of sand being dump into his bed.

“I’m glad I’m not like that toy. I’d never let my wheels get so dirty. And the sand in my bed would scratch my yellow paint off! Must be terrible being that toy out there,” Truck thought as he observed the boys begin to burry Scratch underneath a pile of sand. “I am only made for riding in! And I’ll never want to do anything else.”

A few days later, Truck was busy giving Bobby a ride. It had been raining that morning and so Bobby and his brothers could not go outside. However, the rain had just stopped and the sun was now shining bright. Bobby’s brother whispered something Truck couldn’t hear. “Wanna ride some more kid? I’m ready to go!” But Bobby didn’t keep riding Truck. Instead, he picked Truck up and took him toward the front door. Mrs. Dawson was getting the groceries and the boys’ older sister, Ally, was reading a book downstairs in the basement. The boys snuck out of the house and approached the sidewalk where they looked down their road with a grin. The road and the sidewalk next to it went down a hill ending in a turn at the bottom that had a large oak tree and a field next to it that now was a big mud puddle. Truck was confused. He had never been outside before, but he wasn’t worried about getting dirty…until Bobby set him down into a small puddle!

“Aaaah!!! My wheels!!! They’re wet!!” yelled the toy. Bobby then climbed into Truck’s bed! “No, no, no we are not riding me outside!! Take me back in! Oh please take me back in!!” whined Truck. Suddenly, there was a jolt and Truck and Bobby were off…down the hill! “Aaaaaaaaaah!!!” both yelled as they flew down the hill straight toward the oak tree! Worrying about Bobby getting hurt as they tore down the sidewalk, Truck began to stop his wheels from turning, but he could not slow down. The tree was now looming faster, faster, and faster. Quickly, Truck forced his front left tire to slow a little which made him turn away from the tree and straight for the big puddle! Truck closed his eyes. Sploosh! Truck now felt cold, wet, and scratchy. Then Bobby to whimper. When Truck had turned and dove into the puddle, Bobby had gone flying out of Truck’s bed into the puddle. Now he was all wet, but he had missed the tree by a few feet! Truck felt a better now knowing he had helped protect his boy, even though he had had to get all dirty.