Sylvester & Samantha - Best Friends Forever (BFF) "Crossing the Street and Stealing"

Sylvester & Samantha

Best Friends Forever (bff) “Crossing the street, and stealing” Story by

Court

Sylvester

& Samantha

Best friends forever (bff) “Crossing The Street, And Stealing” Story by: Samara Courtney Contributing Author: Yvonne Marie Manning-Smith Edited by: Constance Smith Artwork & Illustration by: Doug Bedford Published by: Blueprint Publishing & Media Co. ISSN: 979-8-218-00017-2 © 2022 all Rights Reserved.

No part of this document may be distributed or copied without the express consent of the author(s) of this book.

A Message From the Authors…

Samara & her Nana

From Samara I want to thank my Nana for taking up so much time with me by teaching me, reading to me, the cooking lessons, singing to me and with me, and stimulating my imagination. I love you so much.

----------To Papa: You have been like a father to me, teaching me right from wrong, helping me with my homework and encouraging me to strive and pursue my dreams and to never give up. Thank you for plan “Z.” I love you, Papa!

----------To my mom: I know being a single mom is tough. But you still make time for me to make sure I have everything I need and some of the things I want. Thank you for encouraging me and reminding me how special I am to you, and I am worthy. I love you mom even though I can be a handful, you still.

----------To Ava: My baby sister. I feel so much joy in my heart now that you have joined our family. Being an only child is tough sometimes. But you make me smile, and I am honored to be your big sister. I am looking forward to reading to you, teaching you, playing with you, and enjoying the bond of sisterhood with you. I dedicate this book to you. I love you, Ava Marie.

----------To Auntie Gen: thank you for always encouraging me. You are the sweetest person I know. I love you.

From Nana (aka) Yvonne Marie – to my Samara: You are my hearts joy. Your gifts and talents leave me in awe of you. Working on this book with you was so much fun. I can’t wait until we write the next one. I love you so much!!!!

----------To my daughter Constance: What a remarkable young woman, mother, and daughter you are. Thank you for making me a grandmother and blessing our family with our most precious gifts. I adore, admire, and love you so much!!!

----------To my Husband: My Best Friend, Prayer Partner, My Love. Thank you for your undying support, patience, and encouragement throughout the years. I love you man!!!!!

Sylvester

& Samantha

Best friends forever (bff) “Crossing The Street, And Stealing”

It was a cool brisk fall morning. Sylvester the squirrel was awakened by the whispering wind and the crackle of the leaves falling to the ground which covered the hole in the tree where he nestles in every evening. He rose from his nest, stretched, yawned, and cleared his eyes and there it was. The moment he had been waiting for this time every year. It was like a pot of gold! A sea of acorns across the street in his neighbor’s yard.

Samantha was curled up in her favorite spot in a hole she’d dug under an old oak tree. She was suddenly awakened by the tapping of Sylvester.

“Wake Up Samantha, Let’s go gather our favorite treats!”

“No, I’m not hungry, “said Samantha, sounding a little agitated. “I was asleep and having a really good dream of swimming in a pool of acorns, my favorite snack!” wagging his tail, Sylvester said, “Well you don’t have to dream about it, the tree across the street has a ton of acorns. We can go and gather all we can eat!”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” said Samantha.

“You just don’t run into someone’s yard and take their acorns without asking, that would be stealing!”

“Oh, come on Samantha. “There are so many acorns under that tree, no one would ever miss them!”

“No, no, no,” said Samantha. “How would you feel if someone came in our yard and took our food without asking?”

Sylvester chuckled and decided to proceed over to cross the street but not before saying, “Hey Samantha, dig a hole for us to store all the acorns, I’m going to get enough to last a few days.”

As Sylvester prepared to cross the street, Samantha in her very concerned voice she said, “Be careful crossing the street. Cars don’t always see us!”

With a hint of cockiness, Sylvester shouted back, “They have to be moving pretty fast to hit me!” as he scurried across the street. Before he could reach the other side, a car came out of nowhere speeding at such a high speed, the wind knocked poor Sylvester to the side of the road.

Samantha ran to the aid of her best friend Sylvester to make sure he was okay. He lay there with his eyes closed and Samantha began to cry.

“Oh Sylvester, my sweet, sweet friend, please be okay!

Please Sylvester, open your eyes! Please don’t leave me!!!!”

Sylvester lay still and Samantha began to cry louder, “Oh Sylvester, I should have not let you run across the street, it’s all my fault.”

Suddenly, Sylvester opened his eyes and saw how sad Samantha was. He grabbed her hand and told her, “Don’t cry Samantha, I’m okay. That car just knocked the wind out of me that’s all.” Then he stood up and stretched, and with a determined mind, he said, “I’ve got to go get those nuts!”

Samantha are you serious right now? “I told you, look both ways before you crossed the street! What on earth were you thinking?”

Sylvester shook himself off and told Samantha, “I’m okay. I’ve got to go and get those acorns before the owners of this house wake up!”

Samantha in a fury said, “Shame on you Sylvester, you were nearly killed trying to get across the street to do something you know is wrong…stealing!”

“Don’t get yourself all flustered Samantha, it’s going to be ok.” And he scurried along to gather his acorns.

Sylvester made three trips back and forth while Samantha stood there with her arms folded and pouting.

Sylvester continued his journey to gather enough acorns for at least three days. On his final trip, the owner of the home opened his front door to let out his dog. He saw Sylvester with an arm full of acorns and yelled, “Hey you! What are you doing in my yard?” The dog Skip broke loose and began to chase Sylvester.

“Ruff ruff, ruff!” He barked! Sylvester dropped all his acorns and ran up the tree.

Skip continued to bark. He tried to climb up the tree, but dogs don’t climb trees. Samantha was nervous running around in circles and fearing for the life of her lifelong friend. She was afraid he could be eaten by this very large angry dog.

Sylvester tried to act fearless and even began to tease the dog, “Ha ha, you can’t catch me!” This made the dog even more angry. The homeowner Mr. Robbie tried to calm down his dog, “Heel Skip heel!” But Skip was determined to get ahold of Sylvester. Sylvester could see the rage in Skips eyes as he began to shake uncontrollably, The acorns began to rain from the tree. The limb began to crack, and Sylvester knew he was in trouble. As he tried to leap to another branch, the branch snapped, and he came tumbling down to the ground.

Sylvester lay paralyzed on the ground. Just as Skip launched to attack Sylvester, the very brave Samantha zoomed past Skip to distract him. When Skip took his eyes off Sylvester to look at Samantha, Sylvester ran for safety.

Mr. Robbie called Skip and put him on a leash. Skip seemed to be agitated until he was given a doggy treat. Mr. Robbie called out to the squirrels, “Hey you little rascals, don’t come in my yard stealing anymore. The next time Skip may not miss you.”

Sylvester and Samantha hurried to their hole in the tree across the street.

“Gee Sylvester, you had better never do that again,” said Samantha. “I was scared for my life, and you should have been too!”

“Oh, don’t worry yourself Samantha. Besides, look at all the acorns we have. This should last us for at least a week! He said excitedly.

“You are missing the point, Sylvester; you were nearly killed by a car because you didn’t look both ways before you crossed the street.

Then you were nearly eaten by that ferocious dog because you were stealing! We should never steal.” “So, let’s make a pact that you will always be careful, never steal again, and always ask permission before you take anything.”

“I see how much this bothers you Samantha, I give you my word, I will never do it again.”

They pinky swore and sat under the tree and cracked acorns for a snack.

The End

.

Lessons Learned (Discussion Time)

1. what did you learn about Sylvester and Samantha’s Friendship?

2. What does the word “Friend” mean to you?

3. What did Sylvester do which he should not have done?

4. Do you think Sylvester was stealing even though it was just acorns?

5.

When should you be allowed to cross the street

without adult supervision?

6. Did you enjoy the story?

Notes:

Notes:

Sylvester & Samantha Created By: Samara Courtney

© 2022 All Rights Reserved.

for book signings, live book readings, interviews, bulk orders & other inquiries, please email: yvonnemarieministries@gmail.com

About the Author Eleven-year-old Samara Courtney’s motivation for writing was inspired by her grandmother, award-winning, easy listening gospel singer, and song writer “Yvonne Marie” Manning-Smith. Yvonne Marie suggested that she journal her emotions from being bullied at school. Her journaling, soon turned into creative writing. For now, she hopes that her experiences put into a story can help other children find outlets ad coping skills to deal with bullying, be encouraged to read more and inspire them to become creative with their own writing.