Little Shea's Backyard Adventures (1)

Shea felt bored. It had been raining all morning. He wanted to go outdoors! He was not tall enough to look out the windows, so mom put a stool by one of the windows, and Shea had been standing on it, watching the rain pouring down in his backyard.

He was two years old, going on three in a couple of months. Thunder still scared him a little. He would scramble down the stool quickly, when he saw a flash of lightning, and buried his face in the pillows on the couch, till the thunder had subsided.

The rain finally stopped! Shea looked at the puddles in the backyard longingly.
"Mom! May I go out in the backyard and step on the puddles?" he asked.
"Only if you put on your galoshes!" Mom answered.
Shea ran to fetch his galoshes happily, and brought them to mom, who helped him put them on. It was still too hard for Shea to put his shoes on himself. Sometimes he would try, but sometimes when he was in a hurry, he preferred Mom to help him.

There were lots of puddles in the backyard. Shea loved the splashy sounds he made when he stomped on the puddles with his galoshes. Suddenly, his foot stopped in mid-stomp! He thought he heard a sound! However, he decided he might have imagined it. He was about to complete his stomp, when he heard the sound again! It sounded like a small voice. There it was again! Shea was not good at standing on one foot for too long. He moved his foot, and stood both feet in the grass, away from the puddle.
"Hey you! Thanks for moving that big foot!" the voice seemed to be saying.
Shea squatted down on the grass, and peered at the place in the puddle from where the voice seemed to be coming. There was a creature standing in the puddle, where Shea's foot would have been, if he had not moved it!

Shea's eyes nearly popped out of his little head! He saw a tiny person looking back at him! The little man was no bigger than Shea's thumb. Shea was afraid of bugs. He did not like mosquitoes because they bit, and left itchy welts on him. He did not like other bugs because they moved fast, and had many legs! When Shea saw the little man, his first instinct was to run. However, his curiosity overcame his fear, and he remained staring at the little creature.
"You! I say, thank you for sparing my life!" it spoke again.