Changing Places

Chapter Nine

It was a wonderful, sunny morning, and Chips was anxious to get outside and find Charley. As he headed for the door, he was stopped by his mom.

"Where are you going, Chips?" she asked.

"I'm going to find Charley."

"Don't you remember that you promised to clean your room today?"

"Yes, but I didn't mean this morning. May I work on it later today?"

"No, I would like it cleaned this morning. You may play with Charley later in the day."

Chips was angry. Why should he have to clean his room on such a beautiful morning? I did not seem fair.

We knew better than to argue with his mom, so he grudgingly found the cleaning supplies and went to work. He room was awfully messy, so it took him right until lunch to get it all cleaned. When he sat down to eat, he realized the whole morning was gone and continued to feel upset.

He grumbled, "I bet no other animal has to spend so much time working. It's not fair."

Chips mom told him to stop pouting or he would not be able to go out in the afternoon either. Chips ate the rest of his lunch silently and then hurried outside when he was through.

He found Charley wading in Silver Stream.

Charley smile and said, "I stopped by your house this morning, but you mom said you were cleaning your room. I'm glad you're finished. Isn't it a terrific day?"

"Yeah," replied Chips. "Charley, you sure are lucky to be a bug. You live by yourself, so nobody ever tells you what to do. I wish I were like you."

"Well, Chips, it can get lonely living by yourself. Not only that, but there is a lot of work. I have to prepare food for myself, keep things clean, and gather my supplies. I have to tell myself what to do in order to get anything done."

"Yeah, well, you didn't tell yourself to stay inside and work on such a wonderful morning."

"No, of course not. Stop feeling bad. We can still play this afternoon."

No matter how Charley tried to convince Chips that living alone wasn't all that great, Chips just would not listen. Then Charley thought of an idea.

"Listen. Why don't we change places for a night? You be me and stay in my house alone, and I will be you and stay with your mom and dad."

"What a great idea! Let's see if my parents will agree."

They hopped back to Chips' house and stated their idea to Chips' mom. She was silent for few minutes. She didn't like the thought of Chips being alone, but maybe he would learn something from the experience.

"I guess you can do this for one night. Charley, you may eat supper with us, and, Chips, you may make your own supper at Charley's house. After that Charley will sleep here, and Chips will sleep at Charley's."

Chips was very excited. We could spend the whole evening doing whatever he wanted. What fun he would have!

When supper arrive, Chips left for Charley's house, and Charley went to Chips' house. Charley really enjoyed not having to cook his own supper. He also enjoyed having someone to talk with during supper. He liked the stories Chips' dad told about old days in the forest. He did not mind the little cleaning he was asked to do after supper. Chips always thought it was so much work to help with the dishes, but it seemed like so little to Charley since he was used to doing everything by himself.

After they finished the dishes, Charley played some games with Chips' mom and dad.

"This is fun," said Charley. "Do you play with Chips like this every night?"

"Most of the time we do something," answered Chips' dad. "Sometimes we all go for a walk."

After they finished the games, they all read for a little while. Charley enjoyed Chips' books. He especially was enjoying one about a fox caught in a trap. A friend was trying to help him get out of it before a threatening storm came.

Suddenly Chips' mom announced that it was time for Charley to go to bed.

Time for bed? Charley never went to bed this early. He was used to reading until late at night, and he wanted to finish the book to see if the fox escaped.

"I'm not sleepy, and I would like to finish this book," he explained.

"Now, Charley, you are being Chips tonight, and this is the time he goes to bed."

Poor Charley wasn't used to being told what to do. Still he was a guest, so he decided he had better obey.

"Good night," said Charley.

Chip's mom and dad said good night and gave Charley a hug and a kiss.

"Boy," thought Charley, "having parents is nice, but I really don't think I could get used to being told when to go to sleep every night."

Meanwhile, at Charley's house, Chips was feeling very happy. he could make whatever he wanted for supper. Of course, he choose clover salad and carrot soup. Since Charley did not have this type of food in his house, Chips had to gather it himself. So he gathered his food, cleaned it, cooked the soup, tossed the salad, and set the table."

As he was doing this, he thought, "Say, this is taking a lot of time. I won't have much time left to do fun things."

He tried to hurry through supper, but when he was finished, he realized that he had to do all of the cleaning too.

"The sun is already down," he thought. "It's almost time for sleep. Hey, wait a minute! I can go to bed anytime I want. I can stay up late and read or I can go outside to look at the the stars or I can just hop around and be silly. I can even stay up all night if I want."

He decided to read some of Charley's books. There were some good ones. Then he made himself a snack and went outside to look at the moon.

He heard a noise in the forest. It probably was just a tree snapping in the breeze, but it made him feel nervous. He went back inside and decided that he was tired enough to sleep for a little while. He crawled into Charley's bed. He missed the good night hugs and kisses he was used to getting from his mom and dad. He felt lonely. He left the light on in the room, bcause he was also feeling a little scared.

"I wonder how Charley does this every night. He must get so lonely. I feel sorry for him. I am glad that I only have to be here one night. I miss my mom and dad.

Chips thought these types of thoughts until he finally fell asleep.

In the morning, Chips skipped breakfast and quickly hopped back to his own house. Charley was sitting the front of the house feeling a bit sluggish from getting too much sleep. Chips' mom was there to waiting for him.

Chips gave her a hug, and she asked him how his night alone went.

"Okay. It was nice to be my own boss, but Charley was right. It does involve a lot of work, and it does get lonely."

"So you wouldn't trade places with me?" asked Charley.

"No," answered Chips.

"I enjoyed spending the night with your mom and dad, but I wouldn't trade places either. I am too used to being my own boss."

Chips' mom smiled and told them to go out and play. It was another gorgeous day, and this time Chips could play outside all day long!