Shaggy Bob was the Nature Director for a Boy Scout camp. Every morning at breakfast he predicted the weather. He would stand up and say, "Today will be hot and cloudy." Every day was hot and cloudy. He had an easy job.
After breakfast one day the camp chief called him over. The chief was
a Blackfoot Indian. He was big.
"Bob, I have a job for you," said the chief. "There's a garage
behind the kitchen. The dining hall throws its trash
bags in there after every meal. They've been doing that for six
weeks. Now we've got two hundred trash bags. They're filled with
half-empty cartons of rotten milk. I want you, Bob, to put those bags
in the dumpster. Get Spanky and Chip to help you. They're your team."
"Rotten milk?" asked Shaggy Bob.
"Rotten milk," said the chief. "I'm counting on you. It has to
be done."
Shaggy Bob brought Spanky and Chip to the garage. They were also
on the camp staff.
Spanky opened the garage door, but stepped back. "Ugh! The smell!
There's no way to breathe in there."
"We'll have to hold our breath," said Shaggy Bob.
"Why should we have to move the trash?" asked Chip.
"The chief said it has to be done," said Shaggy Bob.
Shaggy Bob was afraid Chip and Spanky would leave.
How could he get them to stay?
"I'm going to do it," said Shaggy Bob. "But how will we do it?
How do we get the bags in the dumpster?"
The dumpster was a big long blue metal box.
Its dirty walls were taller than any of them.
"What if someone gets in the dumpster?" asked Shaggy Bob.
Chip climbed a ladder on one wall.
"You could throw the bags to me," said Chip.
"I think the end wall is a door," said Spanky.
Spanky pushed down a handle. The door swung out.
"We can just carry the bags in," said Spanky.
"That helps a lot," said Shaggy Bob. "Very good!"
They looked in the garage.
The milk had been rotting for six weeks.
The bags were leaking. The floor was wet and sticky.
"How would we carry the trash bags?" asked Spanky.
"We have gloves," said Shaggy Bob.
"I have an idea," said Chip.
He went into the dumpster and dug around.
He found a flattened cardboard box.
"We can put the bags on this cardboard," said Chip. "We can drag it,
like a sled."
"Good idea! That will work," said Shaggy Bob.
They found three big pieces of cardboard.
Shaggy Bob held his breath. He went into the garage and grabbed a bag. There were maggots living under the bag. He swung the bag onto his cardboard. He dragged the cardboard outside. He was outside! He could breathe again, barely. "I hope I don't get some disease from this," thought Shaggy Bob. He dragged the cardboard to the dumpster door. He grabbed the bag again. He swung it into the dumpster. "That's one," thought Shaggy Bob.
There were a hundred bags.
(The kitchen had been serving meals for six weeks.)
Chip, Spanky, and Shaggy Bob worked for two hours.
When they were done their clothes stank.
"Wow! We did it!" said Shaggy Bob.
"We must be fools," said Spanky.
Shaggy Bob smelled like rotten milk.
He went back to the camp chief.
"The job is done, sir," said Shaggy Bob, saluting.
Flies were buzzing around Shaggy Bob.
The chief looked up. "That's good."
Shaggy Bob went into a shower. He didn't take off his clothes. He turned on the water and got them wet. Nothing would get rid of the smell. He had to throw his clothes away. He put on clean clothes.
Shaggy Bob went back to the dumpster.
The chief was there.
"I gathered the guides I didn't like," said the chief. "I told them
push down the trash."
All those guides were in the dumpster.
They were jumping up and down in there.
They had put cardboard on top of the bags.
"You don't have to do it," said the chief. "I like you."
Shaggy Bob wasn't sure the chief liked him.
Shaggy Bob wasn't sure he liked the chief.
But Shaggy Bob was proud he had finished his job.