Zucchini by Barbara Dana

Author:Barbara Dana
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 1982-11-08T05:00:00+00:00

After breakfast, Billy went out. He crossed the small courtyard in front of his building, aimlessly kicking at stones and small bits of garbage.

Why can’t I ask for anything? he thought. It’s so stupid. All they can say is no.

He got up to the front door of the ASPCA and stopped. He stared through the glass into the lobby.

I’ll go tomorrow, he thought. No big deal.

He turned and walked toward the footbridge over the busy FDR Drive. As he started up the stairs, he noticed something moving toward the highway. It was an animal, small and in a great hurry. In a flash, Billy recognized Zucchini.

“NO!” he screamed, but Zucchini kept on. He was heading straight for the traffic, cars zooming by at sixty miles an hour.

“ZUCCHINI!” screamed Billy. “STOP!”

He wanted to close his eyes, not to see the terrible accident, but his eyes wouldn’t close. He just stood and screamed, and Zucchini heard the screams. He veered sharply to the right and ran headlong into a garbage can. Stunned, he lay motionless by the side of the highway.

Billy ran as fast as he could. When he reached Zucchini, he bent down.

“Are you all right?” he said softly.

Zucchini opened his eyes. He looked into Billy’s face.

“You’re alive,” said Billy.

Zucchini lay very still, looking at Billy. He couldn’t remember what had happened. He only knew he was looking into the kindest face he had ever seen.

“You have to be careful,” said Billy. “You can’t go running toward cars. You could get killed.”

Thoughts came tumbling back into Zucchini’s tiny brain. He remembered running from Mr. Devlin by the elevator, escaping from the building, fearing for his life, not looking where he was going.

“You gotta look,” said Billy. “You have to.”

Very slowly he picked up Zucchini and sat down, cross-legged, on the sidewalk. He held Zucchini on his lap, and they rested that way for several minutes.

“Let’s go by the river,” said Billy after a while. “There’s grass there and tiny trees and birds. It’s a good place.”

Billy got up and carried Zucchini very carefully toward the footbridge. Zucchini let himself relax. He felt weak, but secure, more secure than he had felt in his whole life, except very early maybe, with his mother.

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