Goldie Down the Hill

The road in front of my house goes down a hill. I live at the top of the hill. Goldie lives at the bottom of the hill.

I live with my mother, my father, my sister, and my baby brother. Goldie has children, but they are all grown-up. Her husband died, so now Goldie lives all alone except for her kitten.

My house is gray with white trim. Goldie’s house is white with pink trim. Pink is Goldie’s favorite color.

When I was really little, I called her Goldilocks. Now that I am six, I know that she is really just Goldie. She does have golden hair like Goldilocks, but I think that she is older than Goldilocks.

Sometimes in the summer when it is warm, my mother, my sister, my baby brother, and I all walk down the hill to visit Goldie. My mother sits in Goldie’s new brown chair and visits. My sister and I look at all of Goldie’s pretty things.

Goldie has a picture of blue flowers on her wall. It’s my favorite thing at her house. In her kitchen is a white cupboard with pretty blue glass dishes in it. They are my sister’s favorite things there.

Goldie gives us ice-cream cones and lets us play with her games. The games are for her grandchildren to play with when they visit her, but she lets us play with them too. To play one of her games, we throw beanbags at a clown that is painted on a board. He has a big hole for his mouth. We try to hit the hole with the beanbags. It’s our favorite game to play.

Goldie has a little ball of yarn for her kitten to play with. We throw it, and he chases it. It’s funny to watch him. He claws the ball and bites it. He seems to think that it’s a mouse.

Goldie gives us apples from her apple trees. We play by the apple trees in her yard, but we don’t go into her orchard because there are snakes there. They’re just water snakes, and we know that they won’t hurt us, but we don’t go there, anyway.

When my baby brother was born, everyone brought presents for him. Goldie brought presents for my sister and me too. She brought little pillows that she had made for us. Mine has a cat on it. My sister has hearts and flowers on hers. My sister sets her pillow on her bed. I take mine outside or to the basement when I play, and I sleep with it at night.

When I had to give my first book report for the summer reading program at the library, I was a little bit scared. My mother took me to see Goldie, and I practiced giving my report to her. Then I wasn’t scared anymore.

I have lots of friends: Candy Jo lives next door. Colton lives across the field. There are Josh and Luke and Scott and Curtis, too, and …

… and Goldie down the hill.