It was my 12th birthday, as I walked down the street, excited, smiling with joy, with my brand new birthday present. This was not just any birthday present, this was a 12 year old boy’s dream present.  It was the Daisy 1500 XL BB gun with high power scope. All boys have an urge to hunt and this was the weapon of choice for kids my age. It was even better than Xbox One.

Of course, I was on a mission to shoot something and shoot it good. I know that sounds sick, but I was overtaken with the fever and out of control.  I walked for about an hour and found nothing to shoot at but trees and abandoned house windows.  Finally I stumbled upon a house that had it yard littered with small mound of dirt. “Gophers!” I shouted.  The home owner stuck her head out of a window and screamed, “What are you doing in my   yard with that gun?” I quickly replied, “You have a serious gopher problem lady”. Minutes later, a deal was made to have me get rid of her pesky gophers for a small $5 fee. Just enough money to buy a new pack of BB ammo.

I stood there for an hour, with my scope stuck to my eye, as I waited for a gopher to pop his head out of the largest hole. Nothing popped up. I then remembered, gophers are nocturnal.  This job was going to take longer than I thought. I headed home to get some extra items, a chair, a head light, a sandwich and my dog, Lilly. Lilly was not a hunting dog, but she did hate gophers and she did a good job of making sure they never invaded our yard. Lily and I got back to the job, just as it was getting dark. We set up and waited for a gopher. My stomach started to growl, so I looked for my sandwich, I could not find it. That’s when I realized… It was gone. “Lily!”, “That was my sandwich!”, I yelled. Hours later, the job was a bust. No gophers, no food, and nothing shot, and no money made.

Lily and I walked home. I kept thinking that the gophers should have been there. Did they move out or what? It was after midnight when we got home. I opened the gate to my back yard and Lily went in first.  “Oh, no”, I whispered. My entire back yard was covered with fresh mounds of dirt, the gophers moved in. I yelled “Those darn! gophers!”

THE END