A Summer by the Brook
Jon and Les were very different. Jon preferred to be in the woods, and Les loved reading books inside. They were both having a lonely summer. Every day, Jon took his fishing rod and hooks and went alone to the brook in the woods. Sometimes he sat on a log to catch fish, and sometimes he stood on a rock. Most of the fish were too small, so he would unhook them and throw them back. While Jon was in the woods, Les sat inside all day in a window nook and read good books. It was the only place he liked to sit and read because he could look out the window.
When their father saw that they never spent time together, he shook his head with dismay. He understood that his sons were different, but he was sad that they would spend so much of their childhood apart. “Look, boys,” he said. “Why don’t we do something together? Why don’t we build something that you can both use and enjoy?”
So, they all went to the lumberyard to buy wood. Les went to the library to find books on carpentry while Jon and his dad took the tools out of the basement. Together, the three of them worked hard to build a new bench. It was a beautiful bench, and they put it in the woods near the brook. It was big enough for both Jon and Les to sit on. Jon fished while Les read aloud from books about fish and other creatures in the brook. The brothers spent the rest of the summer together. On the back of the bench, they painted the words, “Built by Jon and Les—Brothers and Good Friends.”