By Chris McGinty
The rain had been out of hand for about a half hour now. Walter looked out the front door and what he saw amazed him. The street he had lived on for 20 years, for the first time ever, looked like a river. This wasn’t the only first that he was going to see tonight.
He noticed a small oval shape floating in the stream. He realized it was a turtle doggy paddling down the road. He said,”Hey, I didn’t know that turtles could swim.” The turtle responded, “I’m just as surprised as you,” and it swam on Into the night.
He saw a much bigger circular shape coming down the stream. It was a tire and a dog was holding on floating behind it. He said, “Hey, I didn’t know that dogs could tube.” The dog replied, “I always suspected I could, but this is the first time I’ve ever had to try,” and it floated on Into the night.
There was another circular item traveling down the stream. There was a raccoon atop it, holding its paws out to the side. He said, “Hey, I didn’t know raccoons could surf.” The raccoon replied, “You would be surprised what we can do with trash can lids,” and it floated on Into the night.
The raccoon was no sooner out of sight than he saw yet another thing floating towards him. It was a canoe, and there was a beaver with a paddle. He said, “Well I’ll be dammed.” The neaver simply laughed, and floated on Into the night.
It was a long time before he saw anything else in the stream, and Walter was almost sure that the parade of animals was finally done, until he saw a steamboat floating down the street. He said, “Hey, I didn’t know that a mouse could steer a boat.” The mouse said, “It’s been decades since I was allowed to in public,” and floated on Into the night
Chris McGinty is a flash fiction writer who really wanted to call this “Mulberry Stream. “