Snow Worms

     Three little children, two girls and a boy, came walking home from school in their brightly colored snowsuits. It was a clear mid-winter day. Oldtimer Bean, a harmless good-natured trickster who lived in the neighborhood, stepped off his porch to greet them. He was a tall thin man who walked with jerky motions. He wore coveralls and a winter hat with earmuff flaps. He was carrying a blue coffee can, half-filled with snow, in his left hand. Near the sidewalk, a short distance from the approaching children, he reached down and pretended to pick at something in the snow. The children came closer, stopped and stared.
     What was this silly old man doing? Curiosity made one of the girls speak.
     "Mr. Bean, what are you doing?"
     "Picking snow worms," he answered.
     "Where?" the same girl wanted to know. "I don't see any worms."
     "That's because they're white, same color as the snow," he answered.
     Marvelling more and more, the three children, all under eight years old, put down their lunch boxes and books and began to help him.
     "What do they look like?" the same apple-cheeked girl asked.
     "Like worms, same as worms," he replied.
     "Oh," she said.
     "I got one!" said the boy, who was already involved in the game of imagination. "Can I put it in your coffee can?"
     "Sure," Oldtimer Bean answered. His face beamed with a broad happy smile.
     The children followed the old man's example and motions, and picked through the snow with enthusiasm. Playing this new game of imaginary snow worms was turning out to be fun.
     They spent several minutes doing this. Every now and then one of them shouted, "I got one!"
     The little girl who hadn't spoken finally spoke.
     "Is it full yet, Mr. Bean?"
     "Nope, just keep picking. I'll let you know."
     About five minutes later, sensing restlessness and approaching boredom, the old man said:
     "Can's full. Thanks. You can go home now." He returned to his porch and sat down.
     The children picked up their lunch boxes and books and said goodbye. Oldtimer Bean smiled, rocked in his chair, and mused, "It sure is a fun day. How can anybody be bored?"