Alrighty all of you cool cats & kittens....I write childrens books. Just a hobby. This year I wrote a story for us bikers to hand out at the Piqua, Ohio Childrens Christmas parade...Just finished it. Going to press later today. Hope you like it. God bless you & yours this Christmas season. *Santa’s Spy* Author: Patti Laughlin Fogt Once upon a time there was a little girl named Libby. Libby was seven years old. She moved to Piqua, Ohio from Germany. This shy young tomboy moved in with her Grandma and Grandpa while her Mom and Dad served in the United States Army. It was August. There were no kids her age in the neighborhood. Libby wished she could find some friends to play with. She would have to wait until school started to meet some friends. Libby rode her skateboard all day long, up and down the alley next to her house. Grandma would sit on the porch swing and sew or clean vegetables from their garden and watch Libby as she played. Grandpa worked at the factory. Every day, at 4 o’clock in the afternoon, there was a rumbling roaring big red motorcycle that headed up the alley between Libby’s house and her neighbor’s house. It was the neighbor that lived on the other side of the alley. His name was Patrick. She didn’t know him. She heard her grandparents talk about him. Patrick had a long white beard and moustache, a big red bandana tied across his forehead that held back his snow white long hair. He wore bib overalls, white t-shirt & big black boots. He had the biggest friendliest smile Libby had ever seen. There was always a huge black leather bag on the back seat of his bike. It was stuffed full of something. But, what? He would ride his big thundering bike into his barn in his backyard. Libby tried to see him unload it every day, but, because of the big maple trees, she couldn’t see what he was unloading. Libby was curious. She decided she would spy on him. Libby rode her skateboard up and down the alley trying to peek through the thick trees & his tall wooden fence. She could hear him hammering, sawing and drilling. But, she could never catch a good glimpse of what Patrick was making. Curiosity was getting the best of her. September came and Libby started school. She made some friends, but none lived nearby. She still had no kids to play with after school. She noticed that Patrick started having a lot of his biker friends in to his barn on the weekends. More bright shiny bikes, all different colors, all different riders, men and women, would rumble up the alley every Saturday morning. All weekend long there was hammering, sawing & drilling going on by all of the bikers. She heard them laughing and enjoying themselves in the barn. The barn was full of life and lit up until way passed her bedtime. What were they doing? The leaves were off the trees by this time. She still couldn’t see because the doors would stay shut on the barn because it had gotten colder. All weekend long Libby road her skateboard up and down the alley spying on Patrick and his friends. Every once in a while she would see through the knot holes of the fence. There were huge piles of something in the barn. The smell of fresh cut wood was in the air. They would all be talking and laughing like they were family. Libby smiled the most when she would hear Patrick laugh. He had the best jolliest laugh of them all. It was a laugh that made you laugh. It was the friendliest most heartfelt laugh she had ever heard. She wanted to make him laugh someday, just to hear his great big friendly chuckle. Thanksgiving break came and went. Libby continued to ride her skateboard up and down the alley spying on Patrick and the other bikers. Patrick and his buds had noticed Libby spying on them. Patrick would wave and smile as he pulled into his backyard every day at 4:00 o’clock. He saw that her skateboard was getting pretty worn out from all of her spying. He used to skateboard when he was a kid. He enjoyed watching her skateboard. She was better than anyone he had grown up with. He was very impressed with her extreme talents. She had probably improved even more with all of the extra time spying on him. He chuckled to himself thinking of that. Spying through the fence wasn’t getting Libby anywhere. She decided to skateboard down to the alley dumpster by Patrick’s fence at the back of his yard. Climb up on the dumpster. Then climb up into the maple tree that faced the back of his barn. It would be a direct shot at a look inside the barn door. Once he opens the doors, she could finally get a good glimpse of what he is doing in there. It was 3:45 in the afternoon. Patrick and his biker buddies would be roaring up the alley soon. Libby raced down the alley on her skateboard. It had rained earlier in the day. Everything was wet in the alley. She splashed through the puddles like a race car driver. Leaving a wave of muddy water in her wake. Her gym shoes were soggy now. The dumpster was slick. But, she knew she could climb up on it. She was on top of the dumpster and reaching for the tree branch when she heard the thundering roar of the bikes coming up the alley. She saw Patrick and all of the other bikers coming toward her. Patrick caught her eye and gave her a wink and a wave. Just then she lost her balance, slipped and fell from the dumpster all the way down to the ground. She fell on her elbow onto her skateboard. The bikers all stopped immediately and ran to her. Patrick took charge and told them exactly what to do. The rescue squad was there in just a few minutes. Libby had broken her arm. Otherwise, she was alright. However, her worn out well loved skateboard was broken in half. Libby was back from the hospital in just a few hours. All of the bikers had followed the squad in to the emergency room to make sure she was alright. They waited in the waiting room with her grandparents until she had her cast on her arm. They all signed it. One by one she got to know their names and see their smiling faces. She felt protected and loved. Patrick was the first to sign it. He put a big smiley face on it and told her to “Stick to skateboarding instead of flying.” He laughed and hugged her. She loved that she got to hear his laugh again. It made her and everyone else laugh too. She wrote Patrick a thank you note and left it in his mailbox the next day. Libby decided to stop spying on Patrick. Her skateboard was broken. Her arm was broken. She was bummed. But… everyday she would hear the roar of the motorcycles coming up the alley at four o’clock. She still wondered…What are they making? What are they doing? Libby and her grandparents put their Christmas tree up. Decorated their house. Made cookies. Sent packages full of goodies to her parents. Christmas Eve was exciting. It was finally here! She could hardly stand it. She could hardly sleep. Grandma and Grandpa read her ‘The Night Before Christmas’ story and then tucked her in tight. She finally fell asleep. The next thing she heard, at about 5 o’clock in the morning, was the reverberation of Patrick’s motorcycle, she knew it well by now, and all of his friends motorcycles in the alley. She ran to her window and looked out toward the alley. All she saw was the back of the bikers. All lined up, motors running, facing the street. On the back of each bike there was a huge overstuffed leather bag tied down. The bikers were all in black leather with Santa hats on. Patrick was on the lead bike. He was in a red suit and wore a Santa hat with the biggest black bag of them all. It happened so fast that all Libby could do was catch a fast glimpse of them as they thundered away. She ran down to the front porch to see where they went. As she stepped out onto the porch she just about tripped over a big pretty wrapped package. Although she could not see them anymore. She could hear them. It almost sounded like they were flying above her as the sound of rumbling motors flew away. She reached down to see the tag on the package. It said…”To Libby from Santa.” She ripped the beautiful sparkling wrapping off of the gift to find the most awesome skateboard she had ever seen. It sparkled in the moonlight and she squealed with happiness to have a handmade, perfect, one of a kind skateboard, from Santa. Or, then she thought..’Was it Patrick? Or, is Santa a biker?’ Hmmmm….seems there is more spying to do Merry Christmas to all of Piqua’s children. May your days be merry and bright. And, may you find that Santa’s gifts are really… love and giving and being a good neighbor. .......a story I just finished for all of us bikers to hand out at our Childrens Christmas parade In Piqua, Ohio...hope you enjoy!! Patti Laughlin Fogt
Posted on: Tue, 02 Dec 2014 18:19:26 +0000