*** To Jeff and Jay-I hope he is what you saw.
Fernando was three months old, when a gopher got in the house. No one knows how it got in. Why it jumped in the crib. Or why it bit Fernando.
All they do know is that gopher is now stuffed and sitting on a table in Fernando's parents house to this day.
Fernando had a lovely silver three wheeled bike when he was six years old. He had an orange flag attached to the back of it. He would do anything to be able to ride that bike all day.
Adults started sending Fernando on errands. Up to the store or to drop something off to someone down the street.
The children of the neighborhood caught on to this and started sending Fernando, too. And Fernando did not mind riding two blocks over to sneak in the backyard to take a few nails from Mr. Watson's tool shed. Or to steal flowers out of Mrs. Amble's garden for Steven. Steven wanted flowers a lot. He was a love-sick boy handing them out to even the girls in Grade Three.
Fernando could do anything or get anything. Fast.
He learned to be quiet. And stealth. He learned to blend. He taught his fingers to work fast. He learned bubble gum helped him concentrate on the job. When his mind was racing, the methodical up and down champing on it calmed him. He could never chew gum just walking down the street. It always threw him off-balance.
Fernando's nickname is Gopher. No one is quite sure when it started. Most people do not know his real name and he even gets surprised when he hears it sometimes.
Fernando is 31 now. He has a silver Lexus instead of a bike. He keeps a little orange flag in his rear window. He can still can get anything. Even faster.
He sits all the time on his front porch with his legs spread apart and his hands on the back of his head. Smiling about all the money he keeps pumping into his over-seas bank account.
Fernando was three months old, when a gopher got in the house. No one knows how it got in. Why it jumped in the crib. Or why it bit Fernando.
All they do know is that gopher is now stuffed and sitting on a table in Fernando's parents house to this day.
Fernando had a lovely silver three wheeled bike when he was six years old. He had an orange flag attached to the back of it. He would do anything to be able to ride that bike all day.
Adults started sending Fernando on errands. Up to the store or to drop something off to someone down the street.
The children of the neighborhood caught on to this and started sending Fernando, too. And Fernando did not mind riding two blocks over to sneak in the backyard to take a few nails from Mr. Watson's tool shed. Or to steal flowers out of Mrs. Amble's garden for Steven. Steven wanted flowers a lot. He was a love-sick boy handing them out to even the girls in Grade Three.
Fernando could do anything or get anything. Fast.
He learned to be quiet. And stealth. He learned to blend. He taught his fingers to work fast. He learned bubble gum helped him concentrate on the job. When his mind was racing, the methodical up and down champing on it calmed him. He could never chew gum just walking down the street. It always threw him off-balance.
Fernando's nickname is Gopher. No one is quite sure when it started. Most people do not know his real name and he even gets surprised when he hears it sometimes.
Fernando is 31 now. He has a silver Lexus instead of a bike. He keeps a little orange flag in his rear window. He can still can get anything. Even faster.
He sits all the time on his front porch with his legs spread apart and his hands on the back of his head. Smiling about all the money he keeps pumping into his over-seas bank account.
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