Tom Sawyer (WIP)

I do not own this story. This story was written by Mark Twain and is published in New York. The purpose of this is for entertainment uses and pass-time uses.

"Tom!"
No answer from Tom.
"Tom!"
Still no answer.
"Where is that boy, I wonder? Tom!"
Aunt Polly looked in the living room, then under the bed. She was about to yell out the back door when she heard a noise behind her. She grabbed Tom just in time. He had been in the pantry sneaking jam again. "I must have told you forty times to stay out of that jam, Tom Sawyer," she scolded.

She was about to spank him, too, when he said, "Look out behind you, Aunt!" Aunt Polly let go and spun around. Her nephew ran out the door, climbed over the back fence, and disappeared.

Tom's Aunt Polly couldn't help but laugh. That rascal had tricked her again. He knew that if he made her laugh, she couldn't be angry at him. Still, Tom was too wild. She surely had her hands full with that nephew of hers.

At dinner that night, Aunt Polly discovered from Tom's damp collar that he had skipped school to go swimming. But, once again, Tom ran outside before she could punish him.

It was a fine summer evening, and it wasn't dark yet. Tom had just learned how to whistle. He was walking down the street, practicing, when he saw a new boy on the corner. They were the same age, but the new boy had nicer clothes than Tom did. And he was wearing shoes!

This was Alfred Temple. He and Tom began making fun of each other. They walked in circles, pushing each other, daring each other to fight. Finally, they did fight. Tom chased the other boy home and stood outside his house. The two boys were still making faces at each other when the new boy's mother made Tom go home. She called him a mean, bad child.

When Tom got home, it was late and Aunt Polly was very angry. She took one look at Tom's torn clothes and figured that he had been fighting again. She would just have punish him this time. She would make him work on Saturday, while all the other children were playing.

On Saturday morning, Tom stepped out of the house . He was carrying a bucket of whitewash and a paintbrush with a long handle. It was a beautiful day. Flowers were blooming, and the air was cool and sweet.

Tom sat down on a box and looked at the fence. Ninety feet of fence, six feet high! And he had to paint every inch of it! Tom sighed. He dipped his brush in the whitewash and ran it along the top board. Then he sat down again and looked sadly at the tiny patch he had painted.

Soon, the other boys would come out to play. They would have a great time making fun of him because he had to work on Saturday.

Tom took everything he had out of his pockets. Pieces of broken toys, marbles, trash---not enough to exchange with any of the boys to get them to work in his place.

Nothing worth even half an hour of freedom. Tom gave up the idea of trying to buy some help.

Then he had a brilliant idea. He picked up his brush and began to paint quite happily. Soon, Ben Rogers came along. He was eating an apple. That apple made Tom hungry!

Ben began to tease Tom. "Hello, Tom," he said. "I'm going swimming. Don't you wish you could come, too? But you have to work don't you?"

Tom said, "What do you call work? A boy doesn't get a chance to paint a fence everyday, does he?" And Tom kept right on painting. He seemed to be having a lot of fun.

Ben got very interested. Soon, he said, "Hey, Tom. Let me paint a little. Please?"

Tom thought a minute. Then he said, "Well, Ben, Aunt Polly cares a lot about this fence. It has got to be done right. Very few boys could do this job the way she wants it done."

Ben begged Tom to let him try. He promised to be careful. When he offered Tom his apple, Tom finally let him have the brush. As Ben went to work, swearing in the sun, Tom sat on his box in the shade. He ate Ben's apple, and he made plans to trick more boys the way he had just tricked Ben.

By the end of the afternoon, Aunt Polly's fence had three coats of whitewash on it. Tom was a lot richer than before. When Ben had become tired, Billy Fisher gave Tom a kite for a chance to paint. Other boys provided marbles, some chalk, a tin soldier, some tadpoles, some fire crackers, a dog collar---but no dog---and a lot of other things. Tom had spent a great afternoon with plenty of company.

Tom went inside the house. He asked Aunt Polly if he culd play, since the fence was finished. Aunt Polly couldn't believe Tom was telling the truth. Then she saw the entire fence, whitewashed three times! Even the ground around the fence was painted!

Aunt Polly said, "Well, Tom Sawyer. You do work when you want to. But you sure don't want to very often. All right, go on and play." And she gave Tom another apple as a reward!

Aunt Polly told Tom how good it always felt to be rewarded for hard work and good manners. Tom took a doughnot when she wasn't looking. He ran down the alley and went to find his friend, Joe Harper. Every Saturday, Tom and Joe played army. They were the two enemy generals. They gave the orders. Smaller kids were the soldier who did the fighting. That afternoon, Tom's army won. The boys made another date to fight the next Saturday. Then everyone went home.