The Little Red Tugboat

Patrick received a little red tugboat from his Aunt Amanda. It was a birthday gift she sent him from Australia. Patrick was excited to get the new red tugboat and hugged it tightly. He played with his little red tugboat all day and slept next to it every night. But after a few months, Patrick grew tired of his little red tugboat and put it garage to grab his bicycle for a ride.

Patrick’s parents had a garage sale and Patrick gave them some toys to sell. He didn’t know that the little red tugboat was in the pile. A boy named Greg and his big brother Steve came to the sale. Steve bought the little red tugboat for his little brother and paid Patrick’s mom a quarter. Greg was happy with his tugboat and held it with excitement.

That night, Patrick was sitting at the dinner table and thought about his toys and the little red tugboat. He looked everywhere in his garage but couldn’t find it anywhere. Patrick was sad. He didn’t want to play with any of his other toys. He just wanted his little red tugboat.

Greg played with the little red tugboat in the pond at the park. He would “toot- toot!” as the little red tugboat passed ducks and other boats floating in the pond. One day, Greg was called home for lunch and left the little red tugboat in the pond. That night, the wind blew hard, and the little red tugboat pushed across the pond to the other side.

The little red tugboat had floated away and landed in the reeds at the end of the pond. There it stayed for many summers. One afternoon, a woman spotted the little red tugboat while she was walking her dog Blondee and took it back to her house, clenching it. She cleaned the little red tugboat and put it on a bookshelf in her study.

Many years passed, and Patrick had grown up. One Saturday, he was driving home and stopped to look through an estate sale. He found story books, small seashells, a brass compass, a golden bell, and a little tugboat like the one he had when he was a boy.

When Patrick arrived home, he brought the little tugboat to his son Hayden. Patrick told the story of the little red tugboat to Hayden. They wanted to show the tugboat to Amanda who was visiting from Australia. When Amanda came over for dinner, they showed the boat to her.

Hayden was showing his Great-Aunt Amanda the boat, and asked her, “Do you think it is the same little red tugboat?” Smiling, she said, “Yes, I believe it is.” Aunt Amanda turned it over and saw her name on the bottom of the tugboat where she had carved it into the rudder. Aunt Amanda gave Hayden a hug, “You see, I had made this boat myself, especially for your father when he was your age.” Hayden proudly looked at his dad and held the little red tugboat tightly.