Rufus dragged his favorite purple-striped lawn chair across the grass. He couldn’t help smiling; it was a lovely hot day – perfect for lounging in the sun. Opening the chair with a flick of his webbed fingers, Rufus hummed a tune. A slight adjustment to the angle of the chair and it was ready. Rufus flopped on to it and closed his eyes, every inch of his green froggy skin soaking up the bright sunshine.

A soft breeze touched the tall blades of grass making them rustle. The sound was so gentle and calming that he soon slipped into a doze.

The rustle turned into a crashing noise as something or someone came closer.

“C’mon Bren, I want a turn!”

“I’m the oldest, Lon. I get to be in charge, mom said so!”

“No fair! Whenever I have to be your assistant, I have to do all the work!” With a final crash, a small frog burst out of the tall grass holding a basket of gooseberries. When he saw Rufus he stopped dead, which caused his brother Bren to trip over Lon and land right on top of Rufus.

“Hey, watch it!” Rufus sputtered, pushing Bren off of him.

“It was Bren’s fault – he didn’t watch where he was going!” the smaller frog’s voice echoed from within the basket that was now stuck over his head.

“You’re the one that stopped right in front of me, Lon!” Bren stood up and dusted himself off, rolling his eyes at Rufus. “Little brothers!”

Rufus gritted his teeth. So much for a quiet nap!

“Look you two – can’t you take this somewhere else? Some of us were enjoying a nice, toasty snooze.”

Bren started setting up a makeshift table out of sticks and a dried leaf. “Sorry, Rufus. Lon and I are selling gooseberries today, and everyone knows that this is the busiest part of the yard. A successful business is all about location, location, location.”

Rufus knew he was right, even though he wished he wasn’t. This corner of the yard did get the best sun, which was why most of the other frogs and other various creatures spent their day here. And Rufus also had to admit the ripe gooseberries looked quite tasty. “Well, just keep it down, all right?”

Bren pulled the basket off of Lon’s head and handed it to him. “Lon, hurry and pick up these berries! We don’t want the customers to see them all over the ground. I’ll man the table.”

Rufus saw the way Lon watched his brother saunter over to the table. Lon’s face had turned from green to red.

“No way Bren! I picked them and I lugged them over here. You spilled them, so you pick them up yourself!” Lon shouted.

Rufus sighed and got out of his comfortable chair. He’d never get a moment’s peace if he didn’t head off this argument. “Calm down you two . . .”

The two brothers ignored Rufus and glared at one another.

Not to be outdone by his little brother, Bren shouted back, “Your just lucky I let you tag along. Next time I’ll leave you at home!”

The rustling noise was getting louder. Rufus had to raise his voice just to be heard. “Why don’t you both pick them up, and-“

The ground beneath them started to shake. The blades of grass whipped around, as if a mighty wind was trying to push them to the ground.

“Lawnmower!” Rufus screamed, hurling towards the two brothers and shoving them out of the way. With one skinny green arm, Rufus grabbed his lawn chair and flung it against the side of the house.

The lawn mower swept past where they had all stood only a moment before. It sucked up the scattered berries, and splattered them out again. Rufus, Bren and Lon leaned against the house, covered head to toe in gooseberry juice.

“Wow, that was close!” Lon panted. “Thanks, Rufus!”

Bren shuffled his feet, looking at the ground. “I guess we should have been paying better attention and not arguing with each other. Sorry, Lon. You were right – we both need to share the work.”

Lon giggled. “So what do we do now, Rufus? All of our berries have been squished to bits!”

Rufus righted his lawn chair and moved it close to the house where it would be out of the lawnmower’s reach. Flopping down on it, he said, “Well Lon, when life hands you gooseberries, make gooseberry-ade!”