Thursday, July 4, 2013

Who Ate My Hotdog?

This is my entry for the Susana Loenard Hill The Fourth of July Secret Mystery Contest.  Enjoy this 333 word whodunnit story for children and Happy Independence Day!

By cyclonebill from Copenhagen, Denmark (Hotdog  Uploaded by FAEP) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Every Fourth of July, my entire family comes over for a barbecue. Usually, it’s a lot of fun.  This year, there was a serious problem. Somebody ate my hotdog.

It was there one minute, and then it was gone. I left it to get a root beer.  When I came back, there were only some crumbs from the bun.

“Who ate my hotdog?” I asked.

Dad said he’d been grilling the whole time.

Mom said she ate too much of Aunt Rosie’s pasta salad and was already full.

It was probably Peter.  It was the sort of thing my older brother would do.

Nope, it wasn’t Peter.  He’d been helping Uncle Fred get the fireworks set up on the dock.

Could grandpa have done it?  There’s no way grandpa would steal my hot dog.  But wait, is that ketchup on the corner of his mouth?  I always eat my hotdogs with lots of ketchup.

“Grandpa did you eat my hot dog?”

He chuckled.  “No, my boy, I ate my hotdog, not yours.  But I think I might know who did.”

He pointed a long shaky finger toward the picnic table.  Who was he pointing at?  Cousin Sally?  Then something caught my eye.  A hotdog was moving across the table.  It inched its way along the red and white checkered table cloth. It went past the potato salad, past the watermelon, past the corn on the cob until it fell to the ground. 

I peered into the shadows under the table and then I saw the guilty party. Our dog, Jack, gobbled up the spoils of his sneaky theft.


Well, at least I knew who ate my hotdog.  The only thing to do now was to ask dad for another one. I made my way back to the grill.  Dad gave me another hotdog.  I covered it with ketchup.  I sat at the table and was about to enjoy my first bite when I realized something awful had happened.  

Someone drank all my root beer!

24 comments:

  1. Haha! Great ending . . . and lots of action. Well done.

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    1. Appreciate it. I enjoyed your mystery ride story.

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  2. Oh no! Lost a hot dog and a root beer! (Isn't it cannibalism for a dog to eat a hot dog?!)

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  3. Oh yes...I LOVE the ending...and that is JUST what happens at 4th of July BBQ's. :) Great story with a super buildup to the ending! Nice job, Nate!

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  4. I am as thirsty as that little guy with all the searching for the hotdog. I too could do with a root beer right now. best of luck with the competition.

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    1. Thanks. Be sure to enjoy one sooner than later!

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  5. Oh that photo is making me hungry! I suspected the pooch...it's usually the butler or the dog. ;) But your ending is wonderful! Now you need to write a sequel so we know who drank the root beer.

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    1. Dang! Missed opportunity, should have named the Dog Butler for a good zinger. You'll have to wait until next year for the sequel.

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    2. Well, be sure to work in the name Butler for next year's sequel! ;)

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  6. Oh I love this one! I am the oldest of six kids in my family so I totally get the whole, "who stole my stuff?" drama. My siblings and I were always accusing each other. What a fun story!

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  7. That's always happening to me!!!! And it's usually my dessert! Fun story!

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  8. Fun! Loved that it ended with a new mystery!

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  9. Great story! I love the twist at the end, starting a whole new mystery! Your story is well written, fun, and very kid-friendly! Great job! Thanks so much for entering :)

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    1. It was a lot of fun to do. My kids love hot dogs, so they were definitely part of my inspiration here. Thanks for hosting the contest.

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  10. Loved the humorous twist at the end! Great mystery!

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  11. Ha! Great ending! I love the twist :)

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  12. You can't go wrong with hot dogs! :-)

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  13. A dog once ate my toasted bun with mustard - silly dog! Nice story!

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  14. Your story made me laugh, of course it also made me hungry! Great idea and great ending!

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  15. I like this---a hot dog moving across the table! Nice story!

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  16. Haha! He just can't catch a break. It sounds like you have to keep a close eye on your food around his family :)

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