Charlie the Hat
written by S.E. Hicks
Charlie was a brand new hat.
Charlie was not just any new hat. Charlie was a brand new baseball hat.
Charlie was made in a hat factory.
Ed’s Hat Factory made lots of hats, for lots of people.
Ed made hats for Tom’s Auto Shop, Bill’s Welding, Mac’s Cafe, Betty’s Candy and Mike’s Bait Shop. There were even hats for Ed’s Hat Factory.
Ed’s Hat Factory was in Taiwan. The people there like to make hats.
Charlie was a red hat with a bright yellow bill. What made Charlie very special was the shinny silver button right on top.
Charlie really liked his yellow bill but he was very proud of his silver button.
When the people of Ed’s Hat Factory made Charlie they put him in a box. Charlie didn’t like being in a box. He didn’t like it at all.
There were a lot of other hats in the box but Charlie could not see the other hats. It was dark in the box.
Then one day the box was put in a crate with a lot of other boxes full of hats.
The crate was then put on a ship.
Charlie asked “Where are we going?”
No one knew. Charlie was very scared.
Charlie was so scared and worried about where he was going, he got tired and fell asleep.
Charlie slept a long, long time. While Charlie slept the ship rocked back and forth keeping Charlie asleep.
Suddenly, Charlie was awakened by a man who took him out of the box.
“Yea!” Charlie said. “I’m out of the box.”
“Where am I and who are you?” Charlie asked.
“You are at the hat store and that is the hat store clerk,” said one of the other hats. The clerk then put Charlie on a shelf.
There were lots of other baseball hats on the shelf. There were black hats, green hats, blue hats, purple hats, orange hats but Charlie was the only red hat with a bright yellow bill and a silver button.
The other hats made fun of Charlie, especially his silver button. Charlie didn’t mind though, he knew they were just jealous.
One day a man came to the store and bought Charlie.
“This hat is for my son Jimmy’s birthday.” said the man. He then put Charlie in a sack.
Charlie didn’t like being in a sack but he was not alone . There was Gary the baseball glove and Bob the baseball. They all became good friends.
When they got to Jimmy’s house, Jimmy’s Dad took Charlie out of the sack. “Yea, I’m out of the sack!” said Charlie.
Then Jimmy’s Dad put Charlie in a box and wrapped the box with birthday paper. Charlie said, “ Great, I’m back in a box again.”
When Jimmy opened the box, Charlie was very excited to see Jimmy. Jimmy put Charlie on his head. Charlie liked that very much.
The birthday party was fun. There was cake and ice cream for everyone. Jimmy had so much fun he got chocolate icing on Charlie’s bright yellow bill. Charlie didn’t mind, it tasted good but the icing left a stain.
Jimmy took Charlie outside to play with Gary the glove and Bob the baseball. That’s when Charlie met Mickey the baseball bat. They were five good friends and they played baseball every day.
Jimmy wore Charlie everywhere, except at school or church. That’s when Jimmy would put Charlie on a peg.
Charlie didn’t like hanging on a peg very much. He liked being on Jimmy’s head or on the bed post at night.
One day Jimmy got up in a hurry and put Charlie on his head.
“Where are we going today?” Asked Charlie.
“We are going to see my grandparents. They live in the country,” said Jimmy.
Jimmy’s Dad drove the pick-up truck. Charlie thought it was fun riding in the truck. When they got to a dirt road Jimmy got out and climbed in back.
Jimmy sat in the back of the truck hung on tight to the rail and said “Okay.” The truck then started to move down the dirt road. Faster and faster the truck went. The wind started to blow real hard and suddenly Charlie was off Jimmy’s head. Up, up in the air, Charlie was flying in the wind!
When Charlie stopped flying he was stuck up in a tree.
Minutes went by. Hours went by. Days went by. Weeks went by. Months went by. Charlie was stuck in the tree a long, long, long time.
It rained on Charlie. It snowed on Charlie. There were lots of bugs that crawled all over him. To make things worse, a bird pooped on Charlie’s bright yellow bill.
One day the wind started to blow real hard. The wind blew just right and blew Charlie out of the tree. Charlie said “ yea, I’m not stuck in the tree any more.”
Down, down, down Charlie fell. He landed in the middle of the dirt road. He laid in the road for a couple of hours.
Soon a car came down the dirt road and ran right over Charlie, kicking him into the ditch! “Great,” said Charlie “ I’m in a ditch. I don‘t want to be in a ditch.”
Now Charlie was a dirty mess. He had a chocolate stain, a bird poop stain, a car grease stain, he had tire track marks and he was covered in dirty road dust. At least he still had his shiny silver button.
Charlie was in the ditch a long, long time.
One day it started to rain. It rained real hard. Soon the ditch was full of water and Charlie began to float down the ditch.
Down, down, down the ditch, Charlie floated all the way to the creek.
Charlie floated in the creek a long, long time. He floated in the creek until the creek became a river.
Down, down, down the river Charlie floated. He floated in the river until he landed on a sand bar.
“Yea, I’m out of the river.” Charlie said.
Charlie was on the sand bar a long, long time. Charlie missed his friends.
One day a little boat with a motor came up the river. The sun was out and shinning bright. Charlie’s silver button was glowing in the sun light.
The man in the boat saw Charlie’s silver button shinning in the sun light. He stopped the boat and picked Charlie up.
He was a very old man wearing a hat. It was Mike’s Bait Shop hat. The man threw Charlie in the bottom of the boat with some fish and took Charlie home with him.
When they got to the old man’s home, Charlie was taken to a tool shed and hung on a rusty nail.
Charlie was glad to be out of the tree. Charlie was glad to be off the road. Charlie was glad to be out of the ditch. Charlie was glad to be out of the river. Charlie was glad to be off the sand bar. Charlie didn’t like hanging on a nail but it was better than floating in the creek.
There were lots if other things in the shed. There was Fred the fishing pole. Tim the tackle box, Hank the hammer, Sam the screwdriver. There was even a car jack named Jake. Charlie had new friends.
One dark night Charlie felt something chewing on his bright yellow bill. It was Randy the rat. He was chewing a hole in Charlie’s bright yellow bill where the chocolate stain was!
Charlie didn’t like that very much. Now he was a real mess. He had a hole in his bright yellow bill where the chocolate stain used to be. He had car grease stains, tire track marks, bird poop stains, and he smelled like fish.
Charlie was in the shed a long, long time.
One day out of the blue the door to the shed opened. It was the old man. He had someone with him. The old man said to the other man,
“If we are going fishing you better grab that hat.”
The other man took Charlie of the nail.
“Hey,” the man said. Where did you find this hat? This is my old baseball hat.”
Charlie then saw the man’s face. It was Jimmy. Jimmy was all grown up. Charlie was very happy to see Jimmy again.
Jimmy said to Charlie “Where have you been?”
Charlie thought for a minute. He was glad to be on Jimmy’s head again.
Then Charlie said “ I have been in a box, a crate, a ship, a shelf, a sack, a peg, a bed post, a truck, a tree, a road, a ditch, a creek, a river, a sand bar, a boat, and most recently I have been hanging on a nail in a tool shed! What about You?”
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