The Great Garbage Truck Rescue

On Tuesday morning, Iggy was up much earlier than usual. Which was an event in itself. Usually Mom had to call him three times, Dad twice, and his sister Juliet once more just to be sure. But not that day. That day, Iggy was already standing at the living room window, looking out at the street. "Honey, your breakfast is getting cold," Mom called. "In a minute!" "You said that fifteen minutes ago," Dad pointed out. "Because it hasn't come yet." "What hasn't?" Iggy looked at him in surprise. "The garbage truck." "Ah, yes. One of the most important guests of the week." "The most important," Iggy corrected him. Juliet giggled. She was sitting on the floor next to her little red bike, polishing the bell with a soft cloth. "I really don't get what you see in those garbage trucks." "And I don't get why you're cleaning your bike for the third time." "Because I like to." "Exactly." And they both agreed that this was a pretty good argument. After breakfast, Juliet wheeled her bike out onto the driveway. She wanted to practice riding without stopping at every turn. "Watch this!" she called. She set off confidently. She turned. She turned around. She rode between the flowerpots. And then she rang the bell. Ring, ring! "A professional cyclist," Dad said approvingly. "A little more practice and I'll be entering the Tour de Backyard," Juliet announced. At that very moment, Iggy straightened up at the window. "IT'S COMING!" Everyone heard the familiar sound. Beep-beep-beep! And a moment later, a big green garbage truck came around the corner. Iggy actually jumped. "It's that model!" "What model?" asked Dad. "The one with the hydraulic side loader!" "Of course," Dad replied, though he had no idea what that meant. The garbage truck stopped at the first house. The truck's arm reached out, grabbed the bin, and in one smooth motion emptied it into the truck. "Did you see that?!" Iggy marveled. "Yes," said Juliet. "The bin went up." "But did you see how it went up?" Juliet just smiled and went back to riding. Meanwhile, the garbage truck was getting closer to their house. The workers started emptying the bins by the gate. And then something unexpected happened. Juliet's little hat, which was lying in the bike's basket, was snatched by a sudden gust of wind. Whoosh! It flew straight toward the bins. "My hat!" Juliet cried. She jumped off her bike and ran after it. The hat danced in the air, bounced off one of the bins, and landed right on top of it. Exactly when the workers were getting it ready to be emptied. "Oh no!" Juliet groaned. Iggy was the first to join her. "Rescue mission!" "What rescue mission?" Dad asked, puzzled. "Saving the hat from a trip into the garbage truck!" The whole family ran to the gate. Luckily, the garbage collector noticed the commotion. "Stop!" Dad called. The machine stopped. "What happened?" the driver asked through the open window. "The hat!" Juliet answered. The garbage collector looked around. After a moment, he spotted the hat's colorful brim on top of the bin. "Got it!" He lifted the hat off the bin and handed it to Juliet. The girl breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you!" "Safe and sound." The garbage collector smiled. "That was a dangerous mission," Iggy declared in a serious tone. "Very," Dad agreed. "Want to see something interesting?" asked the garbage collector. Iggy looked as if he had just won the lottery. "Yes!" The garbage collector showed them a safe spot next to the truck and told them how the loader works, why garbage has to be sorted, and how much trash they manage to collect every day. "So you help keep the whole town clean?" Juliet asked. "Exactly." "That's kind of like superheroes." "Just without the capes." The driver laughed. "Too bad," said Iggy. "Capes would be great." A few minutes later, the garbage truck was ready to leave. Iggy waved at it with as much enthusiasm as if he were seeing off a spaceship bound for Mars. "See you next week!" The driver answered with two quick honks. HONK! HONK! When the truck disappeared around the corner, Juliet put on her rescued hat. "You know what?" she said to her brother. "What?" "I think I'm starting to get why you like garbage trucks." Iggy grinned. "And I'm starting to get why you take such good care of your bike." "Because I like to." "Exactly." And once again, it turned out to be a pretty good argument. Juliet got on her bike and set off toward the end of the street. Iggy ran after her, and their parents just smiled and followed at an easy pace. The hat was safe, the bike was in one piece, and Iggy was already counting the days until his next meeting with his favorite garbage truck.