“What’s in your pocket, Oscar?” asked Rosie. “Did you catch another toad?”

Mom came out of the garage, a pot of zinnias in each hand. “Oh, Oscar. Please be careful! I don’t want any of your little friends ending up in the washing machine!”

Oscar reached into his pocket and gently pulled on something. Something soft and thin and pink.

“I rescued it,” he explained. “It’s an earthworm. But it wasn’t in the earth. It was out on the sidewalk on the cement.”