(10 year old son of Vince Mikulanis)
Once upon a time there was a tractor named Olley. Olley was very
sad. His owner had worked him so hard on the wrong kind of land
that he rolled him over. His wheels were all bent out of shape and
his tires were torn so bad that he was set on a rock and left to
rust.
One day Elmer was riding by in his truck and saw Olley just
sitting there. ‘Hmmm. I wonder if I could buy him,’ thought
Elmer. Elmer was very interested in old tractors like Olley. When
he walked up to Olley he whistled in amazement. Olley was an Oliver
tractor born in 1934- He had red spoke wheels and a green top. The
spokes were very special because they were round. Elmer talked to
Olley’s owner and the owner said. ‘You can have him. I
don’t want him. He can’t do a thing.’
A few days later Elmer and his son, Jasper, came to pick Olley
up. Olley smiled at the whirr of the electric winch putting him on
the trailer because he knew he would be given a good home. As the
trip began Olley heard Elmer and Jasper talking.
‘How would you like to have the tractor?’ asked
Elmer.
‘Gee. I would love it! You mean he would be my own?’
asked Jasper.
‘Of course he would be yours,’ replied Elmer.
‘Great. I’ll name him Olley,’ said Jasper.
Olley smiled again because he knew that he would have lots of
care.
Every day after school Jasper would go down and play with Olley
and scrub him. Every day Olley looked better and better until there
was no dirt or grease on him at all. Then every weekend Jasper
would bring a hammer down and get his dents all out. Then one
weekend, Jasper brought down new tires and paint. He painted him
and put new tires on him and made Olley look like a brand new
tractor, but something was missing.
One day as Olley was sitting he thought of it. It had been 20
years since he had been started. He sat and sat until one weekend
Jasper and Elmer came down and fixed his engine up. On the first
time they tried starting it Olley’s engine coughed and
sputtered and then came alive. Olley was so happy that his engine
was finally running for the first time in years.
Every day Jasper came down and rode Olley. Then one day he took
him into the woods. On top of a hill they raced so fast that Olley
seemed to fly. Every day they go to the same hill and run down it.
If you ever see a happy boy riding on a green tractor you know that
is Jasper and Olley.
