It Happened to MeThe Mushrooms--Part 2Many people like to eat mushrooms. The mushrooms we buy in the store are safe to eat. Some people like to pick mushrooms in the wild, but they have to be very careful, because some toadstools are poisonous, even though they look edible. When my pal and I returned to our cabin after a day of bird hunting, he suggested we pick the mushrooms growing around there and sauté them with the steaks we brought. I thought that was a great idea. After we picked the mushrooms, I went to work cooking dinner. It smelled very good, and we dug in. "I'm sure glad you know your mushrooms, Henry," I said between bites. "On the contrary, I thought you were the expert," he said, setting down his fork. "I can't differentiate between a mushroom and a toadstool." We immediately stopped eating the food and fed some to the dog instead. It wandered off. When we went outside later, the dog was lying there dead. We panicked. We raced to the nearest town with a hospital, had our stomachs pumped and didn't get back until the next morning. Then a man came to our door. He said his car had hit a dog the night before. Its leg was hurt, but it limped away in our direction before he could get to it. He wanted to apologize if it was ours. Adapted from a first person story by E.M., taken from The Detroit News circa 1980 Vocabulary QuestionsHome |