Cedric Walnut Squirrel ran a hot dog stand, where all the critter children would get yummy hot dogs and fries. When the children walked home from school, they always smelled the hot dogs cooking in the stand. Their tummies would start to rumble and they would run to the stand to ask Cedric for hot dogs.

The hot dog stand was always surrounded by critters. They really enjoyed the delicious food. Cedric was one of the best cooks in Calico Village. He was always thinking of new receipes to make his hot dog stand the best in town! He would often ask critter children for suggestions on how to make his hot dog stand better. They would suggest things like
“Put a picture of yourself on the wall” and
“Make chocolate hot dogs!”

Then one day, when Freya Chocolate Rabbit was eating a hot dog at the stand, she had a thought.
“We’re all going to the Sea Breeze Cape next week”, she said.
“I wish we could eat hot dogs at the beach. We can’t take the food all the way to the Sea Breeze Cape because by the time we get there the food will be cold.”
When Cedric heard that, he got a great idea. “That’s it!” he said. “That’s how I can make my hot dog stand better!”

The next day, the hot dog stand was closed. It was also closed the day after and the day after that. The critter children were disappointed that they couldn’t get hot dogs.
“Why has the hot dog stand been closed for so long?”
Freya asked her father and Eleanor Hedgehog, the Calico Village baker. But they just smiled and said
“We are wondering the same thing.”

The next week, the children went to the Sea Breeze Cape as they had planned. They played at the beach all day and worked up quite an appetite.
“I’m hungry”, they said.
Just then, they smelled something they loved.
“Could it be…” said Freya.
“It is!” cried Piers Petite.
“It’s hot dogs!”
The children followed the yummy smell and came to a beautiful, colorful van by the sand dunes.

The van had a big sign on the roof that said
“Hot Dogs”.
The critters couldn’t believe their eyes. They walked up to the van and heard a familiar voice.
“Hello! Would you like a hot dog?”
said Cedric, smiling happily at them from behind the counter.

“I changed my stand to a Hot Dog Van”, he explained.
“Now you can have hot dogs at the Sea Breeze Cape too. I can sell my hot dogs anywhere!”
The children were very happy to hear this and gobbled up their hot dogs with delight.
“Hot dogs taste even better when we can eat them by the sea”,
said Freya happily.

Cedric was so happy that his Hot Dog Van made all the critter children smile!

THE END