Tommy was a little boy who lived by a big lake by the woods.  One day he saw two little mice looking at the water.  They seemed very sad.  "What is wrong?" Tommy asked.  Mary, one of the little mice, stood.  "My brother and I love to see new things.  We want to see what is on the other side of the lake.  But we do not know how to build a boat to get there."  Tommy smiled.  "I have plenty of toy boats," he said.  "They are your size!"  "Oh, thank you!" said Steve, the other little mouse.  "We would be very glad if we could borrow it!"  Tommy went to his house and returned with a small toy boat.  The boat had a big sail to make the boat go.  Mary and Steve climbed on and Tommy put the boat into the water.  The boat sailed away across the water!  Mary and Steve laughed with joy and had great fun riding the toy boat.  Soon, they reached the other side of the lake.  Many people were having fun swimming and splashing in the water.  Steve and Mary loved seeing all the new things and people.  A man threw a ball into the water.  It landed by the toy boat.  The man's big dog came splashing into the water to fetch it.  The big waves splashed the little boat every which way!  Mary and Steve got very wet.  Mary and Steve went back home after that.  They told Tommy of what they saw, and they all laughed at the big dog's wave.  Tomorrow the mice would see even more of the lake on Tommy's toy boat! Why were the mice sad?
They got splashed. They were afraid of the big dog. The lake was very big. They did not have a boat.