Haskel wasn't a mean little varmint. He was just very unlucky and clumsy! He was so cute, though! After you get to know him, well, you will even like him! Do you think you will ever like a cute, unlucky, clumsy, little rascally varmint? Let me tell you what happened to him in just one day! And this is the day that he got his name, Haskel, the Rascal!

It started out being a very nice day. The sun was warm. The skies were clear. There was a very slight breeze blowing. Oh, it was a very nice day- until----, Haskel came along!

Haskel was on his way to his friend's house to play, for school was out for the summer. And Haskel couldn't wait to get to his friend's house. He was in such a hurry to get there that he didn't even see that crack in the sidewalk.

Of course, he tripped on that crack and went tumbling down the street, trying to grab onto something to stop himself. But he could grab onto nothing! He rolled into the street just as a big truck was coming along. The driver of the big truck swerved to miss Haskel, and when he did that, he ran into a power pole, breaking it, right smack dab in the middle! With the power pole torn down, none of the people on the street had any electricity. Their televisions would not work now. Their freezers would not work. All of their ice melted. All of their ice cream melted! They had to throw away all of the food they had kept in the refrigerator. Everyone on that street was really mad at Haskel. They could not take a bath that night because they had no hot water. They could not brush their teeth, either! And they were hungry!

After Haskel had finally stopped rolling down the street that day, he quickly got himself out of the street because that is a very dangerous place for him, or you, or me, to be! He started walking very carefully, and slowly on towards his friend's house.

He did make it safely to his friend's home and rang the doorbell. His friend said for him to come on in, and he did! But as he was walking into his friend's room, he slipped on the melted ice cream, and fell against his friend's mother's best, most beautiful, lamp. Did he break it? Of course not! But while he was catching it, he knocked over his friend's mother's best, most expensive vase! Did it break? Of course! But not before it had crashed into his friend's father's brand new big-screen television. But the television was not any good anyway, for there was no electricity to run it because of the big truck hitting the power pole! And just who would sit in front of a television with no ice cream to eat anyway?

Haskel decided that the best thing for him to do was just go home. He did, but on the way to the front door, he dripped melted ice cream all over his friend's mom's new carpet! But that was ok, because with no air conditioning, and it getting hotter and hotter in the house, the ice cream was melting even faster anyhow!