The Bagel Boys lived in a house near the top of a long hill. Although the house wasn't very big, it was a cozy and comfortable place and since the Bagel Boys did not take up much space, there was plenty of room for all of them.

The house was also fine for the Bagel Boys because it was nice and level. They could roll around from one room to the next without too much effort. The biggest problem, of course, was getting up the two staircases in the house: one between the main floor and the second floor where the bedrooms were, and the other to the dank, dark basement.

To climb stairs, they would lie on their sides and, with great effort, flip themselves up from one step to the next. But they loved coming down the stairs. They enjoyed having races to see who could roll and bounce their way down to the bottom the fastest.

Water Bagel was the oldest and the leader of the Bagel Boys,followed by Egg Bagel, Onion Bagel, Sesame Bagel, Caraway Seed Bagel, Plain Bagel, Chocolate Chip Bagel, Cinnamon Blueberry Bagel and a bunch of others, too many to mention.

No one was ever quite sure just how many Bagel Boys lived in the house, since new ones with strange names would appear as if by magic.

Peppermint Bagel was the latest to arrive, much to the disbelief of Water Bagel, who liked things to stay as much the same as possible. "Peppermint Bagel!" he exclaimed. "What will they mint next?"

The Bagel Boys liked to stay in or very near their house. They did not get along too well with many of their neighbors who really did not care for a bunch of Bagel Boys in their neighborhood. "They're not bad kids, but why aren't they more like us," asked the Linguinis, one day, when they were talking with their neighbors, the Yams.

Some of the neighbors were really mean, and called the Bagel Boys all kinds of nasty names like "Dirty Doughnut," and "Rotten Roll-aid," and even "Lousy Lifesaver." Sometimes they even tried to trip them over.

Once in a while, Water Bagel and a few of the other more adventurous Bagel Boys would go outside and roll down just a bit of the hill which began near the house. The whole hill was six blocks long, and oh, how the Bagel Boys wished their tiny feet were strong enough so they could roll all the way down the hill and walk back up. But, alas, the only way they could get back up the hill and up the front steps of their house, was to slowly flip themselves over and over, on their sides. That took a long time.

There was another very good reason why the Bagel Boys did not go very far down the hill. The dreaded Herring Boys lived less than two blocks away! They were a salty lot: a mean bunch of cold-blooded fish-like creatures who liked to swim, er, stick pretty close to home, just like the Bagel Boys.

The Bagel Boys did not know what would happen if they rolled down the hill by the Herring Boys' house, so they stayed as far away from them as possible. Once in a while, the Herring Boys and the Bagel Boys did meet, and, to everyone's surprise, they shared some pretty amazing adventures. But you will soon hear more about that.

Now, night has fallen on the little house near the top of the hill, and the time has come for the Bagel Boys (and maybe you, too), to go to sleep.