Hi Ellie Spaghetti!
To refresh our crazy month of January theme… this month, your Mimi and I are writing you a story with specific weekly guidelines. I will write a piece, then your Mimi has to finish it and we will do this every week for the four parts. The only things your Mimi and I agreed on were the characters- Ellie and a magic teapot. Anything is fair game- except we have to continue the same story, no starting over. However, we are giving ourselves a time limit (because we know otherwise we will fall in love with this creative writing project and get nothing else done)- 45 minutes total (so whether that means 3 sentences or 3 pages, that’s what the other person has to work with). And we each have an additional 30 minutes every week to figure out an illustration to go with our part. Our goal Ellie is to have a beloved bedtime tale for you and future generations. So alas, here is the 2nd installment (your Mimi’s part will be in italics and mine will be in regular font):
Ellie and The Magic Teapot: Part 2
"Don't cry Baby," Mine-Mine tweeted, "I know where we can find him!" All eyes were on Mine-Mine now... could he really know??? "The BEACH!" he happily squawked.
"How do you know that?" asked Ellie skeptically.
"Silly Ellie-Belly, everyone loves the beach and everyone needs a beach BLANKET when they are at the beach... it only makes sense," he said all-knowingly, "I fly over the beach all the time and there are a million blankets there. What blanket wouldn't want to be on a tropical coast?"
"Please, let's check," cried a now frantic Baby.
"Great-Gram, get the teapot ready... we're heading to the beach," yelled Ellie, she wanted Baby to feel better and stop crying and knew this was the way to do it. As she poured the now-full teapot into the cups, and the music and sparkles started spinning around her, she wondered if they would really find Blanket there. It's true; she had been to the beach a few times. And each time she was there, she did need a blanket to keep her food, drinks, and toys away from the sand. She remembered how Blanket also protected her from the sand when she napped on the beach after she played so hard that she simply couldn't keep her eyes open any longer. Gosh, she missed Blanket. Maybe, Mine-Mine was right she thought as she was whirled through the air and landed softly on the fine-grained white sand.
"Oh, I see the ocean!" Mickey yelled with an excited giggle. Just ahead a few yards, the crystal water shimmered in the sunshine. A few fish jumped out and waved their fins at the new visitors.
"I'm so hot," whined Baby, "and I don't like how sticky this stuff is!" she said as he tried to brush the sand from his legs and arms.
"Mine-Mine, please fly up high and circle the beach to see if you see Blanket anywhere," said Ellie rationally, "It would take less time than all of us walking for miles in different directions."
"You got it!" Mine-Mine answered as he soared up.
Mimi already sat down and started digging, "Well, while we wait, I'm going to build a sand castle," she murmured to herself before she started whistling.
Great-Gram had fashioned her scarf as a hood to protect her from the sun as she walked toward the glimmering ocean. "I think I'll dip my feet in the water," she said to no one in particular. Mickey and Baby heard her and chased after, "Wait for us! We want to play in the water too!"
Ellie felt a bit hopeless and after a while of wandering the beach and calling for Blanket, she came back to help her Mimi dig as she waited for Mine-Mine to come back. When she reached Mimi's castle, she realized just how skilled her Mimi was with her hands... 2 enormous towers were already built and she was now erecting the drawbridge.
"Go ahead and start on two more towers over there Ellie-Bean," she directed as she pointed to the unfinished side, "Remember, you need to pack the sand down hard for it to stay," she said carving out the rectangular stone shapes with her fingernails on the castle side wall. Ellie wasn't sure her edging would match Mimi's but she knew Mimi wouldn't care as long as she tried her best. Her Mimi seemed to love anything Ellie did.
An hour past when Mine-Mine finally flew in for a landing out of breath. Great-Gram caught site of his descent and came running holding Mickey and Baby's hands on either side of her. Baby was all wet having gone in for a swim with Great-Gram. She loved the water so much... Great-Gram even let her go under a few times. But now she was sad again, "I wish Blanket were here... he would make me dry," she wailed shivering slightly.
"I didn't see anything in any direction I flew. We're the only ones here. I yelled his name a million times but nothing," he squawked exasperated and slightly panicked.
At that moment, Mimi had just put the final touches on the sand castle. She had dug a moat around its perimeter. "I think I know where Blanket is," she whispered just as a dark cloud covered the warm sun. Ellie then noticed what Mimi was looking at... a light from one of the windows Mimi had etched with her fingernail at the top of the back tower.
"Shall I fill the teapot with ocean water then?" asked Great-Gram ready for the next adventure as everyone's eyes were glued to that tower window. Ellie could feel the hair on arms rise because she knew where they had to go next...
“Mimi… i-i-i-is that the evil c-c-c-castle of Sir J-J-J-Jelephant the Elephant?” stuttered Baby.
“Yes, I am afraid so sweetheart. From what little I can see inside the tower window, it looks like Sir Jelephant has Blanket with him,” quipped Mimi.
“Well what are we waiting for? Let’s go rescue him now!” squawked Mine-Mine.
“Not so fast Mine-Mine,” cautioned Mickey Mouse, "I think we need to make a plan on how we will rescue Blanket. Sir Jelephant is very old and grumpy. And it is said that he is meaner than mean! He’s not going to let Blanket come home with us freely, that is for sure! And are you forgetting about the nasty Moat Goats who protect his castle’s drawbridge?”
“Oh no…. not the Moat Goats!” cried Baby. “I heard they are the nastiest bullies around!”
“Calm down everyone,” Mimi hushed. “Mickey Mouse is right. Before we go, we need to figure out a way of getting past the Moat Goats and slipping into Sir Jelephant’s Castle quietly. Once we are in, we need to locate the secret map that will lead us to the tower room where Blanket is. Once we lift Blanket from Sir Jelephant, we need to sneak away without anyone noticing. So, does anyone have any ideas?” questioned Mimi.
“Yes, I do,” spoke Ellie with great confidence as Mimi encouraged her with a special wink.
And with those words the little group of friends talked, they chatted, they argued, they agreed,… they wrote, they erased, and they wrote some more. Finally they had what they thought was a foolproof rescue plan.
“All right, it is time to go over the list. Ellie-bean, take charge!” Mimi commanded.
“Aye-aye Mimi!“ bellowed Ellie. “Mickey Mouse, you are in charge of casting a spell on the nasty Moat Goats so that the rest of us can enter the castle,” she ordered.
“Check!” he yelled out.
“Mine-Mine, you are in charge of being the look-out bird. You are to peer inside every nook and cranny to find that map. Once you spot it, snatch it and report back to me. Got it?” Ellie implored.
“Check!” he screeched.
“Baby, you have the most difficult job of all. You are to find a way to put Sir Jelephant to sleep so that Mimi can sneak Blanket away. Do you understand?” questioned Ellie.
“Y-y-y-yes.” whimpered Baby.
“And Great Gram, you need to be ready with those yummy chocolate chip cookies of yours when I give the signal.”
“My pleasure!” she smiled.
“All right then. Let’s do it!” Ellie sang out.
At that moment, Great Gram Mundy was summoned to walk the teapot down to the seashore’s edge and fill it with the crystal blue ocean water while everyone gathered in a circle around Mimi’s sand castle. All eyes were on the tower window and the tiny shadows that darted about within its walls. Once Great Gram returned, everyone held hands while the teapot water flowed easily into the moat almost overflowing its brown silty sand banks. Within moments a rainbow of sparkles and musical sing-a-longs swirled through the air taking Ellie and all her friends down, down, down and plopping them not far from the Moat Goats!
We will continue the story next week, Ellie!
We love you!
Mom & Mimi
Wow how creative you are becoming. Love the story line. You should have come to jersey , mime-mime would be happy,and Ellie will have a great time also.
ReplyDeleteI didn't even think of that- then Colin could have been there too!
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