Poppy came to help us move back home and spend time with you (thank goodness we had him here with our extra unexpected time in Denver due to Hurricane Sandy)!
We made it back to Pennsylvania Ellie, even with Hurricane Sandy
delaying our flight by a day (and we are keeping all those affected by its
destruction in our prayers, including our South Jersey family)! You had a lot of fun with your Poppy who came
out to help with the final part of the move (and I feel so lucky that he was
here not only to work out the logistics of everything but for his company- you
and I both enjoy spending time with him).
You were an angel on the plane (and these past few hectic days with all of
the schedule alterations). You and I were
both so excited to see your Daddy who was waiting anxiously for us at the
airport. Since we arrived on Halloween
night (amidst trick-or-treating), we improvised on the normal traditions and it
turned out to be the perfect way to introduce you to your new house- dinner
with Daddy, Mimi, and Poppy while handing out candy!
Despite feeling completely disorganized (as all of our belongings are
sealed up in the moving boxes hopefully on a truck being carted east), we are
happy and adjusted (and loving being reunited with your Dad as a family
again). Since we have so many people to
catch up with, it will take a while before we can see everyone and create a new
normal. Life is pretty fantastic right
now. We feel so loved and blessed that we found our way back to where we
belong- HOME!
And now here is our yearlong bedtime story/stories (with
many chapters to write!) for you.
So as for our weekly guidelines: I write a piece one week in
regular font, and then your Mimi will write a piece in italics the next
week. The only things your Mimi and I
agreed on were the characters- Ellie and a magic teapot and the setting (a
forest with trolls). Anything else is
fair game and will make our adventure a new tale. We also need to figure out an illustration to
go with our part. Our goal Ellie is to
have a beloved bedtime story for you and future generations. And so we will continue our third piece of
fiction.
This is our last chapter of this story Ellie! How fitting that we are closing this book and
opening a new piece next week (although it was a coincidence, it couldn’t have
mirrored our lives any better with our new start back in Pennsylvania)! We hope you liked reading about the
characters in this one as much as your Mimi and I did inventing them. Trolls may have been hard to write but they
allowed us to have such freedom with our imaginations!
Ellie and the Magic
Teapot: Into the Secret Forest Part 14
As Ellie pulled the
teapot out of her pocket, she handed it to Lion and told him to go and fill it
up with water while she set the teacups and their saucers on the table.
“All right El, I will
as long as someone points me in the right direction,” Lion purred.
Trudy overhearing
Lions statement cackled in a grandmotherly voice, “Go around to the south side
of my cave and you will find a well filled with fresh water that you are
welcome to use.”
So Lion did just that,
and a few minutes later he came skipping around the corner with the teapot so
full its water was sloshing over the sides. “Here you go Ellie,” a slightly wet
Lion sang breathlessly.
Ellie giggled and took
the teapot from Lion. Then she carefully
poured its contents into each cup while whispering the magical words, “Baooohhhaoooahaljaljljljafooj….”
And just like each time before; music, glitter, and rainbows swirled all around
lifting them up, up, up. As they floated
further away from the Secret Forest and right before it completely disappeared
from their sight Ellie and Lion heard a faint (and very familiar) cackle
singing a song off key. It brought
laughter to their bellies and a smile to their faces as Trudy sang her “Giggle,
Giggle, Coo” song. But this time it had a
fresh new verse.
“Giggle, giggle, coo,
Chuckle, chuckle, hey,
Thank you for the
laughter
And friends you
brought today.
I’ve learned a
valuable lesson,
Not to take what isn’t
mine,
I need to think before
I act
And trust that all
will be fine.
The secrets in our
hearts
And no one needs a key
For if it’s filled
with kindness
The cost of friendship
is freeeeeeeee.”
As the songs last word
trailed off into silence, Ellie and Lion knew that Trudy’s heart was now filled
with goodness. And on that thought Ellie
and Lion landed right in the middle of Ellie’s comfy mattress with a soft thump.
“That was some
adventure El,” Lion crooned as he scooted into a sitting position while
unconsciously rubbing the fur on his chin with his left paw.
“Indeed it was,” Ellie
responded. Then she sidled up next to him
settling all her weight on her shins.
“But you are looking a bit perplexed Lion. What is it that you are thinking about?” she
questioned.
Lion answered, “Well…
you know how much I love it when your Mom reads us The Secret Forest book every
night before bed? It really is my
favorite Ellie because your Mom voices the best expressions of all. And I think I have it almost memorized
because she makes it sound so exciting every time. It doesn’t matter that the book never
changes… I still get excited when the adventurous parts happen and you hold my
hand, and when the scary parts come and my heart skips a beat you give me a
comforting hug, and when the funny parts take place we giggle and giggle and
giggle.”
“I agree with
you. So why the confused look?” Ellie
encouraged him on.
“Like I said, I know
most of the book by heart. But now that
we took an adventure into the story everything that was familiar to us has
changed. Especially the ending! What happens now Ellie when your Mom reads us
the story tomorrow?” fretted Lion.
“That’s easy. It will still be the same story we’ve heard
each day since Mimi sent the book to my Mom all those months ago. But Lion, the cool thing about books is that
sometimes someone will think up a different ending and will go ahead and write
a new version of it. In our case, since
it was you and I that experienced first hand the changed adventure in the
Secret Forest, well… I guess it is up to us to try and rewrite a fresh version and
a new ending to this story. How about I
get out my zoo tablet and penguin pencil and we get started! I’ll be the narrator and you can jot down
everything I say,” Ellie bossed.
Lion yawned, “Anything
you say El. But right now can we just
crawl under the covers and close our eyes for the night? We’ve had such a busy day that I think I need
to sleep now. Can we be authors
tomorrow?”
“Mmmmm… I guess. I’m pretty tired too,” Ellie answered while
dragging Lion up to the head of the bed.
She made sure the pillow was fluffed before they lay down. Then she reached for the blanket and covered
them both. Within moments they were
sound asleep.
Shortly after, Ellie’s
Mom came into her room ready to read their favorite bedtime fairytale. She was surprised to see Ellie and her
favorite stuffed animal Lion were already sleeping and quite soundly too. She also noticed the open book lying on top
of the covers and figured Ellie had read it to herself. Instead of waking her up, Ellie’s Mom bent
down to give a gentle kiss on the side of her cheek. Then she bolted upright with a quizzical look
on her face. While scratching her head
she whispered to no one in particular, “Ellie-spaghetti where on earth were you
and your furry little friend exploring? I
know we did not have noodles for breakfast, lunch or dinner today, yet you and
your Lion each have one stuck to your clothes! And what’s this?” she questioned silently upon
closer examination of Ellie’s stuffed animal friend. “Your Lion has a tinge of green on his fur…
now where could that have come from?” she mumbled as she searched Ellie’s room
for something out of the ordinary. “Spaghetti-girl,
I know you did not leave this room while I was on the phone but yet you always
seem to find a bit of mischief to get into.
Hmmmm… I guess I will have to ask you when you awake in the morning. Till then, sweet dreams my precious darling
daughter.” And then Ellie’s Mom turned
off the light as she tiptoed out of her bedroom.
Smiling in her sleep Ellie’s
mind was already dreaming. She was
conjuring up hers and Lions next adventure….
We love you Ellie!
Love,
Mom & Mimi
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