Dear Ellie Bean,
This is going to be such a great weekend… your Mimi and your Dad are
visiting! We only have one and a half weeks
left here in Colorado so we need to use this weekend to finish packing (and
enjoy some family time too). Your Mimi
wanted to come back one last time to say good-bye to my friends that she has
gotten to know over the past 6 years and your Dad is just simply missing us and
flew out to see how his girls are doing (these five weeks without him have been
lonely!). It’s been really quiet around here
since your Gigi and Aunt Joanne left two weeks ago so you are relishing in the
company of our new “visitors.” I’m
dreading Sunday when they both return back east (and your Mimi takes Joe, the cat,
with her to make it easier on me with the movers- I’m not sure that you will
understand that we will get Joe back soon in our new house). You are definitely meant to grow up with
family Bean- you blossom in their company!
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.
Ellie and the Magic
Teapot: Into the Secret Forest Part 12
“Come on El, don’t you
have anything in your pockets that could help us out of this mess?” Lion
questioned in between chuckles.
“Heeee, heee, hee,”
Ellie laughed. “Hold on, I’ll check the
pocket on my sleeve,” she answered breathlessly through her many giggles. With her fingers crossed for luck she reached
her right hand over her chest and slid it into the closest and shallowest
pocket on her left arm sleeve. As
quickly as she could, Ellie grabbed the first thing her fingers fumbled upon
and pulled the object out. Lion’s eyes
lit up when he saw the miniature shiny metal object with the purple handles
that Ellie was holding. “Wooo Hooo,
heee, heee, hee,” hollered Ellie. “Yea
for luck! Scissors!”
“What a relief! Start cutting the noodles El! Ha, ha, ha, ha! My tummy hurts from laughing
so much and I don’t think I can take much more of the tickling!” pleaded Lion.
“By the shade of green
that is starting to replace your orange fur… hee, hee, hee… I fear most of your
giggles have found their way into that bottle over there Lion,” she stated as a
fine mist gently rolled from Lions mouth to one of the two jars sitting on the makeshift
shelf near the Giggle Grabbers entrance.
“Ha, ha, ha, ha… I
know El, you are just as green as I am so hurry and start cutting!” begged
Lion.
So Ellie reached down
and snipped as quickly as she could a few of the noodles tickling their feet
and a few of the noodles that tickled their underarms giving them some time to
take a few deep breathes and relax their tummy muscles. By doing so, a good portion of their natural
color returned to them.
“What??? NO, NO, NO, NO! “ cackled Trudy when she
heard Ellie and Lions laughter come to a halt.
Since her blue eyeglasses were knocked off her nose and her sight was so
poor, Trudy knew she had to enter the Giggle Grabber and find out where the
malfunction was coming from and fix it fast before all of Ellie’s and Lions
laughter seeped out of the jars.
Stepping into the contraption she walked toward the center singing her
song.
“Giggle, giggle coo,
Chuckle, chuckle hey,
Give me all your
laughter,
And give it…”
Ellie saw this as the
perfect time to try and make their escape.
Lion saw the same opportunity. So
Ellie hissed for Sebastian and Lion croaked for Tad to get their attention. “Sssssssss Sebastion! Quick!
Come!” “Riddit, riddit Tad! Hurry and hop on over here!” the duo called
out in unison. Ellie then quietly unlatched the seatbelt that
held her and her friend securely on the seat swing.
The two animal friends
appeared at Ellie and Lion’s side immediately.
With no time to waste Ellie whispered her escape plan to them. Thank goodness it was not a complicated plan
because it only took Trudy a minute or two before she was almost on top of the
pair. Her chubby green ogre hands
reached out in front of her. Putting
Ellie’s plan in motion, Lion quickly seized the troll’s hands as he and Ellie
jumped off the swing causing Trudy to stumble.
As she tried to catch her balance, Trudy turned around which meant her
back was now to the swing. Ellie took that
opportunity and gently pushed her forcing her to sit on the seat. She then yelled to Sabastion to grab a few of
the noodles and quickly tie both of Trudy’s hands to the swings ropes, and then
directed Tad to hop onto Trudy’s feet and tie them down as well. With no time to waste she then hooted for
Oliver! “Whooo, whooo! Oliver!
As soon as I grab the jars that are holding mine and Lion’s laughter and
the four of us are on the outside of the Giggle Grabber, slam the door shut,
lock it with the key you are holding and click the starter switch to ON again! Got it?”
“Whoooo whoooo, Roger
that!... I mean Ellie that, El!” Oliver screeched
with excitement. Twenty seconds later he
put the machine back into motion.
Trudy grunted with
anger. “You two may think you are ha, ha, ha clever but you two are ho, ho, ho
fools!” As angry as she was, an
unfamiliar sound was coming from her very own mouth and no matter how hard she
tried, Trudy could not stifle it. “Now
stop hee, hee, hee this machine. I’ve
never been tickled before! This is all
ha, ha, ha very strange to me! Whoooo hoooo, hooo stop this ridiculousness
right now! I, heee, heee, hee demand it!
Ho, ho, ho I’ve never giggled ho, ho, ho, before! Ha, ha, ha!”
Ellie and Lion looked
at each other, shocked by what they had just heard. “El, did Trudy just say that she has never
laughed in her whole life. Who doesn’t ever
do that?” Lion asked with a perplexed
expression.
“Someone who is
unhappy Lion or maybe jealous of others.
That would be my guess.” Ellie answered with a touch of sadness.
“Well we obviously
can’t keep her in the Giggle Grabber forever Ellie. What should we do?” fretted Lion.
Not quite sure at that
very moment on what to do, Ellie decided to take a walk around Trudy’s cave while
keenly observing every nook and cranny.
In the farthest corner of the cave, her eyes zeroed in on a ledge that
jutted outward. She was surprised to see
that it held seven tightly sealed jars each of which seemed to hold a fine white
mist that swirled in a perpetual motion.
Ellie let out a gasp, and it wasn’t because she was confused by what she
saw. On the contrary, she just figured
out Trudy’s secret. Wanting to get to
the bottom of this quickly, Ellie called out to her friends, “Lion, Oliver,
Sebastian, Tad… come here pronto!” And
they did. Pointing to the far corner
Ellie asked the group politely, “Please help me fetch the seven jars from the
ledge and take them outside, and put them on the table next to the cave where I
put mine and Lions jars earlier. I think
I know what Trudy has been up to.” Ellie
expressed with certainty.
“Tell
usssssssssssssss,” hissed Sebastion.
“No. It is not for me to tell. I think it is time for Trudy to come forward
and supply the answers,” Ellie responded.
“But first I need each of you to do something for me.” They all bobbed their heads up and down in a
‘yes’ agreement. “Thank you,” she
continued. “Oliver, I would like you to
round up the Trolls we’ve encountered throughout the forest and bring them
here. Tad, when I give you a nod please
turn the Giggle Grabber switch to OFF. Sebastian,
when you hear the fans slowing down to a stop, I would like you to untie Trudy
from the Giggle Grabber and guide her to the table holding the nine jars. And Lion, once Trudy tells her story, be
ready to open the lid of each jar and release its contents. As Oliver flew off in search of the seven
ogres, the rest of the group heard Trudy trying very hard to sing her
song.
“Once I’ve taken it,
ha, ha, ha, ha,
A troll you will be,
heee, heee, heee, heee,
The only way to break
my spell, ho, ho ho, ho,
Is to tryeeeeeee,
heee, heee, heee, ha, ha, ha, ha, ho, ho, ho, ho…”
Trudy was laughing
hysterically at this point and could no longer finish her song. Ellie realized if they didn’t end this
quickly, Trudy and the seven trolls would be in great danger, so she
frantically called out, “Hurry Oliver, hurry!”…
Love,
Mom & Mimi
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