Hi Ellie!
Mimi and Poppy are here!!! And
we are having the best time (and I feel so blessed to be able to celebrate
Father’s Day with my Dad this year)!
We are missing your Dad terribly though, especially because he is away
on business for Father’s Day. He
is the best, most adoring father.
I love watching him with you.
Ellie, you are so very loved.
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, then your
Mimi has to finish it and we will do this every week (your Mimi’s part is in
italics and mine is in regular font).
The only things your Mimi and I agreed on were the characters- Ellie and
a magic teapot. Anything else is
fair game. We also need 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.
And so we will continue our second story.
Ellie and the Magic
Teapot: Off to the Park Part 10
Ellie, Lion, and the ants were all whistling as they skipped
away from dropping off the drumsticks.
They couldn’t help but feel happy… not because they were winning
(because it was still just about a tied race) but because they were genuinely
having a good time.
“Ok Pink Team, what do we have left on our list left to
scavenge?” Lion redirected as they were among the blades of grass out of the
Red Team’s watchful eye.
“A watermelon rind and one of Gertie Garden’s shedded
snakeskin,” said an all-knowing Alfy (but as he shook in fear as he said
Gertie’s name, he lost his balance and fell on his back). The Pink Team giggled with him at his
clumsiness, which took away from the nervousness they felt when it came to
Gertie.
“You know what Guys?
I think we just need to face our fear and get the snakeskin over
with. Now where can we find
Gertie?” Ellie bravely suggested.
The ants glanced at each with apprehension filling their
eyes. All Abner could do was
point. Ajax whispered, “She eats
ants.”
“Don’t worry,” Lion said reassuringly, “we will protect
you.”
They shuffled toward the direction that Abner pointed and
came across what used to be Gertie’s home but now had a giant boulder over the
entrance. The Pink Team looked at
each other at first confused but then knew exactly who placed the large rock
here. It was then that the Pink
Team heard a faint whimpering.
They looked around but didn’t see anyone. The whimpering turned to a louder sobbing and it seemed to
be coming from the Korean Feather Reed Grass right next to Gertie’s house.
“It’s a trick,” Abner warned, “She’s setting a trap to get
us to come to her before she gobbles us up for lunch.”
“That cry sounds real,” Ellie said confidently as she
marched through the blades of three-foot high grass. Lion and then the ants followed her; they were a team after
all.
“Gertie?” Ellie
prompted as she came face to face with the snake. Large tears pooled in the snakes eyes, then overflowed down
her cheeks before they dripped down at Ellie’s feet making a small puddle that
splashed up as more tears landed.
Ellie stepped back to avoid getting too wet.
“All of my clothes that I love are stuck in my house. I can’t move that rock to get in to get
my things,” Gertie wailed, “Why would those ants do such a thing?”
“Gertie, the Red Team is afraid of you,” Alfy answered
bravely but also taking a few steps back because he too had heard the stories
of Gertie munching on ants for snacks.
“Afraid of me?
But why?” Gertie asked curiously… “Oh, you all think I will eat
you. I guess that explains why I
have no friends. You think I am a
common garden snake.”
“You’re not?” Abner asked disbelievingly.
“No!” Gertie said with insulted, “You shouldn’t stereotype
just because I’m a snake. We’re
not all the same.”
“Then what are you?” Ajax asked softening a bit.
“My parents are from Southeast Asia, we are tentacled
snakes. We eat aquatic
plants. That’s why my house is
here next to the park’s lake. I
actually spend most of my time in water but I just love fashion so much, I
can’t help but come out on land and dress up sometimes,” Gertie sighed, “I
don’t have any friends so I try to make myself look pretty in hopes of getting
someone to like me. But now I know
that will never happen since people just assume I’m going to eat them. If I had my house back, I would just
crawl under my covers. Maybe I
should just go back to the water.”
Lion was feeling very sad for Gertie. What an awful life to have people think
you are something you are not.
“Can we help you get that rock off of your front step so you can get
back into your house?” he asked.
Gertie’s eyes lit up, “I would really appreciate it. But I suppose you also need something
from me for that game.”
Ellie knew that Gertie felt like she was being used. “Can we make a fair trade?”
“What do you mean?” Gertie asked curiously.
“Well you like fashion right? I saw you eyeing up my pink tutu when I walked over. How about I give you my tutu and you
give us one of your old shedded skins,” Ellie said as she pulled off the tulle
skirt. It got stuck on her yellow
shirt and Lion offered her some help.
“I can do it,” she said as she waved him away tugging it free. Her black pants underneath looked very
bare without it.
“YES please!” shouted Gertie who couldn’t pass up a fashion
opportunity.
“Let’s get moving, that rock looks mighty heavy,” Abner said
leading the group back to Gertie’s house.
They underestimated Lion’s enormous strength and within
minutes, the boulder was pushed off.
Gertie ran inside and reappeared seconds later with one of her old skins
hanging from her teeth.
“If I had arms, I would hug you all,” she said already
wearing Ellie’s tutu. Ellie
giggled though and readjusted it by pulling it down because Gertie had put it
up around her neck.
“We will tell the other ants about you Gertie. We are very sorry that we judged you
before we knew you. Maybe we could
come back and visit once this game is over,” Alfy said as he waved
good-bye.
“I would like that very much,” Gertie replied with a smile and
nodding her head as the Pink Team thanked her before turning their attention
back to the game.
Lion, Ellie, and the ants took off toward The Hill with
Gertie’s skin above their heads.
They learned that working as a group and carrying these heavier items
made the trip back faster. But as
soon as they stepped onto the top of The Hill, they realized the Red Team had
already been there and they were already gone too. The fishing pole Ellie accidentally left behind from the
last round was now standing next to their opponents pile. The Pink Team was now losing. Both teams only had one more item to
retrieve… it was down to the last round. They knew they had to act fast…
“Did you just see
that?” Slyguy hesitated. “The Pink Team just passed us. And they did it with a smile on their
face!”
“Yeah, but did you
also see that they had some of the Queen Ant’s marching band members with
them,” added Speedy. “Do you think
that means that the Queen Ant knows we aren’t…”
Skeeter quickly
interrupted, “Stop it! Stop
overanalyzing the Pink Team’s last find. The Queen Ant knows nothing. Let’s just leave it at that!” He finished, a bit nervous as well as frustrated.
“I hope you’re right
Skeeter,” Slugger answered, his voice slowly rising with every word, “You
promised us we wouldn’t get caught!”
“Alright, alright… we
won’t! We’ve got two more items to
find. Once we win this game, we’ll
return to The Ant Farm and sneak into Tunnel 3’s back door. No one will be the wiser,” Skeeter
answered a little too confidently before redirecting the focus, “Now who knows
what is still left for us to find on the Scavenger List?”
Shortstop raised his
hand, “I do.”
Skeeter rolled his
eyes, “And that would be…”
“Oh. That would be a yellow Frisbee and a
band-aid,” Shortstop answered with less intimidation and more confidence this
time.
“A Frisbee and a
band-aid. Huh…what do you think
guys? Any ideas as to which one we
have a better chance at retrieving this round?” Skeeter asked.
“Because I sure don’t. I
haven’t seen a band-aid on our travels so far, but then again I wasn’t really
zeroing in on one. And the only
Frisbee I saw was clear across the Park.
If we go after that one, we will never make it back to The Hill first.”
“Uhhhhh, guys… look
over here!” summoned Speedy while pointing to a spot between the two teams’
piles.
“Holy Cow! A fishing pole!” an enthusiastic
Slugger yelled out.
Skeeter raised his
eyebrows at Slugger before scolding him, “Excuse me… the game? Did you forget the importance of
winning the game? I will NOT lose
to Alfy and his misfit team! Slugger, you can go fishing later. Right now FOCUS!”
“But I am focused
Skeeter!” Slugger answered with annoyance, “Don’t you see… the fishing pole can
help us.”
“How so?” Skeeter questioned disbelievingly.
“Well, if we cast it
out towards the Frisbee, maybe we can hook it, reel it in and place it on our
scavenged pile,” continued Slugger.
“Why that’s a
fantastic idea! Let’s do it!” Skeeter yelled out, “Retrieving the
Frisbee quickly will definitely put us way ahead of the Pink Team. And while we are at it, let’s make sure
they know that we are faster, better and smarter at playing this game than they
are!”
“And how are we going
to do that?” Shortstop asked not
really liking Skeeter’s idea.
Skeeter’s answer oozed
cockiness, “Well, I think it is pretty obvious that they got careless. Looks to me like little Miss Ellie
forgot to take her fishing pole along with them and left it for us to use in
our search. And to leave it out in
plain sight like this… why, I feel they were begging us to take it,” he
continued, “So let’s show them how they are going to lose the game! When we retrieve the Frisbee and lay it
on our pile, let’s make sure to stand the fishing pole upright right next to
our prized find so those misfits realize that their precious Ellie and Lion
flubbed up and most probably will have cost them the game! That will teach them a lesson not to
mess with us!“ He ended with
determination, “Now let’s go!”
The other four team
members looked sheepishly at Skeeter, shrugged their shoulders and figured that
they might as well go along with him.
Only two more scavenged items to claim and this game would be finished. They certainly did not want to get on
Skeeter’s bad side now.
“Ok, so who knows how
to use this thing?” Skeeter asked
the group.
“I bet Slugger would
be our best bet as he has the strongest and most powerful arms of all,” offered
Slyguy, “Let’s have him give it a try.”
“I’m game,” responded
Slugger. He demanded everyone to
step behind him as he picked up the fishing pole, freed the fish hook from the
wire, swung the pole over his right shoulder and quickly pressed the release
button on the bale so that when he cast his fishing pole forward the fishing
line went sailing through the air.
But there was a slight glitch in this step-by-step process. When Slugger pressed the button and
cast forward, he didn’t realize that the fish hook was dangling a bit too close
to Skeeter and snagged him by his behind sailing him through the air also!
“Owwwwwwwwch! Hellllllllllllllp! Sluggerrrrrrrrrr!” Were the only words Shortstop, Speedy,
Slyguy and Slugger could hear before Skeeter’s voice faded into the wind.
“Uh-oh. He’s going to be really mad at me,”
sputtered Slugger, “What should I do?”
“Uh-oh is right! Mad is putting it mildly. He’s going to be super angry and super
sore for a super long time!”
Chimed Shortstop, “If you don’t want it to be worse than what it already
is, I suggest you aim for that Frisbee dead on and reel it in on your first
try! We’re all rooting for you
Slugger,” cheered Speedy and Slyguy.
But as the group of ants watched the scenario unfold, they couldn’t
contain themselves any longer and fell to the ground in a fit of giggles!
Luckily for Slugger,
he snagged the Frisbee on the first try.
Now that could have been because Skeeter’s added weight helped drop the
hook at just the right time catching the Frisbee’s edge, or it could have been
because Skeeter himself banged into its center allowing the hook to dig in
rather than sail over it, or it could have been sheer luck. No matter, once the Frisbee was hooked,
Slugger reeled it in as quickly as he could. And what a sight it was. The yellow Frisbee bounced along the ground dozens of times
trying so hard to take flight, but with Skeeter plastered to its middle, the
Frisbee just couldn’t seem to get more than three or four feet off the
ground. Slugger continued to reel
in the Frisbee guiding it up The Hill and once there, he let it drop onto their
scavenged pile. Unfortunately
Skeeter was underneath it and started to scream, “Somebody get this thing off
of me! Hurry up! And unhook me from this barbaric stick
too! My behind is sore and my head
is spinning! Slugger, Speedy,
Shortstop, Slyguy... somebody’s going to pay for this! Come on… hurry up and get me out of
here!”
The four ants
froze. Before freeing Skeeter,
they hoped his temper would subside a bit, but the longer they delayed the
angrier Skeeter became. “Somebody
better get me out of here NOW!!
Don’t make me count to 10 or you’ll all be sorry! One… Two… Three…”
It was Shortstop who
moved first, “Alright Skeeter.
Stay still so Slugger can use the fishing pole to hoist the Frisbee up
on its side.” Once Skeeter calmed
down, Slugger dug his feet into the ground and maneuvered the rod to lift the
Frisbee. “Alright Skeeter,”
Continued Shortstop, “Now Slyguy is going to climb up and release the hook from
your behind. So don’t move!” And Slyguy did just that. But he did it so fast that Skeeter
didn’t have time to latch his own feet onto the Frisbee and ended up dropping
to the ground headfirst with a boink!
“Ooooooooooooooooooo…” Skeeter boiled.
But Speedy was quick,
“Skeeter! We did it! We beat the Pink Team by a mile! We’re going to win the game for
sure! You’ve got to get up, and
brush yourself off so we can head out and find that last scavenged item on the
list! Like you said, those misfits
will learn not to mess with us!”
Skeeter liked that
answer. So he got up, dusted off
the dirt from his head to his toes, bent down to pick up the fishing pole and
jammed it hard into the earth so that it would stand upright giving Alfy’s team
a clear message. Then he whistled
to his teammates to follow him off The Hill in search of the last item all the
while rubbing his sore behind with his right hand and the top of his head with
his left hand. He wasn’t angry
anymore for he could almost taste The Win.
We love you Ellie Bean!
Love, Mom & Mimi
