Magdalena's Lamb

"Oh where, oh where can she be?" sighed Magdalena Boppre melodramatically.

"Oh where, oh where can who be?" asked  her younger sister, Jordan giving her a strange look.

"My little lamb, Lamkins." explained Magdalena. "She's lost. I can't find her anywhere."

"You have a lamb?" replied Jordan in surprise.

"Why, of course, I do." declared Magdalena as though it should have been obvious.

Jordan thought about it for a moment. She knew Magadelna was fond of animals and was always begging for various pets, but she didn't remember Mom and Dad ever saying yes to getting a lamb. "Are you sure?" she asked.

"Well, of course, I am!" replied Magadalena indignantly.

Jordan shrugged and was about to go off to her own room when Magadalena stopped her. "Can you please help me find, my poor little lost lamb?" begged Magadalena fluttering her big sad eyes at her sister.

"I have homework to do." replied Jordan.

"Please Jordy." begged Magadelena using her special name for her sister and making a puppy dog pouty face. Jordan could never resist that.

"Okay." agreed Jordan with a sigh. "But if we don't find her in a few minutes, I have to do my homework."

The two girls looked all over the downstairs. They look all over the upstairs. They looked all over the basement. They looked all over the backyard which was the most logical place for a lamb to be. However, there was no sign of Lamkins in any of those places.

"I'll never find her! Never!" exclaimed Magadalena dramatically flinging herself down to ground and putting her head in her hands.

Jordan sighed. She was torn between feeling sorry for her sister and wondering how in the world her parents had let Magadalena get a lamb without her knowing about it, and why she wasn't allowed to get one too. It was so unfair! Did they like Magdalena better than her? She decided to try to be sympathetic. She knelt down on the grass beside her sister and patted her on the back.

"Oh, where, oh where, can my Lamkins be?" Magadalena said sorrowfully.

"Maybe, she ran away." suggested Jordan. "After all, we don't have a fence." she reminded her sister indicating there ungated yard.

Magdalena looked up for just a brief moment and looked at Jordan as if that was the worst idea she had ever heard.

"It was just a suggestion." replied Jordan defensively taking a step back. For a few minutes, she was afraid to say anything, but finally, she asked "Where was the last place you saw her Why don't you retrace your steps?"

That was a great idea! Magdalena thought about it for a second and then, she instantly brightened up. "I had her in the car when I went with Dad to the gas station. Maybe, she's still there." She started racing for the car.

Jordan raced after her. "You left her in the car!" she screamed in horror. "Did you at least leave the windows open?"

However, Magdalena was too excited with the prospect of being reunited with her Lamkins that she did not hear or respond to her sister's cries. She hurried to the front yard, flung open the car door as Jordan closed her eyes afraid of what she would see.

"Lamkins!" exclaimed Magdalena truimphantly.

Jordan slowly opened one eye and then the other, but she didn't see a lamb. All she saw was her sister holding something in the air. It looked a little small to be a lamb living or dead. "What is that?" she asked getting ready to hide her eyes again just in case,

"It's Lamkins, of course," declared Magadalena bringing it over and showing Jordan so that she could clearly see that it was a fluffy white toy lamb."

Jordan's eyes blazed angrily. "A stuffed animal?" she fumed. "A stuffed animal? You mean all the time we were looking for a stuffed animal?"

Magdalena looked at her little sister as if she were crazy. "Yeah, what did you think? Did you think Mommy and Daddy would let me get a real lamb?"

Jordan just sighed and shook her head.