Penelope Jo Says So

Lila Caufield and Penelope Jo  Martin were best friends. They were the same age, but  Penelope Jo was older by six months. That made all the difference. It made Penelope Jo just a little bit smarter than Lila. It made Penelope Jo a little more stylish than Lila. At least, Penelope Jo said so, and Lila believed her. Lila followed her around. Lila did everything she did. Lila practically worshiped the ground Penelope Jo walked on.

"Why are you throwing out your new sneakers?" asked Daddy finding Lila about to dump them into the garbage can one day.

"Red is ugly." declared Lila. Her father frowned at her. To him, it was just tossing money away to throw out brand-new shoes. Lila smiled at him. "Penelope Jo says so," she explained as if that made it all right. It didn't. Daddy rescued the sneakers and took them into the house.

"What do you mean you don't want any carrots?" asked Mommy one night at dinner. "You love carrots."

"Not any more." replied Lila making a face and pushing all the carrots off her plate. "Carrots are yucky! Penelope Jo says so." Mommy just shook her head sadly.

"Lila," said her sister Liz another day. "How can you listen to this terrible music? I thought you hated Justin Bieber." 

"I love Justin Bieber!" replied Lila. "He's dreamy!"

Liz looked at Lila as though she were crazy. "Aren't you the one who said he was a terrible singer, and he looks like a girl?"

 Lila shrugged. She couldn't remember if she said it or not, but it wasn't that way now. "That's not true." she protested, "He is a good singer, and he is really cute. Penelope Jo says so."

This time Liz looked at Lila with disgust. "Would you jump off a bridge if Penelope Jo told you too?" she asked. Lila opened her mouth to answer, but Liz stopped her. "Don't even answer that," said she said before Lila could even say a word. "You know you would."

One day, Mommy found  Lila sitting on the front steps rubbing her feet. "What's the matter?" she asked. Lila said nothing. Mommy lifted Lila's foot up. Her ankle was covered with big red angry blisters. "Have you been wearing your shoes without socks?" asked Mommy knowingly.

Lila nodded weakly. "Socks are out," she said quietly. "Penelope Jo says so." Mommy frowned.

The next day, Daddy found Lila rubbing her elbow. "What happened to you?" he asked.

"I fell jumping off a swing." replied Lila.

"Jumping off a swing?" repeated Daddy as though no smart person would ever think of doing such as thing.

"It's fun." insisted Lila sounding as though she was trying to convince herself as much as Daddy. "Penelope Jo says so."

Daddy shook his head. "It doesn't look like it's fun." replied Daddy looking at Lila's sore black and blue  elbow.

 Later, Liz found Lila sprawled out on the couch holding her head. "Are you okay?" she asked.

Lila shook her head. "I have a headache." she said, "Penelope Jo and I were having a screaming contest."

"A screaming contest?" asked Liz in disbelief.

"Anybody can have a quiet contest. A screaming contest is way cooler. Penelope Jo says so." replied Lila but she didn't sound very sure about it .

That night Mommy found Lila in her room crying. "My feet hurt, Mommy." she said. "My elbow hurts, and my head hurts too."

"I know Penelope Jo is your friend, but maybe you shouldn't always listen to her." suggested Mommy gently. "Maybe, you should  think for yourself sometimes."

"But I love Penelope Jo. She is my best friend. She is so cool."

"You're a pretty cool person too." said Mommy.

"I am?"

"Sure, you are." insisted Mommy, "and you know what's really cool? It's cool to think for yourself."

Lila chewed on her finger.She had never thought about that. She had been doing and saying whatever Penelope Jo did and said for so long. It never even occurred to her to think for herself.

The next day, Mommy, Daddy and Liz found Lila sitting on the front steps wearing her red sneakers with white ankle socks. She was munching on a carrot.

"I thought red was ugly." said Daddy.

"Penelope Jo says so, but Lila says no." said Lila.

"I thought socks were out." said Mommy.

"Penelope Jo says so, but Lila says no. " replied Lila a little louder and a little more confidentally.

"I thought you hated carrots." said Liz.

"Penelope Jo says so, but Lila says no. I love carrots!" Lila declared full of confidence, "And I hate Justin Bieber." she added wrinkling her nose in disgust at just the thought of him.

Pajamas for Tootsie

Today's Story is by Melia


 Tootsie  Lawrence was 5 years old. She lived with her mother, father, sister Candy, and her other sister Lolly. Lolly, and Candy were twins. "Tootsie come on! We don't want to be late!" shouted Mother. 

 Tootsie came glumly moping down the staircase. "Yes we do!" Tootsie yelled back.

They were going, as a family of five, to get new pajamas for Tootsie, Lolly, and Candy. Tootsie simply didn't want to go. She had grown very attached to her pink teddy P.J's. She'd had them since she was  born, and had just grown out of  them two days ago. As father parked Tootsie started crying. 

 "It's okay baby. I know it hurts, but you can keep the old ones." Father soothed. They walked into the clothing store. Candy chose a green nightgown. Lolly chose a polka-dot nightgown. The twins loved nightgowns.  

 "Why don't you get the candy-cane nightgown?" suggested Candy, 

 "How about the bunny nightgown? suggested Lolly. 

 The girls started chatting about nightgowns, and ran off giggling. Tootsie hated nightgowns. She wanted her two piece teddies. Then she spotted, out of the corner of her eye, two piece purple pajamas with unicorns all over them. 

 "Mother I want these!" Tootsie demanded.

So Tootsie got the new pajamas. She was happy. Until she had to get new pajamas, and came moping down the stairs once again.

Happy Birthday America!

Kelly Jones woke up bright and early. The sun was shining brightly in the sky. 'What a beautiful day!" she thought happily as she stretched her arms out. She remembered it was a special day, but she couldn't remember why. 'Maybe it's my birthday.' she thought. That couldn't be it. Her birthday was in the winter. She knew it was the summer because it was really warm and sunny and her fan was whirring away as it spun around on her ceiling. In the winter, her fan wouldn't be running; the heat would be on.

Kelly got out of bed and got dressed. She couldn't wait for the special day to start. If only she could remember what was special about it. She bit her lip and thought really hard. She knew it wasn't the first day of school. She knew it wasn't the winter holidays. Neither of those things happened in the summer. What could it be?

Maybe, it was Kyra's birthday. Kyra was her older sister. That must be what it was. She ran into her sister's room excitedly shouting. "Happy Birthday, Kyra!"

Kyra was still sleeping. She groggily pulled her head off of her pillow. Her eyes were only half open and her hair was wild and frizzy. She looked at Kelly with a mixture of anger and confusion. "It's not my birthday, pest!" she barked angrily at Kelly throwing a pillow at her. "Now get out of here so I can go back to sleep."

Kelly hurried out of her sister's room and shut the door. If it wasn't Kyra's birthday then what was it?  She went into her parents room. Daddy was getting dressed, but he wasn't wearing his work clothes. He was putting on a pair of blue shorts and a striped t-shirt. Kelly was puzzled. It wasn't the weekend because she remembered Daddy being home for the past two days. Maybe he was sick she thought worriedly. With relief, she quickly realized that couldn't be true. Daddy never got out of bed when he was sick let alone got dressed.

Maybe, it was Daddy's birthday. Yes that must be it. That was why he was home. "Happy Birthday!" she  cried with excitement throwing herself into Daddy's arms.

Daddy laughed and hugged her. "That is quite a morning greeting, sweetheart,." he said cheerfully. "but it is not my birthday for another month."

"Oh." replied Kelly disappointedly. She rushed out of the room and down the stairs to find her Mom. If it wasn't Daddy's birthday, maybe it was Mommy's. Besides, there was a delicious smell coming from the kitchen, and she couldn't wait to see what mommy was making for breakfast.

"Mommy!" she called as she entered the kitchen. "You shouldn't be cooking breakfast on your birthday. Let me or Daddy or Kyra do it."

Mommy looked up with a puzzled expression on her face. "My birthday?" she said. "It's not my birthday. My birthday is in the winter like yours."

"Oh yeah." replied Kelly disappointedly. She slumped down into the chair and put her head on the table. She gave up. She just couldn't remember what was so special about this day.

"What's the matter?" asked Mommy. "I thought you were looking forward to the 4th of July. I'm making my special red, white and blue pancakes."

Kelly sat up quickly. "The 4th of July!" she exclaimed. She loved Mommy's special pancakes. Later there would be a parade and fireworks. Kelly couldn't wait. She loved all of it. So it was a birthday after all only it wasn't hers or Kyra's or Daddy's or Mommy's or any person at all. It was America's birthday. 'Happy Birthday, America.' thought Kelly happily as a huge smiled spread across her face.

I Hate My Sister

"For the last time! I did not take your Littlest Pet Shops!" Melaine Prescott screamed at her older sister Anna. Melaine was 5. Anna was 8. They had an extreme love/hate relationship. One minute they were each other's best friends. The next they were screaming at each other.

Anna jerked the toys out of Melaine's arms. Melaine started crying loudly.

Mommy poked her head out of  her bedroom. She had the phone in her hand. "Please keep it down." she said. "I'm on the phone. If you can't work it out quietly, you need to go to your own rooms for a while."

Anna glared at Melaine. Melaine glared back. Neither of them moved. Mommy gave them an angry glare of her own. Both girls scurried to their rooms. Mommy put the phone back up to her ear and disappeared back into her own room.

Melaine grabbed her favorite stuffed cat, Popsicle, and threw herself down on her bed. Why did she have to have a sister anyway? She wished she were an only child. She closed her eyes and buried her face in Popsicle's soft fur.

When she opened her eyes, she played in her room for while and looked at some of her books. She quickly grew bored though, and went looking for something to do. She decided to make up with Anna so she would have someone to play with.

Anna's door was closed. 'That's kind of weird' thought Melaine noticing that Anna's Disney Channel posters were missing from her door. She knocked on the door, but no one answered. "Anna! Anna!" she called. "I'm sorry! I want to play with you."

Mommy poked her head out of her room once again. "What is all the racket?" she asked Melaine.

"I'm looking for Anna. I want to play with her." Melaine explained.

"What?" asked Mommy in surprise

Melaine smiled. That mommy was such a kidder. "Really funny, mommy." she said.

"Who is Anna?"

"My sister, Anna." Melaine explained playing along as if Mommy really didn't know.

"Oh. Is Anna another one of your invisible friends?"

Now, Melaine was beginning to get worried. This wasn't funny anymore. Why was Mommy pretending not to know Anna? Melaine threw open Anna's door. There was no sign of Anna. Her desk, her bed, her dresser and all her things were missing. All that was in the room were some book shelves and a desk. "Mommy!" she screamed in terror. "Where is Anna? Where are her things! What have you done with my sister!"

Mommy looked at Melaine as though she were crazy. "Sweetheart," she said worriedly. "You know you don't really have a sister, don't you? You know you've always been an only child."

Melaine didn't know anything of the sort. Had the whole world gone crazy? She ran out of the room crying. She ran into her own room and threw herself down on her bed.

The next thing she knew she was being awakened by somebody shaking her. "Wake up, dork. It's time for dinner." said a familliar voice.

Melaine sat up quickly and opened her eyes wide. "Anna!" she exclaimed happily jumping out of bed and throwing her arms around her sister. She kept hugging Anna tightly to make sure that she was real.

"Hey, you're squeezing me!" said Anna pushing her sister away a little bit.

It must have been a dream just a crazy scary dream.  "I love you Anna."  exclaimed Melaine hugging her sister again but gently this time. "I'm glad you're my big sister. I'm sorry about before."

"I love you too, dork." replied Anna hugging her back. "I'm glad your my little sister, and I'm sorry too, and now we both better go downstairs for dinner or else mom will make us both really sorry." Melaine smiled and followed her sister out of the room.

Abby's Afraid of the Dark

Abby Carrington was a very brave girl. She was not afraid of spiders or snakes. She was not afraid of small places or loud noises. The only thing she was afraid of was the dark. Every night when her mommy or daddy put her to bed, she would call out worriedly, "Don't forget to leave the light on!"

That was okay for a while, but when she got a little older people would say "Don't you think you're a little too old to be afraid of the dark?" or "Why don't you try on sleeping with the light off just this once." Abby would ignore them when she could. When she couldn't she would turn white as a sheet and say "No! No! No!" in a frightened voice.

Mommy and Daddy tried to help get over her fear of the dark. They even got her a dog. They wanted to get her a a bigger dog like a collie or labrador retriever, but she had her heart set on a little honey colored cocker spaniel so that's what they got. Abby called her dog Marigold. She loved Marigold more than anything and slept with her every night, but she was still afraid of the dark. She still slept with the light on.

Marigold was a lovable little dog. She adored Abby and was her constant companion. She hated to be without Abby, and when Abby wasn't home, she would frequently go to the door or window waiting for Abby to be home. She was brave too, but just like Abby she had one great fear. Marigold was afraid of loud noises.

It was the 4th of July. Marigold was in the house. It was the one time of year when they usually tried to keep Marigold in the house because she would be afraid of the loud noise of the fireworks. Mommy and Daddy and Abby were in the backyard lighting sparklers and having a good time. They were waiting for the town fireworks. They took place at the high school baseball stadium but you could see them from Abby's backyard.

They finished setting off their sparklers, but it still wasn't quite time for the big fireworks. Mommy went into the house to get them something to drink while they waited. Just as she opened the door to go in the house, Marigold ran out of the house like a shot. "Marigold!" exclaimed Abby angrily reaching for her to take her back in the house.At just that moment, the first loud bang of fireworks went off.  Marigold slipped out of Abby's grasp and ran around the front of the house and under the front porch.

"Marigold!" exclaimed Abby again, but this time in a frightened voice. She and Daddy took off after Marigold. They found her under the porch and try to get her to come out. "Come on, Marigold, sweetie." said Abby, "Please come out!" Marigold stayed put.

"Go and get her some treats." suggested Daddy. Abby did. However, even when she offered Marigold treats, Marigold still refused to come out from under the porch.

Another loud firework went off. Marigold dug a little further under the porch and began whimpering. Abby crawled under the porch too and put her arms around Marigold. She didn't even think about how dark it was. She just knew that she was the only one who could fit under there, and she didn't want Marigold to be alone.

Finally, the fireworks ended and Abby was able to get Marigold to come out from under the porch with her. "Is Marigold going to be alright?" Abby asked Mommy worriedly.

"Sure." replied Mommy."How are you?"

"I'm fine." replied Abby as she stood up and brushed as much dirt as she could off of her.

"I'm really proud of you." said Mommy.

"You are?" asked Abby a little bit surprised.

"You didn't even think about how dark it was under that porch. Marigold needed you and you went to her."

Abby hadn't even really thought about that. "I did, didn't I?" she said proud of herself too. She had faced her fears. She had gone into the scary dark and nothing bad had happened to her. Maybe, the dark was not so scary after all. Abby didn't think it was. From that night, she never slept with the light on again.

Afternoons With Mommy

When  Ariel was born, her sister Serena was 3 years old. For three years, she and Mommy and Serena spent their afternoons together while Serena was in preschool, pre-k and then kindergarten. Then, Serena got to first grade, and she was no longer home until late in the day. Ariel, however continued to have her afternoons with Mommy. Sometimes, Daddy was there too; sometimes he wasn't. Sometimes, they went out; sometimes they didn't. No matter what, it was always at least Ariel and Mommy, and Ariel liked it that way.

Another school year was coming to an end. Ariel was finishing kindergarten. They didn't really have a graduation, but they had a moving on ceremony. It was a few days before the end of school. Mommy and Daddy came to it. Afterwards, there were cookies and cake served.

"Ariel," said Mommy ,"We're so proud of you." She hugged Ariel tightly. Ariel smiled briefly, but she didn't really feel happy inside.

"Aren't you excited to be going into first grade?" asked Daddy sounding as happy and excited as he felt Ariel ought to feel. She didn't feel that way at all though. She didn't feel happy or excited.

"I'm sure, she's excited, but I'm sure she's a little nervous too." replied Mommy knowingly. "It will be an all new school with all new kids and all new teachers to get used to."

Ariel nodded. She was nervous about the new school, and she would miss her teachers and friends. It wasn't only that though.

"Don't worry, " Daddy assured her. "You'll get used to the new school. Just like you got used to this one."

"And, you'll make new friends and get used to your new teachers." added Mommy.

Ariel smiled and pretended to be happy. Inside she was still sad though, but she didn't want to say what was really bothering her.

A few days later, it was really the last day of school, Mommy picked Ariel up at the end of her school day. "How does it feel to be a kindergarten graduate?" she asked.  Ariel just nodded and smiled still pretending to be happy.

On the walk home, Ariel was quiet. Mommy was quiet too at first. Then, Mommy broke the silence. "This is our last afternoon together." she said. Ariel couldn't pretend anymore, and she started to cry. "Oh, Ariel," said Mommy stopping and getting down on her knees next to Ariel, "What's the matter?" Ariel just kept crying. She couldn't get the words out even if she wanted to.

Mommy thought about it for a minute. All the while, she hugged Ariel and held her close. "Are you sad because next year you will be going to school full-time, and this is our last afternoon together?" asked Mommy.

Ariel nodded through her tears. "I'm going to miss you, mommy." she said finally.

"I'll miss you too, but, you'll still come home every day."

"But we won't have our afternoons together."

"No, we won't," agreed Mommy. "I'll miss them too." she added sounding a little bit sad herself. After all, Ariel was her last baby. When Ariel was in school all day, she wouldn't have anyone home in the afternoon with her.

Knowing Mommy felt sad about it too didn't make Ariel feel any better. In fact, it made her feel worse. She burst out crying all over again.

Mommy lifted Ariel up into her arms. "Don't worry." she assured Ariel. "It's true we won't have our afternoons together like we have since Serena was in first grade and you were in preschool, but we'll still have special times together."

"Just you and I?" asked Ariel.

"Just you and I."

"You promise?"

"I promise."

"I love you Mommy!" exclaimed Ariel hugging her mother tightly.

"I love you too." replied Mommy hugging her back, "and it seems to me we still have one afternoon together left so why don't we go out to lunch?" she added.

"I'd like that." replied Ariel.

Franny Finds A New Friend

It was a sad sad day for Franny Whitman, the day that her best friend, Josie moved away. She and Josie had been best friends since preschool. Franny remembered the first day they met. She nervously sat on the front steps of the red brick school house. A beautiful bubbly little blond haired girl approached her. "Hi" she said warmly. "I'm Josie Danbury, and you and I are going to be friends." From that moment on, they were.

They were the best of friends. They did everything together. They were perfect together. Franny was a little bit shy. Josie made her braver. Josie was a little bit wild. Franny made her calmer.

Then, Josie's father got transferred to California. Two months later, they packed up their house and moved out.When Franny watched the moving trucks pull away, her eyes filled with tears. She felt like she'd never be happy again.  For a month, she moped around feeling sad, and looking sad and not really doing anything.

Finally, after about a month, Mommy had enough. "Franny," she said, "Come with me for a walk."

Franny shook her head. She didn't move off the living room couch. "No, thanks, mommy." she said.

Mommy grabbed Franny's hand and pulled her up off the couch. "I wasn't asking." said Mommy. "I was telling you. We are going for a walk. Enough sitting around and feeling sorry for yourself." She ushered Franny to the door. They headed outside and up the block.

A few houses later, they came to a stop. Franny looked up at a familiar blue house. Josie's! She wondered what Josie was doing at that moment. She wondered if Josie liked California. She wondered if Josie missed her as much as she missed Josie.

"Come on," Mommy pulled Franny out of her thoughts and pushed her along straight up Josie's old driveway. Franny didn't know whether to cry or scream. Why was Mommy doing this to her? The last place she wanted to be was in front of Josie's old house, and the last thing she wanted to do was go in.

"It's about time, we met our new neighbors," said Mommy cheerfully as they neared the front door.

Before, Franny could open her mouth to protest, the door swung open. Out walked  a tall pretty dark haired woman and her equally as pretty daughter who looked to be about Franny's age. The daughter's eyes were red. She looked as though she'd been crying. She looked as sad as Franny felt.

Mommy extended her hand to the girl's mother. "Hi. We're the Whitman's. I'm Beth, and this is my daughter, Franny."

The woman smiled. "We're the Murphy's. I'm Connie and this is my daughter, Jess." Jess smiled weakly as her mother pointed to her. "It's so nice of you to stop by today." continued Jess' mother ushering them into the house. "It's nice to meet you. Beth, and you too Franny. It is so nice of you to come over and see Jess, Franny. She is feeling sad today. She was missing our old neighborhood and her old friends."

Franny looked at Jess' sad face. She knew what it felt like to be that sad and lonely. She was feeling it now, but she didn't have to neither did Jess. She knew what she needed to do. She knew what Josie would have wanted her to do, what Josie would have done. She extended her hand to Jess and smiled. "Hi. I'm Franny. You and I are going to be friends."

"I'd like that." replied Jess smiling back.