Reasons to Smile!

Happy 4th to everyone who is celebrating the 4th of July today! To those of you who aren’t I still hope you are having a great weekend! I will not get into all the things that drive me crazy about our Country right now, for no matter how many things there may be, there are ALWAYS things to be thankful for! Love, Friendship, and Animals, and the list could go on. Here are some “red, white and blue” pictures to bring a smile to your day! ENJOY!

photo credit to Pinterest

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3. I can’t believe I am posting this, BUT for certain people….. AND… it is a nice shade of blue! Can’t promise that  you will ever see a snake on here again though! 🙂

Friday’s Super Short Stories!

If dead fish return to the great sea … do dead plants return to the great forest? Saying that I sent my plant off to the great forest, sounds better than, “I killed it!” 

Where is the magic spray for windows … wash them once … stay clean forever! 

Time to use your creativity again, which I know my readers have! My friend had posted this on Facebook, and got some fun answers,  what’s your response?

In 6 words or less, ruin a first date! 

Reunited

Celia woke up, and for a moment she had forgotten about the excitement from the night before, and then it all came back to her. She had a talking kitten!

“Wake up Muffin! Wake up! Today is the day!” Celia said as she rubbed Muffin. Muffin opened one eye looking at her, not feeling very happy about having been awakened.

“Must you be so cheery in the morning!” Muffin replied stretching  out her body and yawning.

“I just so excited, Tulag is going to meet us by the sandbox, right?”

“Yes, but do you have any plan figured out of just how you are going to help him find Myrtle?”

Celia pulled her knees up to her chin as she sat on her bed thinking. “Hmmm….not sure. I can’t cross the street by myself, so I can’t go very far. What do you suggest?”

“You are asking me? I am just a simple, innocent, cat, how am I supposed to be able to help you.”

“But you TALK!” said Celia.

“That doesn’t mean anything. Lots of animals talk. I have heard of a talking cow before and a gnu. They  got in to all kinds of trouble. I also heard of a talking chicken, and … well his story is pretty sad.”

Celia got serious for a moment, “What happened to the chicken?” she asked.

“We really should go meet Tulag, he probably is waiting for us.” replied Muffin, purposely changing the subject, he didn’t want to make Celia sad.

Celia looked at Muffin for a moment, then shrugged her shoulders and said, “Well what are we waiting for, lets go!”

She picked Muffin up in her arms and ran down the steps and out the door before anyone saw her.

Running to the sandbox she made sure to keep an eye out for Tulag so she wouldn’t accidentally step on him again. No worries, he was sitting right at the edge of the sandbox.

“Good Morning! I am feeling happy today, looking forward to finding my Myrtle. So where are we going to go?”

“Lets go in the woods, Mommy and Daddy let me play in the woods, as long as I don’t go too far. Maybe Myrtle is hiding in there. Perhaps she got lost and can’t find her way out.”

Muffin and Tulag agreed that it seemed a good place to start, so they entered the woods in Celia’s backyard.

Walking through the woods it was full of noises of chipmunks and squirrels scampering around. Muffin wanted to give chase, but knew Celia wouldn’t want her catching them, so she behaved. Maybe she would sneak out tonight and have some fun while Celia was sleeping.

A Magpie was singing from high up in a tree and watching the little trio walk through the woods.

They came to a little stream and Celia said that was as far as she could go. Celia sat down on a rock, as they watched the water flow. “Hey I see a turtle in the middle of the stream! Is that Myrtle?”

Tulag’s heart started to race as he inched his way closer to the stream to see. Then he called out “Myrtle!” Myrtle! Is that you?”

Myrtle lifted her head, “Tulag! I didn’t think I would ever see you again! That day Patrick took me from the pet shop, I thought was our last day together.”

Myrtle splashed through the water to get to land as fast as she could, which was still pretty slow.

Finally she made it and Tulag gave her a little kiss. “I can’t believe it, I actually found you! I escaped from the pet shop a few days after you left and have been looking for you ever since!”

Celia was jumping up and down, not believing what she was hearing and seeing. Tulag has found his mate. Her heart was bursting, she wanted to share the news, but who would believe her. It was a secret that she would just have to keep to herself. She smiled, feeling pretty special. She didn’t know of anyone else that had a talking kitten and helped reunite 2 turtles who were in love. She picked up Muffin and hugged her tight against her.

“isn’t this the bestest day ever Muffin?” she exclaimed!

“Well if you let me breathe, it just may be!” Muffin grunted.

Celia laughed and put her down on the ground. “We better get back Muffin, Mommy will soon be calling me for breakfast.  Are you coming Tulag and Myrtle?”

Tulag and Myrtle looked at Celia, with her eyes brimming with excitement. “Sorry dear, but we got to head back to my owner Patrick’s house. He is probably going crazy looking for me.” said Myrtle. “I am sure he will be surprised to see Tulag!”

“Will he let us stay together?” asked Tulag

“Oh yes, not a problem, he is a nice guy and he knows all about love. He found his girl and they are very happy together. On our way back to his place I will fill you in on all the craziness that has happened since leaving the Pet Shop. You will never believe everything I witnessed from living with Patrick. It was really cool, I helped him catch this girl named Tanya and…”

Celia and Muffin watched as the two turtles walked off talking, unaware of anything else around them.

“So sweet, I do hope they come visit me again,”  said Celia.

“Yeah, yeah… but can we get home, I am hungry for some tuna!” and the two of them ran through the woods towards home.

 

 

Excitement at Midnight

Little Celia heard the noise again. She was determined to find out the source of it this time. Her baby kitten Muffin was her shadow, as she followed Celia down the stairs.

The rest of the house was asleep, Celia was sure no one would hear her. Her Dad was snoring loudly when she passed his room. Celia’s Mom wore earplugs to sleep and her big brother, Hans, was a sound sleeper. Thunderstorms didn’t even wake him up. They made Celia bolt upright in bed and then she would pull the covers over her head until the thunder stopped.

For 2 nights now she had awakened to the faint sound of what sounded like someone saying “Help me!”  Muffin, slept on her bed with her, but no one else was n her room. She would rub her eyes making sure she wasn’t dreaming and she still would hear the little cry.  Typically she would just go back to sleep, but tonight she was going to investigate.

Celia heard the cry as she walked down the hallway and it seemed to follow her down the stairs. She kept walking. It seemed to get louder as she got near the back door. Dare she open the door? She wasn’t supposed to go outside by herself, but who was saying “Help me!”, she had to find out!

With a deep breath, she opened the door. Muffin was right behind her. She stepped out and jumped, her foot had touched something strange and she heard a strange kind of yelp. Looking down she was shocked to see a turtle!

“About time you came, thanks for not stepping too hard on me!”

Little Celia couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Was this turtle really talking to her?

“Thanks Muffin, for leading her here.”

“You are welcome. Always glad to help a friend.”  Muffin replied.

Now Celia was wide-eyed as she looked back and forth from Muffin to the turtle.

Muffin could talk! Wow! She was the luckiest girl ever!

“Mommy and Daddy will be so shocked to hear this!” she yelled. “I want to wake them up  now!”

“Oh, I wouldn’t be too hasty Celia! This probably should be our little secret, you know how adults are. They can be too logical at times, no imagination.”

Celia was a little disappointed, but she understood, adults could be strange at times.

“Okay, I will pinky swear not to tell!” Then she looked at the turtle wondered how she was supposed to  pinky swear with him.

“I believe you.” said the turtle. ” Now where are my manners, let me introduce myself. My name is Tulag and I really hope you can help me. I am looking for my mate, her name is Myrtle and we got separated! Will you help me find her?”

“Yes!” said Celia, without even thinking. She loved animals, she had to help.

Muffin smiled, ” Told you she would help!” she said proudly to Tulag.

“Now we better get back to bed before anyone notices that she is gone. We will meet you tomorrow afternoon and begin our hunt for Myrtle.”

Celia was speechless, as Tulag thanked them and slowly crawled away. She quietly followed Muffin up the steps and into her bedroom. She climbed in her bed and Muffin nestled down beside her. “You can talk!” said Celia.

“Yes, I am aware of that!” replied Muffin, “Now get some sleep.”

Celia closed her eyes with a big smile on her face, her kitten could talk and she was going to help a talking turtle find his mate. She laughed to herself, here her brother thought he was big stuff because he could throw a ball into a hoop! OH what he didn’t know!

Tuesday’s Thoughts!

Good Morning! The last day of June and its going to be a pretty hot one! My flowers are still hanging on, though I am afraid that the one is done, but it lasted 2 months at least! It has perked up before and surprised me, so we will see. With as hot as it will be today it would make a perfect day for the beach, but …. will have to just keep dreaming for now. That day will come though! The first quote describes where my mind is! What is your mind dreaming of today?

 

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The Mysterious Voices

If you missed yesterday’s post. Here is the link to Part 1. The Crazy Adventure

The guys stood frozen, still in shocked silence. They were inside a  museum with no apparent way out and now it seemed that one of the wax figures had spoken to them.

“Perhaps we are just hearing things, suffering from jet lag, becoming delusional!” said Jinx.

“Well there is nothing  new about being delusional, for you Jinx! You have been there many times!” replied Alabaster, while laughing. “Just pointing out a fact.”

“Good one!” said Snowball as he gave Alabaster a high five.

“Glad to see you can all keep your humor, at a time like this.” said Jinx.

“We need all the laughter we can get right now, so thanks for providing it Jinx!” and Alabaster patted him on the back. “Now what is our plan to get out of here, before another wax figure starts to talk, and we all start to go crazy!”

“Crazy is the name of the game and you all are in it pretty deep!”  echoed a deep low voice.

Snowball stumbled backwards, tripping over the carpet and falling. Jangle’s eyes got big as his mouth opened wide. Alabaster yelled and Jinx disappeared through the floor!

“Wha… wha…just…happened?” said Jangle, whose eyes were still wide in disbelief!

“Well it looked like the floor just opened up and swallowed Jinx! But….how?” said Alabaster.

Snowball was still trying to catch his breath after falling backwards and then he had an idea.

“Alabaster, why don’t you go stand where Jinx was standing and we will see if it happens again?”

“Now you are the delusional one!” replied Alabaster.

“Actually I think you all are delusional!”

“There’s that voice again! Where is it coming from??”  Jangle asked, as they all looked around at the wax figures who were standing still.

“I have no clue, all I know is that I am really ready for this museum adventure to end, but we have to find Jinx!”  said Snowball. ” I am afraid this may be like the Neverending Story. and we will be stuck here until we wave a white flag of surrender!”

“Do you have a white flag Alabaster?”

“Umm…No, didn’t exactly think I would need one.”

Jangle was looking at a map that he had found of the museum and saw that there was a basement. “I don’t think any of us explored the basement, that is probably where Jinx is and may be how we can find our way out!”

“Well what are we waiting for, lets go!” shouted Snowball as he took off.

Alabaster and Jangle watched him run. “He doesn’t know where he is going, does he?” “Nope!” said Jangle, “I am the one with the map. He has no map and no smartz.”  They started laughing as they watched Snowball stop and turn around.

He walked back to them without saying a word and they headed the other direction, with Jangle and Alabaster still chuckling. They all found the way down to the basement which was very dark and damp. Once their eyes adjusted to the darkness they could see a little better.

Their ears perked up as they heard some muffled yelling and banging. Following the direction of the sound it led them to a big box.

“Let me out!” The muffled voice sounded like Jinx.

“Is that you Jinx?” asked Snowball.

“No, its Mitch!”

“Oh, I don’t know any Mitch, do you know Mitch?” Snowball questioned Alabaster.

“Nope!”

“We don’t know any Mitch, guess we can’t let you out!” said Snowball with a smirk.

They opened the box and let a sputtering Jinx out. They were all anxious to know what exactly had happened to him. How had he got into the box?

“All I know is that I stepped on a certain tile on the floor and the next thing I know I was falling and landed in this box that then shut on me. I felt like I was incarcerated with no way out! Glad you all got here and now lets get out of here!”

“But how!” said Jangle.

“There has to be a way out of here, that we just haven’t found yet.”

“AAAH!!”Alabaster was jumping up and down!

They all watched in shock as they saw a snake come sliding out of Alabaster’s pant leg and scurry away!

They all ran the opposite direction of the snake and smacked right into a rusty door. With some hard pushes it creaked open and they all squeezed out of the door, as fast as they could, breathing in the fresh air.

“I don’t know about all of you, but I am ready to get back to the hotel, and no more museums for the rest of our time here!” said Jinx.

Everyone was in agreement as they headed back to the hotel after their crazy day!

Meanwhile, back in the museum, voices could be heard.

“That was a fun group, I think we scared them pretty good, eh!”

“We sure did!” and laughter echoed throughout the museum.

 

 

 

 

The Crazy Adventure

There was excitement in the air. It was vacation time. Work had stopped at the North Pole and now it was time to kick back and relax! Jinx, Jangle, Snowball and Alabaster had their bags packed and they were ready for adventure.

Snowball almost made them all late, for he had overslept, but they made it to the airport in the nick of time. As they were running to the gate, Alabaster tripped while running and  dropped his carry on bag. It opened up spilling the contents everywhere. A red faced Alabaster picked up everything as fast as he could and they at last made it to the gate.

They drew straws on who got the window seats. Poor Jinx and Jangle got the short straws. so they just put their headphones on to listen to music as they closed their eyes.

Snowball got out his writing tablet, he was busy writing his life story, as he looked out the window from time to time. Alabaster stared out the window and snapped pictures of the beautiful sky.

Several hours later the plane landed in warm, tropical temperatures. Such a nice break from the North Pole. This is why every summer they visited Hawaii!

Jinx and Jangle had been to Hawaii before, but this was the first time for Snowball and Alabaster. All of them were eager to explore, but first they were very hungry. After going to their hotel to change clothes and drop of their luggage, they headed for a nice restaurant and filled their stomachs.

Walking out of the restaurant, they were discussing where to go first.

Alabaster was dragging behind a little bit.

“Feeling a little too full?” questioned Jinx to Alabaster.

“I wouldn’t doubt it if he did.” said Snowball. ‘He sure did eat a lot of rice! He said he had a craving for it and he wasn’t kidding!”

They all laughed as Alabaster made a face at them.

“So are we all in agreement? We are going to visit the Aquarium?”  asked Jangle.

“Yes!” They all replied.

it was just a few blocks from the restaurant and the weather was lovely, so they all enjoyed the walk, and didn’t mind going a little slower for Alabaster.

The building was huge and they had a great time exploring the Aquarium. They saw manatees and jellyfish, sharks, and sea turtles. The sea turtles were Alabaster’s favorite.

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Jinx really liked the Mola-Mola fish. The others thought it was a little strange looking though.

photo credit -pinterest

Snowball’s favorite fish was the Clown fish of course, though, all of them liked that one as well and there was one for each of them!

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“Oh look there is Candy Cane’s favorite fish!”  The Angelfish!

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After a couple of hours of being there they decided they would return to their hotel and call it a early night, for they were feeling pretty tired.

They were walking back to the hotel when Snowball said, ” Look! There is a Wax  Museum, why don’t we go in for just a little bit.”

They agreed and walked in. They thought it strange that when they walked in no one was at the desk to greet them and in fact they didn’t see anyone! Well perhaps it was soon time to close. They decided they would just look around a little and then leave. They were impressed, the wax figures really did look real! They half expected them to start talking.

Jinx was walking and started to trip over a piece of carpet on the floor. He put his hand out against a wax figure to catch himself, and the figure began to wobble!

“We better get out of here, before Jinx touches something and it breaks!”

They all made their way back to the front entrance, still finding it a little strange that no one else was in the building.

Snowball pushed on the door and ….

“Umm guys its not opening!”

“What do you mean its not opening!” said Jangle, “Let me try.” He jiggled the handle and sure enough the door didn’t open.

“Being the modest person that I am, let me just point out the fact that it was not my idea to come in here!” said Alabaster and all eyes looked at Snowball.

“Hey! All you guys agreed with me.” said Snowball.

“Well lets be logical about this now, I am sure that there is probably another exit out of this building. We just have to find it.” Jinx said.

They all went different directions looking for another exit, and they all returned to the entrance with the same conclusion. There was no other way out of the building.

“So Mr. Logical, now what do we do?” asked Snowball.

“Well if you ask me, it looks like you all got yourselves in quite a predicament!”

They all looked at each other in shock. Had they just heard what they thought they heard?

“Oooh that wax figure didn’t just say what I think it said, did it?” said Jangle.

The rest nodded their heads in silence, wondering what may happen next!

***Part 2 will be coming***

 

 

Magic at the Beach

Morning had come. Bailey felt the coolness of the water splashing up on her. It felt good to walk, she was a little stiff after having fallen asleep on the beach.

Memories of the past night began replaying in her mind once more.  The memories that had made her jump on her horse, not even bothering to change her clothes, and ride like the wind to the beach. The beach was her happy place, where she could find peace.

Bailey’s heart wasn’t beating so erratic anymore and she was able to breathe. Last night as she rode Starlight, she felt like she was gasping for air. How could it have happened? One minute she was having a fine evening dining at a upscale restaurant and laughing with her friends. The next minute she was driving home as fast as she could, to get Starlight and gallop away!

It had been her best friend’s rehearsal dinner for her wedding. Bailey was Laura’s Maid of Honor. They had grown up together and dreamed about the day they each would find their special someone and live happily ever after! Laura had found her special someone first and that was fine with Bailey, she couldn’t be more ecstatic for her friend.

They had been counting down the days to the wedding together. Bailey had planned special fun things for them to do together as the days got closer and they were having a blast. All was going so well. Bailey was loving the crab cakes and lobster, and then … the unexpected guest had arrived!

Bailey gasped as the door to their private room opened and he stood there looking for her. She grabbed Laura’s arm beside her and said, “you didn’t!”

“Bailey, let me explain, you refused to see him, he only wants to…”

Bailey didn’t wait to hear anymore, she couldn’t! How could Laura have done this! She jumped out of her seat and ran right past him, ignoring his yells.

She cranked up the radio in her car, letting the music match the screaming in her heart. Jeremy’s face was vivid in her head, his look of disappointment as she ran right past him. She had arrived home, ran to the barn and jumped on Starlight. Starlight knew where to go, they had galloped to the beach many times.

At the beach she continued to ride Starlight, though at a slower pace, breathing in the salt air and trying to exhale her pain and frustration. Finally after awhile she grew sleepy and laid down on the sand, with Starlight standing guard.

Now as she walked questions were coming to her mind again. How could he be so bold as to show up? Didn’t he know she was done, that she didn’t want to talk to him again, she didn’t want to hear his explanation! Did he really think that any explanation would soothe her hurting heart. Oh how she had loved him!

Memories of them together were coming back. The memories she had tried so hard to suppress, that she thought she had managed to get rid of!

Who was that, was someone else on the beach at this early hour? Bailey strained to see ahead of her at the figure that appeared to be walking her way. They got closer and her heart started doing flip flops, it was him! He had come after her!

She stood still as Jeremy continued walking closer to her. She wanted to mount Starlight again and run, but yet felt frozen in place as she watched him.

He was almost up to her now and his eyes were silently pleading for her not to run. He stood right in front of her and he reached out and touched her hand.

“Please Bailey, please let me explain….”

The warmth of his hand sent sparks through her that she couldn’t deny. She looked in his eyes and saw a tear rolling down his cheek.

She nodded, for she couldn’t speak and they started to walk through the water, together.

 

 

Friday’s Super Short Stories!

Seedless watermelon …. seedless grapes … why not seedless cherries?

Simple conversation brings smiles to the heart that show on the face. 

Cap and Gown will be worn …. ceremony will be very different from normal … but Mama’s heart is full! 

 

The Power of One

My sister shared this video and I found it very moving. It is almost 6 minutes long, but I feel it is worth it! I love bringing smiles to all of you, sometimes with crazy stories and sometimes with some powerful words by someone else. Enjoy, and would love to know your thoughts!