The Close Call

"Bye, plushies! I'm off to school," Amelie hugged her assortment of stuffed animal friends on the bed. "Behave today, okay? And no quantumming," she warned as she backed out through her bedroom door and shut it.

The animals waited until they heard the car back out of the driveway. "No quantumming?" The plushies whispered, dismayed. "But that's the fun part about being a plushie!"

Show stepped up. "Quantumming is silly," she declared. "We should listen to Amelie. She is our human after all," the plastic doll rolled her eyes.

"But that means we don't get to use the plushie portal," Charlie Brown pointed out. "And I wanna go visit Amelie's friends in England."

"Leslie's place is fun...." Miffy agreed with Charlie Brown. "We can go see her plushies and she'll give us yummy snacks and treats!"

"C'mon, let's just go," Nellie suggested. "We don't need Show's permission to go portalling," the bear flopped up from her position on the pillow and pulled at the portal door.

Show attempted to cross her arms over her belly. "Fine. Don't listen to me. See if I care. You'll all get in trouble, and don't expect me to come rescue you," she stomped a foot for emphasis.

"Let's go!" Charlie Brown exclaimed. "C'mon, Show, it'll be fun! Pleeeease?" The puppy tried wheedling his best friend into joining.

"Nope. No way. Nuh uh." Show shook her head. "I'm staying right here until Amelie comes back from school."

"Okay, Miss Goody-Two-Shoes," Miffy giggled. "We'll see you later!" She stepped into the portal and joined her two friends.

"Is it just me, or does something feel different today?" Nellie asked, feeling her way through the tunnel.

Charlie Brown sniffed around. "It smells different," he observed, as he continued sniffing. "Like... grass. And trees... and..." he followed the scent. "Whoa!"

Nellie and Miffy dashed over to their friend. "What is this?" Miffy wondered. She examined the moss-covered bridge in front of them.

"Where is this?" Nellie marveled. "I wonder where this leads..."

"We should get Show! She'd love to see this," Charlie Brown exclaimed.

The bear and bunny exchanged glances. "But she didn't want to come..."

"She will now!"

"But what if you leave, and you can't find us again?"

"I'm a good sniffer. I'll find you, don't worry!"

"Okay, Charlie Brown, but promise us you'll be careful! You're just a puppy, and we don't want you getting lost. We'll wait for you right here."

Charlie Brown nodded and dashed back through the portal towards Amelie's room to find Show.

Miffy took a tentative step onto the bridge. "I wonder where we'll end up." She took a few more careful steps.

"Miffy! We told Charlie Brown we'd wait right here for him." Nellie admonished.

"I know, I know," Miffy sighed. "But I do want to know where this goes. I promise I won't go far. Plus, you can still see me. I'll just go far enough that we can just see each other, and then I'll come back."

"Fine..." Nellie sighed. "Just don't get into trouble!"

Miffy giggled. "Yes M'am!" she gave a mock salute and scampered further along the bridge.

"Miffy! You're getting really far," Nellie called. "I can barely see you anymore." She turned to see if Charlie Brown had returned yet. "Charlie Brown! Where are you?" She called down the portal.

"Look! Look!" Miffy's voice floated back, and Nellie turned around, only to find the bridge empty.

"Miffy! Where are you? I can't see you anymore!"

"Nellie! Come! Lookie!"

"Miffy! Come back! I can't see you anymore and Charlie Brown's not back yet! You don't want Show to tell us off either, if she comes." Nellie called.

Miffy plucked a flower from a nearby tree and slid it into her bow before returning to where Nellie was waiting. "It's soooo pretty on the other side," she sighed. "You really do need to see it!"

"Miffy!" Nellie gasped. "Something could've happened to you and you could've disappeared forever! I couldn't see you! I was so worried! You said you'd only go as far as we could see each other."

"Relax," Miffy prodded her friend. "I could still see you, just around the bend. It was safe! Besides, isn't this flower sooo pretty? It matches my bow," she beamed.

"Nellie! Miffy! You waited!" Charlie Brown returned, dragging an unwilling Show. "Show's here, too," he licked his friend.

"Ewwww, dog slobber!" Show wiped off her friend's affection. "Now, what is it you wanted to-" Show gasped when she saw the bridge.

"It's a new adventure!" Miffy exclaimed. "C'mon, let's go find out what's here. And if it's cool, we can bring Leslie's plushies here too!"

Show rolled her eyes, and Miffy stepped back onto the bridge. "Just follow me! I've already gotten about halfway over."

The bridge swayed under the weight of the four friends. "Whoa!" Charlie Brown exclaimed. "Maybe some of us need to go separately," he suggested.

"That's a good idea," Nellie agreed. "Why don't you and I stay back for now? We'll count to 20 and then follow Miffy and Show. You can use your sniffing powers to follow where they went." Nellie scooped up the puppy and returned to the portal side of the bridge. "You two go ahead, we'll catch up!"

Miffy nodded, and soon led Show out of sight.

"How much further is the bridge?" Show whined.

"We're almost there, don't worry!" Miffy turned around. "But, look at all the pretty flowers! They're so colorful!" And see, we can see Nellie and Charlie Brown on the other side, but they can't see us. It's great for hide-and-seek," she giggled. "But I have a feeling there's something really awesome on the other side of this bridge, so let's go!" She bounced forward.

"Look! It's a treehouse!" Show exclaimed. She pointed into the trees.

Miffy looked around and squinted. "I don't see anything."

"It's right... there!" Show pointed again. She grabbed Miffy's paw and helped her point.

"Ooh! I see it! And look, I think the bridge leads us there!" Miffy leapt forward, her floppy legs soon turning into a blur. She reached a ladder and turned around to help Show up. "Show?" Miffy looked around. "Shoooowww...." she called.

"Wait up!" a small voice came from the distance.

"Oops," Miffy whispered. "I'm over here!" She jumped a few times, waving her arms.

Show turned the corner, panting, and glaring at Miffy. "I told you to wait up," she whined.

"Sorry, I guess I got too excited. But look! Here's the treehouse ladder. You can go up first," Miffy suggested, holding out her arm.

"Fine." Show muttered, ignoring the arm and grabbing the ladder. "I have a bad feeling about this, though. We should be in bed, waiting for Amelie to come back. I heard today's supposed to be a minimum day because it's the last day of school."

Miffy froze. "Annnd how long have we been out here?"

"A long time." Show replied.

"Liiiike, 'It's almost lunchtime', 'a long time,' or 'I've been waiting for ten minutes and it feels like forever,' 'a long time'?"

Show shrugged. "A mix of both."

Nellie and Charlie Brown arrived. "Oooh, a ladder!"

"It leads to a treehouse," Show announced.

"Ooooh, a treehouse!" Charlie Brown's eyes lit up. "This is soooo cool!"

Nellie examined their discovery. "Is it big enough to fit us all?"

"I don't know, but I do know we might need to head back soon. Show said today's a minimum day, so Amelie could be coming back at any time now!" Miffy exclaimed.

Nellie and Charlie Brown gulped. "That's a good idea... Let's go!" Nellie grabbed Charlie Brown and retreated down the bridge.

Miffy and Show followed suit, until they nearly bumped into their friends. "What's wrong?"

"This bridge leads to two different ways..." Nellie pointed out. "I don't think this was there when we came through."

"Are we lost?" Charlie Brown yelped.

Show took charge. "Well, when we went to the treehouse, we turned a corner and headed left, didn't we? So that means we should take the path on the right, because the left path would've made us go straight." She pushed past Nellie and marched forward. "I was in Amelie's classroom for a whole week of first grade, you know," she puffed her chest out proudly.

The trio behind her rolled their eyes, but followed the doll.

"Look? See? We're back to the portal halls," Show announced, turning right.

"Ummm, Show? Amelie's place is to the left!" Charlie Brown giggled.

"Right. I knew that. I was just seeing if you were paying attention. Let's go, before Amelie comes back and discovers we're missing."

The friends dashed through the portal halls and tumbled back through the doorway, just as they heard Amelie's voice hollering up the stairs, "Plushies, I'm hooome!"

Nellie heaved the portal door shut and flopped back into her original position on Amelie's pillow.

The bedroom door opened, and Amelie headed to her bed and cuddled her friends. "That's odd, you guys smell... grassy," she frowned. Putting them back on the bed, she noticed Miffy's new accessory. "How did you get that flower, Miffy? I don't think I got any daisies from the garden..." Amelie looked for other changes in her room, then shrugged. "Oh well. Maybe Mommy did it as a surprise for me." She changed into her home clothes and headed downstairs to lunch.

"That was close!" Show sighed. "Let's not do that again. Ever!"



WC 1568 words

For May 2018 Short Shots