Willa is one of six North Carolinian storytellers featured at the Tarheel Tellers Storytelling Festival on November 3 & 4. Go here for more information.
Finding Lady Bug
Chelsea Vee woke up bright and early on Saturday morning ready for a grand adventure. Every child in the village had been invited to the Teddy Bear Celebration. It was their reward for taking part in the summer reading program sponsored by the local library. Some of the bears were going to win prizes. She was sure her teddy bear; Lady Bug was going to win one.
She pulled on her favorite cotton candy pink jeans with a matching green stripe tee shirt with glittering stars. She stepped into her matching sandals and smiled at herself in the mirror. Chelsea Vee raced through the house to the family room to pick up her bear, Lady Bug.
Lady Bug was adorable, soft and cuddly. She was made of chocolate brown fur with bright green eyes and a little red heart shaped mouth. She was dressed in a matching hat and dress of purple and pink. The hat had flowers on it to match the dress.
Chelsea Vee had washed and brushed Lady Bug the day before so she would be pretty and clean for the celebration. When she reached the family room, there was a problem. Lady Bug was nowhere to be found.
Chelsea Vee looked under chairs, behind pillows and behind the curtains. How could she go to the celebration without Lady Bug? Everyone with a teddy bear was going to be there, including her best friend Jayda and her teddy bear, Willow. Where was her Lady Bug?
Chelsea Vee ran to her Mom, who was preparing breakfast.
“Mom, have you seen my Teddy Bear?”
“No,” replied Mom,” Where did you have it last? Go look there.”
“I looked in the family room,” cried Chelsea Vee. “Please help me!”
Her mother said, “Look up and down and all around; see if you can see what can not be found. I will help you as soon as I finish preparing breakfast."
Chelsea Vee began to look up and down and all around the kitchen. She looked into the pantry, behind bottles of water, in the cabinets and under pots and pans. There was no Lady Bug.
Chelsea Vee looked out of the window and saw her Dad cutting the lawn. She ran out of the door yelling, “Dad, have you seen Lady Bug? I had her all dressed up in her hat and matching dress. I cannot find her. Will you please help me?”
“I have not seen your teddy bear, honey,” said Dad; “but I suggest you look in and out and all about. I will help you when I finish cutting the lawn.”
That was exactly what she did. Chelsea Vee looked into every flower pot and out behind every tree. She pulled the door open and looked all about and under the porch but there was no Lady Bug.
With big sad eyes and dripping tears, Chelsea Vee slowly walked back into the house. She was sure she had left Lady Bug in the chair to dry. It was the same chair her brother Jeremih like to sit in while playing games or reading. She remembered that the quilt Meme had made for his birthday was on that chair.
She decided to take another look in the family room. Jeremih was sitting that chair playing a game when Chelsea Vee came in.
He looked up from his game to see his sister crying and asked; “Why are you so sad?”
Chelsea told him of her lost teddy bear, Lady Bug.
“Which one is Lady Bug?” Asked Jeremih. “You have so many bears.”
“Lady Bug is the one with the purple and pink dress and matching hat. The one Uncle DeVante’ brought back from Puerto Rico,” said Chelsea Vee.
Jeremih said he had not seen the teddy bear but he would help her look after he got a snack. He jumped from the chair and walked toward the kitchen.
Chelsea Vee crawled into the chair to think about other places Lady Bug could be. While making herself comfortable she felt something soft and lumpy under the quilt. She quickly snatched away the quilt and there to her surprise was Lady Bug. She squeaked with delight as she hugged the teddy bear to her.
“There you are,” she said. “I’ve been looking for you”.
Quick as a bunny Chelsea Vee was out of that chair and off to the kitchen.
“I found my teddy bear,” she yelled to her Mom.
Mom and Jeremih were happy for her. They both gave a big cheer! “Hooray for you!!”
Opening the back door Chelsea Vee yelled to her Dad: “I found my teddy bear!”
Dad waved as he turned the corner on the lawn mower and gave a loud hooray!
Chelsea Vee finished eating breakfast with the family and marched off down the side walk with Lady Bug in her arms. They were on their way to the Teddy Bear Celebration at the library. She was sure Lady Bug was going to win a prize.
Check back weekly for more voices of the North Carolina Storytelling Guild. If you enjoy these stories, you're bound to enjoy the Tarheel Tellers Storytelling Festival on November 3 & 4, 2017, at the Andy Griffith Playhouse in Mount Airy, NC.
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