Moments for the Heart

Joey’s sister was a big meanie. She would never let him play in her room. She would always be too busy to play with him. She would tell mom, “Can you tell Joey to go away?”

Yep, Joey’s sister was a big meanie.

One day Joey was in search of the great Molly tiger. He searched the plains of Livin-room-land. He checked the icy region of Kitchen-topia. He explored the jungles of Jessa-roomia,

His prey came into sight inside a small moss-covered cave, next to a tennis shoe. As he was about to take a photo, a loud voice said, “Mom, tell Joey to get out of my room.”

He looked up and Molly the tiger ran out of the cave and into the bushes. His quest failed by his big meanie sister.

Another day Joey’s adventure took him over Mount Sofa and through the Hallway Valley. He climbed the Stairway Hills into the Forest of Jessa-meanie. He crawled under a fallen tree to get to his secret hideout just on the other side.

It was dark, but he could see secret treasures all around. Old candy wrappers, a blue sock, and trinkets of gold and silver were ready to be discovered. But he had to make it to his hideout before the forest ogre returned.

Joey heard ogre footsteps and a giggly voice, the ogre’s battle cry. Joey quickly ran out of the forest and into his secret hideout. He sealed the door and heard the ogre shout, “Joey, you better not have been in my room again.”

Today Joey traveled around Backyardia. He made his way through the Vegetable Gardens without any trouble. The Woods of Dads-shed were a bit harder. He got lost and almost had to turn back. Then, on the other side, he saw the Jessa-meanie ogre. She was lying down on the bank of the Pool River.

But to finish his task, he had to make it past the Jessa-meanie ogre and across the Pool River. He slowly made his way past the sleeping ogre; she had dark glasses over her eyes and a hat on her head.

“A disguise,” Joey thought. “You don’t fool me mean ogre.”

Joey saw the ogre move. He dove into Pool River and swam across. The Jessa-meanie ogre yelled, “Mom, Joey is splashing me.”

Joey made it across the river and grabbed the bag of treasure on the other side. He ran back to his secret hideout.

Later that evening, Joey was listening to his sister get ready for her sleepover. She sounded upset.

“Dad, have you seen my other tennis shoe?” Jessica asked.

“No, sweetie, I haven’t,” dad said.

Later Joey heard her again, “Mom, have you seen my other blue sock?”

Mom replied from the kitchen, “No, I haven’t seen it.”

Once again, Jessica asked, “Mom, dad, have you seen my sunglasses. I need them.”

“No,” they both said.

Joey walked into his sister’s room. “Jessica, can I help?

“No, Joey. You can’t. I’m trying to get ready to go to my friends.”

“I can help you, really,” Joey said.

Jessica called out, “Mom, can you please tell Joey to let me get ready?”

Joey went away. He sat on his bed and thought about his adventures. A smile came across his face. He remembered everything. He got up and went into Jessica’s room. He walked over to the chair she had in the corner. He reached into the moss-covered cave and came out with Jessica’s tennis shoe.

“My shoe!” Jessica said.

Without a word, Joey crawled under her bed and grabbed the blue sock from under the fallen tree.

“My blue sock,” Jessica said. “Thank you, Joey.”

She hugged him. “Do you know where my sunglasses are too?”

“You were at the pool today,” Joey said. “Maybe you left them there?”

Jessica went to check. Joey went back to his room.

A little later, Joey heard a knock on his door. It was Jessica. “I found my sunglasses. They were by the pool like you said. Thank you for helping me find everything.”

“You’re welcome,” said Joey.

“You are a great explorer. Thank you for helping me. I am sorry for being so mean to you.” She kissed him on the cheek. “When I get back, maybe we can go exploring together.” Then she left to finish packing.

Joey smiled and thought, “I guess she is not such a big meanie after all.”

Originally posted on July 9, 2019