"seedreiki.reiki.com Website Map"
Billy was angry! His entire Saturday had been ruined. Maybe even his entire life. It had started out like a normal Saturday. He got up and had breakfast. His mother had fixed his favorite; pancakes. Then he went into the living room to watch the Saturday morning cartoons. He curled up in his mother's chair and watched the silly Wiley Coyote try to catch the Road Runner. The coyote was painting a picture of a tunnel on a big rock to fool the Road Runner when the phone rang. His mother answered it in the kitchen and Billy didn't pay much attention. He was busy watching the Road Runner go into the tunnel.
"Billy, come here," his mother called, interrupting his concentration. He slid from the chair and walked out to the kitchen.
"Yes, Mom?" he asked.
"Go make sure your room is straightened up. You are going to have company today. That was your Aunt Helen on the phone. She is going shopping today and asked if Louise could come over for the afternoon."
"Aw, Mom..." Billy moaned.
"Billy, I want you to play nicely with your cousin," his mother stated firmly.
Billy sulked into his bedroom. "Louise is such a BRAT!!" he muttered about his younger cousin. While he straightened up his bed, he thought about the last time Louise had visited. She didn't want to do anything that was fun. She just wanted to touch all of his best toys and mess up his room. Then she followed him everywhere he went. Even when he went into the bathroom, she waited outside the door for him. Finally he complained enough that his mother had Louise stay in the kitchen with her. By then though, his room was a total mess. Then, after she left, he had to clean up the mess by himself. He decided that this time, he would make sure she didn't touch his favorite toys. He carefully took his three favorite cars off the shelf and put them in the bottom of his pajama drawer. Then he got his bright new box of crayons and slipped them under the pants in another drawer. "There!" he thought.
He had just closed the drawer when he heard his Aunt Helen in the living room talking to his mom. "Louise would much rather play with Billy than go shopping," she said. Billy made a face. He glanced quickly around his room to make sure he had all his treasures safely hidden, then he walked into the living room.
Louise was standing next to her mother. She watched him as he walked into the room. "Hi, Billy," she said.
"Hi." he answered.
"I brought my dolls for us to play with," smiled Louise.
"I don't want to play dolls," Billy said.
"Billy! Don't be rude to your guest!" his mother snapped.
"Yes, ma'am." Billy replied.
"Well, I really have to run along." Aunt Helen said. She turned to Louise and said, "You play nicely with Billy and I'll be back in a couple of hours."
"OK, Mom," whispered Louise.
"Let's play outside," suggested Billy as he started for the back door. Louise shrugged and followed him. Billy wanted to try to keep her from playing in his room. "Let's play 'Hide and Seek' I will hide first!" He started off across the yard. Louise walked over to the big tree in the middle of the yard and covered her eyes with her hands. Billy knew exactly where he could hide from Louise. She wasn't very good at finding him anyway. He ran around the side of the house toward the front. When he got to the porch, he stopped.
There on the side of the porch was a small hole that went under the porch. Quickly, he dropped to his stomach and wriggled under the porch. It was cool and damp under there and it smelled stale, but it was Billy's favorite hiding place. He crawled toward the steps where it was warmer from the sunlight and lay down and waited. A thin ray of sunlight slipped through a crack on the steps and warmed a narrow spot on Billy's back. It felt so good! Suddenly, the sweet smell of fresh dirt grew very strong and Billy looked around in amazement.
He was lying next to a small cottage. It wasn't much bigger than Billy's tree house, but it was on the ground. Billy stood up and saw the red curtains with white polka dots in the window. It looked like such a warm friendly cottage. As Billy looked at the cottage, he heard some whispering behind him, then some giggling. He turned around and saw a lovely garden with a small flower bed. There were three large flowers and a rather skinny and sad looking small flower. Billy walked toward the flowers.
"Who are you?" the first flower asked.
"My name is Billy," he answered.
"Oh, Jack has mentioned you!" the second flower said. "My name is Poppy, and this is Rosebud and that is Jonquil. They are my best friends. We were just playing a game."
"Hi." said Billy. He looked past the flowers at the other plant in the garden. "Who is that?" he asked Poppy.
"Oh, that is just Daisyweed. We try to ignore her. She just isn't fun to be with. She doesn't know how to play our games and she isn't as pretty as we are."
Billy walked over to Daisyweed. She didn't say anything. She just looked at him with tears in her big eyes. Billy smiled at her and said, "Hi."
"You don't have to talk to me. I know no one likes me because I am different. I don't grow the same as the other flowers and I'm much younger than they are, so they don't like me around," Billy felt sorry for the poor flower. He walked over to the other three flowers, feeling a little angry.
"Why are you so mean to poor Daisyweed? Just because she is different is no reason for you to be mean to her. Have you tried to teach her your games? Not only does your mean attitude hurt Daisyweed, it makes you not as pretty as you could be!!" With that, Billy walked back toward the cottage. The flowers looked at each other. They began to discuss what Billy had said.
Just then, Jack stepped out of the cottage. "What a nice surprise!" Jack exclaimed. "You've never been to my home before!"
"Is this your cottage?" Billy asked.
"Sure is," smiled Jack. "Come on in and have some milk and cookies with me."
As they walked into the cottage, Jack said, "I am so glad you are here. It is nice to share what I have with a good friend." It made Billy feel good to know that he was welcome in Jack's home. He looked around and saw that Jack had many interesting treasures in his cottage.
"Please make yourself at home, Billy," Jack said. Billy walked over to a small table that held a beautiful model car. "That is beautiful, Jack," Billy said.
"Let me show you how it works," said Jack. He placed the car on the floor and pulled a control panel out of a drawer. When he pushed a button, the car started and sounded just like a real car. The control panel had many buttons and a small wheel that steered the car. "Here," offered Jack. "You try it."
Billy took the control panel and drove the car all around Jack's cottage. He had a wonderful time. Then he put the car back on the table and sat down to talk to Jack.
"I noticed you were talking to those flowers. It is a shame the way they treat poor Daisyweed."
"Well," said Billy, "I talked to them about that. Maybe they will think about it now."
Jack poured two tall glasses of milk and put a few graham crackers on a plate. He placed them on the table and he and Billy sat down.
"I should have invited you here a long time ago," Jack said. "It is so good to have you visit." It made Billy feel very good to be appreciated. They talked for a while, and Jack showed Billy all around the cottage.
After a while, Billy said, "I have to go now."
"OK." said Jack. "Come back again soon."
"I will." promised Billy.
As he stepped outside, he looked over toward the garden. There he saw four beautiful flowers smiling and talking together. He walked toward them. "Billy, you were right," said Jonquil. "We started talking to Daisyweed after you left, and we learned that even though she is different, she is very nice. We taught her how to play our game and she showed us how to get water easier by stretching our roots to Silly Bird Lake."
"I'm so glad you talked to us." Poppy said.
Billy smiled. "You all look so much happier." He walked back toward the cottage and closed his eyes, feeling pretty good about himself.
Then he heard someone crying. He opened his eyes and looked around. He was still under the porch. He could hear Louise crying on the porch. Quickly, he crawled out of his hiding place and ran over to her. "What's wrong, Louise?" he asked.
She looked up at him with such sad eyes. Her eyes reminded Billy of Daisyweed's eyes when he first met her. "I tried and tried, but I couldn't find you." she sobbed.
Billy realized that he had been very cruel to Louise. He had deliberately hidden in a place where he knew that she couldn't find him. He realized that the reason she followed him everywhere was because she liked him so very much. He remembered how good it felt to be with Jack and how much he enjoyed himself when Jack shared his treasures with him. He knew he had been very selfish for not trying to think of Louise's feelings when she came to visit. He felt very sorry.
He took his cousin's hand. "Come on," he said. "I have some special toys in my room I would like to show you. Then maybe we can play with your dolls,"
Louise wiped her eyes and smiled. "I love you, Billy." she said.
"I love you too, Louise." Billy answered. He hoped he would never treat anyone so badly again.
THE END (of this adventure)
Back to Billy's Magic Kingdom Index
"seedreiki.reiki.com Website Map"
"Home"
Last updated September 29, 2006 by Serena.