Speaker 1: Hello friends, and welcome to bedtime stories with mister Jim.
Speaker 2: Oh.
Speaker 1: I was just getting ready for bed, are you as well?
Speaker 1: Oh good? I hope you brushed your teeth and found
Speaker 1: all of your comfy things like pillows and blankets and stuffies.
Speaker 1: Oh yes, oh good. Well, as long as you have
Speaker 1: all those things ready, then it's time for our story.
Speaker 1: But first we must close our eyes so that we
Speaker 1: can travel to an imaginary world. A lavender store sat
Speaker 1: snug between two brick buildings on Main Street. The windows
Speaker 1: were stuffed with stuffies, plush animals, snugglebugs and the like.
Speaker 1: The powder blue door opened with the twinkling sound of
Speaker 1: tiny bells, and the sign above the door read welcome
Speaker 1: to dream Buddies. We hope you find your best friend.
Speaker 1: Every day of.
Speaker 2: The week, children enter dream Buddies, searching the shelves for
Speaker 2: the perfect bedtime friend. There were rows dedicated to teddy bears,
Speaker 2: sea creatures, farm animals, animals that hop, and animals that fly.
Speaker 2: Whatever type of dream friend you could dream of, it
Speaker 2: would be found among the shelves of dream Buddies. No
Speaker 2: two plush animals were the same, and the selection was
Speaker 2: always changing. Many of the dream Buddies didn't last long
Speaker 2: on the shelves at all. Squids, snuggle bugs, parrot plushies,
Speaker 2: and even snake stuffies were scooped up into the loving
Speaker 2: arms of kids and taken home. Everyone seemed to find
Speaker 2: their best friends right away, everyone, it seemed, except Terry.
Speaker 2: Terry the Tarantula sat on a shelf among other less
Speaker 2: frightening bugs. The ladybugs seemed to leave as soon as
Speaker 2: they arrived, and the butterflies had a waiting list. Even
Speaker 2: the ants and bees seemed to always find their match,
Speaker 2: but not Terry the stuffed animal tarantula. He sat there
Speaker 2: day after day, watching children pass him by on their
Speaker 2: way towards the cuter plush toys, or even worse, they
Speaker 2: would see him and cry at the sight of a
Speaker 2: big Harry spider. Despite his less than stellar reputation, Terry
Speaker 2: did not give up hope. He knew his child was
Speaker 2: out there somewhere. They just needed to find him. Today
Speaker 2: was a particularly busy day at Dream Buddies, and Terry
Speaker 2: decided it would be a good day to.
Speaker 1: Test his luck.
Speaker 2: During quiet times, when his aisle was empty, Terry would
Speaker 2: wiggle himself closer to the edge of his shelf, hoping
Speaker 2: to be seen better. You look at that spider, shrieked
Speaker 2: the first girl to spot him. She quickly hurried past
Speaker 2: the bug section and onto the cuter section of puppies.
Speaker 2: After she left, Terry scooted forward a bit more. A
Speaker 2: boy walked down the aisle, looking at all the bugs.
Speaker 2: Look at that one, he said, pointing towards Terry's shelf.
Speaker 2: The boy reached up and moved Terry to the side.
Speaker 2: A stick bug, he exclaimed as he pulled the stuffed
Speaker 2: toy out from behind Terry. The boy played with it
Speaker 2: before heading to the register. Terry sighed and went to
Speaker 2: inch a bit further when four of his legs accidentally
Speaker 2: slid off the edge of the shelf. Oh no, Terry thought,
Speaker 2: Unable to correct his mistake before a group of kids
Speaker 2: walked down the aisle, He froze while they paused, but
Speaker 2: their heavy footsteps as they bounced around and excitement were
Speaker 2: enough to break the little grip he had left on
Speaker 2: the shelf. Just as the group of kids passed, Terry
Speaker 2: tumbled from the shelf to the floor. There was no
Speaker 2: way Terry could get back up on the shelf now,
Speaker 2: oh well, he sighed, I just hope no one steps
Speaker 2: on me down here. He figured he would stay down
Speaker 2: there until the store owner cleaned up at the end
Speaker 2: of the day. He didn't expect anyone to see him
Speaker 2: or want to pick him up. There's always tomorrow, Terry thought.
Speaker 2: He heard people coming down the aisle. How about these
Speaker 2: horses over there, They're cute. No, Mom, I want something else.
Speaker 2: Maybe a bug. Oh, here's a cute ladybug. What about this,
Speaker 2: her mom suggested. The girl shook her head in disgust.
Speaker 2: No way, no, mom, something way cooler than that. A bumblebee,
Speaker 2: a pretty blue butterfly. The mom held them up for
Speaker 2: her daughter to see, but the girl shook her head
Speaker 2: and frowned. No, something really cool. The girl scanned the shelves,
Speaker 2: moving the ants and beetles around. She stepped over towards
Speaker 2: the shelves Terry had just fallen from, and looked at
Speaker 2: the leaf bugs there. She lifted her foot about to
Speaker 2: step over Terry. He braced himself for impact, but instead
Speaker 2: of being stopped on by a foot, he felt himself
Speaker 2: being picked up by two gentle hands.
Speaker 1: Mom. Look, the girl examined him, turning him over and
Speaker 1: brushing him off A spider. Are you sure, Lotty asked
Speaker 1: the mother, and Terry's heart sank for a moment until
Speaker 1: the girl named Lottie answered, not a spider, mom, a tarantula,
Speaker 1: and he's perfect. Then Lottie squeezed Terry, hugging him tightly.
Speaker 1: She skipped over to the register, and Terry's heart felt
Speaker 1: like it would burst. Finally, his best friend had found him.
Speaker 2: That night who When Lottie went to bed, she held
Speaker 2: Terry the tarantula tightly in her arms. Good Night, she
Speaker 2: whispered as she gave him a kiss on his furry head.
Speaker 2: Then the two dream buddies drifted off to sleep. Wow,
Speaker 2: isn't it special our comfy, cozy, fuzzy friends. I'm glad
Speaker 2: she found a cozy friend. As you cozy up to
Speaker 2: your stuffies, may you have very sweet dreams.
Speaker 1: Good night, my friend,