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 the week, children enter dream Buddies, searching
Speaker 1: the shelves for the perfect bedtime friend. There were rows
Speaker 1: dedicated to teddy bears, sea creatures, farm animals, animals that hop,
Speaker 1: and animals that fly. Whatever type of dream friend you
Speaker 1: could dream of, it would be found among the shelves
Speaker 1: of dream Buddies. No two plush animals were the same,
Speaker 1: and the selection was always changing. Many of the dream
Speaker 1: Buddies didn't last long on the shelves at all. Squids,
Speaker 1: snuggle bugs, parrot plushies, and even snake stuffies were scooped
Speaker 1: up into the loving arms of kids and taken home.
Speaker 1: Everyone seemed to find their best friends right away, everyone,
Speaker 1: it seemed, except Terry. Terry the Tarantula sat on a
Speaker 1: shelf among other less frightening bugs. The ladybugs seemed to
Speaker 1: leave as soon as they arrived, and the butterflies had
Speaker 1: a waiting list. Even the ants and bees seemed to
Speaker 1: always find their match, but not Terry the stuffed animal tarantula.
Speaker 1: He sat there day after day, watching children pass him
Speaker 1: by on their way towards the cuter plush toys, or
Speaker 1: even worse, they would see him and cry at the
Speaker 1: sight of a big Harry spider. Despite his less than
Speaker 1: stellar reputation, Terry did not give up hope. He knew
Speaker 1: his child was out there somewhere. They just needed to
Speaker 1: find him. Today was a particularly busy day at Dream Buddies,
Speaker 1: and Terry 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 1: A stick bug.
Speaker 2: He exclaimed as he pulled the stuffed toy out from
Speaker 2: behind Terry. The boy played with it before heading to
Speaker 2: the register. Terry sighed and went to inch a bit
Speaker 2: further when four of his legs accidentally slid off the
Speaker 2: edge of the shelf. Oh no, Terry thought, Unable to
Speaker 2: correct his mistake before a group of kids walked down
Speaker 2: the aisle, He froze while they paused, but their heavy
Speaker 2: footsteps as they bounced around and excitement were enough to
Speaker 2: break the little grip he had left on the shelf.
Speaker 2: Just as the group of kids passed, Terry tumbled from
Speaker 2: the shelf to the floor. There was no way Terry
Speaker 2: could get back up on the shelf now, oh well,
Speaker 2: he sighed, I just hope no one steps on me
Speaker 2: down here. He figured he would stay down there until
Speaker 2: the store owner cleaned up at the end of the day.
Speaker 2: He didn't expect anyone to see him or want to
Speaker 2: pick him up. There's always tomorrow, Terry thought. He heard
Speaker 2: people coming down the aisle. How about these horses over there,
Speaker 2: They're cute. No, Mom, I want something else. Maybe a bug. Oh,
Speaker 2: here's a cute ladybug. What about this, her mom suggested.
Speaker 2: The girl shook her head in disgust. No way, no, mom,
Speaker 2: something way cooler than that. A bumblebee, a pretty blue butterfly.
Speaker 2: The mom held them up for her daughter to see,
Speaker 2: but the girl shook her head and frowned. No, something
Speaker 2: really cool. The girl scanned the shelves, moving the ants
Speaker 2: and beetles around. She stepped over towards the shelves Terry
Speaker 2: had just fallen from, and looked at the leaf bugs there.
Speaker 2: She lifted her foot about to step over Terry. He
Speaker 2: braced himself for impact, but instead of being stopped on
Speaker 2: by a foot, he felt himself being picked up by
Speaker 2: two gentle hands.
Speaker 1: Mom.
Speaker 2: Look, the girl examined him, turning him over and brushing
Speaker 2: him off A spider. Are you sure, Lotty asked the mother,
Speaker 2: and Terry's heart sank for a moment until the girl
Speaker 2: named Lottie answered, not a spider, mom, a tarantula, and
Speaker 2: he's perfect. Then Lottie squeezed Terry, hugging him tightly. She
Speaker 2: skipped over to the register, and Terry's heart felt like
Speaker 2: 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. Good night,
Speaker 2: my friend,