Jennifer and the Typhoon

by: Jennifer and ginamarie

The weather looked fine when Jennifer went outside to play with her toys, a doll and a white cat. She would read them her favorite stories and search for rainbows after a storm. She enjoyed riding her bike down the winding hills of South Korea, and her imagination would always run wild. She truly believed in the stories that she read. She enjoyed hearing about mermaids and NeverNever Lands, and talking teacups, and she wondered why her toys never spoke to her. She believed that her toys were real, that there were places that only her imagination knew, but that had to exist in the real world, someplace, if not anywhere, then at least in somebody else’s imagination, too.

            It didn’t take long before the clouds came and Jennifer thought that this would be a great time to hunt for rainbows. She remembered her teacher telling her about rainbows and about how they only took two simple ingredients to make them: sun and water. Jennifer wondered how such simple things could make something so beautiful and mysterious. She thought about all of this as she watched the clouds come in.  Although she read in books that it is impossible to touch a rainbow, she still wanted to try, and so she waited for just the perfect time.

            She wandered off in search of a rainbow and before she knew it, the clouds began to spin and she was stuck in a storm. She hadn’t realized that she’d gone so far away from home with no comfort except that of her two toys, Emma the doll and Delilah the toy cat. She also had the story of The Little Mermaid with her, and she held all of her belongings tightly to herself so that they would not blow away. Just then, a strong wind came.

            Jennifer woke up and she didn’t know where she was. Delilah and Emma were nowhere in sight. The hills didn’t look familiar. A couple feet away, she found her book, The Little Mermaid, opened to a page about a curse. Jennifer picked it up and wandered around looking for something familiar.

            “There she is! There she is!” Jennifer heard a squeaky voice coming from somewhere, but she couldn’t figure out where. She spun in a circle looking around for the tiny little voice. “Jennifer! Jennifer! Down here!!” Jennifer looked down to her feet and sure enough, there were Delilah and Emma, waving their arms, trying to get Jennifer’s attention, speaking to her for the first time!

            “You CAN talk!” Jennifer exclaimed happily! She knew that if she just believed enough, that anything could come true. “What happened to us?” Emma asked. “I was looking for a rainbow,” Jennifer said, “And we got lost in the storm.” 

            “We should try and find our way back. It’s very dark outside here….” Delilah said. “I’m getting scared.”

            “Oh, Delilah. You’re such a scardy cat. There’s nothing to be afraid of-“ Emma began to say, but just as she said that, a frog leaped out of the pond nearby and startled her. “Ah!” Emma shouted. Delilah laughed. Although Jennifer was excited that she was finally able to communicate with her toys, she had other concerns.

Jennifer knew that she had to think about what to do. She had to be in charge. So while Delilah and Emma fought over who was a bigger coward, Jennifer found a nice rock to sit on and tried to come up with a plan to get them back home safely.

            She sat there in silence for what seemed to be an eternity and only came out of her deep thought because she heard a loud CRASH!

            “What is that? Hello?” Jennifer said. She followed the sound behind a tree where she saw something rustling in the bushes.

“This is just standard procedure! Thank you for your concern. MOVE ON MOVE ON MOVE ON.” Jennifer turned to see where the voice was coming from.  She looked down and saw something white moving towards the bush where the loud CRASH came from.

            “NOTHING TO SEE HERE FOLKS. MOVE ON.” A white rabbit exclaimed. “He’s okay. This always happens.” Jennifer watched the white rabbit go into the bushes and bring out a bird with ruffled feathers. “He always crashes into Everything!” the rabbit said.

            “I’m okay. When did they put that tree there? That’s new….” the bird said. “Oh how rude of me. I am Launch-the most fantastic bird in all of storyland and one day they’re going to write a book about me and my pal, Opal here!” Lanch dusted himself off from his big fall as he spoke.

            Then, Opal, the rabbit began. “Yeah! I am writing the most ridiculous story!!!! We are going to be famous! It’s about this girl and she wants to be a mermaid, but her father doesn’t want her to leave the sea…..”

            Jennifer knew that this story sounded all too familiar, and she started to explain to Opal that that was already a story, but Opal interrupted.

“-And I have another story idea where some young kids get a hold of fairydust and they fly away to this place where they never grow up-“

            “I think that’s a great idea!” Launch said. Jennifer decided not to say anything, even though she knew that story so well already….

            As Launch and Opal congratulated each other, Jennifer shook her head. “I’m sorry to interrupt.” She said. “But can you please tell me where I am and how I got here?”

            “Oh, of course!” Opal said. “Welcome to Storyland! Home of all of the most wonderful characters in all of the best story books! Here you will find Peter Pan, Woody and Buzz, Cinderella, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and anyone you can think of!! …As far as how you got here, I’m not quite sure, but there is a storm coming in and perhaps you came in on it."

“I was looking for a rainbow.” Jennifer explained. “The Little Mermaid is here? I’ve always wanted to meet her!”

            “Oh, we can arrange that….” Launch exclaimed, and he got so excited that he started to take off and ran SMACK right into another tree.

            “Oh, no! Not again!!” Opal shouted while hopping over there to help him.

Launch dusted himself off and said “Oops! Well, let’s try that again!” Jennifer grabbed a hold of Delilah and Emma and everyone rode Launch to the part of Storyland where all of their favorite characters live.

When they arrived in the main part of Storyland, Launch landed in the bushes (with Opal’s help on a smooth landing).

            “See! There they are!” Opal said.

            “Wow! I can’t believe it’s really them! I’ve read all of their stories since I was very little!” Jennifer said with such an excitement in her voice. She nearly forgot that she was lost. Emma and Delilah shared in her excitement, having known all of these characters from years of Jennifer reading them out loud.

“Can I meet them?” Asked Jennifer.

Launch and Opal looked at each other with disappointment.

“I’m sorry,” Opal said. “We can only get into the main part of Storyland if we’ve been in a story ourselves. Otherwise there is no entry.”

“Well is there anyone else who would know how I could get back home?” Jennifer asked.

            “I don’t think so.” Opal announced.

            Jennifer looked over at Emma and Delilah laughing and playing with Launch. They seemed so happy. They weren’t worried about getting home to the family or the rest of the toys.

Jennifer thought a moment and said “Hey! I’ve got an idea! Why haven’t you and Launch been in a story yet?”

            Opal looked down at the ground. “Because we don’t have any stories to tell.”

            “OF COURSE YOU DO!” Jennifer said happily. “Instead of trying to make up stories, why don’t you just tell the story of you and Launch! I’m sure that it would be great!”

            “Well, gee, I never thought of that….” Opal said, turning her head sideways pondering the idea. “Yeah, I suppose that we could try that.”

Jennifer stayed up all night with Opal and Launch, helping them write their story. When it was morning, they had the story finished and Launch and Opal turned it in to be reviewed. By noon they found out that their story was accepted, and that they can now live in Storyland with the rest of the characters that they all loved! Jennifer was right and everyone was pleased to hear the story of Launch and Opal, and they were invited to a dinner in their honor that evening.

            That night they all ate a delicious dinner. Jennifer was very excited to meet The Little Mermaid and all of the other princesses that she’s been reading about since she was a little girl. They were just as nice in person as they were in the story books. After the dinner was over, Jennifer looked troubled.

            “What’s wrong, Jennifer?” The Little Mermaid asked. “Are you not having fun?”

            “Oh no! I am.” Jennifer said. “It’s just that I came here by accident and I was trying to find my way home…”

            “Oh!” The Little Mermaid said. “It must be awful to be so far away from home! You rode in on a storm, so in order to get back home, you must ride out on a rainbow.”

            “You mean you can touch rainbows?” Jennifer asked.

            “Of course!” The Little Mermaid said. “In fact, you have to! Your trip home depends on it!”

            Just as the sun started to come out, Jennifer knew that she had better be moving fast. She gathered Emma and Delilah and told them to say their goodbyes. Jennifer said goodbye to everyone she met in Storyland, and waited for Launch to take her and her toys home.

            “Wait! Don’t forget this!” The Little Mermaid said. She handed Jennifer her storybook of The Little Mermaid. Jennifer smiled and realized that she was going to miss all of her new friends, but that she had to be getting home. Opal looked Jennifer in the eyes and smiled. “Thank you so much, Jennifer! Without you, we wouldn’t be here!” 

            “Thank you!” Jennifer said. “It was so nice to meet you and I look forward to reading your story to all of my friends at home!”

            Jennifer hopped onto Launch holding Emma and Delilah in her hand. Launch flew in the direction of the sun, and when Jennifer spotted the rainbow, she pointed it out to him. He thanked Jennifer and told her that he’d never forget her and on the count of three, he dropped them onto the rainbow and watched as they sped away.

When Jennifer woke up, she was in her room. The storm was over, but there was still rain on the windows. The book, The Little Mermaid was on her bedroom floor, and it made her smile. She looked out her window and saw a rainbow fading away as the sun began to set. “Oh No! Emma and Delilah!” Jennifer exclaimed. She looked to find her two toys on the floor looking like they just fell from the sky. Jennifer looked close and saw that neither Emma nor Delilah were moving or talking to her anymore.  She was a little disappointed, but when she looked closer, she saw that Emma had ruffled feathers in her hair. Jennifer smiled.