A World of Stuffies - Book 1 of Stuffy World

Lulu

I went downstairs for dinner. Usually, I would've had a very cheerful conversation with my mom while listening to something. But this time, the atmosphere was almost gloomy. Mom had a faraway expression on her face.

"So.....Mom, should we listen to something?" I made a lame attempt at keeping the conversation going. "What? Oh......Right, sure. What do you want to listen to?" Mom seems to be her normal self again.

"Well, I was hoping to watch that Stuffy Show. I thought it was pretty interesting......" I said, keeping my tone as casual as possible. Mom looked fully alert at those words, "Right. Then let's listen. Let me find it...."

Mom clicked a few things then a voice rang out, a different one now, "Hello everyone! Thank you for tuning in! We'll keep this short. We have successfully found the stuffy hiding in the home of a human. This is fantastic news! Now, that's all for now. Tune in tomorrow for more! Now, don't forget. Always try to help the stuffies. We believe in you!" Then there was silence.

"Right. That was......interesting!" I said. "Hmmm? Oh, yes. Right. That was interesting. They probably just made it for school, like a fake news project or something. Yeah, that'll probably be it." Mom said nervously.

"Oh...... Yeah, I guess so." I said, keeping my disappointment to myself. I had hoped that she would have kind of believed in stuffies if she listened to the Stuffy Show, even just a little.

"Go upstairs and brush your teeth. And then take a shower." Mom said, not looking at me. "Yes, mom. Good night." I said. Mom just sat there, not answering. I slowly walked upstairs and into my bedroom.

I saw Pandy and Teddy waiting for me. Their tense bodies relaxed the moment they saw me. I knew why this time though. It was weird how my mom reacted when she saw my stuffies. Well, I'll have the chance to find out later.

"Hey, guys! How are you guys?" I said, relieved to find them safe. "Hi, Lulu. We're good. Your mom didn't come in today. That's good news!" Teddy said. "Oh, good," I said, feeling happier.

"So, what were you going to tell us?" Pandy asked, looking excited. "What?" I thought for a moment about what they meant. Then I remembered that I was going to tell Pandy and Teddy about the exciting news before my mom distracted us.

"Ohhh. Never mind. Right." I said, remembering. "I was looking out the window and I saw a girl about my age walking by. I'm not sure what her name is though. The girl had brown eyes, black hair, and she was pretty tall."

I paused there, thinking back to what I saw. The silence went on for a few moments. "Then what happened?" Teddy asked, and the silence broke. "Oh, yes. Sorry, I was just remembering. So, I saw the girl holding a stuffy."

"Yay! That's great news!" Pandy and Teddy said together. "Yeah, I agree," I said, nodding. "We should find the girl. Then we can maybe talk to the stuffy!" Teddy said, looking very happy.

"Yes, I agree with that. But, we are going to try and find the girl tomorrow, not today. Because it's way too late, we should get some rest." I added the last part, seeing Pandy and Teddy on the verge of protesting.

The stuffies thought for a moment, then nodded in agreement. "Great! Well, when I get into bed, I can tell you a few things about my life!" I said, relieved. "Okay! Well, you can do shoera now.....Um, how do you say it again?" Pandy said, looking a little embarrassed that he didn't know how to say the word.

"It's 'shower', not shoera. But yes, you're right. I'm going to shower. But not now. Now, I'm going to brush my teeth." I said, silently laughing. "Okay! I want to see you brushing your tif!" Teddy said, looking excited.

I was confused for a second about what 'tif' is, then I burst out laughing. "It's called 'teeth', not 'tif'. But sure, you can watch if you want." I said, quickly controlling myself. "Okay!" Teddy and Pandy said together.

I picked up Teddy and Pandy carefully and walked into the bathroom. "This is called a bathroom. It's used for showering and brushing your teeth." I explained. "Oh, that's cool," Teddy said, looking interested.

"And this is the brush," I said, pointing at the toothbrush on the sink. "And I'll let you two explore now, just don't touch anything," I said, looking at them. Pandy was looking at the walls, peering at the patterns on them. Teddy was looking at the shower, curiosity showing on his face.

I picked up my toothbrush and started brushing my teeth. Then a bang sounded behind me. I rolled my eyes, I had known in the beginning that Pandy or Teddy would touch something.

I turned around and saw the shower door banging shut. I also saw a surprised Teddy beside it. I let out a small sigh. "Teddy, why did you touch that?" I asked. Teddy shook his head, "I....I didn't touch anything! I was just walking there," Teddy pointed to the other side of the bathroom, "And then I felt something cold. Then there was a 'bang' sound."

"Well, just be careful. That's called a shower door. It sometimes bangs shut if you touch it even in the slightest." I said to Teddy. "Okay," Teddy said, looking a bit better than before.

I finished brushing my teeth and turned around, "Right, now I just have to shower." "Okay, I'll see you later then," Teddy said, waving at me.

Pandy and Teddy went out of the bathroom. I let out a relieved sigh, not that I didn't like Teddy and Pandy, but it was all just too overwhelming. As I got in and showered, I wondered what it would be like to have a normal life.

Mom would be upstairs ushering me to brush my teeth. She would tell me exactly which position I should hold my brush. Once my mom even brought her phone to tell me how many minutes I should brush my teeth. Then mom would hurry out of the bathroom after she had told a funny joke.

But I don't blame it on Pandy and Teddy, it's right for me to help them, even if it has costs. Determination gripped me harder, I could do this, I thought as I got out of the shower.

I said good night to Pandy and Teddy, I soon fell asleep with my thoughts whirling away in my mind. But I had only one important thought: Help the stuffies.