The Missing Blue Shoe- Part One Childrens Story Land

The Missing Blue Shoe- part one

Oliver, a German Sheppard, wanted to command his own army of dogs. But at the moment, his only friend was Fig, an English Boxer, who had been at his side for many years.

Oliver and Fig wandered through England’s south coast from Ashford to Hastings when the weather was good enough for them to travel far away.

They loved to frolic in the cold water of the Atlantic Ocean.

“Fig,” Oliver said, “I think we should make our way to Hastings tomorrow. Ashford is a pretty boring town for me. How about you?”

“I like it well enough, but it’s just not what I thought it would be, so let’s go to Hastings. I’m looking forward to a change of scene.”

“At least we’ll have the ocean to play in,” Fig said, “when we get to Hastings.”

“I remember some of the good restaurants in Hastings that didn’t mind feeding us.”

“Okay, let’s get going.” Oliver would have preferred to go along the motorway, but he knew Fig wouldn’t go for that idea.

They ran along one of the back roads toward Ashford Avenue, trying to keep a low profile because they had seen dogcatchers roaming the area.

At a crossroads, they found a dog that appeared to be lost. “Do you know who I am?” he asked.

“No,” Oliver said, “we’re not from around here. Do you have a name?”

“Yes, I think it’s Lickums.” He glanced around trying to see something he recognized.

“You can come with us if you want to,” Fig said.

“That’s nice of you, but I’m sure I must live close by.”

“We’ll help you look for your home,” Oliver said.

“Thank you. Please tell me your names.”

“I’m Fig and he’s Oliver, We’re the best of friends.”

“I wish I had a friend, but I’ve always been kept indoors and only taken out for walks.”

“That’s no life, staying in all the time,” Oliver said. “You should come with us.”

“I don’t understand why I don’t recognize where I am because I do know where I am when we go out for a walk.”

Oliver felt Lickums’ frustration. He thought Lickums’ owner probably dropped him off.

“Let’s take this right turn,” Fig said. “Maybe you’ll see something that you remember.”

“That sounds good,” Lickums said. “Thanks, Fig. It’s the trees, that I know best.”

“Lickums, there’s lots of trees on these streets,” Oliver said, feeling frustrated.

The three dogs turned left and right so many times that they lost track of how to get back to Ashford Ave.

“Lickums,” Fig said, “I think you should come with us.”

“But my family must be out looking for me.”

Oliver glanced at Fig and whispered, “Maybe we should stay with him tonight.”

“You’re right. I was just thinking that we can’t leave him alone in this dilemma.”

“We’ve decided to stay with you, Lickums,” Fig said.

“You’ll make me feel safer if you do.”

As the sun rose the next morning, Oliver heard a man calling Lickums’ name. “Wake up, Lickums.”

“Huh, what happened?”

“Listen, there’s someone calling you.”

“Oh, oh.” Lickums ran toward the sound of the man’s voice.

“This is a very good morning,” Fig said.

“I’m happy he’s found his owner,” Oliver said. “Now, we should get moving.”

They were trotting along the road, looking for Ashford Avenue when a

car stopped beside them.

“Hey guys,” Lickums called out. “Come and live with us.”

The driver opened his door and started to get out.

Oliver saw the man’s movement as a threat. “Fig, let’s get away from here.”

They took off running as fast as they could go.

Chapter 2

Oliver and Fig found their way out of Ashford, darting along the backstreets because they had seen the dogcatcher on Ashford Ave.

“Do you think they’re out looking for us?” Fig asked.

“No one knows us around here.”

“Isn’t that the problem, them not knowing us?”

“Okay, you may have a thought there,” Oliver said. “Let’s go across the road to that park.”

The garden area of the park was beautiful. Azalea bushes were in full bloom and the pink and blue hydrangeas looked great with their huge flowers.

The red Echinacea along with the multi-colored ones made a beautiful display where they were mixed in with the ornamental grasses. Just a little further along the path they saw day lilies with pink with yellow centers growing beside cream and white daisies.

Oliver and Fig meandered through the park enjoying all the sights of children playing while their mothers talked with their friends.

“Hey, you down there.”

Oliver looked up to see a big black bird with a yellow beak. “Hey, yourself.”

“I’m Napoleon. Who are you and why are you wondering through my park, if I may ask?”

“I’m Oliver and this is my friend, Fig. What kind of bird are you?”

“I’m a Mynah bird and I really like to talk, so how about us having a conversation before you move on.”

Oliver glanced at Fig. “What do you think?”

“Sure, we can keep him company for a while.”

Napoleon flew to a low branch of the beautiful weeping willow that grew on the bank of a large lake.

“Tell us what you want to talk about,” Oliver said.

“Anything at all, I’ve been lonely.”

“Don’t you have any friends or family with you?” Fig asked.

“Don’t tell anyone, but I escape from an aviary.”

“Napoleon, if you want to travel with us, you’re welcome to,” Fig said.

“Look over your shoulder,” Napoleon said. “There’s Biscuit coming this way. Now, he doesn’t have any family so he wanders through here a lot.”

“Biscuit,” Napoleon yelled. “You may have a friend here.”

“Me? You know I don’t have anyone who likes me.”

Biscuit was a tan and white Jack Russell with a feisty character.

“Biscuit, come over and chat with us,” Oliver said.

“Okay.”

“I’m looking for dogs that would like to join Fig and myself traveling

through England. Would you be interested?”

“I sure would.”

“Great, hang about for a while,” Oliver said.

“Sorry I have to say goodbye to a lady. I’ll be right back.”

“Biscuit,” Fig said, “bring her back with you.”

“I might do that.”

Biscuit ran off feeling happy that he’d stopped by the weeping willow. He had been lonely for a long time.

Napoleon spotted Adrian and Gus walking along the path toward them.

Adrian called out to Napoleon. “Good to see you still up in that tree, Napoleon.”

“How are you two this morning?” Napoleon asked.

“Great, thanks. The sun’s out and there are no clouds in sight, which makes for a very nice day.”

“Adrian, come and meet my new friends. You’ll like them.”

Adrian and Gus sauntered over to the willow tree.

Napoleon introduced them to his new friends.

“Perhaps you know Biscuit,” Napoleon said. “He just joined our group.”

“You mean that Jack Russell?” Gus asked.

“That’s right.”

“He bit me two days ago. I don’t think I want anything to do with him.”

“Hold on, Gus,” Napoleon said. “Listen to what these two have to say.”

“All right.”

Fig told them about making a trip along the coast of England.

“That sure sounds good,” Adrian said. “Right, Gus?”

“It does sound good. We’ve been living around here for a long time now.”

“Napoleon, will you be coming with us?” Gus asked.

“You won’t be able to stop me from going.”

“Okay, we’ll come along,” Gus said. “Just keep Biscuit away from me.”

“Here he comes, with a lady,” Oliver said.

“That’s a lady if I ever saw one,” Napoleon said.

Hi everyone,” Biscuit said. “I’ve bought Goldie with me. She’s interested in coming with us.”

Goldie was a Lab-a-doddle with golden curly fur. She liked the look of Gus. She nuzzled him with her nose.

Gus backed off slowly so that he didn’t offend Goldie.

“Goldie,” Biscuit said, “they need to get to you know first.”

“Biscuit,” Oliver said, “I think you need to say you’re sorry to Gus for biting him.”

“Maybe, but he did annoy me first.”

“That’s no excuse, please apologize.”

“Seeing as this day is almost over,” Fig said, “I think we’ll start out early tomorrow.”

They all nodded in agreement.

Chapter Three

Napoleon awoke to the sound of two cats crying beneath his tree. He looked down to see Muffin and Crumpet.

He flew down to talk with them.

“Napoleon,” Muffin said, “we heard someone talking about you and the others leaving the park. Is that true?”

“Yes, it’s true. Do you want to come with us?”

“That’s very nice of you,” Muffin said. “How do you feel about that, Crumpet?”

“A trip sounds good to me.”

Oliver and Fig walked up to the weeping willow tree. “Are you two cats coming on our trip?” Oliver asked.

“We are interested,” Crumpet said.

“I’m going for a run around,” Fig said. “I’m feeling stiff.”

“Go ahead, Fig,” Oliver said, “and enjoy yourself.”

Fig ran across the grass toward a mass of trees. He stopped here and there, sniffing all of the strange smells and enjoying every minute. Further into the trees, he found a girl’s shoe. He sniffed it, wondering who lost it. He glanced around in case a young girl was looking for the shoe, but he didn’t see anyone. He picked it up and ran back to his new friends.

When he came to his friends, he was out of breath. He dropped the shoe at Oliver’s feet.

“Sit, Fig,” Oliver said. “You’re out of breath. Come now, breathe slowly.”

“Fig,” Goldie said, “were did you come across this blue shoe?”

“Among…” Fig stopped to catch his breath. “…the trees. Over there.” He pointed to where he had come from, still breathing hard.

“This is such a usual color for a shoe,” Goldie said.

Then Adrian heard a young girl crying and her mother complaining about her daughter losing a shoe. “Lisa, you know how expensive those shoes were and having them dyed to the color of your new dress cost a lot of money.”

“I know, Mommy, and I’m very sorry,”

“Fig,” Goldie said, “see that lady and girl, they’ve lost a shoe. Take the blue shoe to them.”

“Thanks, Goldie, I will.”

Fig picked up the blue shoe and ran toward the lady and child. As he drew close, he laid it on the ground and barked.

“Oh, look, Mommy, he’s found my shoe. Thank you, doggie.” She hugged Fig’s neck and whispered in his ear, “I love you, thank you.”

“Be careful, Sweetheart. You can never tell about strange dogs; he might bite you.”

“No, Mommy, he’s a nice dog.”

Fig licked her hand for her kind words.

Oliver ran over to Fig because he thought he’d been a long time with the people. He whispered, “What’s going on, Fig?”

“Nothing. Lisa gave me a big hug and I enjoyed it.”

“Come, Lisa,” Mother said, “we should go home and get you ready for your dance class.”

She rubbed Fig’s ear. “I wish I could stay longer.”

“I’m glad Lisa has her shoe back,” Fig said.

“Fig,” Goldie said, “you know Lisa is going to dance in her blue shoes. It would be good to follow them and see her dance.”

“That does sound good,” Fig said. “Oliver, would you like to see her dance?”

“How about us all going?” Oliver said.

Several excited voices cheered that idea.

“Goldie,” Oliver said, “run ahead and keep track of the lady, please.”

Goldie took off running fast to catch up with them. She stopped when she saw them hurrying into a house. She sat and waited for her new friends to catch up with her.

“Where are they, Goldie?” Freckles, the Border Collie, asked.

“They went to the house with the red curtains in the living room window.”

“Lisa must be changing into her blue dress and her blue shoes,” Crumpet said. “I bet she’ll look wonderful.”

The front door opened and Lisa and her parents came out to their car.

“Doesn’t Lisa look great all dressed up?” Muffin said. “Blue’s a good color for her.”

“I couldn’t agree with you more,” Crumpet said.

Napoleon and his friends followed Lisa’s car as close as they could. As they ran along, Oliver realized he hadn’t seen Napoleon. “Fig, do you know where Napoleon is?”

“No, he was in the tree the last time I saw him.”

“Look up, he’s with us,” Adrian said.

“He had me worried,” Oliver said.

At the Mayfair Theater, they heard music playing. When the man guarding the back door left, they slipped inside.

They saw Lisa on stage dancing with a boy of her own age. She looked very professional in her pretty blue dress with a ring of white flowers and green leaves around the hem. Her shoes and dress matched the boy’s vest.

“Hey, you dogs and cats,” the guard shouted. “Get out of here at once.”

“He’s a meany,” Freckles said.

“We could wait for her to leave,” Napoleon suggested.

“It’s dark and I want to go home,” Gus whined.

“Okay, but if we do leave we may not see her again,” Fig s