Have You Seen My Grandma Kathy?

Meet Brooklyn, 6 year old smart little blonde first grader girl.  Brooklyn fell asleep one night on the couch at her Grandma Kathy’s house.  She woke suddenly to find herself floating high above the earth inside a very large bright yellow balloon.  

At first, she was really scared and didn't know what was going on.  She said a little prayer and after looking down at the oceans and the earth, she sat down on a big orange blanket at the bottom of the balloon.   Just then she heard a phone ringing.  She crawled over to a big red leather bag, looked inside, picked up a shiny silver cell phone.   “Hello?”

A teeny tiny voice said, “Brooklyn....it's okay, we're your travel angels, and we’re keeping you safe from harm.  We saw two giant green fire-breathing dragons fly off with Grandma Kathy last night and we're going to help you to find her.  Go look behind you, in the blue lunch box.  You’ll find a very special picture that will help you find Grandma Kathy.  Bye, bye, we'll you again.”

Brooklyn put down the phone and turned around to look in the lunchbox.   She found the picture she made for Grandma Kathy when Grandma was getting ready to go on vacation around the world.  It was a picture of Grandma Kathy at the beach, her favorite place to be.  And then she found a big box of Oreo cookies.  She was tired, so she laid down to rest, ended up taking a nap, all cuddled up in the orange blanket.

 

Sometime later, the balloon landed on a beach at Mae Nam, Ko Samui, Thailand.  

An elephant stopped in front of them.  The elephant introduced herself, "Hello. My name is Daisy, how may I help you?"   

"Hi, Daisy!"  Brooklyn bent down, picked up the picture, showed it to Daisy and asked, “Can you help me?  Have you seen my Grandma Kathy?”

“YES, I did see Grandma Kathy into a big black helicopter that was going to Spain.  You can go find her there.”

Daisy's trunk lifted Brooklyn up high onto her back, and they walked over to a little airport that was surrounded by palm trees and bright yellow, blue and orange flowers.  “You can go from here to Spain.  It's reallly easy.”

Daisy gently helped Brooklyn get off her back and onto the airport runway.  Brooklyn ran to climb up the steep ladder into the helicopter.  The helicopter flew her high into the mountains to the Santolea Reservoir in Aragon, Spain.  The helicopter captain opened the door and told her, "This is where you get out. Now go see if you can find your Grandma Kathy.  She could be closely, according to our reports."
Brooklyn was scared, but got down like she was told.  The helicopter took off and there she was, alone again.  She heard a noise and turned around to see a big white horse coming around the trees.  "Hello, Brooklyn.  My name is Abby.  I'm here to help you find your Grandma Kathy." I'll take care of you."

They rode on Abby's back down the mountain where they met a teacher with a group of school children on a field trip. Brooklyn introduced herself, held up her picture and asked the teacher, “Have you seen my Grandma Kathy?” 

The teacher told her, “Yes, she was here.  You must go on to Africa and look for her there.  The birds here tell me you are to go over to Morocco.  Abby can take you to back to the airport and you can catch a plane there.

Brooklyn rode on Abby's back to the airport and when they got there, Abby said she would go with her since she wanted to see Africa.  "Can I please have one of your Oreos?"

Brooklyn shared two of her cookies and after a six hour flight, they arrived in Morocco, a busy city with tall palm trees where it is very, very hot.  They were told a farmer was going out to a little village of Nkob, in the Berber desert of Morocco.  It was beautiful, palm tree groves, wheat and goats everywhere.  "That is where your Grandma Kathy was off to."  The farmer helped Abby up the truck ramp into the back of the truck, Brooklyn sat back there with her and they were off to a long ride in the desert.

Brooklyn met a nice family at the end of the road and asked them, “Have you seen my Grandma Kathy?” 

The Grand Father in the village told her “Yes, she was here.  She was on a big purple motorcycle.  Your Grandma Kathy said she was on her way to France, to go and do a dance.”

Abby and Brooklyn sat down and wondered what to do next.  The truck driver said he'd be going back to the airport if they wanted to go with him.

At the airport was a big bright red airplane.  On the side of the plane was written: FRANCE.  There was a long line of people.  Brooklyn said goodbye to Abby after Abby told her she wanted to stay in the desert and ride the sand dunes and travel through the rivers and palm trees.  

Brooklyn grabbed her box of Oreos and her picture, and walked up the staircase to the inside of the plane.  The plane was empty except for a jolly fat man in a red suit with a white beard and a little boy.  She couldn't believe it!!!  It was Santa Claus and Brooklyn's brother Micah!

"Ho, Ho, Ho, Hello, Brooklyn.  We've been waiting for you."

She was so surprised and happy!!!  Santa told her that he also heard Grandma Kathy went to France to go to do a dance.

"You and I both know how much Micah loves to dance, so I brought him with me.  The elves are loading my sleigh at the north pole, so we'll take this plane to France."

Brooklyn took a nap on the plane.  So did Micah.  They were both very tired.  When they awoke, it was time to get off the plane.   Santa took Brooklyn and Micah, found them a taxi cab and said goodbye.  "This nice taxi driver will help you now.  You be good, Brooklyn and Micah, and go find your Grandma Kathy."

In the taxi, Brooklyn asked the driver, "Have you seen my Grandma Kathy?"  She showed him the picture of Grandma Kathy.
"Yes, she stayed in a small village outside the City, near here.  She told me she slept very well in a nice, little cozy bed there.  She was eating little biscuits and drinking coffee when I saw her."  You can take a train there.  So Brooklyn and Micah took the train out to the little village.

There was a craft fair and farmer's market taking place at the station.  They bought some apple juice and two cupcakes and walked off to the house where Grandma Kathy was.  It was a long walk, Micah was crying to stop and pick him up, but he was too big for Brooklyn to carry.  When they finally got to the little house in the little village of Valjours, Grandma Kathy was already gone.  Her bed was empty.

She and Micah went to go look for the dancers dancing in Paris.  That's what they were told Grandma Kathy was going to go do there.  A man was pedaling a bicycle cart and offered to give them a ride around.  First they stopped at the Tuileries and Carrousel Gardens at the Louvre Palace and Museum.

They walked around for a while, everything was so beautiful, the buildings, the gardens, the museums.  Brooklyn was in love with Paris already. They asked a policeman in Paris if he had seen Brooklyn's Grandma Kathy.  "Yes, she was here.  She went to the Eiffel Tower.  She went to go to do to a dance in France."  

By the time Micah and Brooklyn got to the Eiffel Tower, Grandma Kathy was long gone.  

There was a group of clowns doing a show for the tourists at the park.  Brooklyn saw a little girl in a pink princess dress, with pretty hair brown hair.  She stared at her, and saw that it was her sister, Peyton!  Peyton had joined the circus to be a princess dancing in France.  They were so excited to see each other!!


The clown with yellow hair told them that Grandma Kathy had been there earlier.  "She said she was going over to the catacombs under the streets, where all the bones are buried from the old graveyards.  Be careful," the clowns warned, "there are a lot of underground tunnels.  Don't get lost or you may never get out again."  


Peyton put her arms around Brooklyn and told her, "I'm going with you.  But I'm tired.  Can we just sit here for a while?"  So they did.  They rested in the park, next to the River Thames while Micah ran around with two other little one year old boys, and they all ate Oreos.  And drank bottles of water.

Later that day, at the catacombs, a young man working at the bookstore there told them, "Yes, your Grandma Kathy was here.  She had a clown with red hair with her and they said they were on their way to Belgium.  They said they were going to eat chocolates in a Chocolate Factory in Liege.  

Brooklyn started crying, "We'll never catch up to her.  I just want to stay in France and do my own dance.  We'll never find our Grandma Kathy.  First the dragons took her away, and now we can't  catch up to where she is.  Whatever shall we do?"  Peyton hugged her while holding onto Peyton and Micah,  "Come on, Brooklyn, let's take the train to Belgium.  Let's to go to the Chocolate Factory!  It'll be fun!!  I bet she'll still be there.  Grandma Kathy loves chocolate."

"Where, oh where will we find Grandma Kathy?" cried Brooklyn.

The chocolate maker told them that Grandma Kathy ate a whole bunch of chocolate and got a tummy ache.  She rested for a while on a little bed in the back of the shop.  She drank some Ginger Ale and  felt better and then she left.  "I think she's in Maastricht, the Netherlands by now," said the shop owner.  That's where she was headed.  Maybe you'll find her there.  You can catch the train up there.  It's only 30 minutes."

The three of them boarded the train and went to Maastricht, holding hands and happy to be together.  They didn't find Grandma Kathy.  They found some pretty flower art on the streets though.  And they had delicious waffles with whipped cream and fruit.  The ladies at the flower art show told them they heard Grandma  Kathy say she was going to see the Queen of England, so they went to London on the underground train.

They ate a couple more Oreos.  They slept on the train and looked all over London, walking and walking with no luck.  They went to London Castle and all they found was the Queen's Guard.  No Grandma Kathy.  One of the guards there had seen Grandma Kathy, though.  She was headed over to the Florence Nightengale Museum.  

They went there to see if Grandma Kathy was still there.  What do you think, was she there?  NO.  When they were walking back out the door of the museum, they said goodby to the worker lady and thanked her for her help.  Brooklyn showed her the picture.  The lady told them she remembered Grandma Kathy, that she had dropped a map in the museum.  She gave the map to Brooklyn.  Brooklyn saw the name Coventry on it, with an arrow from London to Coventry.  That's where they must go next.  They were so tired, they found a park and slept under the trees in amongst a herd of sheep.  When they awakened, the sheep were playing in the fields, so the kids joined them for a while.  Then they took a train to Coventry.

Then met Grandma Kathy's friend, Tim, outside the Transport Museum.  The steel sculpture outside looked like a giant straw.  They didn't find Grandma Kathy, though.  Tim said she stayed for a while to rest because she had a sore knee from all her travels.  "She told me that she was afraid the Dragons were still after her, so she left to go to Scotland to see her friend, Jonny. The dragons don't like the water in Scotland."

They took a train and a bus and a ferry to Glasgow, Scotland to find Grandma Kathy.  They found a moose in a museum with Jonny.  But Grandma Kathy was gone again!

By this time, they were having such fun.  Brooklyn was almost happy that Grandma had been taken away by the dragons because now she and her little brother and sister were seeing the world.  She couldn't wait to find Grandma to tell her where they had all been!

They had fun at Jonny's house.  He took them dancing and out to see his friends.  Micah, Peyton and Brooklyn drew thank-you pictures and put them on the bulletin board where he worked.

The next day, they went to go catch a ferry to Ireland.  Jonny said Grandma Kathy was on her way to the island of her ancestors.  Ireland.  The family ancestors were born and left from Dingle, Ireland to come to America in the 1800's.  So that's where they went after breakfast with a few local pigeons...

Brooklyn, Micah and Peyton had so much fun in Ireland.  They saw wide open fields of green grass, sweeping hills overlooking cliffs to the ocean.  They saw lots and lots of sheep in the fields.  Fishing boats at the shores of the Atlantic Ocean.  They climbed the hill to  the Dingle Pub, and asked them, "Have you seen my Grandma Kathy???  

Nope.  They still didn't find Grandma Kathy.  They still had some Oreos.  They looked over and couldn't believe what they saw.  Aunt Lizzie sleeping on a bench in the pub.  They couldn't believe it.  Aunty Lizzie was tired from visiting with her Dad in Ireland.  She told them that she thought Grandma Kathy went to Dublin to get an airplane home.  "You be careful and go find Grandma Kathy.  I'm staying here a few more days."  They bundled up in a bus and headed up to Dublin.  After driving a short time in the country, the bus got a flat tire and had to pull over on the side of the road.  

Everyone sat down to wait.  Just then, a little truck drove past and stopped suddenly.  It was the kids' Mommy and Daddy - Matt and Mollie Miller.  Brooklyn's Mommy asked, "What are you doing here?  You're all supposed to be asleep in bed."  Brooklyn told Mommy all about her journey to find Grandma Kathy, about the dragons, and Paris and the chocolates, finding Peyton and Micah on the journey.  Mollie and Matt laughed, sat down with Brooklyn, Peyton and Micah, and held them closely.  "Your dad and I are building you a new house here.  We are so happy you are safe.  We're going to help you find Grandma Kathy.  His name is Tom.  But first we have to wake him up.  Tom, wake up!!"

So Tom the Gnome, along with Micah, Brooklyn and Peyton waited for the flat tire to be fixed.  Everyone gave lots of kisses and hugs to Mommy and Daddy and got back on the bus to Dublin with Tom.  They were hungry and the Oreos were all gone.  So Tom bought them a big bag of apples, a couple bananas and a few biscuits.

A lady in a Dublin bookstore told them Grandma Kathy said she was going back to the United States to see her brothers and her friends in Virginia.  So that's where Brooklyn and Tom the Gnome and Peyton and Micah went.  They flew to Richmond Virginia to meet Cristy in the back of a great big airplane.  No one else was in the plane except them.

"Have you seen Grandma Kathy?"  Brooklyn asked.

"Yes, she was here," said Cristy.  "She played golf with me.  And now she's in New York.  If you hurry, you might catch up with her!!"  So they quickly got on a train and went to New York.  Guess what?

She wasn't in New York, either.  BUT, Brooklyn, Peyton, Micah and Tom the Gnome got to meet all of Brooklyn's cousins and Aunts and Uncles.  They met Uncle Mike, Aunt Lynn, cousins Erin, Cindy, Chris, Courtney, Aiden, Jack and Molly.  They played soccer, had a barbecue and stayed overnight.  It was so much fun.

After a few days, they left and flew on another plane to Snowmass Village Colorado, where Grandma Kathy went to see her brother Fred.  "Have you seen my Grandma Kathy?"



A man in the library told them that Grandma Kathy and Uncle Fred were on a river trip to the Grand Canyon.  "







The Oreos were all gone.  They were tired of apples.  They wanted to go home.  But, they went to Uncle Fred's house.  Alas, Grandma Kathy had already left Colorado and was on her way back to Napa.

They didn't want to go on another trip.  Micah was tired of walking, Peyton was hungry and Brooklyn was angry and upset that she couldn't find Grandma Kathy.  Tom the Gnome told Brooklyn that there was a magic trampoline nearby, just around the corner.  He took Brooklyn, Peyton and Micah to the trampoline park behind Fred's house.  "When we start jumping, we'll jump so high in the sky, we'll fly all the way to Napa!"  So they all got on and started jumping and hopping, holding on to each other's hands, laughing and laughing.  Sure enough, they jumped so high and so far, they soared high above the mountains and lakes and streams from Colorado all the way to California.  And then they started dropping.

"What's happening? Why are we falling??"  Just then, two giant birds, red and green hummingbirds, flew beneath them and called to them to get on their backs.  "My name's Kelley and this is Nicole.  We'll help you get to Grandma Kathy.  The three kids all fell asleep and they didn't fall off, because Tom the Gnome, Kelley and Nicole wrapped them all up in a big sheet of gold silk and tied it tight to each other.

The next thing, Brooklyn woke up, and she was in the bathtub with Micah and Peyton!  And Grandma Kathy!!!!!!!

The End.