The Tale of the Missing Rock

Illustration by Camden  Age:   4
Ms. Mo's Preschool class

          Emerson the dragonfly sat in the middle of the clearing thinking hard.  Where could that rock be?  Yesterday he had hid it somewhere wanting to play a trick on his friends, but now, he couldn’t remember where he put it.  This was his friends’ special rock that they kept in the clearing and used for different things when they played.  They would be here any minute!  Where could that rock be?!

            Just then Audra the duck waddled into the clearing.  “Good morning, Emerson,” said Audra.  “What’s the matter?”

            Emerson had not wanted to tell his friends about the rock right away, but the words started before he could stop them.  “I can’t find our special rock.  I was going to play a trick on everyone by hiding it, but now I don’t remember where I put it,” Emerson replied desperately.

            Audra glared at Emerson for a minute, and then sighed, “Well, let’s get to looking.  I hope this teaches you to stop trying to play tricks on us.  You know, we don’t think it’s nearly as funny as you do.”

            Emerson gave Audra a sheepish look as the two friends began to look around the clearing.  They were so busy looking that they did not even notice when the butterfly twins, Summer and Madison, flew up.

            “Good morning, Emerson and Audra,” called the twins together.  “What are you looking for?”

Illustration by Alex  Age:  4
Ms. Mo's Preschool class

            Before Emerson could say anything, Audra blurted out, “Emerson hid our special rock as a trick and now he doesn’t remember where he hid it.”

            The twins gave Emerson an aggravated look, and then Summer asked, “Where have you looked already?”

            “I’ve looked all over the clearing,” cried Emerson.

            “When did you hide it?” asked Audra.

            “I hid it yesterday after everyone left to go home,” replied Emerson.

            “Are you sure you hid it in the clearing?” asked Madison.

            Emerson thought hard.  “Wait a minute,” he said excitedly.  “I went to Polliwog Pond before I went home, and I think I took the rock with me.”

            The four friends set out for the pond.  When they reached the pond, Emerson said, “Maybe we should split up.  I could have put it anywhere, and this is a big place.”

            Audra decided to swim in the pond and look along the bank.  Emerson and the butterfly twins each took a different section and searched from the air.  After they had searched for 15 minutes, they met back at the beginning of the path completely disgusted.

            Just then, Hayden the turtle lumbered up to the pond.  “Good morning, guys,” he said pleasantly.  “What are you doing?”

            “Emerson hid our special rock as a trick and now he doesn’t remember where he put it, “ replied Audra giving Emerson another nasty look.

            “I’m sorry, guys,” Emerson apologized.  “I promise I won’t ever do this again.”

            “When did you hide it?” asked Hayden.

            “I hid it yesterday after everyone else left to go home,” replied Emerson.

            “You passed me on the path yesterday evening,” said Hayden.  “And you had something in your arms, but I couldn’t tell what it was.”

            “Did you see where I put it?” asked Emerson excitedly even though he was a little disappointed someone had seen him.

            “You landed over there by those cattails,” said Hayden.

           Suddenly, everything came back to Emerson, and he remembered where he put the rock.  He flew straight to his hiding spot and pulled it out.

            “Here it is!” Emerson shouted.

            “Yeah!!” shouted the twins.

            “Finally!” exclaimed Audra.  “Now let’s go back to the clearing and play.  I hope you, Emerson, have learned your lesson.”

            Emerson gave everyone a sheepish look as they all set out for the clearing.  When they got there, they put their special rock in its special place.  They decided to play something that didn’t involve the rock for the rest of the afternoon.  They figured the rock had
 seen enough action for one day.