Category: toys

Flapjax-speaks

Ch. 11, Post 2: Flapjax Learns a Lesson

On By LisaDIn adventure, adventures, children's stories, Family, Friends, kids, Kindergarten, School, toysLeave a comment

Flapjax quickly jumped to his feet and ran behind the crate. The furry object in front of him got to its feet, shaking itself off, then glared at him. Flapjax shrank back further behind the crate.

“Why are you trying to hide from me? YOU pulled ME out of the backpack! I was napping, thank you very much,” it said, coming closer. There was nothing more Flapjax could do, so he came sheepishly out from behind the crate.

“Well, aren’t you going to apologize? Who are you anyway?” the creature peered at Flapjax from behind black eyes and orange fur. Little tufts of white covered the lower half of its face and the tip of its long, bushy tail, which grazed Flapjax as the creature circled slowly around him. Flapjax tried to push the tail away, but the creature just whipped it back in his face.

“I asked you who you were. It’s rude not to respond,” it said, stopping momentarily to wait for Flapjax to reply.

Flapjax didn’t know what to do. He shrugged his shoulders in frustration.

“Speak!” the creature growled.

“I can’t!” Flapjax screeched and quickly covered his mouth with his paws in amazement.

Flapjax-speaks

The orange furry thing looked at Flapjax in surprise.

“Have you never spoken before?” it asked, all anger gone, replaced instead with curiosity.

Flapjax shook his head, mystified. His new companion just waited.

“No,” Flapjax finally found more words. “I did not know that I could.”

“What’s your name?” the orange fluff sat back on its haunches, head tilted to the side.

“Flapjax. Who are you? What are you??” Flapjax’s surprise was quickly being replaced with curiosity of his own.

“I’m Cuppie, short for Buttercup. I’m a fox, obviously,” she rolled her eyes, and Flapjax blushed in embarrassment. He’d never seen a fox before, let alone talked to one!

fox

“I don’t understand,” she continued, pacing again on all fours. “How did you not know you could talk? Don’t you talk to your friends?”

Flapjax just looked at her, confused.

“No,” he said. “Libby is my friend, but I’ve never been able to talk to her. I’ve tried, but nothing comes out.”

“Is Libby your human?”

Flapjax nodded.

“Humans can’t understand us. My grandpa says that once upon a time, we could all talk to each other, but that over the years, humans simply forgot how. It’s been hundreds of years since,” Cuppie said with authority.

Flapjax grew sad. “I don’t have any family, other than Libby and Mom and Dad,” he said, tears filling his eyes.

“Your human doesn’t have any brothers or sisters?” Cuppie asked. Flapjax shook his head. “Well that’s why you didn’t know you could talk then! You haven’t been around any of us. Wow, it’s like you’ve been on another planet!”

“Have not!” Flapjax pouted. He was quickly growing annoyed with this “fox” creature.

“It’s okay,” Cuppie laughed and grabbed Flapjaxs paw, pulling him towards the next backpack. “We just have a lot of teaching to do!” And with that, she jumped up and yanked on the zipper…

 

police-women-and-flapjax

Ch. 10, Post 3: Home Alone

On By LisaDIn adventure, adventures, children's stories, Family, kids, moving, toysLeave a comment

Flapjax was King of his castle, and it was THE BEST! He had the whole place to himself and no one to tell him to stop causing trouble or to go to bed. Of course, he also had no bed…or TV…or snacks…or his best friend, Libby. But as long as he didn’t think about those things, he was okay.

When it got dark out and Libby still hadn’t come back to get him, Flapjax panicked. He ran all around the big, empty house that used to be filled with his family and all of the things they loved. He looked for anything he could use to survive being home alone.

Luckily for Flapjax, his humans had forgotten a few things particularly useful to a stuffed bear trying to make it on his own…

papa-lukes-pizzeria-menuFlapjax was rooting around all of the kitchen drawers (at least the ones at bear height), looking for something to quell the rumbling in his tummy, when he made his first discovery: the menu for Papa Luke’s, their favorite restaurant, where every Friday they went for a big, cheesy pizza. Flapjax knew that menu like he knew his favorite book—or at least he knew the picture of the pizza on the front of it like he knew the red hat and blue coat of his idol, Paddington Bear.

But how could he order pizza without a phone?

Flapjax dug through closets and opened cabinets, and that’s where he found it—an old cellphone. He tried to turn it on, but it was dead. He climbed into the cabinet and jumped excitedly when he felt the long, thin cord of a plug that fit perfectly into the phone. He plugged the charger into an outlet and grinned with joy when the little red light on the phone lit up, telling him it was working. He was saved!

But when he typed in the numbers and waited for the dial-tone, nothing happened. He frowned with frustration and kept typing and pushing all the buttons on the phone. Finally…success!

“Town Police Department,” a voice spoke hurriedly on the other side. “What is your

emergency?”

Flapjax wasn’t sure exactly how to communicate this exact emergency. Did a hungry tummy count? Or maybe being left behind by your humans?

Before he could think of what to do, the human at the other end spoke again.

“Hello? Are you still there? Are you unable to speak?”

Flapjax stared at the phone in awe. She was reading his mind!

“Okay, I have the address where you are calling from on your phone and will send a unit over. Stay with me, now!”

Flapjax grinned. He would be waiting!

Continue reading “Ch. 10, Post 3: Home Alone” →

home-alone-flapjax

Ch. 10, Post 2: The Attic Escape

On By LisaDIn adventure, adventures, children's stories, Family, kids, moving, toysLeave a comment

Flapjax gulped. He stared out of the little attic window at his family as they drove away to their new home.

He was in SERIOUS trouble.

Sure, he had been on his own before…but always around humans of some sort! And always with access to snacks! Now he had neither. He was stuck in the attic of a big, empty house, and even if he could escape the attic, he had watched Mom pack up the refrigerator and kitchen cabinets earlier, so he knew there would be no food!

He paced a long wooden beam that ran across the attic. He paced slowly at first, getting faster and faster as his panic began to grow. And then…

Whoops!

Suddenly Flapjax was falling, but instead of hitting the hard wood of the attic floor, he fell with a springy crunch on something scratchy…and then he kept going. Before he knew it, he was falling through the attic and crashing onto the hard floor of what had once been Libby’s bedroom.

falling-flapjax

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Ch. 10, Post 1: Moving Day

On By LisaDIn adventure, adventures, children's stories, Family, kids, moving, toysLeave a comment

It was the worst day ever…worse even than that time Flapjax got bearnapped by a pirate, or that time he got left behind at a bakery (okay, so the second one hadn’t been that bad…).

Flapjax sat at his post on Libby’s bed, staring with horror as empty boxes began to fill up, and slowly but surely the cozy room around him started to disappear.

moving-boxes

Flapjax didn’t want to move. He loved his home! It was his first real home, and he had been so happy there ever since he had been brought home from the store on his Adoption Day.

Libby didn’t want to move either. She carefully packed up her precious belongings, putting each toy delicately into a box, sniffling back tears with each one. She loved her bedroom and her house with its big backyard and Downtheback. Oh no! They’d never get to explore Downtheback again!

A big, blue truck grunted and whined as it pulled up to the front of the house. Flapjax and Libby raced to the window to peer out at the truck that would carry everything to their new home.

Dad jumped out of the driver’s seat and raced up the steps to the house. “Kids! Time to go! Are you ready?” he called up the stairs to them.

No! They were not ready…they would never be ready! If they were never ready, they wouldn’t be able to move…

Flapjax and Libby grinned at each other as they hatched their brilliant plan.

moving-truck

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Flapjax-bakery-counter

Ch. 9, Post 2: The Great Bakery Sleepover

On By LisaDIn adventure, adventures, children's stories, Desserts, Family, kids, summer vacation, toys, Travel, vacationLeave a comment

Flapjax was generally a good bear, until it came to sweets…boy, did he have a sweet tooth!

So while Libby was enjoying her hot chocolate and pancakes, Flapjax was focused on getting his paws on all of the yummy treats surrounding him. When the rest of his human family left the bakery, Flapjax quietly hid in the corner of their booth until the old woman in the apron with the silver hair finally turned off the lights for the night and left the shop empty. Empty…except for Flapjax, that is.

With the bakery completely dark, Flapjax tippy-toed across the floor and used his nose to lead him to all the tasty treats. A few sniffs and he found his way to a chocolate cake filled with raspberry jam and covered in goey chocolate frosting. After a few pawfuls, Flapjax moved on to a moon-shaped shiny bread, which he discovered was crispy outside but fluffy and soft inside. Heavenly.

Flapjax-bakery-counter

Flapjax licked his paws clean and moved on with his search. Soon, he stumbled upon a thick metal contraption with hoses and wheels poking out every which way. On top of this strange machine were containers filled with a dark brown bead. Flapjax was very curious. It smelled yummy and looked like crunchy chocolate. He grabbed a handful with one paw and stuffed it into his mouth. He crunched down, expecting something sugary sweet.

Yuck!

Flapjax spit it out. He looked at the bins holding the crunchy substance and noticed the letters on the metal machine: “C-O-F-F-E-E”. He wondered what that spelled. Whatever it was, it was definitely not candy!

Continue reading “Ch. 9, Post 2: The Great Bakery Sleepover” →

flapjax-bear-playing-skeeball-arcade

Ch. 8, Post 3: Flapjax and the Great Arcade

On By LisaDIn adventure, adventures, beach, children's stories, Family, Friends, toys, vacationLeave a comment

After the ocean scare, Flapjax and Libby decided they were done with the beach for the day. So, after a quick trip to the hot dog stand for lunch, Flapjax and family made their way to the arcade.

Have you ever been to a beach arcade? They are the GREATEST. Hundreds of games and prizes, right on the boardwalk! Giant stuffed bears hung from the rafters…the ultimate goal for a girl and her furry best friend. All they needed were a few (thousand) tickets, and they could win one of those big bears.

They had $5 of Libby’s hard-earned chores money (Flapjax totally helped earn that) and one whole hour before they would be hauled off home for the day. Could they do it?

Libby liked the Jurassic Park game the most, so she beelined to the prime seat in the Libby-sized plastic Jeep. Flapjax stayed away from the racing games — they made him so dizzy! — and eyed the machine that would be his way to glory: the skee-ball machine.

chapter8-skeeball

There was a row of skee-ball machines. Flapjax took his place in the lineup of human children, eyeing those on either side of him. They looked down at him and laughed…how could this little bear play skee-ball?

Flapjax inserted his quarter into the machine and waited as it groaned and spat out a line of mini bowling balls his way. Then, with a deep, calming breath, Flapjax lifted a ball out of its place and hurled it down the runway towards the bullseye.

Continue reading “Ch. 8, Post 3: Flapjax and the Great Arcade” →

Flapjax-bear-in-sand

Ch. 8, Post 1: Beach Bum Flapjax

On By LisaDIn adventure, adventures, beach, children's stories, kids, toys, vacationLeave a comment

Life doesn’t get much better than summertime at the Jersey Shore. There is just something so glorious about baking on the beach, running around and getting sand in your fur, speeding in bumper cars, winning prizes for being the best at water guns, and eating all the ice cream a bear could want. As long as he stayed away from the crashing waves and the rolling tide of the ocean, Flapjax was in Heaven.

One hot, sunny day, as Libby and the grownups were splashing around in the waves, Flapjax was avoiding the water like it was his job. Baths were bad enough, but add slimy ocean creatures and sticky salt to that, and it was Flapjax’s nightmare. So instead of swimming, Flapjax passed the time building sandcastles and rummaging through the snacks Mom had packed for them.

After devouring a bag of homemade cookies, Flapjax yawned. He was desperately tired. Castle-building was tough work! And the sand was so soft and pillowy. Flapjax sprawled himself out on a beach towel under a big, colorful umbrella, laid his head down, and immediately started snoring.

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Flapjax-and-Pilot

Ch. 7, Post 3: Flying Flapjax

On By LisaDIn adventure, adventures, children's stories, Family, Flying, Friends, kids, toys, TravelLeave a comment

Flapjax gulped. A tall woman in a dark suit with gold bands along the sleeves and a cap that looked very official stared down at him.

Flapjax-and-Pilot

“Well, hello,” she said, kindly, bending down to pick Flapjax up. “What are you doing here?” Flapjax proudly pointed to himself and then to the rows and rows of soundly sleeping humans behind him. “Ahh, so you’re a helpful bear?” she asked, and Flapjax nodded seriously. He always tried, at least. “Well then, how would you like to help me fly the plane?” Flapjax nodded again excitedly. Boy, did he ever!

The pilot carried Flapjax into the cockpit and sat him down next to her while her co-pilot stared at Flapjax curiously. She strapped them both in safe and sound with a thick seatbelt. Buttons, dials and levers covered the dashboard in front of them. But Flapjax wasn’t looking at the dashboard, he was staring out the windows that covered the little room. They were on top of the clouds! He couldn’t even see the ground!

Flapjax was scared at first, but the pilot patted his back until he had calmed down. She had everything under control. Flapjax stared at her as she navigated their big plane with ease. He was in awe.

Flapjax watched with wide eyes as the world got bigger and bigger out the windows. They were almost there…although he wasn’t quite sure where “there” was. He had to get back to Mom.

Continue reading “Ch. 7, Post 3: Flying Flapjax” →

Flapjax-flying

Chapter 7, Post 2: Flapjax Saves the Day

On By LisaDIn adventure, adventures, children's stories, Flying, Friends, kids, toys, TravelLeave a comment

Turns out, this flying thing was a bit more complicated than Flapjax had imagined.

Flapjax groaned as he threw up again in the bathroom at the back of the plane, where he had conveniently landed after his initial take-off adventure. He had been so excited for his trip, but now all he could think about was getting back home to Libby…that and flat, unmoving ground.

A throat cleared in the doorway. Flapjax turned to see a tall man in a fancy suit looking at him curiously. The man bent over and handed Flapjax a cup of something bubbly. Flapjax took it gratefully and gulped it down. Ginger ale, yum.Flapjax-plane-passenger

“So,” the man began, picking Flapjax up gently, “are you going to tell me what you’re  doing back here?” Flapjax shrugged. He wasn’t too sure himself. “Okay,” the man continued, “well I have to go bring snacks to everyone else. Can you be good and sit here by yourself until I get back?” The man pointed to a padded chair at the back of the plane. Flapjax nodded, but he had stopped listening at “snacks.” He snatched a bag of pretzels before settling down into his new seat. The man laughed then walked away down the aisle, pushing a heavy cart filled with sodas and juices and drawers and drawers of snacks.

Flapjax liked this man. He was clearly important. And he hadn’t made fun of Flapjax for being sick, which was nice of him. But as much as he liked the man and wanted to be a good bear for him, Flapjax was Flapjax, and it was only a matter of time before he got too fidgety and needed to find an activity.

He spotted a boy in a seat not too far from him. The boy looked a little older than Libby, and he was wide awake and awfully nervous.

Without a second thought, Flapjax was off to save the day!

*****

Continue reading “Chapter 7, Post 2: Flapjax Saves the Day” →

Flapjax-in-suitcase

Chapter 7, Post 1: Stowaway Flapjax

On By LisaDIn adventure, adventures, children's stories, Family, Flying, kids, toys, TravelLeave a comment

Libby took really good care of Flapjax, and Flapjax was a good friend right back…well, usually. Sometimes he got them both into trouble, but that was never purposeful! And Flapjax loved his human parents. They watched over him and let him have really good snacks, and they were pretty fun most of the time (as long as they weren’t forcing him into a bath).

So, when Flapjax found out that Mom had to go on a work trip to a place far away – so far away that she would have to go on an airplane to get there – Flapjax knew his duty to the family. He was a cuddly bear, but he was also a protective bear, and he would be there to protect Mom on her trip and make sure she was cozy and comfortable the whole time.

Plus, Flapjax would get to fly…

Flapjax dreamed of flying, of seeing all of the fun places they usually only got to see on the map placemats that caught their spilled Cheerios, and he was pretty sure the states were not really pink and purple and blue and yellow. But if he could fly, he would know for sure. And this was his chance!

Unfortunately for Flapjax, Mom said he and Libby had to stay home with Dad. That meant all kinds of treats like staying up late, watching movies way past bedtime, and eating all the popcorn they could gobble down, so Libby wasn’t too disappointed. But Flapjax had his heart set on flying.

That night, after all his humans had gone to sleep, Flapjax tip-toed to Mom and Dad’s room, found Mom’s suitcase in the dark, and carefully, quietly unzipped it before hopping in and burying himself in a pile of clothes.

Flapjax-in-suitcase

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