Josh gives you a friendly smile as he opens the door, standing aside for you to enter. As always, he's excited about something, something that most likely concerns his trusty canine companion, Blue. Blue herself yips happily as she sees you enter her house.
"Hi! Come on in! It's so good to see you!" Josh exclaims.
You return his greeting, wondering what's in store for today.
"Blue has been acting a little odd today. I asked her why, and she said she wanted to wait until you got here before she told me anything. So, now that you're here, what do you say we ask her if she's ready to tell us what's going on?" he asks.
You nod, deciding it would be a good idea, since your friend is no doubt going crazy with anticipation.
The two of you walk over to Blue and sit down next to her. Josh addresses her.
"Okay, Blue. Our friend is here. What is it that's making you act so weird?" asks Josh.
Blue replies with a series of barking noises. You still haven't figured out how to make sense of it, but Josh understands it. His mouth flies wide open.
"Really? That's so great!" he exclaims.
Turning his attention to you, he sees your puzzled expression and explains.
"Blue said that she's in love!" he says.
This pleasantly surprises you, and there's only one question on both of your minds.
"Well, Blue, who are you in love with?" Josh questions.
Blue responds by running around in a tight circle and barking in a sing-song tone. You know what's coming. Blue runs up to the wall behind you and presses her paw onto it, leaving behind a sparkling blue pawprint. She then dashes off. You and Josh go to inspect the pawprint, immediately realizing what's on the agenda for the day.
"Of course! We'll play Blue's Clues to find out who Blue is in love with!" he states.
You had a feeling it would come to this, but you're not arguing. A chance to excercise your brain is always welcome.
Josh looks over at you.
"I get the feeeling that I'm gonna need your help today to figure out who Blue is in love with. Will you help me?" he asks.
As always, you give an affirmative answer.
"Great, thanks!" he says, delighted.
You merely smile in response as he keeps talking.
"If we're gonna play Blue's Clues, I'm gonna need my handy dandy notebook!" he continues.
Josh starts to turn around, but stops, remembering one other thing he needs to do.
"We can't leave this pawprint here. Watch this!" he says.
Josh uses his finger to draw a heart in the middle of the pawprint. The pawprint reacts by shaking with joy until it pops out of exisitence.
"Aww, that was kinda cute." Josh says.
Witht the pawprint gone, you follow Josh over to the opposite side of the room, walking over to the sidetable that sits beside the thinking chair. The close proximity allows you to see Sidetable Drawer's eyes. She smiles happily as Josh kneels down right beside her.
"Hi, Josh! Is it true? Is Blue in love?" asks Sidetable.
"Yep, and we're playing Blue's Clues to find out who she's in love with." Josh confirms.
"I hope whoever it is feels the same way. Here's your notebook!" says Sidetable.
Her drawer pops open. Josh reaches into it and pulls out his notebook. The drawer then closes.
Josh signs 'Thank you' at Sidetable and waves goodbye to her as he stands up to his feet. You and Josh see Blue duck out of sight towards the kitchen, and begin to follow her. On your way there, you pass by the bulletin board. Pinned on it is a picture of long ears like Blue's. On the picture is a pawprint. Josh doesn't see it, so you call out to him, letting him know.
"You see a clue? Where?" he asks.
You answer. He looks where you say to and sees the clue.
"There it is! On this picture of long ears! I should write this down in my notebook." he says.
He flips open his notebook and begins to draw.
"Let's see. A big, curvy line that's wide on one end and narrow on the other, and another one that faces the other way." he says.
As he finishes the drawing, he stops to think.
"Who could Blue be in love with who has long ears?" he wonders.
He decides that more clues are needed, and the two of you continue on your way.
As you enter the kitchen, you hear two voices discussing something.
"More of this color?"
"No, I think this one."
The voices are revealed to be Paprika and Cinnamon. They're standing by a bunch of flowers, laid on the table in piles of one color. Alongside them is am empty vase.
"I think there's too many of this color." says Cinnamon.
"I don't think there's enough of this one." says Paprika.
You and Josh mosey over to the spice siblings.
"Hey, Paprika. Hey, Cinnamon." says Josh.
The duo turn their attention to him. Blue suddenly pops up next to him.
"Hi, Josh. Hi, Blue." they say in unison.
"What are you two up to?" asks Josh.
"Today is our parents' anniversary, and we want to give them a gift." Paprika explains.
"Yeah, so we got a bunch of flowers and we're gonna put them in a vase, but we wanna have an equal amount of each color." says Cinnamon.
"It sounds like you need some help." says Josh.
They nod.
"We'd appreciate it. We want this to be perfect for our parents' special day." says Paprika.
"Okay then. What do you need us to help with?" asks Josh.
They direct your and Josh'a attention to two piles of flowers, one red and one white.
"I think that one of these piles has too many flowers in it, but I don't know which one." explains Cinnamon.
"We want five of each color of flower." says Paprika.
You and Josh examine the piles. He looks to you.
"Which pile has too many flowers?" he asks.
You smile. You can coun pretty well. Looking at the flowers once more, you can see that the pile of red flowers has five, while the pile of white flowers has six. You point to the white pile, verbalizing your choice.
Josh counts the flowers and smiles.
"You're right! There are five red flowers and six white flowers. That means that there are too mamy white flowers." he says.
Cinnamon quickly removes one white flower from its pile and sets it aside. He and his sister then move over to two other piles of flowers. These piles are pink and yellow.
"I think that one of these piles doesn't have enough flowers, but I can't tell which one it is." says Paprika.
Again, you and Josh glance at the piles.
"Which one doesn't have enough?" he asks.
Once more, you put your counting skills to the test. You quickly work out that there are five flowers in the yellow pile and four in the pink pile. You give your answer. Josh counts for himself again, and again he voices his approval.
"Oh, right! There's five yellow flowers and only four pink ones. You got it!" he says.
Paprika goes over to a larger pile of flowers and grabs a pink one. She hurries back and places it in the pink flower pile.
"Thanks! Now we're ready to put them in the vase!" says Paprika.
They proceed to do just that. They pick up their piles of flowers and set them in the vase.
"Now, let's see what Mom and Dad think!" says Cinnamon.
They carry the vase all the way to the dining room table. You and Josh follow.
On the table, Mr. Salt and Mrs. Pepper are feeding their new babies, Sage and Ginger. They turn around at the sound of their other kids approaching. Paprika and Cinnamon set the vase in front of them.
"Happy anniversary, Mom and Dad!" they say together.
Their parents smile widely.
"Oh my goodness! Did you two get us flowers? Zey're beautiful!" says Mrs. Pepper.
"And zey're perfectly arranged!" says Mr. Salt.
They hug their two kids. Sage and Ginger voice their delight at the pretty flowers.
"I zink your baby brozer and baby sister like zem, too." says Mrs. Pepper.
Josh gives a silent 'aww' at the scene. Paprika and Cinnamon thank him and he walks off back towards the living room. As you walk by the thinking chair, a voice rings out.
"Mail time, mail time, MAAAIIIL TIIIIIIME!"
Josh grins widely.
"The mail is here!" he exclaims aa he begins to sing and dance.
Blue runs in from another room as the song begins.
"Here's the mail, it never fails. It males me wanna wag my tail. When it comes I wanna wail MAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIILLLLLLLLLL!" Josh sings.
Blue howls on-tune along with him. Josh sits in the thinking chair and rubs his hands together excitedly as Mailbox stretches in through the window.
"Hey, Josh. Here's your letter!" says Mailbox.
"Thanks, Mailbox. Say, have you ever had to deliver love letters?" asks Josh.
"A few, yes. Why do you ask?" asks Mailbox.
"I guess love is just on my mind. Blue is in love and we're playing Blue's Clues to figure out who she's in love with." Josh explains.
"Is that so? Well, good luck to her. By the way, you have an e-mail." says Mailbox before he leaves.
Josh checks his phone and sure enough, he has received an e-mail.
"We just got an e-mail! I wonder who it's from?" he says, opening it.
It turns out to be a video message from one of Josh's younger friends. Josh presses play.
"Hi, Josh. I wanted to tell you about my mom. She always helps me when I need it." the kid starts.
The video switches to show the kid working on homework with his mother's help.
"Sometimes, she helps me with my homework." the kid continues.
The video switches again to the kid and his mother walking out of an ice cream shop.
"Sometimes, if I do good in school, she takes me out for ice cream." the kid says.
The video switches back to just the kid.
"I love me mom. Bye, Josh." he says.
Josh closes the e-mail, a smile on his face.
"Wow. It's always good to love your parents." he says.
You two then hear a noise coming from the backyard and head outside to investigate. Now tbat you're outside, the sound is clearer. It's a voice.
"Perry pocus ocus croacus!"
You and Josh walk over to investigate the source of the voice. You find Periwinkle the cat sitting on the picnic table, dressed in his magician's cape. He has his front-right paw in a box of some kind. He notices you two and waves his free front paw at you.
"Hi, Josh. Do you wanna see my new trick?" he asks.
"Hi, Periwinkle. What kind of trick is it?" asks Josh.
Periwinkle smiles proudly.
"For this trick, I will remove my paw from my leg!" he says.
"Whoa, really? You can do that?" asks Josh, amazed.
Periwinkle nods. He motions to the box. There are two compartments in it, separated by a two-inch wide divider. His paw is inserted through a hole in the side of the box closest to him and goes all the way to the second compartment. He closes the lid of the box.
"Now, say the magic words. Repeat after me: Perry pocus ocus croacus!" he commands.
Josh follows suit. Periwinkle then proceeds to pull the second compartment of the box away from the rest of it. He opens the lids of the compartments, showing that his paw is in the detached one while the rest of his leg is still in the other part of the box.
Josh applauds in amazement at what he sees.
"That's so cool! How'd you do it?" he asks.
"A good magician never reveals his secrets!" states Periwinkle.
Josh waves goodbye and continues onward. You follow him along past the table and spot a bunch of fake paws on it further down. You think you might know how Periwinkle performed his magic trick, but you can't focus on that. There's a pawprint on them. You notify Josh.
"You see another clue? Where is it?" he asks.
Once again, you tell him where to look.
"It's our second clue!" he exclaims upon sighting it.
He pulls his notebook back out of his back pocket.
"I should put this in my handy dandy notebook." he says.
He flips to the page after the drawing of ears that he made earlier.
"OK, a round shape with some lines for toes. Draw a couple more, and there. Paws." he states.
He begins to wonder again.
"So, who could Blue be in love with that has long ears and paws?" he asks aloud.
You're still not entirely sure either. Eventually, he gives up on brainstorming for now.
"I think we need our last clue." he says.
The two of you resume your walk, eventually reaching the side door. When you go inside, you find yourselves in the playroom. Art supplies are everywhere. Josh spots Blue skiddooing into an easel.
"Blue just skiddooed into that easel! Let's go!" he says.
He hurries over to the easel.
"Blue skiddo, you can, too!" he sings, doing a little jig and jumping into the easel.
You find yourselves in a blank area. There is a painting depicitng the playroom you just came from. Josh glances around excitedly.
"We're in the easel! Let's paint something!" he suggests.
You think it's geat idea. Josh finds some tubes of different colors of paint and uses one to draw a shape.
"What is this shape?" he asks.
It's round and he used green paint to make it. You answer confidently.
"Right, a green circle! How about this one?" he says.
He draws another shape. This one has pointed corners and is made of blue paint. You answer again.
"That's right! It's a blue square! Good job! What about this?" he says.
He draws a third shape. It's so pointy, though less so than the square, and drawn in orange paint. You give another answer.
"Yeah, an orange triangle! Man, you're good at this! Okay, last one!" he says.
He draws one more shape. This one is pink, and is pointy at the bottom, but with lines that curve in at the top. After a moment, you figure it out and answer.
"That's it! A pink heart! You got them all!" says Josh.
Blue suddenly appears. She skiddoos back out of the easel and into the house.
"Oh, right, we should get back to the house. We gotta finish our game of Blue's Clues!" says Josh.
He skiddoos back to the house as well. As you gaze around the messy playroom, you notice a pawprint on some tubes of paint, the red and purple tubes to be exact.. You notify Josh about it.
"You like blue? Do you mean the color, or the dog?" he asks, mishearing you.
You repeat yourself more clearly. He definitely hears you properly the second time.
"You see the third clue? Where?" he asks.
For the third time, you inform him of a clue's location. He pulls out his notebook again.
"I'm gonna need my handy dandy notebook." he says.
He pulls out a red crayon and a puple crayon instead of the usual blue one.
"I'll use my red crayon first. A long shape like this that's curved on one end and flat on the other for the tube, a smaller shape for the cap, and a label that's colored in red. Then, I'll take my purple crayon and make the same drawing, except the label is purple. And there we have paint tubes." he says.
He looks over his drawing, satisfied.
"We have all three clues." he says.
Realization then dawns on him.
"We have all three clues! That means we're ready for our thinking chair! Let's go!" he exclaims.
You two rush back to the living room. Josh sits on the thinking chair. As usual, Blue leans on one armrest and you lean on the other.
"Now that we're in our thinking chair, let's think!" says Josh.
He flips through his notebook.
"Let's see. Our three clues are: long ears, paws, and red and purple paint. Who could Blue be in love with that has to do with these three things?" he wonders aloud.
After some pondering, he speaks up.
"Do you think that maybe, Blue loves someone who uses ears and paws to paint?" he asks.
Blue raises her eyebrow quzzically. You shake your head.
"No, of course not. It's probably more specific than that." Josh agrees.
He thinks some more.
"Well, what animal has long ears and paws?" he asks.
You can think of many animals with one or the other, but only one with both comes to mind right now. You state your answer.
"Oh, yeah, a dog! Well, that makes sense. Blue is also a dog, so of course the one she loves is one, too. But what about the paint?" he asks.
You ponder this for a moment.
"Well, you can mix paint, right? And if you mix red and purple, what color would you get?" asks Josh.
Suddenly, it dawns on you. You give your answer excitedly.
"Yes, you'd get magenta!" says Josh.
He gasps in realization.
"That's it! Magenta is the color you get from mixing red and purple, and she's also a dog!" he says.
At last, it makes sense.
"We figured it out! Blue is love with Magenta! We just figured out Blue's Clues! Because we're really smart!" he exclaims.
Blue cheers triumphantly, letting you know that you're right.
"Blue, this is so great! You should tell Magenta the next time you see her!" says Josh.
As if on cue, the doorbell rings. You follow Josh and Blue to the door. Magenta hops inside through the doggy door, barking her greeting.
"Hey, Magenta. It's great to see you! You have good timing. Blue wants to tell you something." says Josh.
Magenta looks at Blue questioningly. Blue shyly looks away, but turns to face her friend again and begins to speak.
The two converse in their barking language. Blue says something to Magenta, who reacts by covering her mouth with her paws in surprise. Blue looks at Magenta expectantly. Magenta then barks happily and hugs Blue. Blue barks in a questioning manner, and Magenta gives a small bark in affirmation. Blue returns the hug. Both of them smile. They're clearly happy.
"Do you think that Magenta feels the same way?" Josh asks.
You nod. It's plain to see that Blue's feelings are returned.
"I think so, too. This is great! I'm so happy for them!" says Josh.
As much as you're enjoying this moment, you know that it's time for you to go home. Blue and Magenta step aside and you walk over to the door, opening it. You turn back to face your friends. Josh understands and has grabbed his guitar
"Now it's time for so long. But we're still gonna sing one more song!" he says, strumming his instrument.
As he sings, Blue and Magenta do a sort of dance together, swaying back and forth slowly as they gently nuzzle their heads together, eyes closed and smiles on their faces.
"Thanks for doing your part. You sure are smart. You sure worked hard. When you use your mind, take a step at a time, you can do anything that you wanna do!" he sings.
Blue and Magenta bark along to the music and Josh hums the last few notes as he plays them.
"Thanks for coming over today. Goodbye!" says Josh.
All three of them wave goodbye to you as you close the door behind you and set off towards home. Today sure was fun.