Hey everyone!
How is your day? Ready for the next chapter? Well I hope you are! Thanks for the reviews, favorites, and follows! Now on with the story…
Puppets and Babies? The Strange Case of the Jump Card!
It was one of those nights where nothing bad could happen. The moon was a pale orb in the sky, the stars blazed merrily. Everything was still; the spring night air was calm. In his bed, a small child slept blissfully, secure in the comfort of his home in this uneventful town. In his sleep he reached to scratch his nose, and then turned over, mumbling some snatch of his dream aloud as he did so. Deep in slumber, he never saw the stuffed animals piled around his bed begin to stir slightly. Content with his own dreams of fancy, he never opened his eyes and saw them begin to float around his head, nor bob in the air. And he never saw the round stuffed panda tumble to the floor and begin to bounce, slowly, toward the window. The panda then jumped out and floated towards the horizon. A lone figure stood atop one of the buildings, a helmet covering his eyes. A whole army of stuff animals swirled around him.
"My baby has returned! Oh joys, now for the next assignment, find the Cardcaptor!" He grinned maliciously.
"Find the Cardcaptor! Find the Cardcaptor!" The animals chanted.
It was one of those days where nothing bad could happen. Wendy whisked down the street at a fast pace on her rollerblades, taking pleasure in the way the early morning spring breeze teased her hair, blowing it back from her face. It was a gorgeous morning, the sky as pale and fresh as an opal, and Wendy waved exuberantly to her friends as she shot past them on her skates by the park. It was a good day to be alive, a good day to be in Magnolia as a young girl, and she was brimming with cheer as she glided through the town.
The morning sunlight shone with equal cheer on the newly finished glass windows of the shop, reflecting its light upon a beautiful young woman. She brushed a strand of her short white hair over her shoulder as she watched the brawny man heft the last of the boxes onto the sidewalk. He grunted as he stood, then handed a receipt to the young woman.
"Well, there you go."
"Thank you for your hard work," she replied and gave a polite bow, to which he nodded before climbing into his truck and departing. It was done, everything was here, and there was nothing left to do now but unpack.
"Guess I'll get to it."
Wendy rolled to a stop in the street as she saw the young woman lean down and select a box. New paint had been applied to the trim around the door, and there was a new name inscribed on the glass.
"Twin Bells," it read.
A new shop is going to be here, she thought excitedly. What a nice name. Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud thump, and an exclamation of annoyance. The woman had dropped her load and stuffed animals were scattered all over the sidewalk. Wendy hurried over to help, kneeling down on her skate pads to pick up the toys before they got too dirty. The woman glanced up, surprised, but there was gratitude in her soft blue eyes.
"Thank you."
"You have a lot of cute plush toys there," Wendy observed happily. The woman smiled at that, and together they collected all the spilled toys. Would it be a toy store, then? Eagerly Wendy pressed her nose against the glass to look inside. It was dark and hard to see, but she could see jumbles of boxes and furniture.
"Is the shop going to open today?" Wendy asked.
"Mm-hmm. I'm Lisanna Strauss. I'm the owner of the shop. It's nice to meet you."
"I'm Wendy Dragneel."
"Stop by on your way home from school," Lisanna offered. "By then I should be done with the preparations for the grand opening."
She had to smile at the joyful expression on the little girl's face. Wendy clapped her hands together and beamed.
"Okay see you later!"
Cheerleading practice was over, and Wendy felt warm with the exercise and the sun beating down on them. Gratefully she leaned forward over the troughs and splashed her face with cold water.
"Hey Wendy!" She glanced up to see Asuka approaching. "Did you know that a new shop is opening?"
"You mean Twin Bells?" Her friend nodded happily, her pigtails bouncing.
"Do you want to stop by there later?"
"That's right…you love plush toys, Asuka."
There was no argument.
"Yes, would you like to come with me?"
"I already promised Chelia that I would go with her." Wendy thought a moment, then smiled. "Let's all go together."
"Yeah okay!"
Wendy was returning to the main building of the school later to change when she paused. Was it her imagination or –
No. There was a beautiful melody floating through the air, a sweet and dulcet voice singing a tune. It was Chelia's voice, and Wendy followed the sound until she was standing outside the window of the music room. Her friend was gazing dreamily at the piano as she sang.
Chelia's in the choir, Wendy was thinking. She's really good at singing, and has won many competitions. It's such a beautiful voice. She felt almost as proud as if she was the one singing, and had to stop herself from clapping enthusiastically when the song finally ended. Chelia bowed respectfully toward her music teacher, then noticed Wendy by the window and smiled.
At last, the five girls left their school and began to walk the route toward the strip of stores in town. Wendy glanced at her friend.
"Chelia, you're looking for a purse, right?" Wendy asked. Her friend nodded.
"I'm troubled by the fact that I don't have the perfect purse to store batteries for my camcorder." Asuka began to think about her purchase, as well.
"Don't you get excited when there's a new store opening?" Asuka smiled.
On this they all knew the answer.
They had a surprise waiting for them when they arrived, however. The sign on the door announced Twin Bells was open, but the insides were in absolute disarray. Furniture stood in the middle of the floor, waiting to be arranged, and boxes, though they had all been moved inside, were piled haphazardly on and around the tables.
"It looks like the shop isn't open yet…" Wendy observed, "But the sign's up."
"But it's not tidied up at all," Chelia pointed out. Just then Lisanna passed by the window, looking a little harried. She didn't see the box on the floor and stumbled and fell heavily on the floor. The girls winced in sympathy.
"Oh…" the woman groaned. "I did it again." Hastily Wendy pushed open the door and they all spilled through. "Welcome!" Lisanna said, more cheerfully than she felt. "Oh, you're the girl from this morning."
"Hello," Wendy said uncertainly. "I brought my friends with me."
"I'm sorry that everything is so cluttered." The conversation fell to an awkward pause as they all took in the mess, and Lisanna's disheveled appearance. Wendy was the first to voice the girls' thoughts.
"Can we help?" The woman's eyes widened.
"But I can't let my customers do that!"
"But we want to see the cute goodies as soon as we can! Right?"
All the girls agreed immediately. Lisanna smiled hesitantly as she saw their enthusiasm. The children in this town were certainly an agreeable bunch. If they wanted to help, well…
"Thanks girls."
The girls threw themselves into the effort of aiding Lisanna clean her store. Wendy scrubbed the countertops until they shone, while Chelia busied herself unwrapping boxes. She got a little smile on her face when she noticed her family's name on some of the labels. Lisanna was unpacking toys when a stuffed and smiling star leapt from her hands and bounced merrily down the store's length. Asuka didn't see it in time and tripped over her broom handle trying to avoid the errant toy, and fell directly into a pile of neatly arranged stuffed animals.
There I go again, Lisanna thought unhappily as she saw the young girl whimper and try to rearrange the pile. Why am I being so clumsy today?
At long last Lisanna declared it was enough for one day and served them afternoon tea as a thank-you.
"Thank you, everyone. I just moved to this town and I don't know anyone. You've helped me a lot. Here you go."
"Thanks!" Wendy chirped. She reached for a steaming cup and a cookie. "I'll have some." The rest of the girls voiced their appreciation and began to help themselves.
"I guess you can't tell what's in the shop like this," Lisanna murmured. She was looking at the still-empty display shelves. "I'll have it done by tomorrow so that you can come in and relax, so do come visit."
"Yes," Wendy immediately agreed. "Let's come here again tomorrow."
"This really is a wonderful shop," Asuka said blissfully. Chelia grinned.
"This place is especially good for you, Asuka, because you love plush toys."
"Yup! I'm so happy!"
"You like plush toys?" Lisanna asked approvingly.
"Yes, I love them," she replied, then turned to address her friends. "Hey, do you want to come over to my place later? I have a lot more now." They were all watching her, and didn't see the box in the corner shudder, then edge itself off the pile and crash to the ground. Everyone looked up, startled, and saw the huge round panda roll out of the box, then bounce slowly toward Asuka's feet. She looked a little surprised, then reached to pick it up and give it a hug.
"How cute!" She exclaimed.
"I thought it was a soccer ball," Wendy commented. How had the stuffed animal bounced all the way down the store like that?
The newly-purchased panda sat in a place of honor atop the other plushies, in a small mountain by the window. There were still more in the corner, and another pile on Asuka's bed. The girls sat in the middle of the floor – the only place there was enough room for them – and counted in awe.
"There are all sorts of plushies here," Chelia observed.
"Yeah…" Wendy agreed nervously. To her, it felt as though they were watching.
"This is like a safari park." Asuka nodded happily.
"There are even bigger ones in the living room. I'll show you." They were en route through the house when there was an odd noise in the room they had just left. Asuka paused.
"What was that?" She turned in her stockinged feet uncertainly. "I'll go look." The girls waited patiently, but they were shocked when they heard a yelp of fright. Quickly they rushed back to the bedroom. Asuka was standing in her doorway, rigid with huge eyes.
"What's wrong, Asuka?" Chelia asked.
"The panda plush toy – it's gone!" She cried out.
Sure enough, it had disappeared, vacating its new place by the giraffe. It was nowhere on the floor, and Wendy crossed over the window to take a closer look.
"A burglar?" she ventured. She'd never heard of a thief robbing stuffed animals. The she noticed the window was open a crack. It had not been before.
"Did he run away from here?"
"We ran over here right when we heard the noise," Chelia pointed out. "This is so strange."
It was strange, and they all fell silent, looking helplessly at the window to Asuka's frightened face, back to the window again. A slight breeze rustled the curtain.
What happened to the panda plush? Will Wendy solve this mystery? Find out next time on Cardcaptor Wendy!
Please review and watch your stuff animals!