Phoenix came over and fit one of the unstuffed Baby Yodas onto the end of the stuffing machine. "You can turn the crank, Raito. That gets the stuffing spinning right into your plush." Raito couldn't get started fast enough. "Oh, boy! This is cool!"
Let's continue on with the story of the big day. Remember the crowded Build-a-Bear store? Remember Kelly and her "choice" dilemma? Remember Phoenix's admirable job at handling the crowds and serving each customer? How about Jill and Silver's thrilling birthday shopping spree? Let's re-join the crowd at the BY (as in Baby Yoda) clothes bins, where the twins are picking out little robes with fluffy collars for their new cuties. "This is the best birthday ever!" Jill was grinning from ear to ear. While the twins inspected each robe, Phoenix helped Zale pack up her beautiful water-colored bear (that just happened to match her backpack and shirt). "Would you like a box for him?" "No, thanks. He fits in here so well that I'll just take him on my walk this way. I wonder if he likes the beach . . ." Next to check out was Harold. Being the most active member of the Islandshire Merry Man Club, he'd found the perfect large plush of Little John the Bear from Disney's animated Robin Hood. "This is exactly what I need. He'll look great sitting in the Merry Man clubhouse. Wait 'til the other chaps see him." Such a lot of happy customers. Phoenix was feeling pretty happy, too. A little tired, but happy! By now, Jill and Silver had selected robes and dressed their Baby Yodas. "Stand still, girls, and hold your Babies. Smile. Let's have a birthday picture." "Time to get them ready for their trip home. Oh, and don't forget their special birth certificates and collectible photo inserts." "Oh, boy! Thanks! Those are neat. That'll look cool on our bedroom wall . . . or maybe as a decoration on our pin board." The twins closed the boxes and paid with their birthday present: a Build-a-Bear gift card. "Thanks for a great birthday, Phoenix!" They chatted and giggled the whole way home . . . Customers continued to file in and out, the little bell on the back of the door nearly always jingling its song. Phoenix went to see if she could help anyone, but it looked like they were all doing very well . . . except for poor Kelly, that is! Oh, my. She was still having trouble making that final decision. Wendy and Johanna had arrived and thought they might be able to help their friend make up her mind. "What about a bear? Or a seal? Ooh, that penguin is super cute! Then, there's always Baby Yoda, you know. He's so cute that you just have to love him -- and he's the newest thing." Johanna made her suggestions in her best selling voice. Wendy looked at everything pointed out, and while Kelly still couldn't decide, Wendy knew that she needed to go home with her own Baby Yoda. She selected a cute face from the top of the pile and headed right over to the stuffing machine. In the meantime, Masami and Sun-Ho were digging through the bins of plush. It didn't take too long to find what they were looking for. Masami spotted the perfect unicorn-colored llama that just happened to match her outfit (a very color-coordinated gal). Sun-Ho's choice was more in the line of his favorite theme: UP! Since Build-your-Own-Kevin plushes weren't available, he opted for . . . yep, you got it . . . "Oh, Masami! Look at that . . . SQUIRREL!" "If you guys will just step right over here, we can get your new friends in their boxes for the trip home," said Phoenix, holding out a cute little cardboard house. Masami's llama looked almost excited to be getting into it! Kelly just stared, wondering if she should have chosen one of those . . . The shop was really filling up now, and customers were crowding in. Benny and Raito came in together, with Nanea and Janie close behind, leading everyone's favorite Islandshire Grand Champion chicken on her leash. Raito had quite a shopping list, with plans for taking presents home to friends. He and Benny got right down to business and started looking at the Baby Yoda choices. It did not take long for Raito to start filling his arms with Baby Yodas. "Let's see . . . I need to take one home for my sister. She'd never forgive me if I came home without one for her! And I definitely need one for Angela . . . and I can't forget Wanda . . ." Benny started filling his arms with the matching outfits and suggested buying one of the pre-stuffed display models to save time in the stuffing line. "Great idea, Benny!" While the boys were picking out their Baby Yodas, Nanea and Janie took Flossie over to see the stuffing machine. The bouncing motion of the stuffing seemed to mesmerize Flossie, who just stared with deep concentration. "Excuse us, girls." Benny and Raito came up to the stuffing machine with their arms full of Raito's purchases. "We've got a lot of stuffing to do!" Janie's eyes got as big as saucers, and Nanea wondered silently how Raito was going to fit all of that into his suitcase with the other souvenirs he was already taking home. Phoenix came over and fit one of the unstuffed Baby Yodas onto the end of the stuffing machine. "You can turn the crank, Raito. That gets the stuffing spinning right into your plush." Raito couldn't get started fast enough. "Oh, boy! This is cool!" Obviously, the boys were going to be at this for quite a while, so Nanea and Janie decided to show Flossie all the plush choices. "Let's start with Baby Yoda, since that's who everyone is excited about," said Janie as she sat down to put a Baby Yoda in front of Flossie. "What do you think?" Flossie waddled over to stand near Baby Yoda and gave him one of her very serious looks. She let out one small "cluck", which clearly meant that she did not want to take one of these home. "Don't worry, Flossie! There are all kinds of other stuffed animals to look at. Let's go over to the shelf." Janie dearly loves Flossie. As Nanea and Janie made their way across the shop, they noticed Mabel and Joan on the hunt for something cuddly. Bunty's cousin, Sioned, was chatting with Kelly and showing off the cute little Irish bear that she planned to take home. Kelly thought he looked pretty cute, but she still couldn't decide on what she should take home. "Here's the perfect little kitty cat," squealed Mabel, holding up a calico kitty with a lot of personality and very soft fur. "Oh, yes! This is just what we're looking for." The twins marched off very happily with their new little friend packed safely inside its cute "house box". Janie and Nanea stood in front of the wall of plush and let Flossie survey the shelves. Janie wondered how a chicken was going to make up her mind. Nanea was pretty sure she knew what Flossie was going to pick, but she didn't want to say anything before Flossie made her own decision. Can you guess which one Flossie will pick? Well, if you guessed the little pink and red chicken, then you're right! Flossie hopped right up to the shelf to nudge the cute little plush. "That's what you'd like, Flossie? Alright, we'll go get a box for her." Janie couldn't decide if Flossie thought it was a long-lost cousin or just something to look at. It didn't cluck back . . . "This is a first! A chicken plush for a Grand Champion chicken," said Phoenix when she brought the box. "I think we should have a picture of you guys with Flossie. Say 'cheese'!" Even Flossie looked like she was smiling. By this time, Raito and Benny had everything stuffed and boxed. The Baby Yodas were so cute that Benny had decided to take one home for himself. (Move over little Olu and Minnie Mouse, because a newcomer would be joining the plush collection in the Island House!) It wasn't hard to find a Baby Yoda that had just the expression he liked, but it was really neat to find a plush shark lurking at the bottom. "Hey, man! Look at this. They've got a plush shark. I definitely have to take this one home." Benny grinned while Raito admired the shark. "What's your fascination with sharks, Benny?" Nanea heard the question from across the store and came running over to say, "There isn't time to hear the story now . . . maybe later over a campfire." The happy group left with all their boxes of plush, Flossie waddling out in her own champion-chicken fashion. The shop was emptying out by now, but there were still a couple of shoppers -- including poor Kelly, who just couldn't make up her mind. Bunty and Eliot came in, pushing their Godchild, Truannie, in her pram. The sight of such a cute little baby took Kelly's mind off the plush for a few minutes. "Hello, cutie pie! Are you here to find a new toy?" Truannie looked up with her round blue eyes. "Googy." "Oh, look! Here's the perfect pet for you, Truannie." Bunty put a cuddly white cat into the pram. Truannie immediately sucked on its ear. "Googy." "That's what she says when she likes something." Eliot was a little more realistic in his interpretation. "That's what she says for everything. It's the only thing she says." While Eliot pushed Truannie's pram around the store, Bunty did a little shopping of her own. First, she found an adorable black-faced sheep that would look just fabulous on her bed. Then, she found an amazingly fluffy lamb that fairly jumped into her arms. "Brighton really needs this lamb! I just have to get it to send to her. What do you think, Eliot?" But Eliot hadn't heard her; he was in deep conversation with Truannie. Sioned, standing near the shelf of plush, had already found a little Irish bear for herself. "Bunty, you just have to see this very cute bear here. Doesn't he make you think of something?" she asked, as she held out the light pink bear. "Oh, yes! Our Joint Venture!" said Bunty. "He'd make a perfect mascot, wouldn't he? Shall we buy him?" It was a purely rhetorical question, since the girls had already moved to the checkout counter and were sliding the little bear into a box. (More about the secretive Joint Venture is forthcoming in a future issue of the Gazette.) "Thank you so much, Phoenix! This has been a great shopping experience. We'll have to bring Truannie in again for another plush, but she needs to get home now." Sioned left with the trio, leaving only Kelly in the shop with Phoenix. "It's almost closing time, and I still haven't made up my mind. There are just so many cute animals . . . and I like them all." While it crossed Phoenix's mind that there weren't as many cute animals left to choose from as there had been when Kelly was one of the first to arrive this morning, she didn't think that mentioning it would help the situation. Instead (being a very caring salesman), she took Kelly over to the shelf and pointed out a very colorful cuddly bear. "You know, I think you should really consider this bear. He's got French Fries on his little patch, and that's almost your favorite snack. He might be just the one for you." "He's perfect! Why didn't I notice him before? Wait 'til I show Lori what I picked out!" Phoenix boxed up the bear, and Kelly walked happily out of the door, humming all the way. Whew! What an exciting day! Phoenix locked the door, placed the "Closed for the Day" sign in the window, and fell into a chair. Everything had gone off quite well, and even the stock of Baby Yoda had lasted through the all-day rush. It's a good thing she had the weekend off, though, because it was going to take a lot of time to restock the shop. "Ah, well, never do today what you can put off until tomorrow. I think that's the way the saying goes . . ." Right now, it was time to head over to Connie's house (taking along her own cute Baby Yoda, of course) to relax and watch a movie . . . a quiet movie . . . with a small cast and little noise . . . maybe a silent . . .
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Sarah, EditorTrudy, ReporterBlog Archive
April 2024
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Other TopicsMeet the DollsNaneaBennyHaroldHarriet (aka Bunty)EliotJill and SilverKellyEydie |