The Adventures of Captain Cutie Pie and Deputy Boo

“Hi Blue. What’s going on?” replied Bubba (who we will now call Captain Cutie Pie until the problem is solved). “It’s the goats. Their red ball is missing.” The family of goats live up the road about a mile from Captain Cutie Pie and Deputy Boo’s home. Our heroes’ last mission was helping the goats get home after a terrible storm washed away a little wooden bridge while they were playing on the other side of the bridge. “Oh no! That’s terrible!” responded Captain Cutie Pie. “They love that ball,” Boo said thoughtfully. “It’s an important part of their family history. What else do you know, Blue?” “The goats said their ball was in their yard last night and now it’s gone. They’re very upset. Usually, all they do is play, but they’re not playing today. They’re all just standing around, troubled about not having their favorite toy.” Blue shook his head with dismay as he wondered if Captain Cutie Pie and Deputy Boo would be able to solve this problem. When he was very young, Blue had a favorite stick he liked to play with in his pond. Playing with sticks in the water helps young herons develop skills for catching fish. One day, he lost his favorite stick and never saw it again. This made him very sad at the time. He hoped the same thing didn’t happen to his friends, the goats. “Okay, thanks for letting us know, Blue. We’ll look into it,” said Captain Cutie Pie. “We need more information,” said Deputy Boo. “Let’s go talk to the goats.” “Good idea, little brother. Blue, can you meet us at the goats’ house in case we need your help?” “Of course! I’ll fly ahead now and let them know you’re coming. They’ll be so relieved to know you’re going to help.” Off flew Blue into the sunny sky with the gusting wind tugging at his powerful wings. Captain Cutie Pie and Deputy Boo made their way through the woods to the goats’ house while Blue flew high overhead. When they arrived, they found Lily, the mother goat, chewing on an old leather boot. She does that when she’s upset. “Hey Lily. We’re sorry to hear about your ball,” said Captain Cutie Pie. “Yes, what a terrible day in our wonderful neighborhood,” Lily replied. “Chucky, Penny, Daisy, Cocoa, Kiley, Riley and I played with our ball in our yard yesterday, like we do every day, and everything was fine.” “Yes, just fine!” agreed Chucky, standing on a big old truck tire to make sure he was heard. “Fine and dandy!” added Penny, with a nod of agreement. “Fine, dandy and peachy!” exclaimed Daisy, with a stomp of her hoof. Lily continued to explain, “We went in for the night to sleep and..” “As much as we can with the way Chucky snores, anyway,” interrupted Daisy. “Wait! What?! I do not!” exclaimed Chucky. He had come down from the truck tire and was nudging an empty tin can with his hoof, wishing it was their ball. “Oh yes, you do!” the goats replied in perfect agreement. “And this morning,” Lily continued “our ball was gone. I taught my kids how to play kickball using that ball. I don’t know what we’ll do without it.” She had fond memories and great sadness at the thought of never seeing their big red ball again. “We’ve had that ball for as long as I can remember,” added Kiley. “It’s our favorite thing to play with. You know how much we love to play.” “Play, play, play, every day, all day! That’s what we do!” added Riley. “But how can we play all day, now? Without our big red ball?” asked Penny. “I’ve been taking singing lessons, and I’m writing a sad song about our missing ball.” She sang softly, “I had a ball, but now it’s gone…so long, so long…red ball…We used to play all day …all day long…so long, so long…red ball.”