Gump-a-goo (the little girl who ran away)
Gump-a-goo was a small girl who thought she was very old. Because she was so very old (six and three quarters) she was also very wise and brave and was never ever naughty.
She lived in a big brown house on the corner of a quietly busy street and her mommy had daffodils in the triangle garden in the uppermost right corner of their yard. Gump-a-goo lived with her Mommy, her Daddy, her big black dog Walter and her mean black cat called Kitten (even though he was a big grown up cat.)
Gump-a-goo led a peaceful existence until one fateful day. She had been playing at a friends house all morning. Her friend had a wonderful, fantastic, amazingly cool new toy and Gump-a-goo knew from the moment she laid eyes on it that she wanted it, no needed it. Her very survival counted on her getting that toy above all toys. So as soon as Gump-a-goo was in the car in her seat right behind her mommy she asked the all important question.
“Mommy may I get the same toy as my friend has? It is surly the most wonderful toy I have ever seen in my whole life!”
she didn't realize of course she had asked a question very much like this yesterday at the mall when she and her mommy had been getting new shoes. Her mommy being a very kind mommy had gotten her that toy at the mall and so when Gump-a-goo asked for this new toy she quite calmly and kindly said.
“No sweetie, not today.”
Gump-a-goo was speechless, horrified, mortified, and full of exasperated consternation. Her mommy had actually said no! And she had asked so politely too. She was so shocked she sat there behind her mommy in their car for five minutes without speaking, which is to say a very long time to go without talked when your six.
They arrived home soon after and Gump-a-goo went to her room to mull over the car ride happenings.
Maybe she had not asked as politely as she thought she had. She would try again. She went downstairs and found her mommy making lunch. Peanut butter and banana sandwiches.
“Mommy.”
Gump-a-goo said in her sweetest voice.
“May I please have that new toy I told you about in the car?”
Her mommy turned around and smiled, Gump-a-goo's heart swelled with excitement.
“Not today.”
Gump-a-goo's heart broke into a ba-jillion little pieces. Like when you snap a stick of dried spaghetti. Tears welled up in the corners of her eyes and her lip pushed out as far as a lip could go. Her mommy saw this and mildly said.
“No whining please. Would you like milk or juice with your lunch?”
How could her mommy think of juice at a time like this. The injustice of it all! The cruelty of a cruel, cruel world.
“I hate you!”
Gump-a-goo cried with hot angry tears in her eyes. Her mommy turned quickly back around her mouth in the shape of a strenched out spaghetti-O's noodle. There was no stopping Gump-a-goo now. She was angry and she tried to think of the worstest, meanest, baddest thing she could say to her mommy.
“I hate you so much I'm-I'm- I'm going to run away and never come back!”
With this Gump-a-goo turned and fled the room her long pigtails swishing like two horse tails. Up the stairs she ran to her room and slammed the door as loud as she could.
Once inside she calmed down a little and started thinking over all the necessities she would need to pack. In her closet she got her big grownup suitcase and started filling it up. Her favorite stuffed animals, a blanket in case the weather turned chilly, books (picture and the coloring kind) a flashlight, and a box of band aids. You could never bee to careful when going on an expedition. The last thing she did was to get her baseball hat and tie Blankie around her neck as a cape. With these and her suitcase she quietly made her way down the stairs and past the kitchen door where her mommy was cutting up apple slices, to the back yard and into her fort.
Her fort was a strategically placed to command a view of all the surrounding yard and part of their neighbors yards too. Gump-a-goo unpacked all her things and made the fort quite cozy and homely. She grabbed a stack of booked and settled into her new home not missing her mommy at all.
But after a while, all her books were read and her animals played with. She had forgotten crayons so the coloring books were useless. She laid on her stomach and kicked her feet humming to herself.
Walter her dog sat under the fort sleeping in the lazy warm sunshine. Too warm and lazy for Gump-a-goo's liking . She could smell a thunderstorm form a mile away and she sniffed their air. She definitely thought she smelled one she just couldn't be sure.
Her stomach growled telling her it was way past lunchtime. Why didn't she pack snacks? Gump-a-goo frowned and rolled on her back watching a lady bug crawl across the roof of the fort upside down. Gump-a-goo had always wondered how the lady bugs did that. She also wondered if they were the upside down ones or was she.
Gump-a-goo was getting another feeling in her tummy and it was most certainly not a hungry feeling. Her tummy was hurting. She sat up and hugged her knees to her chest and snuggled Blankie closer. She was missing something and she thought she knew what it was. It wasn't a something it was a someone. Gump-a-goo was missing her mommy. Her tummy hurt because she said some awful things and had probably hurt mommy's feelings very badly. Maybe mommy was crying! Gump-a-goo hated it when mommy cried, it made her feel sad.
Gump-a-goo thought about it. Her mommy did get her lots of treats and was real nice to her most of the time. Maybe she should forgiver her and tell her she was sorry. She chewed on her lip as she thought about it then coming to her decision she jumped down from her fort with Blankie in her arm and escorted by Walter she ran around the pool up the deck stairs and into the house. She found her mommy and hugged her really hard crying.
“I'm sorry mommy! I don't hate you! I love you mommy lot's and lot's and lot's!”
Mommy bent down and hugged her back.
“I forgive you. And I love you lot's too no matter what! Are you hungry? I just finished slicing up the apples. Do you want milk or juice?”
Gump-a-goo thought about it for a minute then smiled slyly.
“May I please have chocolate milk?”
“Of course”.
