Day 15: Penelope Ann Makes a New Friend

Penelope Ann had never been afraid of monsters, she knew too many of them. There was the sock monster that lived in her closet who only ate linty mints on Thursdays. There was the rather large dust bunny that lived under the furnace in the basement. Mother thought their cat Boots was what kept the mice away, but really it was the dust bunny.  There was also the sink monster who liked strawberries, the mailbox fiend who ate all the junk mail, the shadow that lived in the corner of the upstairs bath who continually fogged up the mirror whenever her sister Margaret tried to do her make up, and the thing that lived under the area rug in the foyer who still hadn’t told Penelope its name. She called it Bob for conversational purposes. And those were just the monsters that lived in her house, Penelope Ann knew plenty others. The house monsters were friendly creatures and Penelope Ann spent many nights and lazy afternoons talking with them. They told her all sorts of wonderful stories and kept her apprised of the family gossip, which was how she found out she was moving in the first place. 

Penelope Ann’s family was constantly amazed how Penelope Ann could know things she shouldn’t. They assumed she eavesdropped at doors but they had never caught her and the truth was too preposterous to even consider, for no one else in Penelope Ann’s family talked to monsters or even knew they were there.

It was a sad day when the Porter family finally moved from Beechwood Lane. Penelope Ann spent most of the week leading up to moving day saying her good byes to her monster friends. The dust bunny presented her with a marble she thought she had lost when she was 3. The sink monster coughed up a strawberry which Penelope Ann politely declined. The shadow drew a heart on the bathroom mirror just for her, the mailbox fiend promised to write and the thing under the area rug never did give up its name but said it had grown rather fond of being called Bob, so that was what it would go by. At least Bob would be coming with her.

It was a long drive to their new house and Penelope Ann waved sadly at the old one as the family station wagon pulled out of the driveway for the final time. She thought about her monsters as they drove through the desert and then around hills. She looked for new ones in the corners of the motel rooms they stayed in, but to no avail. She looked between the limbs of trees as they drove through forests and hoped she would spy something as they drove across the mountains. By the time they reached the valley floor of their new town Penelope Ann was too sad and tired to look for monsters anymore.

It was dark when the Porter’s finally pulled into Primrose Court and the outside lights were burning brightly to welcome them. The moving company had already come and gone hours before and dad and Stew met them at the door. The older children ran to their new rooms and father gently scooped a sleeping Penelope Ann from the backseat. He carried her to her new bedroom where he had made sure to affix glowing stars on her ceiling so it felt more like home. He tucked her up in her orange striped sheets and kissed her softly on the forehead so as not to wake her. Penelope Ann dreamed of her monsters and flying and didn’t wake up until the morning.

When she finally opened her eyes, Penelope Ann understandably was a bit disoriented as to her surroundings. She was in her own bed and all of her treasures were around her,but the order of everything was all wrong. She saw the outlines of the stars on the ceiling, but she knew she wasn’t in her old room. Then she remembered. She lay in bed taking it all in until her mother came in to see if she was awake and wanted breakfast. Penelope Ann was going to say no and snuggle back in her bed and take stock of things when she caught the scent of her father’s famous chocolate chip banana pancakes wafting up the stairs. She was out of bed like a shot. She wasn’t quite sure where to go once she left her bedroom, as she had been asleep when she was carried up the stairs, but she followed her nose and found the stairs at least. At the bottom she saw Bob and she felt a bit better. He peeked out from under his rug and pointed her in the direction of the kitchen before giving a little wave and disappearing.

Penelope Ann went in and ate breakfast with her family and thus began her new life on Primrose Court. She helped tidy the house with her mother and explored the backyard with Kevin and Ray. She went to the grocery store with her father and made some new friends at the local park that Margaret took her too in the afternoons.

Things were going well for Penelope Ann but she missed her monsters. Bob had never been very talkative but at least he was around. She found a promising dust bunny in the attic when mother was putting away grandmas trunks, but it either couldn’t talk or wouldn’t, the same with the shadows and sink. But her melancholy soon cleared like fog in sunshine once she started her new school. She adored her new teacher Miss Buckley and the other students in her class. She liked learning about her new town and her new friends. But her favorite part of all was that she was finally allowed to walk to school by herself. She and her ladybug backpack would run out the door, after kissing mother goodbye, and then skip down the drive and out onto the sidewalk. She was careful not to step on cracks and always crossed out of the way of slugs and ants. She waved at her neighbors who she rather liked; Mr. Hardbottle who had fuzzy white hair that stuck off his head like it was trying to escape. Mrs. Myrlte who had glasses the size of coke bottles and still couldn’t see much. She was continually watering her weeds and pulling her flowers. The Miss Beecham’s always gave her candy and sometimes she walked with old Mr. Zither and his dog Horace the basset hound who was always getting caught in his ears.

Penelope rather liked her new life and soon forgot to look for monsters anymore. But then one day, one bright and shiny October day, Penelope Ann woke up before her mother came in to rouse her and knew, just knew that something wonderful was going to happen. She didn’t know what but she had that wiggly excited feeling in her tummy and whenever she had that feeling good things were sure to happen.

Penelope Ann pulled on her favorite plaid top and sparkly black skirt and for once beat Margaret to the bathroom. She brushed her hair and raced down the stairs surprising her mother who was just putting the coffee on for her father. She ate her Cheerios like they were the last food on earth, wiggled impatiently as her mother braided her hair, then made her sack lunch. At last she it was time to go and she was free. She raced out of the house looking this way and that for whatever wonderful thing lay in store. But she didn’t find anything on the way to school, nothing particularly impressive happened during the day, though her essay on the planets did get a gold star. By the time the bell rang to go home Penelope Ann was a bit dismayed. Her walk home didn’t have nearly the pep in it as her morning sojourns. She halfheartedly waved at Mr. Zither and Horace when they crossed paths and she declined the candy from the Miss Beecham’s.

As she turned down her street, she saw her father putting up their Halloween yard decorations. She saw the smooshed tree witch and the bag of bones over by the wheelbarrow, the cartoon Snoopy in a cape and the scarecrows on the front porch, but there was something new. Her father was inflating a green cloth Frankenstein. Every year they bought a new item for the yard and this year it seemed Franky won. As the portable generator filled the newest acquisition with air Penelope Ann could see that the green monster was easily as tall as her father. He bobbed, wiggled  and shook as he filled and she watched him inflate. He father noticed her at last and told her the new house needed a new decoration and asked how she liked it. Penelope Ann thought the monster was rather sweet with his bemused smile and nubby fingers. He held an orange pumpkin in his fingers that spelled out TREATS on the front. Once inflated her father secured the green behemoth with stakes, stood up, dusted his hands on his pants and surveyed his work. He nodded at a job well done, picked up his mallet and twist ties and headed back up the porch. He told Penelope Ann that there were snacks in the kitchen and went inside.

Penelope Ann stared at the new green addition. He bobbled in the slight breeze but otherwise peered out over the cul de sac and smiled his bemused smile. Was this her wonderful thing? It was nice, but it was no drain monster. Penelope Ann watched the inflatable for a bit longer then went inside. She ate her snack, did her homework, had dinner and then curled up on the couch with her family to watch a movie. It was their Friday night tradition. Mother was making popcorn and her siblings were arguing about what they should watch. In the middle of refereeing his children, father remembered that he had forgotten the mail and was expecting an important letter. He told Ray to go out and get it and to let Stew pick the show. Ray started to argue, but thought better of it. He turned and then grumped his way to the hallway and was just about to go out the door when his phone beeped from his back pocket. He stopped at the bannister to check his incoming message then laughed. He started typing, laughed some more, typed some more and then sat down. His father yelled from the living room for Ray to get the mail already since he hadn’t heard the door open and close. Ray waved a dismissive hand in the direction of the living room all the while keeping his eyes and thumbs on the phone. Just then Penelope Ann walked by. Father yelled again and Ray looked up. He spied Penelope Ann and asked her to go get the mail for him. Penelope Ann wasn’t too keen on going out to the box in the dark and said no. Ray looked up at her and asked again. Penelope Ann said no again and was just about to leave when Ray said he would let her have some of his Milk Duds to melt in her popcorn if she went and got the mail for him. Ray never shared his Milk Duds with anyone so Penelope quickly agreed, but first she made him pinky promise. Ray went back to his phone and Penelope Ann opened the door and stepped out onto the porch.

It was dark outside. The porch light was on and the street light was just over the mailbox, but there was a black pool of darkness from the bottom of the steps, past the garage that Penelope Ann didn’t like the look of. She sat down on the top step and contemplated what to do. It almost wasn’t worth the Milk Duds in her popcorn to attempt this feat of daring. The moon was hidden behind dark clouds and somewhere a dog started barking. Penelope Ann didn’t have the good wiggles in her tummy anymore. Instead she had the panicked butterflies in her tummy that were knocking into each other and almost making her cry. The night seemed to get darker, the unfamiliar surroundings seemed more sinister and she was just about to run back into the house when she heard a deep gentle voice ask her if she was ok?

Penelope Ann almost screamed, really she didn’t know why she didn’t. Perhaps the sound was so scared it was stuck in her throat. She looked this way and that and couldn’t see who was talking to her. The gentle voiced asked again if she was ok and if she needed assistance. Penelope Ann by now was very frightened indeed and was regaining the sense in her legs enough that she about turned to bolt when she looked up and saw the inflatable Frankenstein looking inquiringly at her. He had turned completely around and had moved out from the side of the stairs and was now facing her. He bobbled his head to the side a bit, smiled and asked if she was alright. Penelope Ann blinked at him once, twice and then slowly began to smile. The green monster took this as a good sign and introduced himself as Mo. He said he didn’t mean to pry but he noticed she was distressed and wondered if he could do anything to help. Penelope Ann had impeccable manners and told Mo her name. Then she told him she was scared to walk to the mailbox in the dark. If she didn’t come back with the mail her older brother Ray wouldn’t share his Milk Duds with her, and he never shared them with anyone and she really wanted them but she was scared.

Mo listened with as serious a face a cartoon inflatable monster can have and then chuckled a bit. He could fix her problem he said. He would walk with her to the mailbox and no scary thing would dare pop out if the two of them were together. Penelope Ann loved this idea and bounced down the stairs to walk with her new friend. She slipped her tiny hand into his giant green one. He pulled up his stakes with his other hand and the two of them ambled down the driveway. Mo bounced, Penelope Ann skipped. Together they reached the end of the drive and turned to stand in the pool of sodium light over the mailbox. Penelope Ann had a bit of trouble getting the mailbox door open but once Mo bopped his fabric y fist on the top of it, the lid sprung open and Penelope Ann was able to get her father’s important letter and the rest of their mail. She once again put her hand in Mo’s and they walked back up the drive arm in arm.

Mission accomplished and back on the steps once again, Penelope Ann thanked the kindly monster and told him she was glad to meet him. Mo inclined his head and said it was nice to meet her too. Penelope Ann helped him re-secure his stakes and then she skipped back up the steps with the mail and into the house with a giant smile on her face. Her wonderful thing had happened just like she knew it would. She handed the mail to her father, who was a little confused as to why she had it and not Ray, and then got her Milk Duds and popcorn, squeezed in between her sister and mother and watched the movie.

At bedtime she leaned out her window and waved at Mo and called goodnight. He waved back and winked. From then on Penelope volunteered to get the mail every night. If her family thought this was odd they didn’t say anything and happily let her. Penelope Ann and Mo talked about everything. He shared what happened on the street when no one was watching and Penelope Ann told him about her day. She also found that she could talk to other inflatables. This was how she found out that Mrs. Henderson ate all her Halloween candy before the holiday even happened and had to go buy a new bag. She also knew the Morgan’s dog escaped every morning and ran around town only to get home just before his owners. Mr. Beaty liked to sing in the shower with the window open and the Murphy twins watched scary movies when their parents thought they were asleep.

Yes, life was back to normal of sorts for Penelope Ann. After Halloween was over she missed her green friend, but for Christmas her father bought an inflatable Grinch and they had just as much fun. Then there came the inflatable New Year’s baby, the cupid, leprechaun, Easter bunny, Uncle Sam and finally Mo again. Penelope Ann was happy. Mo was happy and what more could a girl want on a darkening October night?