The man with the blue cap closed his eyes. The rest felt good as he pointed his nose up to the clouds that were forming in the evening light. It had been a long day, and he felt so content in this familiar spot. He could smell the breeze blowing through the field corn, and hear a train far off in the distance. Sometimes the best thing to do is just rest our bodies and minds in a spot that feels like home, like comfort, like safety. But as the man folded his hands in front of him to rest on his lap he felt a small vibration in the soles of his feet. Then, without opening his eyes he could feel the warmth of the hot midday sun.
“That’s strange!” he thought. But before he could even begin to make sense of it his eyes sprung open from the sound suddenly piercing through his ears. It was a sound he did not hear at his quiet country house. It was the sound of a car horn. Not a happy, friendly car horn, but one that was angry and annoyed. With his eyes open he could now see that it was he that the car horn was angry with! He was no longer on his front porch, but instead he was rocking in the middle of a busy city street.
The man jumped and got out of the way just in time, but his rocking chair was not so lucky. As he ran out of the street, and the honking stopped, he was suddenly very aware of many other sounds. Somewhere near there was a large construction project taking place, and more chatter of voices and conversations than he had ever heard. Where was he? But more importantly… How did he get here?
The next thing he knew he was staring straight at a bright blue door. In the middle of a busy sidewalk, in a very busy city. That bright blue door seemed to be calling to him. He walked quickly towards it, turned the handle, and to his surprise it was unlocked!
Stepping inside he knew immediately what type of room this was. He now found himself standing in the middle of a classroom, and by the look of the walls it had to be an elementary school. But the most shocking thing of all was who was sitting in the small classroom desks. The man in the blue cap had thought he had seen it all, but nothing can prepare you to look around at what seems to be a normal classroom and see each and every desk occupied by a different type of animal. To be more specific, baby animals.
They didn’t seem to notice him entering, and were focused on the paper and pencil in front of them. That is, all except one. It was a little, fuzzy, gray flamingo.
As the flamingo gave a little sniffle (yes it also occurred to the man how odd this was but by this point he felt he had seen it all) he strutted his legs towards the man. The man really had no choice but to wait. As the flamingo got closer the man noticed he seemed to be crying.
“I can’t find my mommy anywhere, and I miss her,” The flamingo blurted out in a loud whisper. The man, being what looked like the only adult in the room, felt he didn’t really have any other choice but to help.
“Well,” answered the blue capped man, “when was the last time you saw her?”
“Last night when I went to bed! When I woke up this morning she was not by the water like usual. I wanted to look for her, but I knew I could not be late for school.” The little flamingo’s voice was beginning to sound panicked.
“Alright, if we are going to look for her now, where should we begin?”
Without speaking the little toddler took off in the direction of what looked to be the closet. The man thought for a moment about how strange this world seemed to be, but then again, life often has strange moments. As they approached the closet door he realized that he, being the one with hands, should probably open it. The moment he opened it he realized it definitely was not a closet! Beginning to feel even more out of place he let the flamingo lead the way, and as he crossed the threshold he immediately felt something familiar… fresh air. All around was a nice calm breeze, and right in the middle of the beautiful grassland was a shallow pond.
“That’s where she should be,” the poor fuzzy animal whimpered.
“Don’t worry, we’ll find her,” I assured “but first, will you tell me a little about how you get to and from school everyday?
“I walk through the door just like all the other animals. They all walk through the same door from their own homes. When we go home we take turns one at a time walking through the door that returns us to our homes.”
“Wow! Did you ask any of your friends if they have seen your mom?”
“No, I didn’t get a chance.”
“Well, it doesn’t look like she’s here so let’s return to school and ask,” I suggested. With that the little flamingo led me back through the door that was still open to the very peculiar classroom.
As my eyes flutter around the room I look at all of the animals that seem to gather together each day regardless of what kind of home they have come from. All being what we consider to be elementary school age, I saw a hippo, a racoon, a fox, a frog, two red pandas, a leopard, a sloth, a bat, a deer, and a very fluffy chicken.
“Excuse me, I am looking for a missing mama flamingo. Has anyone seen her today?” I mustered the courage to spit out in front of a room full of animals I never in my wildest dreams thought I’d see in the same room together.
After what seemed like forever and a million little eyes on him, a tiny scratchy voice came from the middle of the sea of desks.
“I have not seen her, but I live at a pond too so maybe she ended up at my home somehow instead,” the voice was coming from a small green frog. Without a second thought he took off and his hops were so long that we had to run to keep up as he leapt through the door.
We immediately entered one of the most breathtaking areas I’ve ever encountered. Lush green plants were popping up everywhere, and in the middle was a glimmering pond. The water was like glass, and the only sounds we could hear were crickets and frogs.
“Milton, what are you doing at home?” Came a strong croaky voice from a rock nestled in the reeds.
“Mom, one of my friends from school is looking for his mama! Flamingoes also live near small bodies of water so I thought he could check here.”
“Oh, that is very sweet of you, but I would know if a pink mama flamingo was roaming around. I have not seen her, but the door has gotten confused before so he is on the right track to keep checking. Head on back to school now,” Mama frog croaked as she opened the door back up and nudged Milton, baby flamingo, and myself back into the classroom.
Once we were back in the classroom I realized my new furry friend had a sad look on his face. I knew he was getting even more worried.
“It’s ok, we will find her! Mama Frog said we were on the right track. Where should we check next?”
“Pprrrrrr, why do you look so sad?” The new voice startled me a bit. A small, yet delicate, leopard had come up behind my left shoulder to see what the problem was. We explained the whole story, and she really wanted to help.
“That is very nice of you,” little flamingo said, “but I do not live anywhere near a rainforest so I don’t really think my mom could have ended up there.”
“It’s worth a try,” she urged. “I really want to help you find her! I don’t know what I would do if I couldn’t find my mom.”
The furry flamingo looked to me for help. “I don’t think it could hurt. If the door did get confused I guess she could be anywhere.”
“Great, follow me!” She demanded cheerfully.
Now you would think she would run at such a speed that we couldn’t keep up, but she did not. She elegantly walked on her four long legs to the door, the door opened and she gracefully took a small leap back into her home. We both jumped right behind her not really knowing what we would see now.
The sounds of the jungle fill my ears immediately. Birds with high pitched squacks, and low soft rumbles off the greenery all around us. The air felt damp, and smelled like the first rain of spring.
Before we could take in much more I felt something soft brush across the back of my knees. Startled, I jumped around to find the baby leopard’s mother circling around me and my flamingo friend.
“Leah, what have I told you about bringing friends home from school without asking?” she scolds her young one. “And in the middle of the day?”
“I know mama, but I have a good reason. They are looking for mama flamingo. No one can find her, and I just wanted to help,”pleaded Leah the leopard.
“Oh My sweet girl, you have such a big heart. However, you must remember the jungle is not exactly a safe place for everyone.” With that I felt my heart start to beat a little faster. “I have not seen mama flamingo around here today or any day. Now head back to school before Anders the anaconda hears you and starts slithering over here.
With hardly any notice at all she opened the door and ushered us in, but I couldn’t complain because the thought of Anders and everything else lurking in there was making me quite nervous.
We entered back into the classroom, and this time everyone was staring at us. Apparently many of them have heard nightmares from the jungle and were waiting to see us return safely. I could see that the baby flamingo was growing more nervous with every new visit so I decided we needed to think about this a little more before we jumped through the door again.
“Ok, we need to choose the next visit wisely,” I pronounced. While standing close to the fluffy flamingo, I asked, “what do you have in common with anyone in this room?”
“Bently, my friend who is a bunny, is gray like me?” he explained.
“You are right! However, your mother is pink, and Bentley’s mother is not. Any other ideas?” I asked
“What about me?” came a crackly voice from the center of the classroom. It was a fluffy little chick who looked like he used a lot of courage to speak up.
“Well, you are fluffy like me!” the flamingo squeaked excitedly.
“Not only that, but you are both types of birds. There are two things in common,” I added. “I think it is worth a try to take a trip to the farm!”
Almost immediately the two fluffy littles skipped through the door, and I had to leap across the threshold to keep up.
I’ve been to a farm before so this was much more familiar to me than our other visits. The fresh air hits me instantly and I know right away it’s the smell of fresh hay and animals. The sound is different too. Instead of the slight buzzing of fluorescent lights we can now hear the swishing of the breeze in the field and the chatter of the barnyard animals. Unlike the other homes we’ve been to, here at the farm we have to walk around a bit in order to find Mama Hen. We scurry past the pigs lounging in the mud, and the goats pleading with us to pay attention to them, and before we know it we are at the coop. It is nestled right between the barn with the cows and the large storage shed.
“Mama!” the little chick hollers. He then mutters to us, “She’s not expecting me home in the middle of the day.”
“Oh Charlie, you startled me right off my nest!” Mama Hen declared while running out of the chicken coop. “But I was hoping you’d come home early.”
“You were? Why?” We were all a bit confused until we saw someone else coming out of the coop. Someone with legs much longer than a hen.
“Yes, Mrs. Flamingo has been worried sick. She dozed off early last night and was so tired she ended up sleepwalking right through the school door. When she finally awoke and tried to go home she ended up here. I think the door made a mistake because we are both birds and have nests. Since school had already started by the time she found me we could not get back into the classroom. I am so glad you came looking for us!” explained Mama Hen.
“MAMA, I have been so scared! I couldn’t find you this morning, and we have been looking everywhere!” Little Flamingo screamed as he ran to his mama.
Mama and baby flamingo wrapped their long necks around each other in an embrace.
“I’m so sorry you were scared, but remember I will always find you my little one,” Mama Flamingo assured.
“No Mama, I found you” little flamingo piped in.
“Haha, you’re right. Now let’s get you back to class”
With that the flamingo pair disappeared through the door so quickly that the man did not have time to even think what was next for him. He was happy to help the flamingo family, but he had a family of his own. How was he going to get home?
At least this farm seemed a little more like home to him than any other place he had been that day. He sat down on a bench outside the barn and began to think. Then he heard a very familiar noise. The panting of a dog. He lifted his head from his palms to find the farm dog settling down right in front of him. This pup looked so familiar to his own that it made him smile. The dog must have thought that smile meant they were friends because all of the sudden he had his front paws on the man’s lap as he started to lick his face.
The man closed his eyes and tried to turn away, and when he opened his eyes again he was back on his own front porch, and it was his own pooch covering him in kisses. The man looked up at the evening sky, and thought how thankful he was to be home. Adventures are fun (even if they are just a dream), but nothing is as good as home.