“Now, Lula Mae,” Mama said, peering at her daughter in her rear-view mirror, “I hope you packed a smile somewhere in that suitcase; otherwise, you might hurt Grammy’s feelings.” 

Lula Mae crossed her arms and huffed a dramatic sigh. “I love Grammy. And her pies. And those big crinkly fries she makes me, but two whole weeks! I’ll be soooo bored, Mama.” 

“Oh, hush now, it’s not that long. There is plenty of summer left to play with your friends when you get back.” 

Her daughter pressed her freckled nose against the window. Goodbye to the city, and hello to cornfields. “I still don’t understand why I couldn’t stay home with Mr. Marshmallow. Mr. and Mrs. Witherspoon could feed me when they come to feed him.” 

Mama shook her head and sighed. “Mr. Marshmallow is a cat, and you, my precious sweet pea, are a little girl. Big difference. Now, no more fussin’. We’re almost at Grammy’s house.” 

She pointed through the bug-splattered windshield. “Look there. I can see the apple trees. Why, I bet Grammy’s got a fresh-baked apple pie still warm in the kitchen just for you.” 

Soon, the car was kicking up dust from Grammy’s gravelly driveway. There sat Grammy on her porch swing, snapping green beans into a big yellow bowl. Her worn face lit up upon seeing them. 

Lula Mae opened the squeaky car door and dragged her small butterfly-print suitcase along behind her. She did her best to smile. “Hi, Grammy.”

“Well, my how you’ve grown, Tater Bug!” 

Grammy wrapped her in a warm, squishy hug, then leaned back and looked into her granddaughter’s sad eyes. “Now, don’t you worry your pretty red curls. We’re gonna have big fun while Mama’s away at her work thing. Pinky promise.”

She and her granddaughter hooked pinkies, and Lula Mae’s frown lifted a smidge as she squeezed Grammy into a tighter hug. 

“What about me?” Mama said from behind her. “Your mama wants a hug before I go.”

Lula Mae looked over her shoulder, then spun into Mama’s open arms. “I love you, Mama. Come back super duper soon, okay?”

Mama kissed her cheek and whispered, “It’s just two weeks. It will fly by with all the fun you’ll be having.” She looked into her daughter’s sparkling green eyes. “Now, you be good for Grammy, you hear?”

“I’ll try,” she mumbled, mostly meaning it. 

Mama wrapped Grammy in a grateful hug. “Thank you for looking after my little girl.” 

Grammy cupped Mama’s cheeks with her wrinkled hands. “Now, don’t you worry either,” Grammy said with a wink. “Lula Mae and I have big adventures waiting for us.”

Mama smiled, playfully ruffled her daughter’s curly locks, and headed back to the car. She blew them kisses before sliding into the seat.

Lula Mae snuggled alongside Grammy, her short arms stretching as far as they could around Grammy’s squishy middle. She held on real tight as Mama’s car disappeared down the road, leaving a trail of dust behind her.

~ooOoo~

Grammy sat beside Lula Mae on the soft, patchwork bedspread. The little girl’s face brightened upon seeing the colorful quilt draped over Grammy’s arms. 

“It’s a gift for you,” Grammy said as she unfolded the quilt and gently laid it across her granddaughter’s lap. 

Lula Mae gasped, then hugged it against her body for a few moments before flinging it onto the floor. She spread it out for a better look, then dropped to her knees in the middle of the quilt. Grammy chuckled as her granddaughter’s curls bounced while she crawled around, naming all the pictures on the fabric. 

“A bunny. Oh, and there’s a kitty!” She paused and sighed. “I miss Mr. Marshmallow so much.”

Grammy offered a comforting smile. “And no doubt, Mr. Marshmallow misses you, but I bet he’d be glad to know you have a kitty here to play with.”

The little girl’s eyes darted from square to square. “Ice Cream! Cookies! It has everything I love, Grammy.”

“I know. I made it especially for you.” She leaned forward and crooked her finger, beckoning Lula Mae closer. The little girl scrambled toward her, then Grammy whispered, “It’s a magic quilt.”

“Magic!” the girl squealed, eyes wide with wonder. “Really, truly? You aren’t just foolin’ me?”

Grammy nodded. “Truly. I’d never try to fool you. Why, you’re much too smart.” She winked, then continued, “Now you listen close. Touch a square and the picture on it will come… to… life! But just for you.”

Wasting no time, a soft “boop” escaped her mouth as Lula Mae jabbed the white bunny’s ear once with her small finger. 

Nothing happened. 

With her freckled face scrunched up in dissatisfaction, she looked over her shoulder at Grammy. “It didn’t work.”

Grammy stood and urged her to try again. “Now, Tater Bug, you have to give it more of a rub instead of a poke. I wanted to make sure you’d have some friends to play with when you came to visit me.” She smoothed the wrinkles in her apron and walked towards the door. “I’ll start whipping us up something to eat while you fiddle with it. Just don’t go rubbing on the ice cream until after supper.” 

“Okay, Grammy,” she promised, really hoping she could get the quilt to show her its magic. 

As soon as Grammy disappeared through the doorway, Lula Mae spied the hot-air balloons. She rubbed more slowly and with greater force. Back and forth, her finger slid across the green-striped balloon. Then it happened…

Whoosh!

The hot-air balloon shimmied, shivered, then lifted right off the quilt! Lula Mae’s mouth fell open as the balloon started its slow ascent. She didn’t dare touch it at first, instead watching it float this way and that way. 

“More!” she cried, rubbing the blue and red balloon on the quilt. It lifted off, too! Both floated above her head, circling the room, all while she squealed in amusement. She chased the drifting balloons, and now and again, one dipped low enough for her wiggling fingers to touch the wicker basket. Oh, what fun! 

Then she saw them—the tiny balloon pilots, wearing brown coats with matching caps and gloves, inside the baskets. They steered their balloons like bumper cars, bonking into one another as they flew around the room.

She waggled her finger at them, as stern as an eight-year-old could be. “Now be careful! No crashing!” 

But the tiny pilots burst into laughter and continued zipping and zagging through the room. One rammed into the table lamp, making it wobble. The other bounced off the window. 

Why, one cheeky pilot even bumped into Lula Mae’s backside while she was watching the other balloon!

“Hey!” she fussed, waggling her finger at him again. 

The air tingled with magic and giggles. Time zoomed by until Grammy’s voice called from the kitchen, “Supper’s ready!” 

Lula Mae remembered Mama’s rule:  always put your toys away when done playing. So she clapped her hands to get their attention.

“Come on, time to land.”

The tiny balloon pilots tipped their caps to her, then slowly drifted back to the quilt. One after another, they landed on their square, then melted into the fabric as if they’d never left. 

Lula Mae stood grinning at the quilt, still feeling its magic bubbling around her. Although her tummy rumbled in hunger, she couldn’t wait to return and make more new friends. 

~ooOoo~

Grammy had tucked Lula Mae into bed some time ago, snug as a red-headed bug in a rug, but Lula Mae couldn’t sleep. 

She fluffed her pillow, flipped and flopped, and tried counting sheep, but nothing helped. The truth was that she was lonely. 

“I miss you, Mr. Marshmallow,” she said with a sigh. At home, he always curled up alongside her, keeping her company.

Then, she had an idea. 

Slipping out from under the covers, Lula Mae softly walked across the wooden floor to the quilt. After kneeling, her eyes scanned all the squares.

The bunny!  

Remembering how nothing happened when she poked her that first night, she gently stroked her back. Then, boing! Two velvety white ears popped up and gave a twitch, then the rest of her fuzzy body shimmied and lifted from the quilt. 

Lula Mae scooped her up in her arms and stroked her ears. 

“Oooo,” she cooed, “I think I’ll call you Snowball.” 

The bunny gave a thump thump thump of her back foot as if telling her she liked the name. 

Lula Mae smiled, then glanced back at the quilt. “I think we need another friend. What do you say, Snowball?”

After setting Snowball down, she reached for the yellow kitty square and gave it a soft stroke. The fabric turned to fur beneath her fingertips, and the kitty leapt into real life, landing on all four paws on the floor. 

Meow!

“Shhh!” she giggled, pressing a finger to her lips. “Don’t wake Grammy.”

Lula Mae petted the kitty as the small cat circled her, tail curling around her body. 

“Buttercup! You are such a pretty yellow, I’ll call you Buttercup!”

Snowball gave a little hop, and Buttercup sprang after her. Lula Mae caught Buttercup mid-pounce and turned her around in the air to scold her. “Don’t chase Snowball, okay? She’s our friend.”

Buttercup reached out a soft paw and pressed it gently to Lula Mae’s lips as if to shush her. Lula Mae giggled, then kissed her on her wet nose. 

She yawned, suddenly sleepy. “Snowball and Buttercup. You’re my new bedtime buddies. We will play more tomorrow, but now, it’s time for bed.” 

Snowball hopped into her open suitcase on the floor and settled down for a nap while Buttercup jumped onto the bed. Lula Mae slipped back into bed and watched Buttercup explore the bed, making biscuits on the soft bedspread, before curling up against her pillow. When the soft kitty rested a paw against her cheek, Lula Mae closed her eyes and drifted off to a sound sleep. 

The next morning, Lula Mae had just finished eating her biscuits and gravy when she felt a tickle on her leg. Buttercup had brushed against her while Snowball nibbled on a crumb that had fallen on the floor.  

Grammy turned from the sink with a gleam in her eye. “Alright now, Tater Bug, I think I’ll teach you how to make my special apple pie today. Would you mind runnin’ down to the apple trees and pickin’ me ten apples?” She pointed to a wicker basket on the table.

Lula Mae perked up like one of the sunflowers in the garden. “Sure, Grammy! I’m gonna take Buttercup and Snowball with me to help.” 

Grammy smiled, wiping her hands on a kitchen towel. “That’s a fine idea, but keep your new friends outta trouble.” She leaned closer to whisper the secret of her pies. “Now, tap on the apples before you choose one. Only the firm ones go in my pies, okay? The squishy ones will turn my pie to mush.” She gave her a wink and moved to open the back door.  

“Got it, Grammy!” she said, then grabbed the basket and zipped out the back door, nearly tripping over Buttercup, who, with tail swishing, eagerly awaited their adventure. Snowball followed in bouncy hops. 

Once reaching the orchard, Lula Mae slowed, enjoying the sight before her. She loved the apple trees. The brook babbled nearby. The air smelled like sunshine and sweet grass. Somehow, this place felt like a different world to her—like a magical scene from one of her storybooks. 

Right away, Snowball found some clumps of clover to nibble on. Buttercup chased a brilliant blue butterfly, pouncing, but never catching it. Lula Mae giggled. “The butterfly's too fast for you.”

Lula Mae circled the trees with her basket, bumping against her knees, then crawled along the ground, inspecting the fallen apples. 

“Nope, too squishy.” She picked up another. “Eww, this one has a wormhole in it.” 

Then she tapped on one that might be just right. With a grin, she took a big bite. Crunch! 

“Mmmm! Perfect.” 

Buttercup climbed into her lap and put her paws on her shoulders to lick some apple juice running down her chin. 

Buttercup’s rough tongue tickled, and Lula Mae giggled, rolling onto her backside into the grass. That’s when she spotted it—the perfect apple. She scrambled to her feet and reached for it, but it was too high. Then she jumped up and down, stretching her fingers. 

“Oh, poo,” she fussed as she jumped one more time, but the prize apple was still out of reach. 

Meow. Meow. 

She looked down at Buttercup, staring up at her with her fluffy tail swishing back and forth. She lifted the cat in her arms, but the cat immediately squirmed out of her arms onto her shoulder, then sprang onto the tree branch over her head. 

“Buttercup!” She nervously watched the kitty, who was awkwardly walking along the branch, and she remembered Grammy’s instructions to keep her friends out of trouble. “Be careful!”

Her yellow fluffy friend inched along the branch with her claws gripping the wood until reaching the dangling, perfect apple. Buttercup crouched low and swiped at the hanging apple with her paw. One, two, three times, then—the stem broke and down the apple fell straight into Lula Mae’s waiting hands. 

“You did it!” She squealed in delight, twirling with her prize apple.  

She pointed to another apple dangling from a different branch. Buttercup, her newfound apple-picking assistant, followed her finger and batted another down. Then two more as directed by Lula Mae. 

She counted the apples twice to make sure she indeed had ten, then motioned to her kitty to come down out of the tree. Buttercup tip-toed back to the lowest branch, then paused, ears backed. Snowball stopped eating to watch as Lula Mae opened her arms.

“Come on, I’ll catch you. Pinky promise.” 

Buttercup twitched her furry behind, then leapt right into her arms. Thwump! Then, the friends spun in a happy hug, both glad Buttercup was out of the tree. 

“Grammy’s gonna be so proud of us!” 

With her basket full of apples swinging from one hand, Lula Mae skipped back to the house. Snowball hopped beside her, and Buttercup followed at a slower pace, tail held high and proud. 

~ooOoo~

Lula Mae had another wonderful day with Grammy and her new quilt friends, playing outside, swinging on the porch, chasing butterflies, and eating ice cream. After supper, though, Grammy said the words all children hated to hear: “Time for a bath to clean up.”

Lula Mae groaned in her dramatic fashion and fell over on the overstuffed sofa. “But I’m not dirty,” she whined. 

Grammy gave her that look that meant she wasn’t backing down. 

“Okay,” Lula Mae grumbled again, then slowly stomped up the wooden stairs to her room with Grammy close behind. She stood in the doorway watching Grammy fill the scratched-up clawfoot tub. It was old and deeper than her bathtub back home.  Grammy patted the top of her head as she walked past her. “Get on in, now, don’t let the water get cold.”

Lula Mae leaned against the doorframe, watching Grammy walk out the door, closing it behind her. She moaned aloud once more, then she saw it—the whale! 

She sprang into action, pouncing onto the quilt and rubbing the plump blue belly of the whale square. 

Splash!

A squirt of water landed on her hand, and then the whale shook before giving a happy flip out of the square, coming to life.

“Come on, Mr. Whale,” she said, scooping it up and rushing to plop the whale into the warm bath water. 

Lula Mae peeled off her clothes, tossing them into a pile, then climbed in after him.

Oh, what fun they had splashing about!

The whale swam around, showing off its impressive swimming skills. He dove to the bottom of the tub and soared to the top, breaching the surface, before crashing back into the water. He would poke his head up as if waiting for her to clap, which she did. Water splashed everywhere—onto the floor and the walls. Lula Mae squealed with laughter. 

She thought, Best bath ever!  

When she wrinkled like a raisin, she climbed out of the tub and wrapped herself in a fluffy towel. She dressed for bed, then went back after Mr. Whale. He gave one final spurt of water before she carried him back to the quilt. She kissed his nose, then set him back on his square and watched him sink back into the fabric.

Feeling squeaky clean, she padded down the stairs to play cards with Grammy. She suggested Go Fish, and they played until she started yawning after every turn. 

Grammy put the cards away and kissed her on the forehead. “I’m sure happy you’re here, Tater Bug. You'd better head to bed now. Want me to tuck you in?” 

“I can do it tonight, Grammy. I sure am sleepy.”

Once back upstairs, she climbed into bed, but didn’t fall asleep right away. She had an idea. An idea she knew she probably shouldn't act on. 

She remembered Mama telling her to be good. Well, she had been. Mostly. “I only promised her I’d try,” she whispered to herself as a smile spread across her cheeks.

And so, she hopped outta bed and crawled on hands and knees across the quilt until she found it—the chocolate chip cookie. As her little pink tongue hung out the corner of her mouth, she rubbed the cookie with her finger until she felt its warmth in her hand. She carefully held it and scurried back to bed. 

“Mmmmmm,” she softly moaned, eating the gooey goodness. The chocolate chips melted on her tongue.

Soon, with her tummy full of sweetness, she pulled the covers up under her chin and drifted off into dreamland. Perhaps dreaming about tomorrow’s quilt square—maybe the green dragon. 

~ooOoo~

The rest of Lula Mae’s time with Grammy flew by, and on that last day, all her friends were gathered around her in the backyard. The tiny balloon pilots continued to chase one another in the sky, dodging birds and bumblebees. Buttercup playfully chased the happily hopping Snowball, while Lula Mae talked to her baby doll. Then, there was the dragon blowing tiny puffs of smoke into the air. But, everyone froze when Grammy hollered out the kitchen window, “Tater Bug! Your mama’s here!”

Lula Mae jumped up and quickly gathered her friends, kissing them each goodbye, before tucking them back into the quilt. Then, she dashed around the side of the house, red curls bouncing. 

She found Mama sitting in the porch swing, sipping sweet tea beside Grammy. Lula Mae squealed, “Mama!” and ran straight for her, leaping into her lap.

Mama squeezed her close and smiled. “There you are!”

“I missed you, Mama!”

Mama hugged her tighter, then leaned back to get a good look at her daughter. “What’s this?” she asked, running her hand over the colorful quilt draped around Lula Mae’s shoulders. “How lovely!”

“It’s my magic quilt,” Lula Mae said proudly. “Meet my new friends, Mama. She pointed to the different squares. This is Buttercup; she’s fluffier than Mr. Marshmallow. And that’s Snowball. And inside the baskets of the hot-air balloons are the tiny pilots, but shhh, they’re sleeping right now.”

Mama raised an eyebrow and looked from her daughter to Grammy. Grammy just shrugged her shoulders, but her smile curved with mischief. 

Lula Mae leaned forward to whisper something in Mama’s ear. ”Can I come back before school starts? Pretty pretty please?” She gave her best pleading face, the one she only saved for things she really, really wanted. 

Mama chuckled and tucked a red curl behind her daughter’s ear. “We’ll see, sweet pea. Something tells me Grammy and your new friends might miss you too much if you don’t.”

Lula Mae hopped off Mama’s lap and carefully folded the quilt before setting it on Grammy’s lap. “Please, take good care of my new friends.”

Grammy gave a secret wink back. “We’ll all be here, waiting for you to come back for more adventures.”