Sleep Travelers

Hello, friends! Today I want to introduce you to my book titled

Sleep Travelers  Book 1 The story of Ning, Dog, and Boss

This book will be featured at the LA Times Book Festival on the campus of UCLA. On April 22-23. I plan to read one chapter daily of this book and when finished, a chapter a day of the sequel called Sleep Travelers Book 2, The Amusement Park.

A child’s imagination is a wonderful thing and must be encouraged. They vividly imagine being the Captain of their Pirate ship, the hero of their adventure, handsome, beautiful, brilliant, and strong. They conquer the world and do anything and everything. The lucky ones keep that childhood wonder! It is so sad many adults lose it on the long bumpy road to adulthood. This is the story of a young girl named Dawnie, who will never lose that childhood wonder. 

Okay, onward and upward!

Chapter 7 Harold the Hippo

They all appeared beside the Hippo pool and stood there looking at the smooth water. “Where are they?  All I can see is water.” Squeaked Ella. 

A huge head with big bulging eyes and tiny ears popped out of the water, and an angry voice said, “Who’s disturbing my morning nap?”

“Morning nap? Don’t you know it is night?” A snarky Boss retorted.

“A lot, you know. When I am in my pool world, it is whatever time I want it to be.  Right now, I want it to be nap time, now go away and quit pestering me.” He shouted. 

Boss said quietly under his breath, or so he thought, “I’ve got a good mind to land on his head and pluck out his eyes.”

“I heard that!  Hippos have perfect hearing, and we also have quick, powerful jaws.” Turning his head in Boss’s direction, continued, “Although you wouldn’t even be a mouthful,” looking at Ella, “By the way, why do you have a little girl, a cat, and a parrot on your back?”

Dog spoke up before Boss decided to tangle with the Hippo and said, “Look, guys, this is supposed to be a fun trip, and we ALL need to be mindful that our little Dawnie is present.”

Upon seeing the look on her face, Boss said, “Sorry, Mr. Hippo,” and the Hippo said, “I’m Sorry too,  it was hot today, and people were bugging me, trying to get me to stay on the surface.  And when I did, they threw stuff at me until finally; I just went under until they got bored waiting for me to surface. I apologize for my rudeness, Miss Dawnie. 

Dawnie looked at him with her big brown/green eyes, her long light brown hair framing her cute round face, her smile lighting up the area.  “Mister Hippo, I would like you to meet my friends, Blackie, Tigger, Ella, Ning, Dog, and Boss. We all have a name; I think you need a name, too.  What would you like to be called?”

Mr. Hippo nodded and said, “I am pleased to meet all of you, too,” thinking a few minutes, he said, “I think I would like to be called Harold. The only thing I ask, don’t start singing that song about wanting a Hippopotamus for Christmas.  Once someone starts singing it, it gets stuck in my head, and I hear it over and over forever.  It drives me mad. Lately, that is the first thing visitors do when they see me, and the only thing I can do is stay underwater until they are gone.

Dog spoke up and said, “Harold, we promise we won’t sing to you.  Would you like to go with us to visit the other animals in the Zoo?”

“Could I?” You are the only animals that I have ever seen.  I spend most of my time in the water.  I am very agile in water; on land, not so much.”

Dog said, “I know where I would like to go next.

Everybody close your eyes and think about visiting the Aquarium.”

“Uh, what’s an Aquarium?” Asked Harold. 

“It will be a surprise to you; just come along with us.”

“Okay, let’s get this show on the road.” He said.

See you next time for Chapter 8. Swimming with the fishes

Brenda Colbath, here; thanks for listening when we read the next chapter.

If you want to own the book, go to http://www.brendacolbathbooks.com, and you will see all 14 of my currently published books. Click on the book covers, and you will be taken to Amazon.com, where you can read several chapters and purchase any of my books in eBook or paperback form. I will be posting the links to my podcasts for your enjoyment.

Published by Time Traveler of Life

Biography Creating worlds, characters, and wielding power like a madwoman, making my characters happy, sad, angry, and some of them with no redeeming qualities. I probably shouldn’t admit this, but I sometimes laugh out loud when I am writing a scene, and I have been known to cry when one of my favorites has to die. I am a left-handed Gemini, what do you expect? Reading bedtime stories to my two children until they fell asleep or until they just told me to go away, was fun. Making up wild stories for my grandchild, and creating Halloween costumes from Cowboys to a Dragon, was another favorite thing to do. I missed that so much when they were grown, that I started writing. My yearly newsletters frequently were drafted third-person by my Love Birds, Miranda our motorhome, and by Sir Fit the White Knight, our faithful Honda. Throughout the years, some of my creative talents centered around writing letters of complaint expressing my displeasure with services or products. One crucial, at least to my Son, was a note to our local school bus driver petitioning her to allow him back on the bus. He was kicked off for making an obscene gesture at his buddy. I reminded her that it was not directed at her, and that “obscenity can be in the eye of the beholder,” kids use that gesture as a greeting. He rode the bus until he graduated. I loved driving my English teacher crazy. Leaving a “continued next week” at the end of my five handwritten pages required each week. He was one of many people that suggested I “do something about my writing.” I graduated from the School of Hard Knocks at the top of my class. After 30 years, in the trenches as a Real Estate Professional, I have found that truth is stranger than fiction. My books are filled with characters I met in that profession. Their names were changed to protect the guilty. Others were from people we met traveling around the country in Miranda, our Motorhome. I am married nearly 60 years to the love of my life, Shirl, and partner-produced two exceptionally talented children, and one grandchild who is our pride and joy.

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