Stories Momma Wrote About Me!

So after Momma adopted me, she started writing stories about some of my adventures with my friends. She even wrote about what my life was like before she found me. I, of course, told her everything about before I met her. So these are the stories she's finished as of now. I really like the one with me dressed up as a turkey. I love my Turkey Toes costume. Momma took a picture of me in it. Don't I look beautiful?

• Nora Moves
• Nora loses her llama
• Nora and the Missing Roller Skate
• A Lion in Turkey's Clothes

Nora Moves

Nora had lived her whole life on the Serengeti, which is a big national park in Tanzania, Africa. She had lots of friends. She played with zebras, wildebeests, baby hippos, elephants and even cheetahs. She liked living on the Serengeti. She enjoyed her friends and she even looked forward to starting school in the fall.

One day she came home after playing with her friends to find the house a mess. There were boxes and newspapers all over the place. She could see some things had been put in boxes while other things were still in the shelves where they belonged. Nora was scared. Where was her mother? Who had done this to their house? What was going on?

"Momma!" Nora screamed in a panic.

"Yes, Nora?" her mother asked, coming into the living room with a box labeled, "kitchen".

"Momma, what happened to the house?" asked Nora.

"Well, sit down, your father and I will explain what's happened," Momma told her.

Nora took a seat and looked at her parents expectantly. Finally, her father smiled at her and said, "Nora, something exciting has happened. I have been offered a job in Jefferson Creek."

"What's Jefferson Creek?" Nora asked.

"Jefferson Creek is a town in the United States," Nora's father explained.

"What does that have to do with the house being all messed up?" Nora asked a bit impatiently. She knew there was mroe to what they they were saying, but she just didn't understand.

"Well, it means we're moving to Jefferson Creek," Nora's mother replied.

"We're moving?" Nora shouted. "We can't move. I start school in a few weeks and all my friends are here. People finally quit teasing me. I can't start over somewhere new!" Nora cried as she ran to her bedroom.

Nora was different that most girl lion cubs. She could play baseball better than most boys, she loved to roll around in the mud and climb trees, but most importantly, Nora had a mane and most girl lions don't.

Her mother knew the man was what worried Nora the most. Most of the other families around them knew Nora and they understood that for some reason, she had a mane. Momma also knew Nora was afraid the kids of Jefferson Creek would make fun of her because of her mane. Her mother was certain that once the kids in Jefferson Creek got to know her, they'd like her. She also understood, Nora might get teased first.

Momma looked at Nora's father and together they sighed. They knew things could be pretty rough for Nora for a while.

"I'll go talk to her," Momma said.

"No," Poppa answered. "Let her be for a while. She needs some time alone to cry and work through this."

Momma nodded to him. "I'll go make dinner," she said.

Poppa nodded absent mindedly as he picked up the evening paper and began to read.

Nora had trouble getting up the next morning. She didn't want to deal with the idea of moving. Her mother wouldn't leave her alone though. The whole morning she kept talking about how exciting it was to be moving to some place new, to be starting school, and how many friends she would make.

It was late in the afternoon when she went to out to find her friends.

"You missed a great game of baseball, Nora," said her friend, Iggi, the wildebeest. He was five years older than Nora. He kept her safe and out of trouble when she was outside playing. And he always listened when she had a problem.

"I'm going to be missing a lot more of them, too," Nora said sadly.

"Why? Did you get into trouble again?" Iggi knew her very well.

"Not this time. We're moving to United States," Nora told him, in a trembly voice.

"That sounds exciting. Why the sad face?" Iggi gently asked.

"My mane," Nora whispered.

"If anyone teases you about it, just remember you have friends here that love you. And don't worry about what others say, it's who you are on the inside that matters. They'll learn to see behind the mane," Iggi wisely told her.

Nora smiled. "Well, I guess it worked on all of you!" she laughed as she thought of all the friends she had on the Serengeti and how they'd grown to love her. None of them teased her anymore. Suddenly, moving didn't seem quite as scary.

Nora Loses Her Llama

Nora the lion was sad. She was very, very sad. She used to have a llama, but one day she came home and her llama had run away. She looked all over the house, thinking her llama was playing hide and seek. But there was no llama. She looked in the garden, hoping her llama was pulling weeds. But there was no llama. She ran out to the garage thinking the llama was putting on his roller skates so they could go skating. But there was no llama.

Nora put up posters hoping someone would see her llama and bring him back home to her. But no one called. Nora took out a big ad in the newspaper asking if anyone had seen her llama. Still no one called. Finally she went on late night talk shows, and in between yawns she asked for anyone who had seen her llama to call. Still no one called.

Nora called all of her llama's family. No one had heard from him. She called all of his friends. No one knew where he was.

Nora started to feel guilty. She felt like she hadn't paid enough attention to her llama. What if he was gone forever? Would he know that she missed him? Would he know that she felt bad for cheating when they played Llamaopoly? Had he ever loved her? Would another llama ever be her friend and love her? Nora wondered if he knew she felt bad for all the times she got mad at him. She sometimes thought he got more attention from her parents than she did. It was hard to like her llama sometimes. Sometimes he hurt her feelings. Once in a while he teased her about her mane.

She started to worry that without her llama around, she would forget what he looked like, the sound of his voice, or even some of the silly games they played together.

After a few weeks, Nora got mad. Her llama shouldn't have run away, darn him! And he used to bite her all the time when she was feeding him! And he never let her have the last popsicle! And didn't he know that she would miss him!?!

Nora's Momma watched as Nora went through all these feelings. And then one day her Momma told her it was okay to feel angry, to feel sad, to feel guilty, to feel scared. Her momma told her it just meant she loved her llama and missed him. Momma promised her soon she would begin to feel better.

One day, many months later, Nora was walking along the creek, pawing at the butterflies, when she laughed at a frog falling into the water. She ran home to tell her llama. She was so excited when she saw his skates were next to her bike. And then she remembered he was gone. She ran into the house crying.

Nora's Momma hugged the tearful lion and asked what had happened. Nora told her momma she was a bad little lion. She had been happy and laughing even though her llama was gone. Nora's Momma hugged her again and told her that she wasn't a bad lion. Her llama would want her to laugh at frogs, to romp and play with butterflies, and to, once again have a friend she could teach to play Llamaopoly.

Nora was surprised. Why would her llama want her to do all that without him, she'd asked her momma.

"He'd want you to be happy because he loved you," Momma told Nora.

For the first time in months, Nora knew her llama had loved her. She knew he hadn't gone away to hurt her. Nora knew sometimes llamas have to leave you. And even though it hurts, they're still in your heart.

When she went to bed that night, Nora said a special prayer for her llama. She smiled when she thought she felt him nip her hand. She knew it was her imagination but it made her feel like he knew she still loved him.

The next day, she went outside ready to make some new friends. She saw the moving truck next door and a llama standing next to the fence looking lost. Nora took a deep breath, and walked over to him.

"Hi, I'm Nora. Are you just moving in?" she asked.

"Hi," the llama said, nervously, after all, she was a lion. "I'm Pito," he finally said with only a slight quiver in his voice.

"Would you like to play with me?" Nora asked, her voice as shy as Pito's had been.

"All my toys are packed," Pito answered sadly.

Nora nodded and then had an idea. "I'll be right back," she yelled as she ran for the house. In the garage, next to her bike she found what she wanted. Wiping a tear away, she ran back to her new neighbor.

"I used to have a llama for a friend. His name was Pedro. He went away. I miss him a lot, but he doesn't need these skates anymore. Would you like them? You could skate and I could ride my bike. We can even trade places," Nora asked, again feeling shy and scared of being rejected.

"Wow, your friend was sure lucky! I've wanted skates forever! Thanks Nora!" Pito happily said as he started to put the skates on his feet. "I can't keep them, they were your friend's, but I'd love to borrow them and skate while you bike."

Nora smiled as she and her new friend stared down the driveway. She turned to look at her house for a moment and thought she saw her llama wave good-bye to her. She was still sad, but knew her momma was right, Pedro would want her to be happy and that he'd loved her. And with a new friend like Pito, she'd be okay.

Nora and the Missing Roller Skate

Nora was a good lion, at least she tried to be. She tried to obey her Momma and Poppa, she tried to do well in school. She had lots of friends and could always be counted on to be eager to play, even if she did tend to get distracted easily.

Her very best friends was a llama named Pito. They had been friends since he moved next door, right before kindergarten started. They played together every chance they had. It usually meant Nora had to get up extra early on Saturday to get her chores done as quickly as she could. Her Momma and Poppa insisted chores came first.

One Saturday, Nora and Pito had been playing in Pito's yard most of the morning when Pito's Mom called them in for lunch.

"I called your mom a little bit ago and she said it was okay for you to stay for lunch," Mrs. Llama told Nora.

"Thank you for inviting me," Nora said shyly. She was in awe of Mrs. Llama with her long, graceful neck and gentle voice.

Mrs. Llama set their lunches down and left the kitchen to go tidy the rest of the house. Nora and Pito had just taken their plates to the sink when Mrs. Llama came back in with a laundry basket.

"Momma," Pito began, May we go back outside and play? I want to skate and Nora wants to play on her scooter."

"Did you get your tummies full?" asked Mrs. Llama.

"Yes," they chorused together.

"Have fun and be careful," Mrs. Llama said as she went to answer the phone.

Pito and Nora went to his room to get his roller skates. Pito gathered up three of them without any trouble, but he couldn't find the fourth.

"Nora! What did you do with my skate?" Pito yelled.

Pito, I've been with you all day. I haven't done anything with it. Where did you leave it?" Nora asked him.

"Oh, right. Gee, I wonder where it went. It was right here when I left this morning," Pito said, very confused.

"Maybe somebody stoled it," Nora exclaimed.

"A bad guy," Nora told him. "Ooh, can I help you find the bad guy?"

Pito looked skeptical. "If someone stole it, then I need to call the police."

"You call the police, I'm just going to go home and change real quick and then I'll help yo look," Nora said, running out the bedroom door and the house.

Pito shook his head and went to the phone. His pal Henry was learning to be a police dog, he'd help him. Pito called Henry, glad his friend was coming over to help. Not that he wasn't glad Nora had offered to help too, it was just that sometimes she got distracted and forgot she was supposed to be helping.

Henry came right over and took careful notes. He looked at the place where the other three skates had been and examined the remaining three closely for clues. He looked at an empty spot in the messy room and was about to ask what had been there when Nora came bursting back into the room.

She was wearing the Sherlock Holmes Halloween costume her dad had bought her, complete with hat, trench coat and magnifying glass. She walked right up to Henry, peered at him through the glass and demanded, "Where were you on the night of December seventh?"

"Nora, it's only October," Henry patiently explained.

"I meaned last year," Nora said.

"My skate was here last year," Pito said. He sounded very frustrated.

"Oh, right. I guess you're off the hook," Nora told Henry as she continued to look at him through the magnifying glass. "But I've got my eye on you."

"Oh brother," Henry said as he rolled his eyes. "I'd like to look around a bit more," Henry told Pito.

Pito nodded and went chasing after Nora, who had looked around and decided to go look for more clues in the front yard.

He caught up to her on the sidewalk in front of his house. She was sitting on the curb, magnifying glass in hand, looking at the ants crawling on the sidewalk.

"Nora!" Pito yelled.

"Right, roller skate. Come on, Pito, we don't have all day," Nora yelled as she took off running down the street.

Pito followed her as best he could but she was fast and small and he couldn't always go where she could. He finally found the gorilla twins under a banana tree. They were yelling up the tree and bananas were falling to the ground around them.

"Hi, 'rilla brudders," Pito said using the name they preferred to be called.

"Hi, hi! Look, Nora get us nanners!!" they excitedly yelled.

"Nora!" Pito yelled up the tree at his friend.

"What?" she yelled back. "Oh, hi Pito. The 'rillas haven't seen your skate."

Nora climbed down and handed the gorillas two big handfuls of bananas. "Come on, Pito, let's get going," she said as she tugged him after her.

Nora took off running again and Pito realized he would just have to follow her until she stopped again. He found her in front of another neighbor's house, arguing with their friend, JoyJoy.

"No, the clouds look like clouds, JoyJoy, not cotton candy," Nora was yelling.

Pito rolled his eyes.

"You have to use your imagination, Nora," said JoyJoy in her wispy voice. "Hi, Pito," JoyJoy added when she saw him panting next to her.

Nora looked over at Pito before hastily saying, "And you're sure you didn't see any skates?"

JoyJoy looked confused. "You mean clouds that look like skates?"

Pito glared at Nora. "She is supposed to be helping me find my missing roller skate. Have you seen it, JoyJoy?"

"I'm sorry, Pito, I haven't seen any roller skates today," JoyJoy told him.

Pito sighed and looked for Nora. He saw she was running off again and knew he better hurry and catch up to her. "Thanks anyway, JoyJoy," he called as he chased after Nora.

"Good luck, Pito," JoyJoy called after him.

When Pito caught up to Nora again she was playing catch with Robert. Robert lived on the next block and he loved to play all kinds of sports.

"Hey Pito," Robert excitedly called. "Now we can play kickball!"

"I can't play right now, Robert. I'm looking for my missing roller skate. Have you seen it?" Pito asked him.

"No I haven't," Robert said as Nora threw the ball back to him.

"I better get going now, Robert. I promised, Pito I'd help him find his skate," Nora called as she ran off again.

Shaking his head, Pito wondered if he should go home and wait. Knowing Nora was likely to keep getting distracted, he chased after her again. It didn't take long to find her. She was talking to their teenage friend, Bearmioni, who was obsessed with fashion. Nora looked like she wanted to escape but Bearmioni was not easily distracted. Bearmioni was holding a pair of boots and asking, "But do you really think the heel isn't too high?"

When Nora rolled her eyes in exasperation, Pito couldn't help but snicker. "I have no idea," Nora told Bearmioni. "How high do you want the heel to be?"

"Not too high, I have trouble walking if they're too high," the teen bear said.

"Why don't you try them on?" Nora suggested, with as much patience as she could muster.

Looking at the boots again, Bearmioni said, "Oh wait, these are black, I want navy blue."

Nora growled. "But have you seen Pito's skate?" Nora asked for the hundredth time.

"Of course. They aren't very fashionable though. I wouldn't be seen in them," Bearmioni said as she flipped her hair off her shoulder.

"Where did you see it?" Nora excitedly asked. Finally, she was getting somewhere!

"On Pito, last week sometime," Bearmioni answered as she looked at another pair of boots.

"Oh," Nora said and then headed down the street.

"Try these," Pito said, handing a pair of navy blue boots to Bearmioni as he took off after Nora.

"Thank you!" Bearmioni happily yelled after him.

When Pito finally caught up to Nora again, she was in her garage. Her brother, Lenny and his band were practising with Nora banging on the drums for them. Lenny's band mates looked ready for Nora to stop hitting the drums so enthusiastically.

Gasping for breath, Pito asked, "Lenny, have you seen my roller skate?"

Lenny shook his head. "I did find Nora, or rather Nora found us. Could you take her away before they eat her," Lenny asked pointing to his band mates.

Pito nodded and held up one of his other roller skates so Nora could see it.

She immediately stopped drumming and said, "Okay, guys, I don't have time to play with you right now. We're looking for Pito's roller skate. Which of you took it?" Nora asked, her magnifying glass up as she peered at each of the members of the band.

"Good-bye, Nora," Lenny said as he shooed his sister out of the garage before his band mates could get to her.

"How rude!" Nora said indignantly as she ran toward the house on the other side of Pito's.

Pito made his way over to his neighbor's garden, where Nora was helping Shannen harvest carrots. At least Pito thought she was supposed to be helping Shannen. In truth, Nora was eating more than she was putting in the basket Shannen had given her. Shannen looked like she needed help if she was going to have any carrots left.

Pito walked up and asked, "Shannen, I can't find one of my roller skates. Have you seen it?"

Shannen shook her head. "No, Pito I haven't. Nora, we're picking the carrots and putting them in the basket, not picking the carrots and eating them."

"What? Or right, in the basket. Ooh, this one looks good," Nora said as she bit into yet another carrot.

Pito took pity on Shannen and pulled Nora out of the garden. "It's getting dark. Let's go see if Henry has found any clues," he said.

"Fine," Nora grumbled.

Pito and Nora walked next door and found Henry on the front steps.

"Hi Henry, any luck?" Pito asked as Nora took off her hat and coat.

"I haven't found your skate," Henry said. "But I do have a question. There's an empty space on your floor where something used to be. What was there? It was kind of a rectangle shape?"

"My laundry basket was there this morning," Pito told him.

"Sounds like an inside job. Let me know if anything new comes up. I'll keep looking," Henry told him.

Pito and Nora headed into the house. Forlorn, Pito was sure he'd never see his roller skate again.

Nora tried to cheer him up. "Maybe your mom and dad will get you new skates."

Pito shook his head. He knew his parents would wan to know what happened to his old skates and losing one was not a good excuse for getting new ones.

Mrs. Llama came into the living room, her arms full of clean, folded laundry. "Pito, my goodness, what's wrong? You look like the world is ending," she said when she saw his expression.

Pito decided telling the truth was the best idea, even though he might get in trouble, at least he wouldn't have lied. "Mom, I lost one of my roller skates. I was very irresponsible. I'm sorry," Pito started to cry.

"One of your...oh dear! Honey, I found one of your roller skates in your laundry basket. I just put it back in your room," Mrs. Llama told him. She took him by the foot and led him to his room.

There in the middle of the floor, with his other three skates, was the missing skate. He was so happy, he jumped for joy.

"Maybe I should clean my room," he said shyly.

Mrs. Llama and Nora began to laugh, and after a moment, so did Pito. Once the three of them settled down, they worked together and cleaned Pito's room.

A Lion in Turkey's Clothes

There was a lion named Nora. She was a happy and playful little lion. She loved to play baseball with all her friends. SHe loved to run and jump and sing at the top of her lungs. She didn't get shy very often, but once in a while she did. Her best friend was a llama named Pito. They were nearly inseparable. She had lots of other friends too. There was Elsie, the elephant. Elsie loved to sing with Nora and wanted to be a singer when she grew up. Robert the penguin, was another friend. He had moved to Jefferson Creek from San Diego and he loved to tell stories about his life there. JoyJoy the giraffe was hardly more than a baby but was very sweet and loving. Nora also had an older brother named Lenny. Lenny was cool and let the little kids hang around he and his friends occasionally. When Lenny had started to get a mane, Nora started fluffing her fur around her head until it started to resemble a mane. It wasn't long before she didn't have to fluff it and everyone wondered at a girl lion with a mane. Nora didn't care as long as her friends didn't tease her. She liked the mane; it made her look more like her hero, Lenny.

Nora, her mom and dad, and of course, her brother, Lenny, had all moved to Jefferson Creek from the Serengeti, where Nora and Lenny had been born. Their dad had been named an ambassador to the US just before Nora was to start kindergarten. She only had vague memories of Africa, mostly from pictures and stories her parents told her.

One day, Nora came home from playing Pito to find her mother had two bags from the Halloween store. This was new. Nora had heard about Halloween but she'd never celebrated it. Nora bounded over to the bags to see what was in them. Momma told her it was her and Lenny's costumes. They were going to a party. Nora was very excited at the idea of party. She opened one bag and started jumping up and down, it was a pirate costume. Just then, Lenny came in and asked for his costume. Momma pointed to the bag Nora was holding. Nora handed it to Lenny, who opened the bag and peered at the contents.

"Cool pirate costume, Momma," Lenny said and kissed his mother on the cheek. He happily went to his room to hang up his costume so it didn't get wrinkled. He was a very responsible lion.

Nora looked excitedly at the other bag her momma had brought from the Halloween store. If Lenny had a pirate costume, then her costume must be even cooler. Maybe hers was a fairy princess costume or a fire fighter! Nora opened her bag and frowned. She couldn't tell what her costume was but it was brightly-colored and had feathers.

"What's the matter, Nora?" her momma asked.

"What am I supposed to be?" Nora demanded.

"A turkey," her momma told her.

"I don't want to be a turkey," Nora told her.

"Well, Nora, I'm sorry but that's your costume," her momma answered.

"Maybe I just won't wear a costume to the party," Nora stubbornly said.

"You have to wear a costume, otherwise you can't go," Momma told her.

Nora was stumped. She wanted to go, but she really didn't want to dress up as a turkey.

"Why don't you try it on?" her momma suggested.

"Okay," Nora reluctantly agreed.

A few minutes later, Nora came down the stairs. She was dressed in a brown costume with multi-colored feathers all over her bottom and chest. She had yellow slippers the looked like turkey feet and a red cap that looked like a turkey head. Momma smiled and gushed over how cute Nora looked.

Lenny smiled at Nora. Nora burst into tears.

"I hate this costume!" she yelled.

Lenny reached out and put one of his front paws on her shoulders. "Easy does it, Turkey Toes," he said grinning.

Nora growled indignantly. Lenny just kept grinning.

she pounced on him and was punching him when the doorbell rang. Momma had gone into the kitchen to make dinner and yelled for one of them to get the door. Lenny was laughing too hard to get up from the couch. Nora got up and walked to the door, realizing as she opened it someone was about to see her in her costume.

Pito stared at her from the other side of the screen.

He looked confused and stepped back to look at the address. He looked at the front of the house and back at Nora. He shrugged and figured it was someone Nora's dad was helping.

"Is Nora home?" he very politely asked the turkey.

"Pito! It's me, Nora," she said impatiently.

"Nora? Did a turkey eat you?" he asked, looking hard at her and trying to figure out how a turkey had eaten a lion.

Nora sighed heavily. "It's my Halloween costume," she muttered.

"I like your feathers," Pito told her. "You really look like a turkey."

Nora was hardly listening. Pito had thought she was a turkey. There were turkeys across the street that lived in the trees. Nora had been trying for weeks to get close enough to make friends with them. They kept running away because they knew she was a lion.

"I just had an idea," Nora told Pito.

"Uh oh," Pito groaned.

"Gobble, gobble, gobble," Nora said as she started walking across the street.

Pito was used to Nora's obsession with the turkeys and just watched from her front porch, shaking his head. Nora was trying to sneak in with the turkeys. Every so often she would say, "Gobble, gobble, gobble."

The turkeys would let her get about ten feet away and then they'd slowly start walking away from her. She'd creep up on them and again they would move away. Her patience was wearing thin and finally she charged the turkeys yelling as loud as she could, "Gobble, gobble, gobble."

Pito shook his head.

"Hey Pito, tell the turkeys that it's okay, I just want to play with them," Nora yelled to Pito.

Pito shook his head at her. "Nora, I don't think they'll believe me. I'm not getting involved in this," he told her and started for his own house.

Nora chased turkeys for the rest of the afternoon and most of the evening. Her momma managed to catch her tail feathers and drag her in the house when it was starting to get dark.

Nora's father looked at his daughter and reminded her she needed to be in before dark. She was also supposed to mind Momma. Nora hung her head and said she was sorry. Poppa smiled at his little lion and patted her on the head before sending her off to get a bath.

Nora told her Momma she didn't want to take off her costume. She had decided she like the costume. Momma told her she was glad she liked the costume but she still needed a bath.

"No, I don't. I've been wearing my costume all day. I'm not dirty," Nora reminded her.

"Nora, you've been running around in that costume getting all sweaty. You need to get out of the costume and get a bath before it and you begin to stink," Momma told her.

Nora hadn't thought of that. She took off the costume and got into the tub. "Scrub really well," Momma said as she left the bathroom.

Nora knew that if she wanted to wear the costume she needed to stay clean and that's have to take a lot of baths. Nora decided it was worth taking a bath if she could chase the turkeys and try to make friends.

She finished her bath and put her costume on again. Her momma shook her head when she came to tuck Nora into her bed but didn't say anything about the turkey suit.

Pito tried to come over and play the next day but all Nora wanted to do was chase turkeys. He would watch from her front yard for a little while and then give up and go find someone else who wanted to play. And that was the was it went for a couple of weeks. Pito would come over, Nora would chase turkeys, Pito would go home, Nora would keep chasing turkeys, Momma would drag her in the house for the night, Nora would take a bath, put on her costume and go to bed then it would start all over the next day.

The day after Halloween, Pito answered his front door. It was Nora. She didn't have on her costume.

"Nora, where's your turkey suit?" Pito asked.

"Halloween is over, Pito," she replied.

"Nora, you've been wearing it for three weeks to chase turkeys," Pito pointed out.

"You know what, Pito? The turkeys wouldn't let me play with them. They were mean and tried to peck me. I don't think they like me much," Nora said looking very sad.

Pito put his leg around her and said, "It's their loss. You're a great friend and a lot of fun. I like you."

Nora grinned. "Thanks Pito."

"Come on, Nora. Let's go chase some turkeys, no costume required," Pito said as he ran out the door.