Little Barbra had no problem with being left alone since she was preparing a present for Dad’s birthday. She, therefore, went to the big window and sat on the shelf while working on her sofa pillow embroidery for Dad. Take a view of our talent video show below.
The
front door slowly opened and closed, however, Barbra did not bother checking
fo she thought it was Margaret. She stitched a little more before looking up.
As soon as she raised her eyes, the little girl was surprised at what she saw.
A strange man was standing in the middle of the room while intensely staring at
her.
The unfamiliar man was short and chubby and he was panting heavily probably because of climbing the stairs. He was holding a silk hat and a book. His head was completely bald and he was wearing a rugged suit.
Then the man finally spoke, “Excuse me, little girl. I am looking for one Barbra
“I
am Barbra. How may I help you?” the perplexed little girl asked.
“Oh
yes! It has taken me quite a while to find you,” answered the man.
“How
did you come in here,” said Barbra who was now becoming suspicious of the
man.
“That is my little secret,” he answered with an odd tone.
This
alarmed Barbra. She stared at the man and he stared back, both looking anxious.
“What is your business here?” she asked while raising her chin so that she seemed confident.
“Oh
yes! Now let’s jump straight to business.” Said he. “Let me be honest with you.
Your father has done me wrong in the worst of manners."
“Please leave now!” cried the angry girl. “I have the best father in the world. He would never wrong a man!”
“Just give me a chance to explain myself. You are a little girl so your father is kind to you. However, when he is downtown, he is very harsh to book agents. The other day, I called him and asked him to buy the book ‘A complete work of Chinua Achebe’. What do you think he did?” the man who was now angry asked.
The little girl kept silent.
“Well--”
continued the man. “He ordered the janitor to kick me out of his office! Do you
think the best dad in the world would treat a man like that?”
“I don’t see anything wrong that he did there.” Replied little Barbra.
“Oh
really? Either way, I decided to revenge for this. However since your father is
a big strong man, I resolved to revenge on you instead.”
The little girl was now trembling.
“What
exactly do you plan to do to me?” She inquired
“I will hand this book to you.” The chubby man then put his hat on a chair and removed a pen from his hind pocket.
“I
want to write your name on this book. How is Barbra spelt?”
“B-a-r-b-r-a”
she answered.
“This is my ultimate revenge on your papa. He better be sorry for not purchasing it. Goodbye Barbra”
The
man walked to the door after giving Barbra the book. He was smiling as if proud
of what he had done.
After the door had closed behind him, Barbra went and sat at the shelf again and looked at the book. It had a red and yellow cover and the words, “ORKOIYOT” written in bold.
She then opened it and saw her name written on the first page.
“That
was a rather queer man.” She thought to herself
Barbra began going through the book. The first page was where the strange man had written her name in bold. She turned to the next page and saw a picture of a joker. He had a white face and was wearing the usual clown clothes. While she was scrutinizing the picture, the leaf squeaked and suddenly the Joker started moving and jumped out of the book. He was standing on the floor and staring at the little girl.
He started yawning and stretching than he finally spoke:
“Oh!
I feel much better now. Standing on a flat paper is tiring.”
I
do not even need to describe to you the perplexed look on the little girl’s
face. She was horrified.
“You have never seen anything like this. Have you?” the joker asked while eyeing himself in a mirror. He then moved his eyes to explore the room and little Barbra let out a huge laugh despite the shock.
“What pleased you young one?” the clown demanded
“Your
whole back is plain white. You are only a clown at the front” she said while
giggling.
“Yeah.
The artist only drew the front part of me."
“But
then it makes you look funny,” said Barbra, laughing louder.
The now angry joker sat on a chair to hide his back from Barbra.
“Well,
I am not the only drawing in that book,” he said grumpily.
Barbra then looked back at the book and turned to another page. It had a picture of a baboon that also jumped out of the paper and landed on the floor. The baboon was chattering and jumping around. It said, “I can finally be a real baboon!”
“But a real baboon does not speak.” Remarked Barbra, disapprovingly.
“Don’t
be so sure. Have you ever been a baboon yourself?”
Both
the baboon and the joker then laughed sarcastically.
Barbra was even more confused. She then went back to the book and turned another leaf and suddenly a grey horse jumped out and stumbled on the floor.
“How
clumsy!” Barbra remarked
“Of course I am clumsy. If my artist drew you from the perspective he had with me, you would be clumsy too” said the horse in an angry tone.
“Why
are you so bitter?” Barbra asked.
“Well, if you haven’t noticed, my front and hind legs on my right side are way shorter than the ones on my left side. If that artist could not draw a proper horse, why did he even try?”
“I
have no idea,” said the innocent little girl.
“I can’t even stand straight. The slightest of things will make my trip,” the horse continued complaining.
“Don’t
worry about that!” the baboon said while jumping at the chandelier.
“That
same artist made my ears unusually big for a baboon.”
“He
deserves to be put on trial. He did not draw me with a back.” Said the
disappointed clown.
Barbra looked at each of them, still puzzled and once again, she turned another leaf.
Before
she could even look, an orange spotted Cheeter popped out and also landed on
the floor with a fierce look.
The
baboon held on tight to the chandelier and chartered frightfully. The terrified
horse tried running but he toppled over his left side. The clown was also
terrified but he didn’t move from his chair.
The scary cheater squatted on the floor while wiggling his tail. He scowled at everyone including Barbra.
“Who
do you want to eat first?” asked the horse who was now struggling to get back
up.
“I
cannot eat anyone. The artist drew my mouth shut so I can’t open it and neither
do I have any teeth. He also did not give me claws. Either way, I’m a scary
creature”
“You do look scary but since you don’t have any teeth or claws, we do not fear you.” Said the now relaxed clown.
The
clown’s remark made the cheater growl in anger while the baboon laughed loudly.
Then suddenly the book fell from the girl’s lap and when she moved to catch it, a page from the back opened. A fierce bear jumped out of the page and fell on the floor with a thud. The book then closed.
“Oh! This bear has claws and teeth. We are all in danger!”
“Oh
yes! I do have claws and teeth that I know how to use,” said the bear. “The
book even describes me as unkind, horrifying and merciless. My only work is to
devour little girls together with their ribbons and shoes.
“That is dreadful,” said the horrified horse; shaking his head sadly. “And do you have an appetite for other animals too?”
“No.
The artist does not mention me eating anything else but little girls.”
“That is good.” The clown remarked while releasing his breath in relief. “You might as well start eating Barbra now. She made fun of me because I do not have a back.
“And
she laughed at my legs because they are not of the same size.” Added the horse
“You
also should be eaten for laughing at me because I do not have claws or teeth.
Hey! Mr Bear, would you manage to eat a clown too?” Asked the cheater.
“Perhaps.
It will depend on how hungry I am. But I will first begin by eating this little
girl.” Growled the bear
This conversation was now making Barbra very frightened. She then began to realize that this was the chubby man’s revenge. This was a sure way to get back at Dad if he found his little girl eaten by a grizzly bear.
The bear then stoops upright on his front legs.
“Watch me enjoy eating this girl,”
He
slowly approached Barbra while the clown and the other animals watched.
While
the bear was reaching out for Barbra she shouted, “Stop! Don’t eat me yet.”
"Why?" asked the bear, in surprise
“Well,
I own you. You belong to me now” Barbra replied.
“I
don’t understand how that is possible,” said the confused bear.
“Well, this book was given to me. My name is written on the front page and by all rights you belong in this book. So, you cannot eat your owner.”
“Which
one of you can read?” the bear asked.
All the animals now looked at each other with disappointment.
The
abrupt silence was broken by the ring of the doorbell.
“That’s
probably my mum!” the little girl cried. “She is finally home. Now all of
you….”
But Barbra was interrupted by all the creatures struggling to enter the book.
This
was followed by a few minutes of noisy turning of book pages. Then, the book
finally closed and all was back to normal.
The lesson we learn from this story is to think and act quickly especially if you find yourself in a tricky situation. If Barbra had not thought of telling the bear that she owned him, she would have been eaten.