Josh Meets Absalom and Sherry

     There was once a little boy named Joshua Orsay, but everyone including his mother called him Josh. Josh was a curious little 4 year old boy. He was very intelligent and always getting into mischief just like most boys his age.
     One day while his mother and sister were busy, Josh decided to entertain himself. His mother had helped him to build a city with his roads and play sets for his cars earlier in the day. He was playing quietly in his room with his cars when his stomach suddenly made this loud growling noise. Josh looked around the room wondering who had made the noise. He did not see anyone and kept playing. A few minutes later, his stomach made the same noise again only louder this time. Josh looked around the room looking for the growling monster in his room. He looked in his toy box, under the bed and even in the closet. His 6 year old sister, Katie, stood in the doorway watching.
     “What are you doing, Josh?” Katie asked.
     “Looking for the growly monster,” Josh replied.
     “Growly monster? What’s a growly monster?” Katie asked curiously.
     “I don’t know. That’s why I’m looking for it,” Josh replied.
     “So how do you know what to look for?” Katie asked as she glanced around the room from the doorway.
     “I don’t, but when I find it I’ll know,” Josh said.
     Katie shook her head and leaned against the doorframe. She nearly jumped when Josh’s stomach made the growling noise again. It was so loud that it echoed in the room.
     “See. There he goes again. Can you help me find it?” Josh asked.
     “Okay,” Katie replied as she slowly walked into Josh’s room. She was a little curious to find out what was making the noise.
     They both started looking around the room. Neither of them was having any luck finding whatever it was. They sat on their knees next to Josh’s bed wondering where to look next. Josh watched as Katie took a quick look under the bed. She shrugged when she didn’t really see anything. Josh peered underneath the bed then looked back at his sister. It was kind of dark under there, but he decided to look further under the bed and started to crawl into the darkness. Katie had her hands on the side of the mattress and was peering into the shadows under Josh’s bed as he crawled underneath it. Just when Josh’s stomach was next to Katie’s ear, it growled again very loudly. Katie bumped her head on the underside of the bed as she quickly backed away startled. A moment later after Katie realized what it was, she started laughing hysterically.
     “What’s so funny?” Josh asked looking at this sister from under the bed.
     “You are. That’s not a monster silly. It’s just your tummy grumbling because you’re hungry.”
     “Oh,” Josh said crawling out from under the bed. “Are you sure?”
     Katie shook her head. “Yes, I’m sure. Go eat something.”
     “Oh, all right,” Josh replied.
     Josh got up and walked to the door. When he was in the hallway, he turned around and looked back into his room. He was still looking for the growly monster. He was still curious to see what one looked like. He wondered if it looked like his favorite monster from his TV show. Maybe his sister was wrong. He kind of hoped so. Disappointed, he walked into the kitchen and looked around for his mom. He didn’t see her in the room.
     “Mom? Hey mom!” Josh yelled from the kitchen.
     Josh’s mom walked out of the laundry room and into the kitchen. She sighed, she hated when the kids just yelled for her instead of actually coming to look for her.
     “Yes, Josh?” she said.
     “I need to feed the growly monster.”
    “What?” Josh’s mom asked as she tilted her head sideways to look at her son.
     “I’m hungry,” Josh said firmly.
     “Can you wait until lunch?” Josh’s mom asked. She looked over at the clock on the wall.
     “But mom, I’m starving,” Josh said looking up at his mom.  He held his stomach in agony.
      He made the wide-eyed puppy dog face at her. She couldn’t help but smile. Josh looked so cute with those soulful eyes of his.
     “Well, if you’re starving then you may have a piece of fruit or some veggie sticks to snack on. There’s some in the refrigerator on the second shelf,” Josh’s mom said.
     “Thanks mom. You’re the best,” Josh said as he gave his mom a great big hug. She leaned down and kissed the top of his head.
     Josh blew kisses to her as she walked back into the laundry room. He stood before the huge silver refrigerator staring up at it. He seemed so small compared to it. His stomach growled again as he opened the door.
     As Josh opened the door, he was surprised to see a banana and a potato waving at him. He tilted his head and looked at them. Am I dreaming? Josh closed the door back. He looked at the refrigerator and opened it once more. This time he only opened the door an inch and peered inside. It was dark inside because he hadn’t opened the door wide enough to make the light come on. He slowly opened the door inch by inch until the light came on. He looked again, but he only saw food and drinks lying on the various shelves. Maybe I make believed it. As he was reaching for a plate of sliced vegetables with a ranch dressing cup, he saw the banana waving at him again. Josh almost dropped the plate.
     “Hello,” the banana said.
     “Ummm, hi,” Josh replied a little unsure of himself. “Who are you?
     “My name is Absalom Banana. What is your name?”
     “Josh.”
     Josh stood with the refrigerator door wide open as he talked to Absalom.
     “It’s nice to meet you, Josh,” Absalom said happily.
     The potato standing next to Absalom started waving and nudging him.
     “What?” Absalom asked.
     “Well, aren’t you going to introduce me?” she asked impatiently.
     Absalom sighed, “This is Leah.”
     “Hi Josh! It is great to finally meet you,” Leah said enthusiastically.
     “Hi Leah,” Josh replied as he reached out to shake her small hand. “What are you guys?”
     Absalom and Leah looked at each other and smiled.
     “We’re the Fruggies,” they said together.
     “What’s a Fruggie?” Joshua asked.
     “It’s just what we are,” Leah said.
     “Are there more of you?” Josh asked.
     “Of course, there are. Would you like to come meet the rest of us?” Absalom asked as he held out his hand.
     “I don’t know. My mom’s going to be mad if I stand here with the door open any longer.”
     “No, she won’t as there won’t be any need for you to keep it open. Here just eat this and you’ll be able to come with us to meet the others,” Absalom said as he handed Josh a small white circular object with colorful sprinkles on it.
     Josh took the cookie from Absalom. He sniffed it before taking a small nibble. It tasted like vanilla sugar. It reminded him of these green cookies his mom always made. Deciding that it wouldn’t hurt him, he shoved the rest of the cookie into his mouth. A moment later, Josh began to feel weird. His tummy felt as though it had fallen asleep. There was a weird tingly feeling which started in his stomach and spread out to the rest of his body. Josh closed his eyes tight as he held his tummy in his hands.
     Josh’s body shrunk down to the size of a Fruggie, only five inches tall. A tornado-like cloud pulled Josh’s tiny body into the refrigerator as the door closed quietly behind him.

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