Lali and the Storyteller Episode Three

o the week went along and turned around to the third day again.

Lali woke up very early that morning. "Storyteller comes back today!" she told her yellow cat, Tomasi. "Let's go watch for her!" She scooped Tomasi up off the foot of the bed, and went outside to the tall, tall tree to watch. They waited and waited. First Tomasi hopped down from Lali's arms to lie on the porch. Then Lali hopped down the walk on one foot, to make the waiting go faster. Then she hopped back on the other foot. She looked down the road, but still there was no sign of Storyteller.

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"Lali!" called Mami. "Breakfast!"

"Can I eat it out here? I don't want to miss Storyteller!"

Mami rolled her eyes up. "Girl-child, it's first thing in the morning! Storyteller needs time to walk here--she won't be along until at least lunchtime. Inside now. Scoot!" So Lali scooted.

Inside, Deetle Dog had his fuzzy brown nose down in a bowl of dog chow, while Dadi was bringing stacks of pancakes to the table. Tomasi batted the door, and Lali let him in to eat his cat food. Then she got in her own chair, covered her pancakes with syrup and ate them up.

Afterward, Mami washed dishes and Lali stood on a stool Mami had made for her, to dry them.

"I'm going grocery shopping," said Dadi. "Lali, would you like to go, too?"

"Oh, but what if I miss Storyteller?" worried Lali.

"Storyteller will be here for lunch," said Dadi, "And I need to get a few things to fix for the meal. We'll be back in plenty of time, I promise you."

"Besides," said Mami, "I'll take this chair I'm caning a seat into, and go out and work under the tall tree. If Storyteller gets here early, I'll ask her to wait for you."

"OK!" Lali agreed. Then she and Dadi put on their walking shoes, and their daypacks, and walked down to the grocery store. It was a big, big store with shiny metal shopping carts. There was even a little Lali sized cart for her to push. Dadi carried a basket, and let Lali get things off the lower shelves for him. They got more pancake flour, fresh salad greens, curry powder and orange juice. Then they paid the cashier, and stopped by the exit to put the food in their packs.

"Lali, you carry the salad greens," said Dadi. "I'll get the rest of this."

Lali carefully put the bags of greens into her pack. But when she stood up to put it on, something tickled her nose! Startled, she looked up. A long, long string dangled in front of her. Other strings were nearby. She looked even farther up. There was a box on the ceiling, and inside it were balloons! "Oooooh!" said Lali, pointing up.

"Hmm?" asked Dadi. He looked up, too. "Oh, yes, the balloons! Sign says they're giving them away free. Would you like one?"

"Oh, yes!" cried Lali. She danced around looking up at all the colors. There were red ones and yellow ones, orange and green and blue and pink, and even one purple one! "Purple for me!" And she jumped up and caught the string of the purple balloon. Dadi tied a loop in the end of the string and Lali put it over her hand, around her wrist. The balloon bobbed along above them as they walked back home.

Lali waved to Mami, who was sitting under the tree, working on the chair seat. "Look what I got!"

"Cool!" said Mami, smiling. "You can tie it to the back of your chair where we can see it while we fix lunch."

So they went inside, and Mami fixed the salad, while Dadi made "curried rice with tempeh and Lali stood on her stool by the sink, carefully measuring the water into a pitcher with the orange juice concentrate. She stirred it until it was mixed well, then Mami carried it to the table.

"Set a place for Storyteller, too," called Dadi, as Lali set the table. So Lali pulled up the extra chair, and set out a fourth place setting. Mami set the salad on the table and Dadi carried over the bowl of curry. Just as everything was ready, there was a knock at the door.

"Hellooooo," called Storyteller.

"Perfect timing!" said Dadi.

"C'mon in," called Mami.

"See my balloon!" cried Lali, tugging Storyteller over to look.

"A splendid one," said Storyteller, admiringly. "And my nose says, a splendid meal as well. Trade for a tale or a poem?"

"Yes, please!"

So they all sat down together, paused for gratitude, then enjoyed the meal together. Afterward, as she and Lali walked back outside with the purple balloon, Storyteller asked, "Which will you have, then--a story or a poem?"