A short story: CUDDLY AND POPPY'S TEA PARTY, by Cheryl Ramanayake as told to me

CUDDLY AND POPPY'S TEA PARTY 

(Story by Cheryl Ramanayake as told to Angela Gnaniah)

A little note about Aunty Cheryl: This little story idea came about during a conversation with the her on 12th Aug 2021. 

Almost three weeks later she was gone! It's bittersweet as she loved kids and had only her nephews and a cousin's daughter to engage with and love during her lifetime. She passed away on the 6th of Sept 2021 and has left a lot of beautiful memories with us. 

This book is in memory of her.

I think school holidays are usually fun. Especially when you have your friends around.

                                            

I'm Cuddly, the Teddy Bear and I love making lists. My best friend, Poppy, the Kangaroo lives next door. In the past few days, we spent all our time chatting about a lot of things.  

It was a lovely morning; the sun was shining brightly. I could feel a cool breeze blowing and hear the birds chirping too. They were  fluttering to and from the Oak tree nearby.                      

Poppy and I sat on the porch silently and watched them. We were thinking about what to do next when Poppy suddenly said  “Cuddly, we have nothing more to talk about!” I said  yes, to myself thoughtfully and added,  "the holidays had only just started and we were already bored!" I started to think about some of the fun things we used to do together.

 

 

I had a brilliant idea! "Poppy, I said, "Shall we have a tea party this afternoon?" "Ooh, that is a great idea, said Poppy, jumping up and down. Cuddly, you are the sparkly one, but just how do we do this?”

Mummy Bear was in the living room reading a book. She overheard us and  looked out of the window. What do you plan to do, Cuddly?  “Mummy, could Poppy and I have a tea party here, this afternoon?” I asked. “Yes, that sounds like a lovely idea, Cuddly.” said Mummy Bear. "Let's plan it together, I told Poppy. And then she  asked the most important question! "Whom shall we  invite, Cuddly?" 

           

“Both the baby Grasshoppers and their grandparents of course!  Shall we also invite the two baby Badgers and their mother? We don’t see them often. I am sure Mummy Bear would like to meet them too. It’s going to be so much fun!”   

“Shall we make a list of the things we could have,” “Ok” said Poppy, and wrote …. 

Juice for us and the baby Grasshoppers and Badgers,

Tea for Mummy Bear and Mrs. Badger.  Toast with strawberry jam for me.

Pancakes too. 

"Will that be too much Cuddly?" asked Poppy “No," I said. I love pancakes. I’ll ask Mummy to help make them and bake a nice gooey chocolate cake too.''  

"Let’s get busy. I'll go and pick the passion fruit and lemons." said Poppy.

I opened the pantry cupboard and stared wide eyed at the stock of things Mummy had in there.

“Poppy, just look at what Mum has stored in here. There's honey too!"

I pulled out a red and white checkered tablecloth which was neatly tucked away. Hope Mum won't mind me using this on the porch table. I best ask her permission first. ''Mummy, may I take your tablecloth please?’’

Poppy nudged me, as she heard Mummy Bear’s sleepy voice saying, '' Okay, Cuddly, but please don't spill any tea on it!'' 

Poppy brought the fruits and prepared the juice. “Mummy Bear will help us put the pot of tea on, right Cuddly,'' she said. I nodded.

We were so busy preparing the drinks and cake for the tea party that we both forgot all about our lunch. 

“Poppy, I am so excited, this is our first ever tea party for our friends!” I said, whirling around on one leg. 

The large Oak tree in the center of the garden made the porch shady. There was even a cool breeze blowing by 4pm.                                                            

                           

“Poppy, let’s set the tea out here on the porch table.” We laid out all the tea things neatly.  Poppy got the jugs of passion fruit juice and lemonade. Mummy Bear helped Poppy put the kettle on in the pantry.  I carried out the treats. First, the delicious chocolate cake and pancakes, then the toast, and the jam and honey. Everything was ready. Mummy, Poppy and I sat down and looked over the lovely food. It was perfect. 

We waited eagerly for our friends to join us.

One by one all the guests came in. In hopped the Hopper grandchildren carrying a bag full of sweets. Mrs. Hopper set a fruit cake and milk shortcake cookies on the table.

Then came the Badger babies, followed by Mrs. Badger. She brought some colorful cupcakes. Some were pink and blue and there were yellow ones too! The food looked amazing.  

"Tea is ready my friends!” I announced. 

Everyone enjoyed the food! It tasted very yummy. The babies sipped the lemonade and passion fruit juice while Mrs. Badger and Mrs. Hopper chatted with Mummy Bear over a nice cup of tea.

Poppy and I had a lovely time playing with our friends.

It was almost Five thirty p.m. and it was time to say good-bye. “Could you help me clear up, please?” I asked our friends.

They ran back in to help me and Poppy collect the tea things to wash up.

Poppy and I overheard Mrs. Badger tell Mummy Bear that we should do this more often because it was fun. She also told Mummy Bear that it was the best ‘Cuppa’ she had ever had and thanked her for the lovely afternoon.

Mrs. Badger said it was time to go home but the baby Badgers were not happy about leaving just yet. They wanted more time to play with Poppy, me and the Grasshopper babies.

Soon the house was quiet, Poppy gave me a big hug and went on home. It was just Mummy bear and me sitting quietly on the porch floor, waiting for Papa Bear to return home.                                           

I thought I must tell him everything about our tea party before I go to bed.

 

 The next morning there was a lot of chatter and activity in the garden. Poppy and I went out to investigate. It seemed like the neighborhood patrol was having a meeting in their garden. Mrs. Woody was perched just above them on the Oak tree, controlling the meeting. When they saw Poppy and me, everyone cried out! 

"We heard about your tea party, we all want to come for the next one!”

 

''How did you get to know about it,” I asked. “Well, said Bunny, we never see Mrs. Badger get out before dark but there she was, walking along with her babies. When I got close to your porch,

 I sat outside near the bushes and watched everything.” 

Mrs. Woody told Poppy that she saw the Grasshopper babies and their grandparents hopping into my house. 

And Starry the tortoise told us that he had followed them up to the porch. 

“Cuddly and Poppy, please, will you have another tea party and invite us all?”

'' What a grand idea that is!” “I think we should set a date right away for the next one! Will 25th of October be a good day?” asked Poppy.

That sounded like a good day for the next tea party. So everyone clapped in agreement and joyfully shook hands with each other.

 

And that was how our tea party idea became a huge success. All our friends who lived in Oaktree Gardens looked forward to the ‘Tea Party’ every month.

 

Epilogue 

Mummy Bear was very proud of her son Cuddly, who was always thinking about  exciting things to do, to bring his many friends together.

Mostly, he just loved having his friends over at his house.

 

The end.