One night when Nathan was getting ready for bed he thought he heard a funny noise. It sounded like someone singing—only it was kind of high pitched, like a baby singing. "Babies can't sing," thought Nathan. But then, it stopped, and he thought he must have imagined it.
He went to bed and was almost asleep when he heard it again! "What is that?", he thought. He listened real hard and he could hear the words: "Raichu Raichu! Where is my right shoe? Raichu Raichu, I don't want to bite you!"
Nathan sat right up in bed. "Who's there?" he called.
"Nobody," came the answer.
Nathan bent over and looked under his bed. There was a little baby Raichu! He had one of Nathan's shoes on his left foot.
Nathan wondered if he should be scared or glad to see a Raichu. "What are you doing under my bed?", he said.
"I'm looking for my other shoe," the little Raichu replied.
"That's my shoe," said Nathan. "Where is your Mommy or Daddy?"
"I don't know!!!" wailed the little Raichu. Big tears began to drip down his face.
Nathan wondered what he should do. "Try calling them," he said.
Little Raichu took a deep breath and bellowed, "Mommy! Daddy!"
All of a sudden there was a giant flash and a bigger Raichu fell into the room!
"Mommy," yelled the baby Raichu. He ran to her and gave her a hug.
The Big Raichu said, "Thank you, Nathan, for taking care of Baby Raichu. Would you like to come and visit our forest? I think you deserve a reward."
"Oh wow!" Nathan answered. "Yes, I would like to see where you live."
Mama Raichu took Nathan and Baby Raichu's hand. There was another flash of light and they flew through the air. They landed under a tree in a jungle.
A whole bunch of Raichu gathered around them. Nathan heard a lot of questions.
"Where was he? How did you find him? Why does he have a shoe on? Who is this boy? Is he dangerous?"
Mother Raichu said, "This is Nathan. He saved Baby Raichu. He is very brave and smart."
"Yeah!" said all the Raichu. They picked Nathan up and put him on top of a little hill. Then they all made a circle around him. They all raised their tails in the air. Lightning began to flash from one tail to the next until there was a whole circle of lightning around Nathan. He felt warm and happy and the lightning made him feel like laughing.
Then all the Raichu yelled, "Three cheers for Nathan! Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!" They joined hands and began to dance around and around him.
"What a wonderful night this is," thought Nathan. Watching those Raichu made him feel a little dizzy. Around they went with lightning flashing from their tails.
They began to look blurry. Faster and faster they went until Nathan couldn't look at them any more. He closed his eyes.
The next thing he knew he was waking up in his bed and it was morning. Ah heck, he thought. It was just a dream! I wish it was real.
He got dressed for school and, you know what? He couldn't find his left shoe. And he never did.
© Grandma McWight 2006
