A Goblin-to-Go Story: a royal blue elephant, a park bench, a family of teddy bears, driftwood, and a visiting stuffed sheep

The green goblin dangled his legs over an unfamiliar branch. He had just arrived by Owl Express, jumping from back to back of the owls that carried him here to his cousin's tree.

From where he sat, he could see beyond the nearby houses and yards to a shady park with a small pond.

"What's that in the middle of the pond?" he asked his cousin, the turquoise goblin.

"Oh," she said,"it's an elephant."

"But it's blue! I thought all elephants were sort of gray."

"You'll see," laughed the turquoise goblin, scrambling down the tree. "Come on!"

The goblin cousins clambered over fences and around corners until they reached the park, and sure enough, right in the middle of the pond was an enormous royal blue elephant, his raised trunk spraying water that sparkled in the early morning sunlight.

"He's a fountain!" exclaimed the green goblin. "I thought he was real."

"No," said his cousin, "but he's still fun. Can you swim?"

"Of course I can!" the green goblin answered.

"Then let's go," the turquoise goblin said as she dashed into the pond. The green goblin ran in after her, and they swam out to the elephant. They took turns climbing up the elephant's tail, all the way onto his back, then jumping back into the water. It was so much fun that they lost track of time.

All of a sudden they heard laughter and voices, and when they looked, four mothers were settling onto a park bench while a group of children raced around the park tossing teddy bears into the air.

The goblins hid behind the elephant's hind legs. "Now what?" asked the green goblin. "How can we get back to land without the grown-ups seeing us?"

The turquoise goblin whispered, "Follow me. If we don't splash, and we don't get too close, they'll just think we're big frogs," and she led the way to the far bank.

Safely on shore, they made their way around to the park again to watch the children play. The three boys and two girls each had a teddy bear. There were two brown bears, a black bear, a polar bear, and one bear with golden fur. The children had set up a piece of driftwood as a table and placed the bears around it as though they were all one big family. Now they were gathering acorns and clover to feed the bears.

"Hello!" they heard the mothers call, and they saw another little boy come galloping into the park holding his mother's hand. In the other hand he held a big stuffed sheep with curly horns.

His mother sat down on the soft grass next to the park bench. "Look," she said. "Your friends are all down by the pond."

The boy ran down the hill waving his stuffed sheep. "Look what I've got! Can he join the party?" he asked, wedging his sheep into the circle of bears without waiting for an answer.

"But that's not a bear!" one of the girls said, and grabbed the sheep. She grabbed it so hard and so fast that she lost her balance. The sheep went flying through the air, but the girl tumbled into the pond.

Without even thinking, the two goblins dove into the water and pulled the little girl to shore. The other children looked on, astonished, then they cheered "Goblins! Goblins!" and they all helped their soggy friend back up the hill as the goblins quietly swam away.

By this time, the mothers had dropped their coffee mugs and were rushing to see what had happened.

"Sally fell in, but the goblins saved her!"

"But she threw Henry's sheep!"

"What goblins?"

"The goblins saved her!"

"Are you ok?"

"Goblins came and pulled me out."

"What goblins?"

"Is my sheep ok?"

"How many goblins?"

Amid the confusion, the turquoise goblin whispered to her cousin, "I bet we'll get breakfast for this. I've helped Sally out of trouble before, and her mom is one of the grown-ups who knows about me. I wonder if she knows there's more than one of us today."

And sure enough, after all the mothers and their children had gone home, the goblins checked the back steps of Sally's house and found two bowls of oatmeal. "Peaches and cream!" the turquoise goblin exclaimed. "My favorite!"

The green goblin happily ate his share, though he did miss the maple and brown sugar oatmeal that the families back home always left for him.