Franky and the Flowers

Introduce These Words:

One day when Susan came home there was a big bouquet of flowers sitting on the doorstep. There were flowers of many different colors and smells. Some were pink, and some were yellow. Some were white, some were red, and some were orange. In the middle there were tiny white puffy flowers that looked like small bits of cotton. There were also some long thin leaves and dark green leaves that looked a little like feathers. It was a wonderful bouquet! Susan picked it up with a smile and carried it into the house.

When she got into the house, she looked at the small card that came with the flowers. Who could have sent such a nice gift? And who were the flowers for? Inside the card were the words “Surprise!” but no name. “Hmm,” said Susan to herself. “Maybe I’ll never know who sent these flowers or who they are for. But I’m going to enjoy them anyway.” And she put them right in the middle of the dining room table.

Franky came into the room and meowed. He rubbed against Susan’s legs. She picked him up to pet him. He sniffed the air and looked at the flowers. “Meow!” he said.

“Would you like to smell the flowers?” Susan asked him.

“Meow!” said Franky.

“I guess you do,” said Susan, and she held him close to the bouquet. He sniffed at it and reached out a paw to touch one of the little white puffy flowers. “Be gentle with the flowers, please,” said Susan, “they’re not for you!” and she put Franky down on the floor.

Soon Abby came home and saw the big bouquet on the table. “Where did these beautiful flowers come from?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” said Susan, “they were here when I came home. Somebody left them on the front porch.”

“They sure smell good,” said Abby. “They smell sweet! And they are very colorful.”

Later that day Susan noticed that the bouquet looked a little different. Some of the little white puffy flowers looked different. She looked closely, and saw that some of the flowers were missing. Someone had cut them off their stems, leaving just the bare stalks behind.

“This is too bad,” said Susan to herself. “Somebody has cut some of the flowers!” She asked Abby and Tara if they had cut the flowers. They said no. She asked Tom if he had cut the flowers. He said he had not.

“How odd!” they all said to one another.

The next morning Tom got up to go to work early. He found a rosebud on the kitchen floor. It was neatly cut off its stem. He went to look at the bouquet. Sure enough, a rosebud had been cut off one of the stems. “This is very strange,” he said. He put the rosebud on the kitchen counter and sat down to have his breakfast.

While Tom was eating, Franky came to say hello. “Meow!” said Franky. He tried to jump up on Tom’s lap.

“You can sit on my lap when I am not eating,” said Tom. “Please wait a few minutes.” But Franky kept meowing. Finally Tom picked him up. Franky leaned toward the bouquet on the table. “Do you want to smell the flowers?” asked Tom.

“Meow!” cried Franky. Tom held him up to the bouquet and Franky sniffed happily. Then Tom put him back on the floor and Franky raced away. Soon Tom left for work.

Before long, the rest of the Carter family got up. Tara found a little pile of white puffy flowers by her bed. Abby found some yellow petals in the hall. Susan found two rosebuds by her door. “What is going on here?” they said. They went to look at the bouquet. It still had some pretty flowers. But it did not look nearly as nice as before. Now there were many empty stalks where the flowers had been cut off.

“I don’t know what is happening to this bouquet,” said Susan, “but I think we should hide it while we are gone today.”

“We can put it in my room,” said Tara. When they were ready to leave, Tara put the bouquet carefully on her desk. “It should be safe there,” she said. She closed her door. The door was broken and didn’t close firmly. Still, she thought nothing could get in. Anyway, there was nobody in the house except the cats!

In the afternoon, Abby, Tara, and Susan all came home together. When they opened the door, they saw flowers scattered on the floor. “Oh, no!” cried Abby. “Something got into the bouquet again!”

They rushed down the hall to Tara’s room. The door was open. On the desk sat Franky, happily smelling the rest of the flowers. He had pushed open the door! As his family watched, he carefully bit off the last rosebud. He gently tossed it to the floor, and began to play with it. Pippi raced in and the two cats played soccer with the rosebud. They swatted it here and they swatted it there. What a fun time they had, tossing it up and down!

“So that’s what happened to the bouquet!” laughed Susan. “Franky likes the flowers so much he picked them! Perhaps these flowers were for Franky after all. He is the one who has enjoyed them the most!”

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