Midnight Adventuresof Kelly, Dot, and Molly

Illustrations by John S. Goodall

It was almost midnight.Kelly Koala and Dot Doll were asleep on the shelf.

Bong, bong, bong, bong, bong, bong, bong, bong, bong, bong, bong, bong.The clock bell rang twelve times.The door of the dollhouse opened, and Molly Mouse came out.

”Come in, and have a cup of tea,” said Molly to Kelly and Dot.

The three friends sat down at the table and enjoyed tea and cookies.

On the wall above the books was a picture of a boat beside a pretty river.“I have always loved this picture,”

Kelly said. “It looks like a place I’d like to be.”

Kelly climbed up on the booksto get a better look.“Look, Dot!” said Molly. “Kelly is climbing into the picture!” Dot said, “Let’s go with him!”

On the river bank, Dot and Molly looked up at birds singing in the big tree. Kelly picked up the rope tied to the boat.

Kelly and Molly climbed into the boat. “Come on, Dot! Kelly is going to take us for a boat ride!”

The boat began to move through the smooth cool water. Molly smiled at the butterflies following the boat.

Suddenly the boat hit a rock!All three friends fell into the

water!

The boat floated away down the river. The three climbed out onto the bank. They were wet and very unhappy. How could they get home without the boat?They didn’t see a porcupine coming over the hill.

“Would you like to come to my house to dry off by the fire?” Mr. Porcupine said, “I live just behind that hill.” Kelly, Dot, and Molly thought that was very nice of Mr. Porcupine.

In the house, Mrs. Porcupine made everyone some warm soup for lunch.The warm fire felt wonderful.

When they were dry, they thanked Mr. and Mrs. Porcupine and said goodbye.

They started to walk down the road. They got very tired. Ahead of them, they saw a wagon pulled by a horse. “Let’s get a ride,” Dot said.

The three quickly and quietly climbed onto the back of the wagon.

Soon they came to some colorful tents. They decided to jump off there. The wagon driver didn’t even know he’d had riders.

“Let’s go see what’s over there,” said Molly, pointing to the tents. “Maybe it’s a carnival!”

A squirrel at a booth said, “Would you like to buy a bag of hard candy?” “We will buy two,” said Kelly. They didn’t notice a big cat in a green tent watching Molly.

Suddenly the big old cat grabbed Molly. “Hey! Let me go!” she yelled. But there was a lot of noise and Kelly and Dot didn’t hear her.

Inside the green tent, the cat pointed to four frog acrobats. “You are little. You will be the top of the frog pyramid,” said the cat. Poor Molly began to cry.

The cat handed Molly to the top frog. Molly was afraid. “Now,” said the cat to his partner. “Take them and the big drum outside, and get some customers.”

Kelly and Dot came back to the tent where they had seen Molly last. They were both very worried about their friend. They began to cry. Molly couldn’t believe her eyes, when she saw them standing nearby.She squeaked as loud as she could.

Dot turned around and grabbed Molly.

“Hey! Bring back our rat!” yelled the drummer. Kelly threw a bag of hard candy at himbut he missed.

Dot ran away from the green tent carrying Molly. Kelly threw the other bag of hard candy. The second bag broke the drum and knocked the drummer backwards!

Kelly and Dot ran away from the carnival as fast as they could. “Don’t drop me, Dot,” said Molly. The angry drummer was chasing them.

When the drummer climbed the fence, the heavy drum pulled him backwards. Just then, around a bend in the road, Kelly spotted the boat. “We’re safe!” he yelled. “Hurry!”

Kelly was the first to climb out of the picture onto their shelf. He helped Dot down.

Next, Dot helped Molly climb down.

“Look at the clock,” said Kelly. “We’ve only been gone a little more than one hour.”

All three were sound asleep by 1:15am. Molly didn’t even go into her house. She just settled down on the shelf beside the badminton shuttlecock.