Happy Birthday Sammy

SAMMY AND THE FRIEND FACTORY

This is a special story written for my grandson Samuel on his sixth birthday.

Happy Birthday Sammy!
Grandma Baadsgaard loves you very much.

Once upon a time there was a little boy named Sammy who loved playing with friends more than anything. The problem was his regular friends Ethan, Ben and Zadok always went home before Sammy was finished playing.

I want a friend who never goes home, Sammy thought. I know what I’ll do . . . I’ll build a friend factory!

A few days later Sammy’s parents brought home a new dish-washer in a large cardboard box.

Just what I need for my factory, Sammy thought.

“Can I have that box?” Sammy asked his Mom.

“Sure,” his mom answered.

So Sammy got out his scissors, duct tape and a big black marker. Then he cut out doors, made levers, taped on shelves and drew the knobs and pulleys. Now his cardboard box was not a box any more – it was a factory - a friend factory. Sammy pushed his factory inside his closet. He knew factories make things what people want and what Sammy wanted most of all was a friend who never went home.

Sammy made a plan to mix all the magic ingredients to create a best friend. He walked around his house and back yard thinking and searching. While he searched he figured out the perfect name for his best friend. Then he knew just what he needed for his factory order.

First he needed the letters W and E.

When I’m alone, I’m just ME, Sammy thought. But when I turn the M upside down I get a W and it spells WE. A really good friend changes ME to WE.

Next he needed the sound of “Fa”. Sammy loved to sing and one day his mommy taught him the sounds of music like this . . . Do, Ray, Me, Fa, So La, Te Do. Sammy liked “Fa” the best. So he sang this song and stopped on “Fa” then grabbed his favorite sound out of the air and held it tightly in his hand.

Next he needed Fur. Sammy knew really good friends are always huggable. So Sammy found his black kitty. When he petted her, soft black fur came off in his hand.

Last, Sammy need a ton because friends love each other a ton.

“Can you help me find a ton,” Sammy asked his mom.

“What for?” his mother asked.

“I’m making a friend,” Sammy whispered in his mother’s ear. “Don’t tell any one – I have a friend factory in my closet.”

Sammy’s mother scratched her head while she searched the kitchen for a ton.

“Here,” she said handing Sammy a heavy magnet from the junk drawer, “This weighs about a ton.

Then Sammy’s mother followed Sammy into his bed room.

First Sammy opened the left door of the closet and put all the ingredients on the input shelf. Then he closed the left door and waited.

When Sammy opened the right closet door to see what appeared on the output shelf, he didn’t find anything.

“I think you should go to the bathroom while the factory is working,” his mother said. “Really good friends take lots of time to make.”

So Sammy went to the bathroom then came hurrying back. When he opened the right closet door again - what did he find . . . a furry black stuffed animal spider with tiger stripes on his back.

“WE-FA-FUR-TON!” Sammy yelled. “You’re real!”

So Sammy and Wefafurton became best friends. They ate breakfast together, they went to bed together and sometimes they even had a bath together. But best of all, his new friend never went home.

“Hey, Mom,” Sammy said, “Tomorrow I’m going to make a rocket factory so I can blast off to the moon with Wefafurton!”

“You better talk to your father about that,” his mother answered.