Chester Alumnus Finishes the Draft

by Jennifer Greene-Sullivan

I finished Attack of the Pocket Fuzz! Esmerelda saves Chester and the school after all!

Esmerelda stars in the following book: Attack of the Pocket Fuzz 

It is a bright, cool day in late February, and Esmerelda sits in her dad’s big, overstuffed wingback chair. She kicks both her legs as they drape over the sides of her dad’s chair. 

She kicks and thinks hard about something to do on this Saturday morning, but her mind could not imagine ANYTHING to do.  

She hums under her breath to the beat of the sound of her legs as they hit the arms of the overstuffed chair. Her little chiweenie named Rudy sniffs the air as Esmerelda’s legs swing. 

Rudy ponders what his favorite little girl might be about to do. “Rudy, there isn’t much to do today. It’s cold. Come over here and let me pet your light brown fur.” Esmerelda says so sweetly to her little dog. 

Rudy jumps up with his short little chiweenie legs into her lap and licks Esmerelda’s face. Essie pushes Rudy away from her face while giggling at his funny little tongue. He quickly reacts and bounces around the chair until he notices the pocket of her jeans. Rudy delves so quickly with his chiweenie paws, and little black nails dig into the recess of Esmerelda’s jean pocket. 

“What are you looking for, Rudy?” Esmerelda asks. Rudy barks and barks in excitement. All of a sudden, he sticks his snoot into the pocket and lifts out a bunch of…LINT! The bunch of gray, pink, purple, and blue pocket fuzz clings to the outside of Rudy’s mouth as he grasps the pocket fuzz with his teeth. Esmerelda laughs aloud and hops up off the chair, chasing her crazy little brown chiweenie with the pocket fuzz in his mouth. While chasing her cute puppy, Essie imagines an entirely new scenario. 

In the blink of an eye, Rudy and all his friends sprint through the city of Chester. They discover a hiding place inside the front stoop of the old elementary school. Chester Elementary School is positioned at the end of town, and Rudy and his school children realize the school will be a safe hiding place from the POCKET FUZZ MONSTER. 

The huge pink Pocket Fuzz monster is destroying downtown Chester. The pup watches as the monster bursts inside Ms. Stella’s Restaurant, wrecking tables, chairs, and counters. If only there were a hero to save Chester from the horrible attack of the Pocket Fuzz! 

Screams echo through the streets as the post office was leveled because the Pocket Fuzz monster ran his huge, heavy pink body through the bricks as if they were mere LEGO blocks.

All the noise rings through Rudy’s ears as he ushers his friends: Leslie, Misty, Crystal, Christina, and Heath through the halls of Chester Elementary. The children and the little dog search diligently for a hiding place. Where should they go? Who could save the town? Who could save the children? 

The children and Rudy duck into Mrs. Hosford’s classroom. Her classroom is inside a rectangular, beige mobile unit behind the school. Certainly, the Pocket Fuzz monster will never notice them hiding in the backroom of that modular building. They hide behind the cots that the kids use at nap time. 

Leslie, Misty, Crystal, Christina, and Heath huddle behind the tower of dark blue cots with four metal legs, but the chiweenie acts nervous and paces around the room. He hears something–something very strange.  Rudy hears the pounding of the monster’s feet on the ground as the Pocket Fuzz creature walks closer to the back of the campus of Chester Elementary School. What are they to do?  The children quickly and silently move to the floor and lie on their bellies; they scoot to the window of Mrs. Hosford’s room. 

Their eyes search the playground, looking beyond the monkey bars in the shape of a rectangular pyramid and around the circular concrete tunnels set into the dirt. To their amazement, the children see the monster peer around the right corner of the old gymnasium with the light gray siding. His giant, furry pink hands grip the door frame of the side door that they enter the gym for P.E. each day. 

The playground separates the Pocket Fuzz monster from their hiding place in Mrs. Hosford’s classroom. It is located inside the rectangular building across from the gymnasium. Heath speaks quietly to the girls, “He doesn’t know we’re here. Be quiet and stay low.” The girls shake their heads and gulp as the fear slides back down deep into their throats. However, Rudy responds a bit differently than the children who are hiding. Rudy lunges toward the threat and BARKS loudly and ferociously. 

The Pocket Fuzz creature hears them all. He leaps over the playground equipment like each piece is an ant on the ground; he is heading for Mrs. Hosford’s classroom. The hot- pink, giant piece of Pocket Fuzz rips the roof off the beige building so effortlessly, and Rudy stands by the children, barking and shivering. They all scream in fear. 

Suddenly, Esmerelda appears beside the creature. Rudy, Heath, Leslie, Crystal, and Misty look her way. Leslie whispers to the others, “What is she doing?” The others shrug their shoulders; Rudy continues to bark. With a slight twinkle in her eye and a wink, Esmerelda snaps her fingers and seizes her cape. Before the children understand the situation, Esmerelda flies around and around the Pocket Fuzz Monster. The children notice a weapon in her hand: a LARGE lint roller. 

ONE, TWO, THREE times, Esmerelda flies around and around the pink Pocket Fuzz monster, wielding the lint roller.  Just as she lands on both feet, the children watch with their mouths agape as the Pocket Fuzz creature deflates and decreases in size. Outside of the roofless building, Rudy and his friends notice a small scrap of pink, purple, and blue pocket fuzz, lying on the ground. The terror is over. Rudy and his friends join Esmerelda outside. The children all clap in triumph and in happiness. 

Without warning, Esmerelda’s daydream ends as Rudy jumps onto the end table and knocks down the glass of water that was sitting on it.  The glass of water hits the floor with a clang while Rudy darts through the water; the dog still grasps the pocket fuzz from Esmerelda’s jeans in his mouth as he bounds throughout the house. 

“Rudy, stop right now!” Esmerelda shouts at her chiweenie. She reaches down toward the floor and scoops her little dog up in her arms. “You naughty, Boy! You spilled my water.” 

Esmerelda places her puppy back on the floor and walks over to use the mop for his mess. Just when she thinks the mess is clean, Esmerelda detects an odd clump of debris on the mop. She lifts the mop up to the light of the living room in order to investigate. 

“Rudy, do you see this? It’s that dirty clump of pink, purple, and blue fuzz that you were running with just a moment ago. However, what I see is a tiny little blue berry colored guinea! I’ve always wanted a pet guinea pig! What should we name it?” The light brown chiweenie sniffed the air and sneezed. “That’s a great idea, Boy! Sweetie the sneezy Guinea.”