Dust Bunnies
by Misha Gates
Dusty the dust bunny lived under Annie’s bed. Dusty was shy. He didn’t have any friends. He would draw and read to pass the time. He dreamed that one day he would have friends to play with.
Sometimes he would watch Annie, the little human girl who lived in the room. She seemed so happy and busy in her life. When she was alone in the room, she liked it. She just played with her dolls and sang to them.
“Friends come from near and far.
Doesn’t matter who you are.”
Those words went right to Dusty’s dusty little heart. So, how can I find a friend, he thought. Near or far? Where is far? Dusty thought the whole world was right under the bed
As she sang, Dusty closed his eyes and imagined having a friend.
He wished he knew more about Annie, but he was scared of her. To him, she looked like a giant.
When Dusty was thinking, he heard a little ping. Looking over to the end of the bed, he saw a little purple spaceship. His eyes got very big. He shook off his fear and slid over and looked in. There he saw a purple dust bunny. Dusty was afraid, but he was also very curious. He had never seen anything that came from “far”.
“Who are you?” asked Dusty.
“My name is Marty. I come from planet Zortin. Who are you?”
“I’m Dusty. I come from under this bed. Do you come from far?”
“Of course I come from far. I came in a spaceship. I’m here to find out about dust bunnies on Earth, and you’re my first one.”
Dusty felt proud. He already felt that he and Marty could be friends. They would be two friends from near and far.
“What do you want to know about Earth?” asked Dusty.
Marty was ready to jump right in and see everything in Annie’s room. Dusty started with Annie’s toy box.
Marty saw a doll. He floated up and blew in her ear. She did not move. He yelled and screamed and tried to wake her up. She still did not move. Dusty saw that Marty needed help. Marty thought the doll was alive.
“Marty, it’s a doll, not a real person. She won’t talk to you.”
Then Marty did the same thing to a stuffed bear. The bear looked friendly, but he didn’t say anything. Dusty told Marty to leave the bear alone, he can’t help it if he’s quiet.
“Is there anything that is living around here?” asked Marty.
“Umm, there is one living person. The only thing is, she’s big and I’m scared of her.”
Just then the door to the bedroom opened and in came Annie.
She was seven years old and was wearing a pink dress with a white bow. The first thing she did was to take off her shoes and run to her toy box. She yanked out her doll and began to twirl around.
“See what I mean?” said Dusty. “She’s a giant. She might vacuum us up someday and that would be the end of us.”
“Well, let’s meet her,” said Marty.
“Didn’t you hear what I just said?” said Dusty. “She will destroy us. She has the vacuum and the dust mop. But the vacuum is worse.”
“Well, I still want to meet her. Once she knows us, she’ll never suck us up.”
Dusty and Marty became friends after that. Somehow, being with Marty made Dusty feel less afraid. It was fun to have someone to roll around with under the bed. At night, when everything was quiet, they explored the bedroom. Their eyes were big like flashlights.
One night, they went inside the dollhouse. They pretended that the dolls were part of their family. They made pies in the kitchen, they played piano in the living room, they jumped on the bed in the bedroom, and they took a bath in the bathroom.
“This is so much fun, Dusty,” said Marty. “I never knew Earth could be this much fun.”
“Well, there’s a lot more we can do,” said Dusty bravely. “We can go up on Annie’s bed and watch her sleep.”
Marty “ooohed” at that idea. They held their breath and floated up to the top of the bed. Annie was snuggled down in the covers, fast asleep. But then she moved. She opened her eyes. By the dim light of the nightlight, she could see two little dust bunnies staring at her. One was purple and the other was gray.
She rubbed her eyes and said, “Who are you?”
“I’m Dusty. I come from under your bed. This is my friend, Marty. He comes from planet Zortin.”
“Wow. What are you guys doing up here?”
“We were having an adventure,” said Marty. “Do you want to explore with us? I hear there’s a whole other world out there past the door. Can we see it?”
Annie knew she wasn’t supposed to get out of bed at night, but she knew her parents were fast asleep. She put on her bunny slippers and bathrobe and slowly opened the door. They went to the kitchen and turned on the light.
“Can we make a pie?” asked Marty.
“Yeah, can we?” asked Dusty.
“No, I can’t use the oven. How about some milk and cookies?” said Annie.
They had a midnight snack, then went into the living room.
“Can we play the piano?” asked Marty.
“Yeah, can we?” asked Dusty.
“No, it makes too much noise. How about we sit on the couch and look at a book?”
Annie read them a story, then they went into the guest bedroom.
“Can we jump on the bed?” asked Marty.
“Yeah, can we?” asked Dusty.
“No, that’s too wild. How about we look out the window?”
They looked out the window and saw the big white moon.
Then they went into the bathroom.
“Can we take a bath?” asked Marty.
“Yeah, can we?” asked Dusty.
“No, you’ll fall apart. How about you put toothpaste on my toothbrush for me?”
By that time, it was well past midnight. Annie was ready to go back to bed.
Dusty and Marty were tired, too.
They all went back to Annie’s bed, but Dusty and Marty didn’t go back under the bed. They went on top of the bed, on the pillow next to Annie.
Now she didn’t look so big and scary to Dusty.
When Annie was about to fall asleep, she quietly sang,
“Friends come from near and far.
Doesn’t matter who you are.”
End