A Daisy at the Beach Chapter One

Road Trip!
“Wow, Daisy Dreamer! You look beachy cool!” I say to the me in the mirror. I am wearing my favorite bathing suit. It has colorful stripes and spaghetti straps. But not real spaghetti. Obviously.

Why am I dressed in a bathing suit? Because today I’m going to the beach! And when you go to the beach, you have to go to the beach in style.

I sway my hips and pretend to be a hula girl, moving my arms from left to right. I can almost hear the music playing, but my cat, Sir Pounce, looks at me like I’m a weirdo.

Enough hula dancing for now! Time to pack my beach bag. I have a super-long list of things to take to the beach:



Hmmm. I tap my head thoughtfully. Did I forget anything? Then I snap my fingers and write down: Book.





And oh yeah! One more thing! I race out of my bedroom and lean over the railing. “MOM!” I shout at the top of my lungs. “Do you have my beach umbrella?” I wait for an answer.

“All packed, honey!” Mom shouts back.



I scramble to my room and . . . Oh no! Sir Pounce has packed himself in my beach bag. My secret spy cat has detected I’m going somewhere. I grab him around the middle and pull him right out of my bag.

“You can’t go to the beach, silly!” I say, shaking my finger at him. “You might get lost.”

“Mrr-row,” Sir Pounce meows.

He doesn’t like packing, because suitcases and bags mean I’m going away. Sir Pounce doesn’t like it when I go anywhere. Obviously. One time my wild kitty tried to unpack my camp trunk and got my underwear stuck on his head. He looked like a masked superhero. Hilarious!



“Hey!” I cry as Sir Pounce swipes my goggles and runs away. I chase him around my room. He hops onto my bed and . . . and whoa! Sir Pounce suddenly freezes in midair! He is floating above my bed.



I put my hands on my hips and scan my room. This floating cat trick has imaginary friend magic written all over it.

“Posey? Come out, come out, wherever you are!” I call.



Then I spy an antler sticking out from under the dust ruffle.

I tap it and say, “There you are!”

Posey wiggles out from under my bed. He is my imaginary friend from the World of Make-Believe, and when he’s around, crazy things happen. Like cats floating in the air.

He gives me a wave. “Hi, Daisy! Whatcha doing?”

Before I can answer, there’s a loud “MEOW.” Posey and I look up at Sir Pounce.



“I think he wants down,” I say.

Posey snaps his fingers, and Sir Pounce drifts down to the bed and begins to purr. Silly kitty!





Then I tell Posey that I’m packing for the beach, and I also tell him how much Sir Pounce dislikes packing. And you know what Posey does? He starts playfully meowing at my cat. They meow, hiss, and cough back and forth to each other.

Finally Posey turns to me and asks, “Can we go to the beach with you?”

I arch an eyebrow. “What do you mean, ‘we’?”

Sir Pounce and Posey share a look.

“Oh, did I say ‘we’?” Posey says nervously. “I meant ‘me.’ Can me go to the beach with you?”



And even though he is totally using bad English, I can’t resist Posey’s awesome idea to join me at the beach. We’ll have twice the fun! Obviously.