Trevie Bear & Lazy Baba Go to Indonesia, Carolyn Smith [top fiction books of all time txt] 📗

The train ride was very bumpy.

Clickety click. Clickety click. Clickety click went the wheels of the train as they zoomed along past stunning scenery. The foliage was the most beautiful Lazy Baba had ever seen. The tall trees had lovely long leaves which were a shade of green she had never seen before. She stared out of the window her eyes hungry to see more and she was never disappointed because there were hundreds of them, sprouting out of the ground all over. It was like riding through a rainforest. This illusion was only broken now and again with the intermittent spattering of small houses and huts along the side of the track with the occasional family working and playing in the garden. She could see that the favourite past time of the children was flying bright, multicoloured kites high in the sky. As she looked up to follow one particular kite she noticed that there were many many more up in the clear, light blue sky floating this way and that way and up and down. She strained her eyes to see, but no matter how hard she tried she couldn’t see where they were being flown from. She sighed, sat back down in her seat and looked at Becky who was fast asleep leaning her head on Dad who was also fast asleep and snoring!

“What type of tree are those?” she asked Trevie Bear who had his nose stuck inside a travel book about Indonesia.

“They are palm trees,” he said matter of factly without even looking up from his book.

“No they’re not. I’ve seen pictures of palm trees and they don’t look like this one. Look at how the leaves reach downwards, not upwards. They are really beautiful.”

“There are many different types of palm tree. This one is called the ‘Chinese Fan’.”

“But we’re not in China.”

“I know that, they grow all over the world in different places.” Trevie Bear was starting to get irritated with Lazy Baba’s questions. He was trying to read about where they were going next.

They had already been to Jakarta which was an amazing but loud and busy city. They had not spent very much time there as they would be coming back through Jakarta on the way home and would be able to spend more time exploring then.

They were on their way to a city called Yogyakarta from where they would be able to visit some great temple sights. Dad had been given a new, very expensive camera for his birthday because he has a new found interest in photography. Trevie Bear had seen some of the pictures Dad had taken and was quietly impressed with the standard. Dad was good! Dad was looking forward to taking some fabulous pictures of the temples and Trevie Bear was looking forward to seeing them.

Lazy Baba had begun to get sleepy as she had been looking intently out of the window for a long time. They had been on this train for three hours already and they had at least another three hours to go. Mum, Dad and Becky had all fallen asleep within the first hour, giving Trevie Bear and Lazy Baba a chance to climb out of their backpack and stretch their legs. Lazy Baba now stretched her arms up over her head and yawned a large, deep yawn, before climbing back into the backpack and curling up for a much needed snooze. Trevie Bear sighed as she did so, he thought it was a waste of holiday time being curled up in the backpack and he longed for the times like this when he could be free to enjoy the sights and learn more about the cultures and places they were visiting.

“You’re so lazy,” he mumbled under his breath as he watched her snuggle up in a comfortable ball and drift off to sleep.

Yogyakarta was not a very big city and there wasn’t very much to it. There were plenty of markets with stalls selling all kinds of goods for tourists such as bags, shoes, clothes and jewelry. The streets were small and busy with rickshaws lined up against the pavements with men sitting and chatting or sleeping with their feet up on the handle bars. There was nothing of interest in Yogyakarta (or Yogya for short) everything was a car ride out of the city and Trevie Bear was eager to move on.

Mum, Dad and Becky booked themselves in to their hotel, quickly got showered and changed after their long train journey; it had taken eight hours, not six like they had originally thought. They decided that they would go exploring in Yogya for a while and find something to eat. Dad told Becky to leave her backpack (with Trevie Bear and Lazy Baba inside) in the hotel room as they had no need for it in Yogya.

Once the door shut behind them Trevie Bear, angry that he had been left behind, climbed out of the bag.
“I can’t believe that she left us in the hotel room!” he shouted. “Why bother bringing us all the way to Indonesia just to leave us in this stupid room?”

Lazy Baba was crawling out of the bag which had been left on the floor beside the bed. “Don’t be ungrateful. None of the other toys back at home get to come on these adventures with Becky. She chooses us because she loves us the most. She has had a long day and needs a rest. You can’t expect her to carry us with her everywhere she goes.”

Trevie Bear had climbed up to the window sill and was sat in a grumpy slump looking out of the window at the busy Yogya streets. He watched Becky, Mum and Dad hold hands and cross the road before disappearing down a long, dark alleyway. He knew Lazy Baba was right. So far he had been on some wonderful adventures in China and in Nepal. Now here he was in Indonesia. How many toys could say that they had been to these fabulous places? He just wished Becky hadn’t left him behind.

“She’ll soon be back,” Lazy Baba said as she stretched out on the extremely comfortable bed, ready for an afternoon of relaxing. Trevie Bear left his place at the window and joined Lazy Baba on the bed where they curled up and fell asleep. This, Trevie Bear knew was Lazy Baba’s favourite pastime. However for him it was just a way of making time go more quickly and it worked. Before Trevie Bear knew what was happening he was woken with a sharp thump to his head as he landed on the cold, hard floor. He had been thrown on the floor by Dad to make space in the bed for Becky whom he was carrying in his arms. Poor little lamb must have been exhausted after the long day she had had. She woke up just long enough to grab on to Lazy Baba before Dad could send her to the same fate as Trevie Bear. Dad tucked Becky and Lazy Baba in to the warm bed and kissed Becky on the forehead.

“Good night Princess,” he whispered before going back to his own room with Mum. Becky rolled over, her arm wrapped securely around Lazy Baba and fell into a deep sleep. Trevie Bear, having landed upside down on his head righted himself and rubbed his bruised head. This was not the first time he had been thrown on the floor. Goodness no. It had happened countless times in the past, but somehow tonight, after being left behind in the room all day, Trevie Bear took it quite personally. He grumpily paced the floor wondering why he was being left out by Becky. Didn’t she love him anymore? He knew that she did, he knew deep down that he was being oversensitive, but he couldn’t help it. He curled up on the mat on the floor and tried to sleep, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t stop his mind from thinking bad things about Becky and how she no longer wanted him. When he finally did fall asleep his dreams were tainted with these same horrible thoughts.

Needless to say when Trevie Bear woke up the next day he was not in the best of moods. Lazy Baba on the other hand had had a wonderful night’s sleep cuddled up next to Becky and so was completely oblivious to Trevie Bear’s troubled mind.

It wasn’t until Dad came to the room to get Becky ready for their day out that Lazy Baba realized there was something wrong with Trevie Bear. He was quiet and sullen. He wouldn’t answer her questions and if he did it was with a grunt. Trevie Bear knew he was feeling jealous of Lazy Baba. He also knew he was being silly. But he needed time on his own to get over it and Lazy Baba just wouldn’t take the hint and go away.

“Ok then Becky. Looks like you’re all ready. Just pack your bag and we’ll be off,” said Dad.

Trevie Bear and Lazy Baba sat on the bed tense with excitement at finally being able to get of the hotel room and go on an adventure, but Becky didn’t pick them up. In fact she was already zipping up her bag with Trevie Bear and Lazy Baba still on the bed. What was going on?

“Aren’t you bringing your dolls?” asked Dad, a hint of surprise in his voice. Trevie Bear glowered.

“I am not a doll,” he thought anger surging inside of him.

“No,” said Becky. No! No? What did she mean no? Trevie Bear felt Lazy Baba give a small gasp next to him.

“No,” she said again as if to confirm Trevie Bear’s fears. “I lost them in China and Trevie Bear got hurt in Nepal. I don’t want to take them in case something happens to them.