When the chance to create a holiday happened, the sheep were first in line to add January 20^th as Cheese Lover’s Day. They loved cheese and tried to have some with every meal. The other toys could tell you that whenever the sheep were in charge of food for an event, there was always cheese. They didn’t know the types of cheese, but the sheep always chose delicious ones for everyone to enjoy.

On January 20^th, the sheep laid out all different types of cheese on their outdoor tables. There were soft cheeses like Brie, ricotta, cream cheese, and even cottage cheese. There were hard cheeses like cheddar, parmesan, and Swiss. Each of the cheeses was labeled with its name and had a small plate of crackers next to it.

As each of the toys stopped by that day, they tried different types of cheeses, and the sheep told them about each one.

“Brie is from France. It tastes great on crackers or even on sandwiches,” Baa told Teddy when he stopped by.

“Cheddar cheese comes from England and is white there. Here, in the United States, it’s yellow,” said Black Sheep.

“I bet you can’t guess where Swiss cheese comes from,” said Baaa to Sylver when he took a nibble of the holey cheese. “Umm…Switzerland?” answered Sylver. “You’re right!” the three sheep yelled, making Sylver jump and almost drop his cheese. He scrambled and managed to catch it before popping it into his mouth.

He was about to head back to the ocean life cubby when he noticed a tv set up next to the tables. “What’s this?” he asked. “Oh that…that’s something that we thought the toys might enjoy. It’s a game called Cheese Game.”

Sylver walked closer to the screen and noticed that controllers had been hooked up. “Can I try it out?”

“Of course you can. That’s why we set it up!” said Baa while his brothers walked back to the tables to put out new pieces of cheese. “It’s one player or I’d play with you. Try it out and if you would like a snack, come back over for some more cheese. Perhaps some cheddar this time or cream cheese.” Baa smiled and walked away.

Sylver picked up a controller and hit start. He chuckled when he saw that he was playing as a piece of cheese that looked a lot like the piece that he had just eaten. The game started easily enough. He was a piece of cheese that had to avoid everything because everything wanted to eat him. He beat a few levels and when he paused for a moment, he noticed that he had drawn quite the crowd around him. Quite a few of his friends were there supporting him and cheering him on.

He took a deep breath and unpaused the game. It was time for the final level. With his friends watching, he dodged left, and he dodged right. There were rocks falling from the sky and a miner trying to catch him. He kept dodging and running. The rocks were falling faster now and the more intense the game got, the quieter his friends got. There were only thirty seconds left. Could he beat the game?

He dodged to the left again. A rock barely missed him, and his friends held their breath. He was so close. Another dodge to the right and around a pair of rocks that came raining down. The miner was right there, but he managed to veer around him. Ten seconds left. Suddenly the rocks were coming down faster, but with each rock that rained down, he dodged around it. Five seconds left and the miner was right on this tail. He flipped around and ran around the miner. Time was up and he won! He let out the breath that he hadn’t realized he’d been holding and grinning, turned around to hug his cheering friends.

“You did it! On your first try you beat that game!”

“Oh my gosh, that was awesome!”

“Thanks, guys! We should celebrate with some cheese!”

If you like what you've read here, please share it with others using these buttons:

About once a month, Rhino got something in the mail. It might be a letter or a postcard, but he always got something, and they always came from the same place. Grandpa Rhino used to live in the toy store but had been adopted by a young boy when Rhino was quite young. They loved each other though and to keep in touch, they would write letters to each other.

One day, Sam saw Rhino writing a letter to his grandpa and asked him about it. “Why do you write him letters, Rhino?” he asked.

“It’s a fun way to keep in touch. I can tell him about everything that happens here. I just wrote about the big spaghetti party that Mario threw for us. If I didn’t tell him, he’d never know, and I think that he would miss it. Plus, he always writes me back and I get to hear about the adventures that he goes on with his boy.”

“That’s pretty cool. I think that I would like to write a letter too, but who would I write it too?” asked Sam.

“You could write to me,” answered Rhino. “You have all kinds of adventures, and I would love to read about them. I’ll even write you back!”

“Awesome! I’ll go back to my cubby and work on it right now.”

Sam waved and headed back to his cubby where he got a pencil and some paper and write Rhino a long letter, telling him all about his adventures with Melanie and his other friends. At the end of the letter, he invited Rhino to go on an adventure with him. Then, he put it into an envelope and put it in the toy store mailbox.

As he was walking to the mailbox, Asbestos came up to him and asked what he was doing. Sam explained all about letter writing and how he had written Rhino a letter. Asbestos loved the idea and ran back to his cave to write his own letter.

Before much time had passed, there was a line at the mailbox of toys waiting to drop their letters in. All week long, they had been writing to each other. Now, some of them were writing back and others were mailing out their first letter.

Some of the toys wrote long letters. Others wrote just a little bit on the back of a postcard. They all had one thing in common though. They loved writing to each other. Rhino got so excited about how everyone was writing letters that he wrote a second one to Grandpa Rhino telling him all about it. Grandpa Rhino wrote back telling him that the toys where he lived would love to get letters and postcards.

Rhino couldn’t wait to share this idea with all of his friends. He hurried over to Horace and told him all about what his grandpa had said in his letter. Horace thought it was a great idea so he decided to call all of the toys together to tell them all about it.

Soon, all of the toys were collected together in the reading area. Some had letters in their hands and others were carrying their paper and pencils. Some of the younger toys had crayons. “Hey, everyone, I have something that I want to tell you about!”

Everyone settled down and got quiet so that they could hear Horace.

“I was just talking to Rhino about how great all this letter writing is and he told me that he had gotten a new letter from Grandpa Rhino. As you know, Grandpa Rhino lives across town now with a wonderful boy and his family. It’s because of his letter writing that all of you started writing letters. Now, he has a suggestion!”

The toys whispered among themselves, wondering what the suggestion might be.

“He would love it if you wrote letters to his friends that he lives with! They don’t get letters or postcards now and he knows that they would love them. What do you all think? Can we bring some smiles to other toys? You never know, you might make some new friends!”

The toys all cheered and clapped to show their support. Then, they hurried up to Rhino who had his grandpa’s letter with him. In it, Grandpa Rhino had given a list of toys who would love to receive letters. After everyone had gotten the name of a toy, Rhino went back to his cubby to write his grandpa to tell him that lots of letters should be coming to their playroom very soon.

Across town, Grandpa Rhino smiled as he read his grandson’s letter again. It was good knowing that he was happy, healthy, and surrounded by toys who all took care of each other. He hoped that they would be sending lots of letters their way, but even if they didn’t, he knew that each week there would be one from his grandson, Rhino.

…And that’s how the toy store pen pal program came to be. 

If you like what you've read here, please share it with others using these buttons:

Every day is pretty much the same. I wake up in the morning, eat some breakfast, play with my friend Sadie, eat some dinner and go to bed. The only thing that sometimes changes is what games Sadie and I play. We love to play pirates. It’s fun to swish a sword around and say “argh”. It’s also fun to play tag. Sometimes we play that if Rorschach comes over to visit. He lives in an apartment nearby but likes to come out and hang out with all of us by the school.

Today seems different though. I woke up, ate breakfast, and played with Sadie, but when I went to eat dinner, it wasn’t sitting out like it usually is. Sadie and I looked and looked, but we couldn’t find it. It was so weird! Then, after Sadie had given up and gone to lay down, I decided to look one more time. I knew I smelled it, but I just couldn’t see it. Then, I rounded the corner of a bush and there it was! I thought about going to get Sadie, but she was probably asleep, so I decided to have dinner and then go and let her know where it was.

Except, when I walked up to the bowl, something strange happened. First, I heard a snap noise and then something came down behind me. I turned around quickly, but instead of the bush, I saw a wall. It was so weird, guys. I could see the bush through the spaces between the bars, but no matter what I tried, I couldn’t get past it. I was stuck!

Then, a hand reached in and took away the food bowl. I thought for sure that they were going to let me out, but nope! They removed the bowl and then walked away. A few minutes later, they came back and suddenly I was floating. I wondered if this is what a leaf felt like when the wind picked it up and carried it.

I wasn’t scared. I know I should have been, but I wasn’t. I was more curious. I was wondering what was happening, who was carrying me, and where we were going. I didn’t have very long to wonder because it seemed like I had just been picked up when whoever it was set me down again. I peeked through the crate’s door and there was my friend, Kim. She smiled at me and told me that she would feed me again as soon as we got to where we were going.

I nodded and she closed the door to the car. Oooh, I forgot to tell you, she put the crate on the backseat of her car. Then, we were off! I couldn’t really see where we were going, but from the way that I swayed, I could tell that we took a few turns. I’d sway to the left, sway to the right, and then finally I just curled up before I fell over. The ride must have been pretty relaxing because I woke up when the car stopped.

The door opened and within moments after that, another door opened, and we walked into a well-lit laundry room. The crate door was opened, and Kim invited me to come out. “Sorry to scare you, Mittens, but I needed a safe way to bring you here.”

“Here? Where is here?” I meowed.

“I’m hoping that you’ll like it here and decide to live here from now on. I promise that you’ll be well taken care of. You’ll have delicious food, water, and lots of toys.”

I blinked up at her. Home? I was in a home? I had dreamed about living in a home, but I didn’t think that it would ever happen. I decided right there that I would give this home a try. I noticed that Kim seemed nervous, so I smiled up at her and gave her a hug.

That night, I had a cozy bed made of blankets to sleep in. Kim fed me the best food I had ever tasted. It looked and smelled just like the food that I ate all the time, but somehow it tasted better. There was always fresh water whenever I looked. It never had dirt or leaves in it. It was getting late, so I decided to get some sleep before I checked out these toys that she had mentioned. I had never really had anything other than sticks and my imagination for toys before.

The next morning, I woke up early and explored the house. It seemed nice, but it was really quiet. I was used to the noise of being outside and other cats being around me. That reminded me…what about Sadie? Was she okay? Did she know where I was? I had to talk to Kim immediately so I jumped up on the bed where she was and started nudging her with my paw.

“Well, good morning, Mittens. What can I do for you?”

“What about Sadie? She’s my best friend. Does she know what happened?”

“Sadie knows. I made sure that she knew about it. I even asked her if she wanted to come along too, but she said she’s an outdoor adventuring cat, but that she knows this is your dream. I hope she was right. I’d really like for you to stay.”

I nodded, thinking about my best friend. It would be just like her to want this for me while she followed a different adventure. I hoped that she had an amazing adventure and that I would hear about it.

“Don’t worry. I’m sure you’ll hear from her. She said she’d send you postcards and letters.”

I smiled and hopped back down off the bed. It was time for breakfast, and I was ready to eat and then check out those toys. Guess what, guys! Toys are awesome! Kim had bought me balls and things to chase and even a great big tower for me to climb.

It took me a few days of thinking about it, but, in the end, I decided to stay with Kim and to have a home of my own. I even convinced her to get a kitten since I missed Sadie. I thought the best thing to do was to give another kitten a home so that neither of us would be alone. After all, I had plenty of toys to share. 

--------

If you've been around me very much, you know that I love a few different things when it comes to backing Kickstarter campaigns. I've already showed you our first set of stickers and today I'm going to show you one of my other loves...pins! 

You did it! We now have 50 followers on the campaign. I'm so excited. It felt like a huge goal, but y'all knocked it out of the park a good two weeks before we go live. Now the ball is back in my court. Now the the cover is in, I'm blessed to have Eric Cockrell working on the final graphics for the campaign. He says that I have to record my own audio for the video though. This is my first time creating a Kickstarter video so I'm pretty nervous! 

So far, I've shown you sneak peeks of stories from Cobalt's Castaways and even early art that will be a stretch goal (something everyone gets if we reach a certain dollar goal). I hope that they're getting you as excited about this book as I am to share it with you. Today, I want to share another stretch goal with you...stickers! If you're anything like me, you love stickers. 




Aren't they great? If the campaign raises at least $1750, everyone will get a selection from these stickers. I'm in love with them and I can't wait to be able to give them to everyone. If you'd like to be notified when the campaign goes live, head on over to Kickstarter and click the notify me on launch button.

I have the best thing to share with all of you today! It's art that's going to be used for the Kickstarter and is done by the amazing Martha Schwartz. She's a wonderful artist and I'm honestly honored that she agreed to do this piece for me and the campaign. When I gave her Mac's story to base her drawing on, I never imagined she'd come back with something this awesome. Heck, it's not even done yet...this is just a sneak peek for me that I'm passing on to you! 

There isn’t a time in my life that I can remember where I wasn’t playing a sport. From the time I was little, my dad and I would go into the backyard and either throw a football or a baseball back and forth. Sometimes we would kick a soccer ball. It was a lot of fun and as I grew older, I got to play things like kickball in gym class. If it involved a ball, I wanted to play. That hasn’t changed, even though I’m an adult now.

I played football and baseball when I was in high school. I was pretty good at both of them. During the summer, I played soccer with my friends. It seemed like if I wasn’t doing homework or in school, I was on a field somewhere. I loved it.

Then, I went to college and had to decide which sport I wanted to play. I couldn’t play football, baseball, and soccer anymore. There just wasn’t enough time with classes, homework, and hanging out with my friends. In the end, I decided that I wanted to play baseball. It was my dad’s favorite sport and one that I had always loved. I wanted to make sure that he was proud of me.

I did pretty good in college. So good, that after I graduated, a professional baseball team wanted me to come and play for them! I couldn’t believe it. Instead of managing teams, I was going to get to keep playing for one!

I remember my very first game. My family and friends were in the crowd, and I was really nervous. What if I struck out? What if I hit the ball, but tripped and fell while I was running? Before I knew it, it was my turn at bat. I’d been so worried about what might happen that I didn’t even notice that the batters in front of me had all gotten onto base and it was now bases loaded.

I swallowed hard and made my way to the batter’s box. I could hear my family cheering me on. I closed my eyes for a second and then stepped forward to show that I was ready. I took another deep breath and waited for the first pitch. When it came, I swung at it, but missed. The same thing happened with the second pitch.

I stepped back for a moment and adjusted my hat. The crowd had gotten really quiet. I glanced up and saw my dad sitting in the stands. He nodded at me, and it reminded me of all the times we had played catch in the backyard. I smiled and stepped back up to the plate.

This time, when the ball came, I was ready for it. I took a deep breath, swung my bat, and heard the crack of the ball as it hit it. I watched as it went soaring and my teammates started running. I started running too and before I had made it to first base, I heard the announcer yell, “Home run! Salem has hit a grand slam at his first time at bat!”

As I rounded third base, I looked up into the stands and there stood my father, yelling and cheering with the rest of the fans in the crowd. His eyes met mine and he smiled. He was proud of me, and you know what? I was proud of me too. I had done something that some players only dream about and even if it never happens again, it happened to me that time. 

If you like what you've read here, please share it with others using these buttons:

A long time ago, I used to live with a lot of other cats in a place they called “the schoolyard.” It just never really felt like the place for me though. Don’t get me wrong. I really loved the other cats that lived there. My best friend’s name was Mittens. She was so much fun. We used to hang out together and play all sorts of games together. One of my favorite games was to pretend that we were swashbuckling pirates. We’d talk in fake pirate voices and swing our sticks around, pretending that they were swords.

Then, one day, someone took Mittens to live somewhere else. I was so sad to see her leave, but happy that she’d always have a warm bed to sleep in and yummy food whenever she wanted it. Living in a nice, warm house was Mittens’ dream and it was coming true.

After she left, I sulked around. I didn’t want to talk to anyone. I didn’t even come out when the man came who fed us. After a while, everyone thought that I had left. Then, one day, I was thinking about how Mittens’ dream came true, and I decided that it was time to help make my own dream come true. I would become a real life pirate.  I would find my own ship and I would sail the seas.

Finding a ship shouldn’t be hard. I lived in Florida which is surrounded by a lot of water. There had to be boats somewhere. The next morning, I packed up my few things and headed out towards the closest water that I knew of. When I got there, I followed a man who looked like he might be a sailor. I was right! He led me right to the biggest boats that I had ever seen.

I walked up the dock. The further I walked, the bigger the boats became. Some of them were big enough to have entire cities on them! I wasn’t interested in a boat that big. I wanted a smaller boat, one where I wouldn’t get lost every time I tried my paw at swashbuckling.

I decided that I had better head back the way that I had come. Sure enough, the boats kept getting smaller, but they were all pretty big. I was about to give up by the time that I got to the end of the dock. All of the ships were just too big for this pirate cat. Then, right there, at the very end of the dock was the perfect pirate ship! As I stood there watching, they even lowered a gangplank. This was the ship for me.

Keeping my eyes on the gangplank, I slowly approached the boat. This was the part that I wasn’t sure about. I couldn’t just take over their ship. That would be like the bad pirates that I had heard about. I didn’t want to be one of those. I wanted to be the kind that swished swords as they sang sea shanties. That kind didn’t seem like they would just take over a ship. I guessed it was time to talk to the captain.

I had perfect timing. As soon as I got to the end of the gangplank, the captain appeared at the top. He was a tall man with a big, bushy beard that was as white as the ocean spray. His face looked like it had been in the sun for days, but he had a twinkle in his eyes that gave me the confidence to walk up the gangplank towards him.

When I reached the top, he smiled down at me while I saluted him.

“Why are you saluting me?” he asked.

“You’re the captain of this fine ship, aren’t you?”

“Yes, yes I am.”

“Then you deserve the respect of a simple salute.”

Sadie could have sworn that the man blushed beneath his rugged tan.

“Well then, Miss, what can I do for you?”

“I would like to officially join your crew as a pirate. I will swab the decks, swashbuckle, sing sea shanties, and wear a fancy hat. I would prefer not to wear an eyepatch though. Those are hard to see through.”

“Have you ever been to sea? It can be a rough life.”

“I have not, but my life up until now hasn’t been easy.”

Sadie told the captain about her life in the schoolyard and how her friend, Mittens, had followed her dreams and now it was time for her to do the same. The captain nodded often, listening to her tale.

“That does sound rough. Well, Miss…I’m sorry, what is your name?”

“Sadie, sir.”

The captain smiled. “Well, Miss Sadie, if you’re sure you want to do this, we would be happy to have you. Come aboard.”

Sadie smiled and picked up her bag. She took one last look around and then marched up the gangplank, ready to start her life as a pirate. 

If you like what you've read here, please share it with others using these buttons:

One day, a new toy moved into the toy store. Everyone welcomed him, but he didn’t seem to be very friendly. He walked around with his nose in the air and when he moved into the barnyard, he avoided all of the other animals that lived there.

The toys were confused. Nobody had ever acted this way before. All of the toys got along and were friendly with each other. After a few days, some of the animals got together and tried talking to him. He just looked at them and then walked away.

This wasn’t just unfriendly, this was rude. The animals had had enough so they went to Horace to ask what they should do.

“He’s not just unfriendly with us, he’s rude. We try to talk to him, and he just walks away. We don’t think he’s very happy to be here. What do we do, Horace?”

“Let me try to talk to him and see what’s happening. Maybe he just needs more time to get used to being here.”

Together, they walked back the barnyard. The animals went back to hanging out and playing while Horace looked around for the new toy. He found him out back, munching on some dinner. Even when the tiger walked up and stood next to him, he didn’t stop.

“Hi there,” said Horace.

“Hmph,” muttered the other toy.

“I just stopped by to see how you’re doing and if you’re happy here.”

The toy looked up from his dinner and sighed.

“You’re some kind of welcoming committee? I’ve had enough of that.”

“No, I’m just Horace. I like to make sure that everyone is happy.”

“Don’t you know who I am? I am the goat.”

“Yes, I know that you’re a goat.”

“No, I’m the goat.”

“But, there are other goats who live here. Have you met them yet?”

“You don’t understand. Goat. Greatest of all time.”

“The greatest at what?” asked Horace.

“Everything.”

“Oh…well, the annual toy games are coming up. Maybe you would like to compete.”

The goat nodded and went back to eating. Horace walked away, puzzled by his behavior. Nobody had ever acted that way in the toy store before. Everyone was friendly and cheered for each other. Nobody thought that they were better than anyone else.

The day of the games arrived, and all of the toys were excited. There would be races and jumping contests and all sorts of games. Everyone gathered at the first event, the long jump. They couldn’t wait to see who could jump the farthest. The competitors lined up and on the count of three, they all ran and jumped as hard as they could.

The goat won and everyone cheered for him. Horace gave him his medal and then they all moved to the next event. This was the big race. This year, the cheetahs, Harley, and the goat were all competing. While they waited, the goat told everyone how he was going to win. The other toys just smiled and took their places.

Then the whistle blew, everyone took off and ran as hard as they could. As usual, the cheetahs got tangled up in a ball and rolled right off of the track. They giggled and laughed as they tried to untangle themselves and get back to the race. Harley started off slow, but she was moving quickly around the track. In the front was the goat. It looked as if he was going to win.

Then, it happened. Suddenly, he stopped running and grabbed one of his legs. Harley came running up and stopped next to him.

“What happened? What’s wrong?” she asked.

“I have a cramp in my leg,” the goat whimpered.

“Let me help you.”

With that, she rubbed his leg until it felt better and then together, they ran across the finish line. Everyone cheered for them, and they both received a medal. Before Harley could leave to go to the next event, the goat stopped her.

“Why did you help me? You could have won,” he asked.

“It wouldn’t be right if I won while you were injured. We help each other here,” she answered.

“My name is really the GOAT. It’s Frank. I think I’d like it if you called me that.”

“It’s good to meet you, Frank. Shall we go see how the baseball toss is going?”

“I’d really like that.”

After that, Frank got along with everyone, and everyone became his friend. He still competed, but he no longer thought he would win at everything. 

If you like what you've read here, please share it with others using these buttons: