Abby woke up yesterday morning to find her glasses gone from the table next to her bed. She looked under the bed; she looked on her bed. Her glasses were nowhere to be found. She went into her closet to see if she left them in there. They weren’t there, but there was a strange glow from the back of the closet. Abby went to touch it, and a door appeared. Since her mom wasn’t yet calling her to get up for school, she decided to open the door and see if she could find her glasses. Abby opened the door.

The next thing she knew, she was in a

meadow. There were lambs and foals and fruit trees and everything was beautiful and peaceful. She looked around to see how to get back through the door to her closet, but the door had disappeared. Still, Abby was not afraid because she’s a brave little first grade girl. She decided to look for someone to help her figure out how to get back to her room before her Mom found out she was gone. She began to climb a hill. She looked down and saw a little village. She walked to the village. There was a gnome standing next to his little hut.

Abby asked the gnome, “Where am I?”

The gnome replied, “Why you’re in Abbeville, a small town in France named for Princess Ab E. Gail.”

The gnome asked, “Do you know the Princess?”

Abby replied, “My name is Abigail.”

The gnome bowed and said, “Welcome back to your village, Princess Ab E. Gail.”

Abby tried to tell the gnome she was not a princess and her name is Abigail, not Ab E. Gail, but the gnome had run off to tell everyone that the princess has returned.

Still in search of her glasses, Abby went to the little shop next door to the gnome’s house. It was a bakery, with wonderful smells coming from the chimney. Abby entered the bakery. An old woman was behind the counter, putting the baked goods on the shelf. She looked up at Abby and smiled.

“May I help you?”

Abby asked, “By any chance, have you seen a pair of child-sized purple glasses around here anywhere?”

The old woman replied that she had not seen any glasses of any color in quite some time.

Abby frowned, and said, “I need to find my glasses pretty soon and get back into my room before my mom finds out I’m gone.”

The old woman smiled again, and said “I understand. But you look like you’re hungry. Wouldn’t you like to eat a little something before you go?

Abby replied, “I like waffles.”

The old woman returned from the back of the shop, carrying a plate of steaming waffles with butter and maple syrup.

“Why don’t you sit on the stoop outside and eat these before you go?”

The old woman handed her a knife and fork. Abby thanked her and sat on the front stoop and ate the delicious waffles. She ate four of them! As she was just about finished, she saw the gnome returning with a donkey, an ogre, a fox, a large toad and a knight.

The gnome told his assembled group of friends, “This is Princess Ab E. Gail! Everyone should bow before her.”

All the creatures and the knight bowed, but again Abby protested, saying she was not a princess, she’s just Abigail, not Ab E. Gail. They all look confused because Abigail and Ab E. Gail sound the same.

The gnome said, “But you must be the princess. No one else in Abbeville is allowed to be named Abigail.”

Abby replied, “I am not from the village. I am visiting in search of my purple glasses. Has anyone seen my purple glasses?”

They all talked amongst themselves, but agreed they had not seen any glasses, since everyone in the village has perfect vision.

Abby began to cry, saying “I’ll get in trouble for losing my glasses – and for not being in my room when my mother comes in to wake me.”

Tears flowed down Abby’s cheeks as she thought about how worried and upset her mother was going to be to find her gone. All the creatures and the knight crowded around her to give her comfort and reassurance. Each of them shared his idea for Abby to find her glasses and go home.

The donkey said, “Jump on my back and we’ll ride around to all the villages and find your glasses.”

The ogre said, “Come with me and I’ll scare whoever took your glasses and make sure they give them back.”

The toad said, “Ribet. We will go down to my pond and look in the water to see if your glasses are there.”

The knight said, “I will make it my quest to go in search of your glasses. Princess Abby, give me your handkerchief and I will go in search of this precious object and not stop until I find it.”

Abby muttered under her breath that she had no handkerchief.

She told the knight, “I need to go back home. I can’t wait for you to finish your quest.”

The fox said, “I think I know how to find your glasses. Why don’t you come with me and I’ll show you?”

But Abby didn’t trust the fox, as the gnome shook his head no when the fox saidto go with him.

Abby said, “No thanks, Mr. Fox. I think I’ll just go back up the hill and try to find the door back to my room.”

Abby and the gnome turned to walk back up the hill.

The gnome said, “I’m beginning to think you’re right – you’re not the princess, but just a poor little lost girl in search of her purple glasses. Maybe we can find someone to help us when we climb back up the hill.”

As they reached the top of the hill, Abby saw her cousin Emily, sitting under a tree eating an apple. Emily had an Ipad on her lap, and she appeared to be playing Roblox on the Ipad. Abby ran over to Emily and gave her a big hug. Emily returned the hug and asked,

“Abby: how did you get into this computer game?”

Abby told her all about how she lost her purple glasses, and went through the door in her closet.

Emily was amazed, and said, “Abby, how brave you are to have gone through that door into this world I created called Abbeville – named for my cousin Abby! But now we need to get you back home. Your mother is gonna be real mad if she finds you gone.”

So Emily and Abby used the Ipad and Roblox to create Abby’s room on East Carolina Street. They created every little detail to the apartment building, the building front door, the staircase up to their apartment, their front door, their living room, Abby’s room and her closet, with a door that opens. They went through the building front door, up the stairs, through the apartment front door and living room and into Abby’s bedroom. But then they realized that wouldn’t work – it was backwards! They had to find a way to create the door into the back of her closet and get it open from the other side. Then Emily had an idea.

“Abby, you stay here – I’m going back into the Roblox game. I’ll create the door from Abbeville into your closet. When I knock on the door, you open it. Then I think you’ll be back in your room.”

Emily went back down the stairs and back into the Roblox game. She created the door into Abby’s closet. She knocked on the door and Abby opened it. Then Abby was back in her real room! Emily waved goodbye and went back to playing Roblox in Abbeville.

Just as Abby opened her bedroom door, her mother’s door opened.

She said, “Oh, Abby you’re already up! Good – it’s time to get ready for school. What would you like for breakfast?”

Abby said, “I’m not hungry. Mom, I lost my purple glasses. I went into my closet to find them, and went through a door into a Roblox game and a place called Abbeville. There was a gnome, and a fox, a toad, a knight, an ogre, and an old lady in a bakery who gave me waffles. That’s why I’m not hungry. But then Emily helped me get back home, but I still don’t know where my glasses are.” Abby began to cry a little, but her Mom just smiled.

“Silly rabbit, you left your glasses in the bathroom when you brushed your teeth last night. Here they are.”

Abby’s Mom handed her the purple glasses. Abby went to put them on, but then stopped.

“Oh, I have some sticky syrup still on my hands from those waffles I ate at the bakery. I need to wash them before I put my glasses on so they don’t get sticky.”

Her mom laughed, and pulled Abby’s hands to her nose. Sure enough, there was the smell of wonderful maple syrup on them!

“Abby, where did you get waffles and syrup? I haven’t gotten to the store yet to get more waffles since we ran out last week!”

As Abby was going into the bathroom to wash her hands, she replied, “Remember I said the old lady in the bakery gave them to me? But don’t worry Mom – now that I found my glasses, I won’t need to go back to Abbeville. But if I ever go there again, Emily showed me how to get back.”

Abby washed her hands, while her Mom went into the kitchen to make sure there were no waffles or syrup. There weren’t any. She scratched her head.

Abby put on her purple glasses and told her mother, “Do you know that in Abbeville I’m a princess? Isn’t that cool?”

Her mother said, “Yes, that’s cool. But when we get home tonight, I’m going to really check out that closet of yours. And no more adventures for a while, okay kiddo?”

Abby said, “Okay, Mom. I’m gonna get ready to go to school.”