STORY 2: The Perfect Tropical Party Dress Design is Ready
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Tiana tried to keep her eyes closed, even though she knew was going to wake up. It was Saturday and her mom would let her sleep a little longer, but she knew she would soon be wide awake. But she didn’t want to wake up! If only she could go back to sleep for a while. She would stretch, she thought. That usually made her sleepy. The sun was streaming through her bedroom window and making her face feel warm and she could actually see the golden yellow rays of sunlight through her eyelids as she stretched out her legs and arms, reaching for the corners of the room and trying to make herself feel tired. Just another hour of sleep would make the rest of the day go faster and keep her mind off where they were going after lunch today.
As Tiana lay there listening to the sounds of her mom in the kitchen making her usual morning coffee and feeding her twin baby brothers, a warm, wiggly ball of furry energy scrambled its way up on her bed and leapt on her chest. Her eyes flew wide open as her puppy, Puka, licked her face with his warm, wet tongue. So much for sleeping in.
Tiana rolled over and slid her hand under her pillow and pulled out the very special fabric sample she had been carrying with her everywhere since she left Tutu Lole’s shop at Tiki Kids. The fabric scrap was soft and was the perfect shade of pink with white pineapples printed all over it. She knew as soon as she saw it that it was the perfect fabric for her tropical party dress that Tutu was designing for her. Today was the day…she and mom were going to see the design!
Later that day, Tiana, her mom, and her 2 baby brothers took the shuttle bus to Plumeria Cove. Tiana wanted to walk along the beach, but her mom said it would be too much for her brothers, so the bus had to do. The bus let them off at the helipad/parking lot and they made their way down the path to Tutu’s shop.
Today, Tutu waited at a table that sat in front of the dream shop with a special piece of paper that held a sketch of Tiana’s party dress. Tiana was so excited and couldn’t wait to see what it was going to look like. While mom took her brothers to look for shells on the beach, Tiana sat down with her fabric sample and laid it next to the sketch that was waiting face down on the table.
“Are you ready, Tiana?” Tutu Lole asked her? Tiana bounced up and down and clapped her hands, “Yes! Yes! Please let me see!” she squealed. As Tutu turned the sketch over, Tiana’s breath caught…it was beautiful…it was perfect…it was the dress of her dreams…and it was going to be even more beautiful with this perfect pink pineapple fabric she chose on her last visit.
Tiana gave Tutu a big hug and thanked her for designing the perfect dress. Tutu hugged her back and said, “Now, Tiana…I have a tradition. When I make a special dress like this for a special customer like you, that customer must name her dress.” Tiana stared at Tutu with wide eyes. How on earth would she name her dress? Did Tutu mean she had to give it a name like she named her dog, Puka? It was almost like Tutu was reading her mind. “Some of my other dresses already have names, like the green one hanging on the porch. I made that for my granddaughter, Kiana, when she visited last time. She named it the Surfside Tea Dress, because she wore it for the first time sitting right here at this table drinking tea with me.”
Now Tiana understood...but what would she name HER dress? “It’s okay, Tiana,” Tutu said. “You come back to try your dress on and then you tell me the name. And you will look so beautiful in your dress that it will become famous and other girls will want one…that’s why we must name it. You can’t order a dress that you don’t know the name of!”
Just then, Mom and her brothers came back with wet, sandy bare feet and their pockets full of seashells. They all looked at the sketch and talked about names for a bit but then it was time to go wait for the shuttle bus on its way back from Hidden Paradise Cove, so off they went to the parking lot.
On the bus, Tiana thought about her dress and its name and wondered if her friends really would want one. Although no one had said anything about getting their party dresses from Tutu, she wondered if anyone else had been to see her and what they would name their dresses.
As the bus rocked and jiggled along the bumpy shell-lined road, Tiana finally fell back to sleep.