The Terence Family

by Sophie Qian (12 yo)

Sadie is a cute little bear. She is very sweet. Sadie is quite big compared to you though. Sadie has a little brother named Steven. The two of them and their parents, Mr and Mrs Terrence, live in a little underground cave near a school named, “ Sunshine Elementary School”. You see, there was a little forest right next to Sunshine Elementary, and that was where the Terrence family lived.

The Big Idea

One day, Sadie woke up at 6am bright and early in the morning. That day, she officially turned 13, meaning that she was considered an adult in the grizzly bear world. Sadie felt adventurous that day, and really wanted to explore the outside world for a few days. So, she woke her Mom, Dad and brother, to ask them to go with her. 

Sadie knew that her parents were not the most energetic, and that her brother was always very lazy, but still thought that she’d try to at least ask. Surprisingly that day, they agreed, full of enthusiasm. 

“Of course! The Terrence family is always up for an adventure!”

The three grizzly bears exclaimed together. 

“But before we go, we must prepare food and entertainment for survival,” said Mr Terrence, proud that he had learned survival skills before in the army. 

”I have a mini portable fridge and a mini portable freezer that literally never run out of battery! We can use them to store frozen foods, yoghurt and even Yayos!" suggested Steven, smiling from ear to ear. 

(Yayo is a famous brand of a drink that is like Yakult, but in the bear world)

Then, Mrs Terence chipped in to say that she would bring all the food that they would be needing for the days ahead. Sadie smiled to herself. Seeing her family working together was really something.This was the first time in a long time that they actually worked so harmoniously together, and their first time they went out somewhere together on a long trip.

Preparation

“Sadie! Aren't you going to help prepare some things too?” asked Steven, blamingly. “Oh, sorry Steven. I nearly forgot.” And just like that, the whole family started scurrying around the house finding their needed essentials, such as entertainment and food. 

The Big Take-Off

“Alrighty! Is everyone ready?” asked Mr Terrence. Everyone nodded eagerly in unison. “Okay, let’s get going then!” bellowed Mr Terrence. The Terrences proudly marched down the hill their house was rooted on. They then entered a bright red car Lamborghini Urus.

You see, Mr Terrence ran a successful business that sold fish. He was the founder of the company, and had a net worth of 300 billion USD. So, he had a whole garage of Lamborghinis, of different colours and models.

The two children sat at the back, while the two adults sat in front. Sadie had her Beats headphones and her laptop with her, to watch educational videos and do research on. Aside from all the electronics and gadgets she had brought along with her, she brought an extremely thick book with her, along with a sandwich, that consisted of lettuce, cucumber tomatoes, honey chicken ham, and laughing bull sandwich cheese. 

She had also brought a big bowl of Caesar salad (as she liked knowing facts about Rome, and that Caesar was from Rome) and Evian water. Steven was eating a packet of Sour Patch Kids, along with a bag of lime-flavoured Lays potato chips, and blue Gatorade.The two of them also had a blanket and pillow each…….

Steven was playing Fortnite on his laptop, with his gaming headphones on. Mrs Terrence, on the other hand, was crocheting as she played some calming meditation music. 

Mr Terrence was not driving. In fact, he had paid Lamborghini 25 billion to install a very advanced model of Artificial Intelligence into his car, to drive for him. So since Mr Terrence was not driving, he was listening to a motivational speech through his earphones, while snacking on a pack of Tyrells Potato Crisps that were lightly sea salted. 

“So…, Dad, where are we going?” asked Sadie. 

”Well…we are going into the woods. There are many other animals there who can help us if we need help.” mumbled Mr Terrence.

"We finally arrived!" 

“Dad, are we there yet?” asked Steven, as he grinned like a Cheshire cat.”Just three minutes away bud,” said Mr Terrence smiling at Steven through the rearview mirror. Steven then turned around to talk to Sadie, it was only then that he had realised…Sadie was gone! 

“Mom!Dad!Sadie is gone!” screamed Steven. “Bud, you are kidding right?You know your sister would never leave us on her own accord! “ giggled Mr Terrence.

“No! Look for her yourself Dad.” The pair anxiously turned their heads. “Oh! Holy cow! We need to find Sadie immediately!” screamed Mrs Terrence. It was then when the worst had hit them.

The Tragic, Tragic, TRAGIC Car Breakdown

“We have to find her!” screamed Mrs Terrence at the top of her lungs. Mr Terrence started the car, but it would not start! All it did was wheeze.

“Seriously? Out of all the times the car could possibly break down, it chose to break down now?” frowned Steven.

“Well, luckily I sewed enough sweaters to keep us dry since it is raining now,” sighed Mrs Terrence. The bears slowly and carefully waddled out of the car.

“When we get back home, I am going to sue the company, and ask them for every single Lamborghini in their possession!” screamed Mr Terrence.

“Focus on what we are doing now!” said Mrs Terrence harshly.

The Search for Sadie

Sadie was fretful. She stood alone in the corner of the forest. She was cold and afraid. She dreaded the fact that her parents would never find her. All she had was her book, all she had was half a sandwich, a little bit of caesar salad, and a quarter of a gallon of water, a pillow, a blanket, her book, a care bear soft toy, a pen, a few pieces of paper, and last but not least, five dollars all packed in her bag. 

Some more, it was somewhere in one of those “secret compartments”. The lunch box consisted of pieces of grilled fish and chargrilled chicken. 

Luckily, they were still fresh and warm. 

It also had buttery mashed potatoes, potato wedges, and some garden veggies. Mrs Terrence had given it to her in the morning, even though Sadie had insisted for her not to. But she was now grateful for it, because all the food she had could probably last her a few days. Sadie was so guilty. The destruction of those beautiful butterflies had separated her from her family.

“ Where could Sadie be?” asked Mr Terrence in confusion. They had been searching for Sadie for a few hours now, but there was not even a single trace of her.

Steven thought long and hard. “ Wait! Let’s search in the forest! Sadie loves butterflies, and the most beautiful  butterflies live in this forest! We can just ask them where Sadie is in butterfly language! Don't worry, I can speak it very fluently. They found a butterfly. It was purple and red, with a tad bit of blue.

Steven approached them and said “Igloosicanshikesiopj, siadijhnnksin sidauw hdidnef civbausincaruqdisooonamishikulanlipoi Sadie Terrence?"

For the benefit of those of us who did not knew butterfly language, it meant, *Have you seen Sadie Terrence? She is a grizzly brown bear.”

The butterfly immediately nodded and said, “*Sadie Terrence shalkodtnusk hewsindaoinoiw. Finakso moidenamisdilatoruopi."

Which in butterfly language meant, I saw Sadie Terrence just now. She accidentally revealed her name to me, as she was taking out her book with her name on it. I know where she is. Follow me. 

“The butterfly said that she knew where Sadie is, and it asked us to follow her,” said Steven. Mr and Mrs Terrence’s eyes lit up with hopefulness. They followed the butterfly, and not long after, they found Sadie!

"We found Sadie!"

“Sadie!” screamed the trio. “Mum!Dad!Steven!” Sadie screamed.They did a group hug. “How did you even get out of the car?” asked Mrs Terrence. “ Well, when we were stopping to eat, I secretly got out. I saw a gorgeous butterfly, amd decided to chase it…I am sorry,” said Sadie, with her head hung down low.

“Oh,... it is okay.” said Mum and Dad.

“Shinaloo!* (which meant, thank you!)”said Steven to the butterfly. The butterfly nodded. It softly said” Shiiasoop ashkanima!* (which meant, welcome! Hope to see you again!)”