“Oh yeah, well you are the stupidest sister in the world!” Angelo yelled at his sister Dorothy so loud his voice began to crack.
“I am not stupid, Angelo!” Dorothy shouted back her face red with anger. “I hate you, I hate you, I hate you.” And she stormed out of the game room and ran upstairs to her room and slammed the door so loud the neighbors heard it and then she threw herself on the bed and cried. She hated fighting with Angelo but she was so mad right now, she didn’t know what she might do. To forget the fight, she turned on her TV in her room and her favorite cartoon TV show, Donald the Dolphin was on. Soon she was distracted by the silly, mostly ridiculous things that cartoon characters get to do.
“It must be easy to be a cartoon character.” She heard herself mutter feeling that she might be drifting off to sleep.
“Its time for Shakey the Shark to blow up!” The shrill cartoon voice of Donald the Dolphin woke Dorothy up. She sat straight up and looked for the floor of her room. But there was no floor. Under her were crayon colored waves of water but not water because she was walking on them. She panicked and spun around and everywhere she looked, it was the cartoon world.
“Where am I?” she said frantically trying to grab a hold of something. But everything was cartoon reality so it just squished through her hands.
“Why you are here with me Dorothy.” said Donald the Dolphin doing a huge leap from the Skalley Walley Ocean and coming down with a huge SPLASH. Dorothy actually saw the word SPLASH appear above the cartoon water and then it splattered everywhere. It got on her but she wasn’t wet, just covered in cartoon goo that quickly disappeared in the next frame.
“Donald, where is my dad and mom, where is my brother?” Dorothy asked trying to figure out right away how to get back to real life and out of the cartoon.
“But I thought you wanted to be in a cartoon, Dorothy. Ahoy, Chester the Chicken!” Dorothy turned around and she was scooped up on a huge orange and yellow cartoon jet ski. Chester the Chicken was driving and laughing wildly. The jet ski took off into the sky with just a swirl of exhaust and then landed on the road near Skalley Wumpkum Town where Chester the Chicken was mayor.
“We know you are mad at Angelo, Dorothy. Here in cartoon land, we can give you lots of funny ways to get back at him.” Chester said in a voice that was always too high and too low but never in the middle. ‘SHALZOOM!” Chester said and a cartoon version of Angelo appeared. Dorothy almost ran to him until he started popping his eyes out and turning his feet into springs. Then she knew he was just a cartoon.
“As mayor of Shalley Wumpkum Town, you are guilty of making Dorothy mad Angelo and so your sentence is SHALZOOM!” All of a sudden, a massive rock dropped form nowhere and squished the cartoon Angelo. Dorothy screamed but then he oozed out the side of the rock and popped right back into the shape of cartoon Angelo.
“Wowzie Zowzie, that stung!” Cartoon Angelo said laughing.
“Now you get to try one Dorothy. Make Angelo pay for making you mad.” Chester insisted.
“But I don’t want Angelo to get hurt!” She insisted.
“Well then I will do it!” Chester said and he opened a wood door in his chicken belly and said “SHALZOOM”.
An angry swarm of cartoon insects surged out of the door and went directly toward Angelo. Each one did two loop-de-loops and then stung him in the behind. Angelo started running down the road whooping and jumping. Dorothy didn’t know what to do. This is all so silly and meaningless. What she needed was some real wisdom from someone she trusted to help her with her anger at Angelo.
“Oh I wish I was with someone wise.” She said as she began to run at super fast speed on her cartoon legs that had turned into wheels and she passed Angelo but then shot off a huge cliff and was falling, falling falling…………
“Oh!” she awoke with a start.
“Are you ok sweetie?” she heard a very real human voice. It was Grandpa. She was dozing on his lap. “I think you had a nightmare.”
“I did Grandpa. I was a cartoon in the Donald the Dolphin show and I was mad at Angelo and they were making me do awful things to him and and and…” she started to pour out what she saw there.
“Shush little girl” Grandpa said as only he could do. “You are safe here now. You are angry at Angelo and you don’t know what to do?” He asked.
“Yes and I said some terrible things to him before I went to my room and pouted and went into the cartoon world and I felt just terrible and I don’t know hot to forgive him and I know I need to ask his forgiveness and, and and….” She continued demonstrating that she had not yet learned to talk in more than one sentence.
“Dorothy,” said Grandpa. “You don’t need the magic of cartoons to make everything right. You have a secret super power. It’s called forgiveness. If you will forgive Angelo, your heart will fill with love for him again and all those awful feelings will go away.” He told her giving her that wisdom she had been begging Chester the Chicken for.
“But how Grandpa?” Dorothy said confused.
“You know how Jesus forgave you of all your sins and came into your heart?” Grandpa said.
“Oh yes Grandpa. He forgave me of everything and made me clean inside.”
“Well just go to that place in your heart where Jesus is and ask him to help you give the forgiveness to Angelo that he gave to you when he died for you and rose again. The Holy Spirit will throw that resentment and anger right out of your heart and you will forgive him in a deep place and then it will be easy to go ask him to forgive you.”
“I can feel it already Grandpa. I think Jesus has already given me the secret super power of forgiveness. I am going to go make up with Angelo right now. Thank you Grandpa.” She said happily hugging his neck and she hopped down and ran to the door.
“Isn’t there one more thing you need to do today after you make up with Angelo?” Grandpa called to her. Dorothy stopped and thought about it and then laughed her happy little girl giggle.
“There sure is Grandpa.” She said. “I am going to quit watching the Donald the Dolphin cartoon show right away!’
