Doctor S and the Great Diamond Escapade

By Mario Cloutier

More Vinydians coming to Earth!!!!

Dear Reader,

One week ago, I awakened in the body of a plush toy on Earth. I am a scientist from the planet Vinydia…not a toy! Luckily, I met two young brothers who have helped me explore and have so far managed to keep me a secret. It hasn’t been easy for them, since my enthusiasm led to a few close calls. Now the boys face the possibility of having some of my Vinydian friends join me on Earth in the bodies of other plush toys. This might complicate things. You see, I have a plan to improve the lives of everyone on my home planet. All I need are diamonds. Sounds complicated, I know, but my plan is fool proof. It involves stowaway air travel to Arkansas, camping, clandestine mining, and, of course, good food. Simple really! What could possibly go wrong?

Yours truly,
Doctor S.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Release date: Jan 19, 2021
• ISBN: 9781982261498

Mario Cloutier

Mario Cloutier lives in Oregon’s Willamette Valley with the love of his life, his two amazing sons, and a cast of stuffed animals who come to life and cause mischief. The Doctor S book series was inspired by years of creating fun, playful, and sometimes crazy bedtime stories with his sons and their stuffed animals. www.mariocloutier.com

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Copyright © 2021 Mario Cloutier.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means,

graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by

any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author

except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents,

organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products

of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

Balboa Press

A Division of Hay House

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.balboapress.com

844-682-1282

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in

this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views

expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the

views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are

models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Interior Graphics/Art Credit: Lyne Breault

ISBN: 978-1-9822-6148-1 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9822-6150-4 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-9822-6149-8 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2021900332

Balboa Press rev. date: 01/19/2021

DEDICATION

For Sam and Nathan. When facing challenges, ask yourselves, What would Doctor S do? My recommendation…do the opposite! Never stop dreaming and never stop creating. I love you guys!

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

To my family. You are my inspiration. Thank you for allowing Doctor S and his friends to come to life in our home through our collective imaginations. Without you, Doctor S and his endless adventures wouldn’t exist. Special thanks to Kristine Erickson for your thorough edits and suggestions; to Carolyn Willey for creating an awesome cover; and to Lyne Breault for making the story come to life with your illustrations. I am grateful for having you all on my team. Go Team Vinydia!

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Dedication

Acknowledgements

Chapter 1     Friends from Vinydia

Chapter 2     The Plan

Chapter 3     The Meeting

Chapter 4     Getting Ready for the Trip

Chapter 5     Arkansas, here we come!

Chapter 6     Diamond Mining - Day One

Chapter 7     Diamond Mining – Day Two

Chapter 8     Diamond Mining – Night Two

Chapter 9     Schnooksy Pie

Chapter 10   What Happened?

Chapter 11   Going Home

Chapter 12   This Must be a Mistake

Chapter 13   Diamond     Transport

Chapter 14   Dirty Toys

Chapter 15   Back to Normal on Earth

Chapter 16   Anything but Normal on Vinydia

CHAPTER 1

FRIENDS FROM

VINYDIA

"I s everything OK, boys?" said Nathan and Sam’s mom. She was concerned. Her sons had just run off to the laundry room upon hearing the news that she had washed four of their plush toys.

Um, yeah, Mom! replied Sam, a handsome ten-year-old boy with blue eyes, thick dirty blond hair, and a warm smile.

Truth is, they were not fine. Sitting on the floor in front of the dryer, they watched their plush toys spin and tumble. Nathan, a charismatic six-year-old with chubby cheeks, big blue eyes, and blond hair, sat with Doctor S on his lap. Doctor S was a lovable plush toy, a human with long, frilly, reddish hair, a white lab coat, and an irresistible smile.

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Doctor S was, however, no ordinary plush toy. Just one week prior, after being washed in the laundry, Doctor S somehow came to life and claimed to be from a different planet called Vinydia!

Being afraid of people’s reaction to a walking, talking plush toy, the boys agreed to keep Doctor S a secret, even from their parents.

Once the panic of awakening in the body of a plush toy on a different planet had passed, Doctor S, as a scientist, became very excited to learn about Earth. So, keeping him a secret and out of trouble was a lot more work than the kids had originally realized. They had succeeded so far, but they were exhausted.

Now, they were facing the possibility that four more plush toys, White Ninja, a bear, Travis, a dog, Bastien, a frog, and Yoko, a lizard, could come to life when they came out of the dryer. They were overwhelmed at the thought of having to keep not just one, but five living plush toys a secret—and out of trouble.

After what seemed to be an eternity of silence, with the three of them staring into the dryer, Doctor S stood up. I got it! He began pacing in between the boys and the dryer as he held his chin. After a few moments, he disclosed his plan. When I came out of the dryer last week, I was confused, dizzy, and disoriented. I also freaked out when I saw you, and it took a while for me to calm down. We don’t want your mom to hear or suspect anything. There are four of them and only three of us, so we won’t be able to control them all at once. He paused. I think the only way to keep them quiet is to tie them up and put tape over their mouths as quickly as possible when they get out. If all goes well, we’ll be able to explain everything without them causing a scene. We don’t want your mom to come to the laundry room and see what is going on.

The boys didn’t know what else to do, so they nodded in agreement. The laundry room was in the basement, next to the garage, which made it easy for them to get the necessary materials for their plan. They cut four pieces of duct tape, set them aside next to the dryer, and cut a rope into eight segments of equal length. They were prepared to put their plan into action, but had no idea how long it would take for the dryer to be done. They stood next to the dryer for a while, but it just kept going. Sam was losing patience. Why don’t we just stop the dryer and take them out?

No, no, no! Doctor S put himself between Sam and the dryer door, holding out his arms. Let it stop on its own, said Doctor S. We don’t know enough about how this works. If we stop the dryer too early, it could really mess things up, and I certainly don’t want anything bad to happen to my friends.

Not fully understanding what could happen if something went wrong, Sam agreed to wait for the dryer cycle to finish before putting their plan into action. In anticipation of a loud struggle with the plush toys as they came to life, Doctor S turned on the nearby TV and raised the volume, hoping that would be sufficient to drown out any noises.

Finally, after what seemed to be hours, the dryer stopped spinning and the buzzer signaled that the cycle was complete. Even before the buzzing stopped, Nathan had opened the door and grabbed Bastien from the dryer. Bastien, the frog, had a bright green back and a white underbody with spots. He had long limbs, a very big mouth, and one of his eyes was slightly bigger than the other. Sam quickly followed and grabbed Travis, a black and brown dog with long droopy ears and black eyes. Meanwhile, Doctor S grabbed White Ninja, a white bear with a little red nose. Her fur was long and untamed.

Sam and Nathan quickly put tape over Bastien and Travis’s mouths and tied their limbs. While Doctor S was dealing with White Ninja, Sam and Nathan went back in to get Yoko, a bright purple reptilian creature with yellow plates running down her spine. She had huge bulging eyes, pointy ears, and a mouth disproportionally small compared to her eyes. They quickly took care of her, then turned to see how Doctor S was doing. They were shocked to see that he had failed in securing White Ninja’s legs, and was chasing her throughout the basement. Luckily, she had tape over her mouth!

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Despite the tape, they could still hear a faint scream coming from her, even over the sound of the television. The boys ran towards her to help Doctor S. They had to catch her before she could make her way upstairs. Nathan chased her into the family room, cornered her between the couch and the wall, and lunged in an attempt to catch her. She jumped onto the couch and avoided being captured. Before she could get away again, Sam dove on the couch and landed on top of her. Fearing he had hurt her, he quickly got up, and found her motionless and stunned. He grabbed her with both hands. Quick, get the rope!

Doctor S quickly brought the rope and they tied her up. I knew she’d be a tough one to pin down, said Doctor S, relieved their plan had worked. Let’s sit all four of them on the couch, so we can explain what’s going on and untie them.

Sam and Nathan gently sat the four toys on the couch, one next to the other, facing Doctor S. They brought a mirror with them as well, remembering how effective the mirror had been to calm down Doctor S when he had come to life. White Ninja and Travis were really freaked out. They did everything they could to try to get untied, while yelling for help under the duct tape. Bastien and Yoko, however, were surprisingly calm. They remained motionless, as one would expect from stuffed toys.

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Not wanting this to go on any longer than necessary, Doctor S stood on the coffee table in front of the couch, motioned his friends to remain calm and addressed them. Friends, please, relax and let us explain. We tied you up, not because you are being held hostage, but because we need to keep everyone quiet and safe while we explain what is going on. He