Emma leaped from the couch, giggling! She landed with a soft thud on the fluffy rug. "Where oh where could Mr. Snuggles be?" she said, peering under the coffee table. Her dad, sitting in his favorite armchair, chuckled. "Hmm, this is a job for Detective Emma!"
"A detective mystery in our very own home in Indianapolis?" Emma gasped, her eyes wide with excitement. “But Daddy, how can we be organized enough to solve a case like real detectives?"
Dad smiled, "That’s the trick, Emma. We need to think like a monkey!”
Emma tilted her head, "A monkey?"
"Yes! Monkeys are great at finding things," Dad explained. "They swing from branch to branch, looking carefully at everything. That’s how we’ll find Mr. Snuggles! We'll organize our search."
Emma, now in full detective mode, grabbed her magnifying glass. It wasn't a real one, of course, but it looked just like the one on her favorite detective show. "Okay, Daddy! Where do monkeys look first?"
Dad tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Monkeys like high places. Let’s start by checking the bookshelves and the tops of the furniture."
Emma, with the energy of a hundred monkeys, scrambled onto a chair and then carefully onto the bookshelf. "No Mr. Snuggles up here, just dusty books!" she reported.
They checked the coat rack, behind the curtains, and even peeked into Dad's collection of model cars. No teddy bear. Emma was starting to get discouraged.
"Don't worry, Detective Emma," Dad said reassuringly. "Monkeys are also very good at looking in small spaces."
This time, they got down on their hands and knees. Emma peered under the sofa cushions, her magnifying glass ready. "Nope, just lost toys and a sock that needs washing!"
Finally, just when Emma was about to give up hope, she spotted something under her dad’s armchair. A little bit of fuzzy brown fur peeked out.
"Daddy! I think I see something!" Emma exclaimed, her voice filled with excitement. She reached under the chair and pulled out her beloved teddy bear, Mr. Snuggles.
"You did it, Detective Emma!" Dad cheered, scooping her up in a big hug. "You used your monkey skills and organized our search to find Mr. Snuggles!"
Emma hugged Mr. Snuggles tight. "Hooray!" she cried. "Being organized is even more fun than I thought. It’s like a game!"
From that day on, Emma decided that being organized wasn’t just about putting things away neatly, it was about thinking clearly and solving mysteries, just like a real detective! And sometimes, she realized, it even involved thinking like a monkey!
