This is one of my favorite stories ever. We’d just had Steve Buttry at The State Journal-Register to talk to reporters about writing. Two things I took away from the session were reminders to write good stories and that it’s OK to write short.

Within a few days I spotted an odd classified ad in the paper. A parent was looking for her child’s stuffed lion, which had been lost in Washington Park and was desperately missed. I called up the number listed in the ad and drove over to the Thuma home to find out more about Leo and how he came to be lost.

I wanted to write it in the style of a fairy-tale without overdoing it. This was the result:

little lion LOST … / …and found in Washington Park
May 7, 2005

Leo never intended to tumble out of a little girl’s stroller and onto the Washington Park jogging path when no one was paying attention.

And he certainly didn’t expect to spend the night in one of the park’s trees. But that was where he found himself Wednesday.

It wasn’t the first time the little stuffed toy lion – yellow, pink-tongued and matted from all the love and affection a little boy can offer – had become separated from his loved ones. There also was the sporting goods store and the gym.

His family always would come back for him. But this time, he was alone there on the path as his caretakers jogged off into the distance. In the words of another, more famous stuffed animal, “Oh, bother.”

It wasn’t long before someone else came along, spotted Leo, plucked him from the ground and carefully set him in a nearby tree, where he would be safe until his owners returned for him.

You see, Leo belongs to Noah Thuma, a fair-haired boy who likes purple Popsicles and goes to kindergarten at Owen Marsh School. And while Noah is at school, Leo keeps company with Noah’s little sister, Emily, who turns 1 today.

Six-year-old Noah received Leo as a gift when he was born, and the two became inseparable friends when Noah was about 18 months old, his mother Angie explained.

“If you know Noah, you know Leo,” she said.

Noah takes Leo when he plays with his little brother, Max, when he goes on trips to see his grandpa and when he goes to sleep at night. Leo even accompanied Noah on his first day of school.

“My first day of kindergarten I was a little shy, so I took him to school and stored him in my backpack,” Noah said. “I still get to use him for bedtime, and I love him so much.”

Emily loves Leo, too. No one in the Thuma family is exactly sure what the stuffed lion’s allure is, but all the children are drawn to him.

And that’s why Leo was in the stroller with Emily on that fateful Wednesday morning. She was sleeping, so Angie is not sure how or when Leo managed to tumble out.

When the jog was over and Angie realized Leo was missing, her heart sank. She made two trips back through Washington Park, searching for he stuffed lion. She checked with the park police. Her friend also went back through the park looking.

No Leo.

Angie knew Noah would be devastated. She went to the The State Journal-Register and placed a classified ad, assuming it was a long shot that the right person would see her plea.

“HELP!!! Lost in Wash. Prk 5/4. Stuffed animal (lion). Vry worn, but vry loved/missed. Answers to LEO. Family friend for 6 yrs. We are lost w/out him. If you find, please call … ”

That afternoon, she dreaded picking up Noah from school and breaking the news. Little Max did it for her.

“I’ve got some bad news. We lost Leo,” Max blurted out.

Noah took it better than Angie expected, but that night, when it was time to go to bed, he began worrying. Where is Leo? Will someone find him? What if he fell into the sewer? Is he cold? What if someone took him home and gave him germs?

At school Thursday, Noah’s teacher noticed he seemed troubled. When she asked if anything was wrong, he told her: Leo’s gone.

But little did Noah know that at about 10:30 that morning, a woman called his mom with welcome news. She had seen Leo in the park and knew where he could be found.

The woman had read the classified ad and recalled seeing the beloved toy in a tree where Williams Boulevard enters the park.

Angie immediately went to the park and drove around looking but couldn’t immediately find Leo. Finally, with Max in tow and Emily in the stroller, she got out and scoured the trees until she spotted the little lion.

When she picked Noah up at school that day, Max happily told Noah, “I’ve got some good news … ”

And so, the little lion, who has a battered brown wooden nose and who’s had his tongue sewed back on four times, was reunited with his best pal.