The narrator has been missing their pet toad Buford for days. Buford usually lives in the narrator's sock drawer, which now smells bad. The narrator has moved their socks and other items like old food under the bed, in the toy chest, and under the sheets as Buford has taken over the sock drawer. The narrator now sleeps in the closet since all of their belongings are elsewhere. At the end, the narrator finds Buford.

1. BUFORD AND MY ROOM
Welcome to my room, but be careful where you sit.
Buford’s loose.
I’ve been missing my toad for days, and he doesn’t
come when I call him. His name is Buford, like my dad’s.

2. I usually keep him in my sock drawer, but lately it’s
beginning to smell. I used to keep him in my lunch pail
before Mrs. Davis noticed my lunch pail was moving
around in class.
But, you’re probably wondering what I did with my
socks. That’s easy. I keep my socks under my bed
nowsince Buford’s using the drawer, but lately I can’t
find the matches for them. I don’t understand because
I pulled out all of the old Cheetos bags, the old
bologna sandwich, my bubble gum wrappers, and my
paper airplane collection and put them in my clothes
hamper.
But, you’re probably wondering what I did with the
dirty clothes I took from the hamper. That’s easy. I put
them in the toy chest. But now the toy chest smells, so
I can’t put my toys in there either.
But, you’re probably wondering what I did with my toys
like Buzz Light-year, my baseball, my bat, my Nerf guns,
and my sling shot. That’s easy. I put them under my
sheets.

3. But, you’re probably wondering where I sleep if my toys
are all in my bed. That’s easy. Most nights I sleep in the
closet. I just curl up on the floor, and I fall asleep.
Hey, what’d you know! Here’s Buford!
About the story: This course has made me keenly
aware of the use of anaphora and its effectiveness for
setting the cadence of a piece. I wanted to use the
rhetorical device as demonstrated to show the
circular thought process (in the repetition and the
story as a whole) that little children often
communicate.
This story was inspired from living with boys. My boys
think there is nothing wrong with keeping food and
animals together in their bedrooms. When they were
young, it was not unusual to pull objects like emptied
sandwich bags or lone socks from under their beds.
The real story here is it was my husband’s lizard that
disappeared. We found the lizard in the office closet. I
wanted to use a toad because I remember my son was
so excited when he found a pet toad. The toad peed
on his hand when he held it out for me to inspect.