Bethany's Imaginary Friend

Aubrey Shepard just wants to curl up with a good book, but her little sister Bethany keeps interrupting with "emergencies" - starting with a friend named Belinda trapped under a log... a friend nobody can see. Soon the invisible Belinda is everywhere Aubrey turns, critiquing her hair, riding horses, and blasting off from the apple orchard, while Connie and the whole family play along as if it's perfectly normal. Fed up, Aubrey calls a family meeting, only to find the living room set with teacups for a crowd of imaginary guests. Then Mom welcomes a surprise visitor: Bleeble from the planet Glork, the made-up spaceman Aubrey herself once traveled the galaxy with. Red-faced but laughing, Aubrey remembers how much fun pretending used to be and joins the tea party. When Bethany's next emergency turns out to be real - a scratched fawn caught in a thicket - Aubrey figures her sister has finally learned her lesson... but Belinda isn't going anywhere just yet.

Found on Virtual Realities Album 33 · 15 episodes

The run See every episode

2 of 2 0423 Passages When a small band of believers faces an overwhelming army, two children from another world must trust that the Unseen One can make the weak stronger than the weapons raised against them.

1 of 2 0424 Blackgaard's Revenge A curious girl's trip into the Imagination Station takes a dark turn when a supposedly dead enemy resurfaces inside the machine - with an agenda of his own.

2 of 2 0425 Blackgaard's Revenge When the villainous Blackgaard traps young Aubrey inside the Imagination Station, Whit must risk everything in a battle of wits against a foe who will stop at nothing to live again.

0426 The Buck Starts Here Whit hands three kids twenty-five dollars each and two weeks to do something constructive with it - but keeping the money proves harder than any of them expects.

0427 Something Cliqued Between Us When an anonymous advice columnist starts stirring the pot at school, a group of girls nursing grudges over cliques and lost friendships may discover the real problem is closer than they think.

0428a The Eternal Birthday When her birthday turns out perfectly, Liz Horton wishes every day could be just like it - and gets far more than she bargained for.

0428b Bethany's Imaginary Friend When her little sister's invisible new friend starts turning up everywhere, a girl seeking a quiet afternoon with her book discovers her whole family is playing along.

0429 The YAK Problem When a strict former principal is scheduled to speak at a mysterious school assembly, Nathaniel's wild speculation about a program called YAK sends the kids of Odyssey into a fun-hoarding frenzy.

0430 Blind Girl's Bluff A lonely new girl in town teams up with a quick-witted blind friend on a "mind-reading" act that becomes more popular - and more complicated - than either of them expected.

0431a Where There's Smoke A boy's new hero at Whit's End discovers that being admired means every habit - good or bad - gets copied.

0431b The Virtual Kid A boy becomes so obsessed with running the website he built for Whit's End that he risks missing out on the real place - and the real life - right in front of him.

0432 You Win Some, You Lose Some A discouraged camp counselor spends a week trying to reach three difficult middle-school girls, convinced that nothing she does is making a difference.

0433a The Treasure Room When rumors spread that Whit is hiding a fortune behind a closed door at Whit's End, a girl weary of hand-me-downs decides she has to see the treasure for herself.

Featured characters

Minor characters & crew 2 more roles

2 supporting roles

Ben Shepard Jerry Houser Ellen Shepard Carolyn Hennesy

Made by

Chris Anthony Host Lisa Halls Johnson Writer Phil Lollar Director · Producer Rob Jorgensen Sound Designer · Producer Al Janssen Executive Producer

The story

Read the full synopsis 1 min

Aubrey Shepard wants a quiet afternoon with her new book, but her younger sister, Bethany, announces an emergency. A friend named Belinda is trapped beneath a fallen log. Aubrey rushes to help, only to discover that Belinda is invisible. Bethany treats the imaginary girl as completely real, even passing along Belinda’s opinions about Aubrey’s hair, clothes, and shoes.

Everywhere Aubrey goes to read, Bethany and Belinda soon appear. They pretend to be space travelers in the apple orchard, ask to ride a horse together, and make plans with Play-Doh in the pantry. Connie and Bethany’s parents calmly include Belinda in every activity, while Aubrey becomes convinced that everyone around her has lost all sense.

Aubrey demands a family meeting. When she enters the living room, she finds extra chairs and teacups set out for a whole collection of imaginary guests. Her parents explain that children who have moved to a new place sometimes invent companions before making new friends. Bethany’s imagination is harmless, although they agree to teach her not to call something an emergency when it is not.

To help Aubrey understand, her mother welcomes Bleeble, the imaginary visitor from the planet Glork with whom Aubrey once traveled across the galaxy. Embarrassed at first, Aubrey begins remembering the fun she had with him. She accepts that Bethany’s imagination is no stranger than her own had been and joins the family’s unusual tea party.

Later, Bethany summons Aubrey to another supposed emergency in a thicket. This time Aubrey finds a real, scratched fawn and helps set it free. She assumes Bethany has learned not to misuse the word emergency, but Bethany immediately resumes speaking to her invisible companion and privately delights in having fooled her sister once again.