The Tale of the Thunderstorm

Illustration by John  Age:  8
Mrs. Cindy Webb's 1rst grade class

         Audra the duck, Emerson the dragonfly, Xavier the frog, and Summer and Madison the butterfly twins were playing hide and seek in the clearing.  Madison and Summer were hiding in a patch of tall grass on the edge of the clearing.  Audra was it, and she had found everyone but the twins.

            Suddenly a clap of thunder sounded, and Madison flew into the air giving away their position.  Audra yelled at Madison, “I see you.  You’re out.”  Then she waddled over to the grass and found Summer as well.

            Summer called out to Madison, “You gave us away!”

            “It thundered,” cried Madison.  “You know how I feel about storms.”

            “It was only a little thunder,” said Summer.  “That does not make a storm.”

            Then it thundered again, and Madison flew around frantically trying to find somewhere to hide.

            “We have to find shelter!” exclaimed Madison.  “The storm will be here any minute!”

            “Alright,” sighed Summer.  “Maybe we should start looking for shelter.”

            The five friends set off into the tall grass in search of shelter.  After a few minutes the wind began to blow making the grass sway from side to side.  Emerson and the twins had to start flying very low to the ground.

            “The grass can’t protect us!” cried Madison.  “See how the wind moves it around!  We have to find something more solid!”

            “Madison, calm down,” said Summer.  “Anybody have any ideas where we can find more solid shelter?”

            “The cattails around the pond would be just as bad as the grass,” said Emerson.

Illustration by Alexandria  Age:  6
Mrs. Cindy Webb's 1rst grade class

            “With the lightning, we really don’t need to be on Polliwog Pond, either,” added Audra.

            “Isn’t there a big bush over by the fence in between the tall grass and the people yard?” asked Xavier.

            “I think you’re right,” said Summer.  “Xavier, you go ahead and see if it will work since you can go faster than the rest of us right now.  We’ll get there as soon as we can.”

            With that, Xavier hopped away to find the big bush.  The rest of the friends started heading in that direction as well even though the wind made it difficult for the flyers.

            Just then it thundered again and began to rain.  Madison landed on the ground and began to cry uncontrollably.

            “We’re going to die!” Madison sobbed.   “We’ll never make it to the bush in time!”

            “Madison!” exclaimed Summer.  “Get a hold of yourself.  We will never make it to the bush if you sit here crying and screaming.  Now get up and get going!”

            Madison gave her sister a stunned look, and then obeyed.  The rain made it even more difficult for the flyers, but they slowly made their way to the fence.  When they reached the fence, Xavier hopped up to them.

            “Hey guys, follow me,” said Xavier.  “I found the perfect shelter for us.”

            Xavier led the way to a large evergreen bush.  The bottom of the bush was at least a foot off the ground and underneath it a layer of evergreen needles made a soft blanket on the ground.  The five friends crawled under the bush and huddled next to the trunk.

            “This is almost cozy,” said Audra.

            “Yeah, the bush is so thick the rain doesn’t even reach down this far,” said Emerson.

            Madison still sat wide-eyed with fright.  The wind still made the bush sway slightly, and the thunder was now coming more frequently.  Now the storm was close enough that the lightning lit up the countryside.  She began to tremble and cry again.

            “Madison,” said her sister.  “Calm down.  We’re safe now.”

            “Yeah, Madison,” added Audra.  “This is just a passing thunderstorm.  It’ll be over in just a little while.”

            “But the thunder is so loud and the wind makes it impossible to fly!” sobbed Madison.  “I want it to stop now!”

            “Thunder is just noise, Madison,” said Xavier.  “It can’t hurt you.  And the wind doesn’t even reach us in here.”

            “Yeah,” said Emerson as he flew around a little under the bush.  “See I can fly in here.  We really are safe in here.  You don’t have to be afraid.”

            Madison wiped her eyes and looked around.  It thundered again, but this time she didn’t jump.  Xavier was right.  Thunder can’t hurt you.  For the first time since the storm started, Madison began to feel safe.

            While the friends huddled under the bush, they pretended to be explorers taking shelter from a great storm.  Madison got so involved in the play that she completely forgot about the storm.  She was having too much fun with her friends.

The Tale of the Missing Rock

Illustration by Camden  Age:   4
Ms. Mo's Preschool class

          Emerson the dragonfly sat in the middle of the clearing thinking hard.  Where could that rock be?  Yesterday he had hid it somewhere wanting to play a trick on his friends, but now, he couldn’t remember where he put it.  This was his friends’ special rock that they kept in the clearing and used for different things when they played.  They would be here any minute!  Where could that rock be?!

            Just then Audra the duck waddled into the clearing.  “Good morning, Emerson,” said Audra.  “What’s the matter?”

            Emerson had not wanted to tell his friends about the rock right away, but the words started before he could stop them.  “I can’t find our special rock.  I was going to play a trick on everyone by hiding it, but now I don’t remember where I put it,” Emerson replied desperately.

            Audra glared at Emerson for a minute, and then sighed, “Well, let’s get to looking.  I hope this teaches you to stop trying to play tricks on us.  You know, we don’t think it’s nearly as funny as you do.”

            Emerson gave Audra a sheepish look as the two friends began to look around the clearing.  They were so busy looking that they did not even notice when the butterfly twins, Summer and Madison, flew up.

            “Good morning, Emerson and Audra,” called the twins together.  “What are you looking for?”

Illustration by Alex  Age:  4
Ms. Mo's Preschool class

            Before Emerson could say anything, Audra blurted out, “Emerson hid our special rock as a trick and now he doesn’t remember where he hid it.”

            The twins gave Emerson an aggravated look, and then Summer asked, “Where have you looked already?”

            “I’ve looked all over the clearing,” cried Emerson.

            “When did you hide it?” asked Audra.

            “I hid it yesterday after everyone left to go home,” replied Emerson.

            “Are you sure you hid it in the clearing?” asked Madison.

            Emerson thought hard.  “Wait a minute,” he said excitedly.  “I went to Polliwog Pond before I went home, and I think I took the rock with me.”

            The four friends set out for the pond.  When they reached the pond, Emerson said, “Maybe we should split up.  I could have put it anywhere, and this is a big place.”

            Audra decided to swim in the pond and look along the bank.  Emerson and the butterfly twins each took a different section and searched from the air.  After they had searched for 15 minutes, they met back at the beginning of the path completely disgusted.

            Just then, Hayden the turtle lumbered up to the pond.  “Good morning, guys,” he said pleasantly.  “What are you doing?”

            “Emerson hid our special rock as a trick and now he doesn’t remember where he put it, “ replied Audra giving Emerson another nasty look.

            “I’m sorry, guys,” Emerson apologized.  “I promise I won’t ever do this again.”

            “When did you hide it?” asked Hayden.

            “I hid it yesterday after everyone else left to go home,” replied Emerson.

            “You passed me on the path yesterday evening,” said Hayden.  “And you had something in your arms, but I couldn’t tell what it was.”

            “Did you see where I put it?” asked Emerson excitedly even though he was a little disappointed someone had seen him.

            “You landed over there by those cattails,” said Hayden.

           Suddenly, everything came back to Emerson, and he remembered where he put the rock.  He flew straight to his hiding spot and pulled it out.

            “Here it is!” Emerson shouted.

            “Yeah!!” shouted the twins.

            “Finally!” exclaimed Audra.  “Now let’s go back to the clearing and play.  I hope you, Emerson, have learned your lesson.”

            Emerson gave everyone a sheepish look as they all set out for the clearing.  When they got there, they put their special rock in its special place.  They decided to play something that didn’t involve the rock for the rest of the afternoon.  They figured the rock had
 seen enough action for one day.

The Tale of the One-Upper

Illustration by Talan  Age:  3
Mrs. Natalie's Childcare

         Hayden the turtle sat in the clearing waiting for his friends to arrive.  He was trying hard to come up with a decent story to tell his friends.  They always seemed to have the most interesting stories, and he felt like he never had anything interesting to say.  Today he was bond and determined to have stories that were better than his friends’ stories.

            Before long Xavier the frog, Emerson the dragonfly, and Summer and Madison the butterfly twins all arrived in the clearing.  Xavier was all excited because he had just seen the most enormous fly on his way to meet his friends.

            “Hey guys, I just saw the biggest fly I have ever seen!” exclaimed Xavier.  “It was sitting on a rock on the side of the path.  It had to be the size of Emerson’s head and abdomen put together.  I was so shocked that I forgot to try to catch it before it flew away.”

            “Oh, that’s nothing,” said Hayden trying to be big and bold.  “I once saw a fly that was as big as one of the butterfly twin’s wings.  It was sitting on a blackberry bush and was almost as big as my head.  It scared the life out of me when it flew close to me.”

Illustration by Audra  Age:  2
Mrs. Natalie's Childcare

            “Really,” said the twins together.  “What did you do?” asked Summer.

            “I pulled into my shell until I was sure it was gone,” said Hayden.  “I didn’t want to have anything to do with monster.”

            His friends laughed, and Hayden felt big and important.  He was finally the center of attention.  Xavier, however, seemed a little upset that his story had been ignored.

            Then the twins started telling a story about a flower they had seen yesterday.  “We saw this flower yesterday over by the fence between the tall grass and the people yard,” started Summer.  “It was like a rose, but it was blue with just a hint of purple in it,” finished Madison.

            “You think that’s cool?” asked Hayden as he tried to turn the attention back on himself.  “Once I saw a flower that was six different colors.  It had red, yellow, orange, brown, black, and pink in it.  It was like a zinnia that couldn’t decide which color it wanted to be.”

            Emerson laughed and Xavier laughed a little, but Summer just looked at Hayden with a hurt look on her face.  Madison gave Hayden a nasty look.

Illustration by Hayden  Age:  2
Mrs. Natalie's Childcare

            Then Emerson started a story about this toy he found over by the fence between the tall grass and the people yard.  “Hey guys, yesterday when I was flying around, I saw this thing lying in the grass next to the big fence.  It was shiny and red with wheels.  I just wished it was big enough for us to fit inside so we could play with it.”

            “Well last week,” started Hayden, “when I was over by the blackberry bushes, I saw this great big toy with wheels.  It would have been perfect for us to play in.”

            “Well, why didn’t you tell us about it last week?” asked Madison glaring at Hayden.

            Hayden was caught off guard by Madison’s question.  All of a sudden he felt put on the spot instead of being the center of attention.  He stuttered and stammered for a moment, and then fell silent.

            “I’ll tell you why you didn’t tell us about it because it didn’t happen,” accused Madison.  “Did it, Hayden?”

            Hayden started to defend his story, but Madison jumped back in, “None of those stories were true.  Were they, Hayden?”

            Hayden faced turned red as a beet.  Madison was right.  None of the stories he had told were true.  However, he really didn’t want to admit that at the moment.

Illustration by Emerson  Age:  4
Mrs. Natalie's Childcare

            “They were true,” said Hayden becoming less sure of himself with every passing moment.

            “Really,” said Madison.  “Then show us the flower with the six different colors.  I want to see that.”

            Hayden tried to think of a response quickly, but instead he crumbled under the pressure.  “Okay, okay,” said Hayden desperately.  “You’re right, Madison.  I made up all those stories.”

            “Why in the world would you do that?” asked Summer. 

            “I wanted you guys to listen to my stories for a change,” said Hayden as he looked down at the ground.  “I just wanted to be interesting for once.”

            “Well, nobody likes being lied to,” said Madison.  “And nobody likes someone who has to always have a better story.”

            “Yeah,” said Xavier.  “You made us all feel bad when you tried to make our stories seem less interesting than yours.”

            “Sorry, guys,” said Hayden as he looked up from the ground.  “It felt good at first to be the center of attention, but now I feel awful.”

            “Just don’t do it again,” said Madison and the others agreed.

            Hayden promised not to try that again, and the others forgave him.  Hayden let everyone retell their stories without interrupting, and for the rest of the afternoon they took turns making up imaginary stories together.  They even let Hayden make up big parts of the story since he had shown such a knack for coming up with wild tales.

The Tale of the Misplaced Blame

Illustration by Rayshea  Age:  4
Ms. McIntosh's Preschool class

           The water on Polliwog Pond glistened in the morning sunlight.  Audra the duck was trying to catch a waterbug for breakfast without much success.  Xavier the frog sat on a lily pad watching Audra chase the bugs. 

When the same bug got away from Audra for the tenth time, Audra screamed out in frustration, “Xavier, will you please get out of my way so I can catch some breakfast!”           

Dumbfounded, Xavier looked at Audra and said, “I’m just sitting here.  Why are you yelling at me?”

“Because you’re in my way!” Audra stated sternly.  “I will never catch a bug until you get off the pond.”

“Fine,” said Xavier as he hopped to shore and then up the path to the clearing.

Audra tried for a few more minutes to catch a bug, and then gave up.  She would just find some seeds along the path to the clearing for breakfast.  She swam to shore and began to waddle up the path.

Illustration by Ramon  Age:  4
Ms. McIntosh's Preschool class

Before long she met Hayden the turtle slowly making his way to the clearing.  She bent down to pick up a seed on the side of the path and tripped over a root.  As she fell she shoved Hayden out of her way.

“Watch where you are going!” shouted Audra at Hayden.

Hayden looked up at Audra questioningly and asked, “What did I do?”

“You’re in my way and made me trip over a root,” stated Audra.

“I was just walking on the path.  I had nothing to do with you tripping,” said Hayden defensively.

“You’re always in everybody’s way because you are so slow,” said Audra, and she stomped away leaving Hayden standing there with his mouth open in shock.

When Audra reached the clearing, Xavier was there with the butterfly twins, Summer and Madison.  When Summer saw Audra, she flew up to her and said, “Good morning, Audra.”

Illustration by Mark  Age:  4
Ms. McIntosh's Preschool class

Audra didn’t answer, but looked angrily at Xavier.  Then she started looking for seeds at the edge of the clearing.

“What are you doing?” asked Summer trying to get her friend to talk to her.

“I’m trying to find some breakfast since Xavier kept me from getting any waterbugs this morning.  And if you were any kind of friend, you would help me find some breakfast,” said Audra.

Summer didn’t know how to respond to that.  She flew around looking for seeds until Madison came over and stopped her.

Madison flew up to Audra, landed right on her nose, and said, “It is not Summer’s fault that you have not had any breakfast, and it’s not Xavier’s fault either.  He told us what you said to him back at the pond.  Just because things are not going your way does not give you the right to blame it on every one else.  Now, you apologize to Summer and Xavier.”

Illustration by Cheyenne  Age:  3
Ms. McIntosh's Preschool class

At first, Audra just stared at Madison in shock.  Then she looked at her friends and realized how mean she had been to them that morning.  “I’m sorry I yelled at you, Summer and you, too, Xavier.  I guess I probably should apologize to Hayden, too.  I shoved him and told him he was too slow.  I was just so frustrated because I couldn’t catch that stupid bug.  I shouldn’t have taken it out on you guys.”

“We forgive you,” said Summer as Xavier nodded in agreement.

             Just then Hayden lumbered into the clearing.  After Audra apologized to him as well, the four friends decided to help Audra gather seeds for her breakfast.  Then they all played restaurant and served Audra as if she were their customer.  It was probably the most pleasant breakfast Audra had eaten in a very long time.

The Tale of the Great Trip

Illustration by Luke  Age:  7
Ms. Angie Cook's 2nd grade class

           Xavier the frog sat on a lily pad in Polliwog Pond.  He was very close to drifting off to sleep when Emerson the dragonfly flew up and landed on a cattail next to the lily pad.

            “Hey, Xavier,” called Emerson.  “Come see what I found over by the fence between the tall grass and the people yard.”

            “I was about to take a nap,” said Xavier.  “Can’t you just bring it to me?”

            “No,” replied Emerson.  “It’s too big.  It’s really cool!!  Come on, the butterfly twins are already there waiting.”

            As Emerson flew off, Xavier grumpily jumped off the lily pad onto the shore and started making his way to the fence.  Before long he came across Hayden the turtle taking a nap inside his shell.  Xavier decided if he couldn’t take a nap, then Hayden couldn’t either.  He hopped up and started banging on Hayden’s shell.

            Slowly Hayden stuck his head out of his shell and said, “Hey, what’s the big idea.  I was asleep.”

            “Emerson found this thing over by the fence between the tall grass and the people yard, “ said Xavier.  “He wants everyone to come see it.  Come on, sleepyhead.  You need to get started if you want to get there before dark.”

            Hayden gave Xavier a grumpy look, but then popped his legs out of his shell and started for the fence.  Xavier hopped beside him for a minute, but then decided he didn’t want to go that slow and left Hayden behind. 

Illustration by Maridyth  Age:  8
Ms. Angie Cook's 2nd grade class

            Before long Xavier noticed something shiny in the tall grass beside the path.  He knew he was far ahead of Hayden so he decided to go investigate.  He hopped over to where the object was to discover it was just a piece of shiny material that seemed to have no purpose.  He sat there a minute trying to decide what he would do next.  Meanwhile, Hayden slowly and steadily made his way to the fence.

            Xavier shook himself awake and realized he had dozed off while he was sitting there.  He wondered how long he had been asleep.  Hoping he had only dozed for a few minutes he made his way to the path and headed for the fence.  After he had traveled for a few minutes without coming across Hayden, he decided he had only been asleep for a few minutes and slowed down his pace.

            When Xavier came around a corner, he spotted a big juicy fly at the edge of the path.  He shot out his tongue, but missed the fly.  He set off in pursuit hoping to get a little snack for his journey.  He figured he was still way ahead of Hayden and had time for a little diversion.  Meanwhile, Hayden slowly and steadily made his way to the fence.

            The fly led Xavier on a wild chase through the tall grass.  When he finally caught it, Xavier realized he was back where he started on the banks of Polliwog Pond.  He made his way to the path and hurried trying to catch up with Hayden.  He went for a long time without seeing any sign of Hayden.  Surely, Hayden was not that far ahead of him.  He hopped faster.  Xavier just knew that any minute he would catch up with Hayden, but with each bend and turn in the path Xavier saw no sign of Hayden.  Finally, he reached the fence, and there waiting on him was Emerson, the butterfly twins, Summer and Madison, and Hayden.

            “Where have you been?” asked Emerson agitated.  “Hayden’s been here for 10 minutes, and he said you left him behind a long time ago.”

            Xavier was in shock.  He really did not want to admit he had been asleep and then taken on a wild goose chase by a fly.  “I got sidetracked,” admitted Xavier turning red as a beet.

            “Obviously,” said the twins at the same time.  “Now, Emerson,” said Summer and Madison finished, “where is this thing that everyone has been gathered to see.”

            Emerson led them around to the corner of the fence.  On the ground was a toy castle that a child had left outside.  For the rest of the afternoon the four friends played like they were knights defending their castle.  Xavier decided it was best not to explain his “sidetracks” to his friends and purposed never to let himself ever get that distracted again.