Once there was a mouse
who lived in a great big house.
The mouse had a pet bug
which lived in his mug.
The mouse wasn't very happy
when his bug jumped into his favourite rug.
The mouse made the bug stay in his mug
and forbade it to go near the rug.
The bug just wouldn't listen
and jumped onto the rug
This time, the mouse was furious
and squashed it with his mug
Mission Fishing
One
bright and sunny day, I felt like fishing. So I packed what I needed
... fishing rod, hooks, weights and of course, worms for bait.
When
I reached the jetty, I put a worm on the hook and threw the line in and
waited for the fish to bite. I was disappointed when I did not catch
anything after waiting for three hours.
I pulled in the line and
to my surprise, there was a small fish at the end of the line. The fish
was so small that I did not feel any tug on the line.
I was
even more surprised when the fish started to talk, "Let me go or I will
turn you into a frog!" I was so startled that I just stared at it. The
next moment, I was already a frog ... ribit, ribit
A New Wolf
The story of the three little pigs has been passed down for many generations. I,
Little Mean Wolf, the grandson of Big Bad Wolf has vowed to take revenge on the three little pigs, now the three old pigs.
After
many days, I thought of a plan. I asked my father, Big Stingy Wolf what
the pigs feared most and my father answered, " Lions! " I took out my
lion costume that I had used last year for the play "The Wizard of Oz."
I
went out in my lion costume and went to the three old pigs' house. When
I got near to the house the three pigs caught me with a net. I cried
and wailed but soon after that, they let me go and even forgave me. They
knew that I was not a real lion because I could not roar like a real
one.
From then on, I turned over a new leaf and changed my name to
Small Good Wolf.
I and three old pigs' grandsons, Small Cute Pig, Small Gentle Pig and
Small Adorable Pig became good friends. Somebody was not happy that I
had made new friends and he was my father, Big Stingy Wolf.
The
pigs were going to move out and I had to choose between my family or go
away with my friends. I had been happier since I learnt about Jesus from
the three old pigs so I decided to follow my friends and learn more
about Jesus. I followed them to the jungle where I had a lot of fun. I
learnt more about Jesus from the Bible (
International Animals' Version). I accepted Jesus as my Saviour and became a Christian
A Duck Tale
The
bright morning rays shone through the bedroom curtains onto Farmer
Huang's pillow; making the room hot and stuffy. Farmer Huang is not an
early riser but the heat woke up him. He hurriedly got up and started to
head for his poultry farm. He had invested all his money in ducks.
Farmer
Huang got into his lorry that was loaded with ducks in cages and his
two workers, Bill and Jim. Their first stop was City Primary School.
Upon reaching the school gate, the lorry skidded and punctured a tyre.
Farmer Huang left his workers to change the tyre while he went into the
school canteen to hand over some ducks.
Meanwhile, a boy had
crept up the lorry and opened some of the cages. Jim happened to look
up; the boy jumped down from the lorry and ran into the school compound.
The ducks were escaping! Jim and Bill hurriedly tried to get the ducks back into the cages but
their efforts were in vain. There was a great commotion ...
ducks quacking, workers shouting.
Where
was the naughty boy? He was at the school gate letting some ducks into
the school. On hearing the noise, many children came out of their
classrooms and were watching the funny sight ... two men chasing ducks
which were
quacking, waddling and flapping their wings which in turn sent down feathers floating in the air! It was hilarious.
Farmer Huang came back just in time to catch hold of the boy. He then went after the ducks. He made a funny
quacking sound and the ducks began to come to him. He happily put them
back into their cages, changed the punctured tyre and drove off ... leaving the boy in the hands of the school principal.
The
moon had gone behind a cloud and there weren't many stars in the sky.
It was a dark night. I saw a glow in my neighbour's kitchen. I thought
he was having a midnight snack so I went back to my bed.
Soon,
there was a burning smell in the air and I suspected something was
wrong. At once, I jumped out of bed and went downstairs to investigate. I
saw fire coming out of my neighbour's kitchen. Instinctively, I shouted
"Fire! Fire!" But there was no one nearby to hear my shouts for help.
I
rushed into my house, called the Fire Department and went back to my
neighbour's house. I rang the doorbell, banged on the door and called
out my neighbour's name but there was no response. I managed to break
into the house and rescued a cat and a rabbit.
I tried to throw
buckets of water through the kitchen window but it was no use; the fire
was too strong. Luckily, a fire engine arrived and the firemen put out
the fire. They arrived in the nick of time as the fire was going to
spread to the other rooms in the house.
When my neighbour
came back, he was sad because his kitchen was a wreck but he thanked me
for calling the Fire Department and for saving his pets. He wanted to
give me some money as a reward but I did not accept it.
Weeks
later, my neighbour repaired and restored his kitchen. He invited me to
his new kitchen and there he gave me a medal that he had specially
ordered from a factory. It made me very happy.
The big family in the little houseVladimir does not know what to do. He has a big family
And he lives in a little house. He is not very happy
One day he goes to town. He talks to a wise woman
"please help me," he says. "my wife and I have six children
We live in a very little house. Eight people in a few
rooms! We cannot live in this way
The wise woman listens. She closes her eyes for a minute
Then she asks, "how many animals do you have
" we have eight animals. We have a horse, a cow
two pigs, and four chickens, "says vladimir
"good. Go home now," says the wise woman
"take all your animals into the house with you
" our animals!" says Vladimir. He goes home and does
what the wise woman tells him. The next week
he goes back to the wise woman
"this is very bad!" he says. "The animals eat our food
They fill all the rooms. They sleep in our beds
The wise woman closes her eyes a gain. Then she tells
Vladimir, "now go home. Take the animals out of the house
Vladimir goes home. He takes the animals out of the house
The next day, he goes back to the wise woman
This time he is happy .
"thank you, thank you, "he says. "it's very different
without the animals. Now we can eat. Now we can sleep
Now we like our house. Thank you for your help
You are a very wise woman!"[]
The turtle and the ducksThe turtle was not very happy. "here I am on the ground
"he said. "I cannot go fast. I always see the same things
I see only the ground and the grass. Poor, poor me
Then the turtle looked up at the sky. "look at those birds
" he said. "they go many places. They see many things
I want to be a bird. I want to fly, too
Two ducks stopped near the turtle
"oh, ducks, "asked the turtle. "what can I do? I want to
go far places. I want to see the world
"I think we can help you," said the ducks
"can you?" asked the turtle. "how?"
"you can fly with us to Africa or to America. You can see
mountains, oceans, and cities – all things you want to see
"but how can I fly?" asked the turtle
"with astick," said the ducks." We can hold the stick in
our mouths. And you must hold on with your mouth
And that's what they did. They went up in the air. They went
many miles. The turtle saw many new things. He saw a city
and lots of people
Some people looked up. "a turtle in the air!" they said
"run, run to the queen. There is a flying turtle. She must see it
The queen came out to see the turtle." where is it
She asked. "here! Can't you see me?" called the turtle
But when he opened his mouth, he fell to the ground
And there, in front of the queen and all the people, he died
A SMART MOTHER
THIS IS TASHA.SHE HAS SIX PUPIES.TASHA LIVES WITH GRAY.GRAY LIVES IN CLAIFORNIA.
IT IS RAINING IN CLAIFORNIA.IT IS RAINING HARD
.WATER IS IN THE STREETS. WATER IS IN THE HOUSES.
WATER IS COMING INTO GRAY'S HOUSE
.HE RUNS TO HIS CAR WITH HIS CLOTHES
.HE RUNS TO HIS CAR WITH HIS BOOKS
.HE RUNS TO HIS CAR WITH HIS TV.
OH,NO! TASHA AND HER
PUPPIES!THEY ARE IN THE YARD!
GRAY RUNS TO THE YARD.THE WATER
IS TWO FEET1 DEEP.WHERE IS TASHA?
THERE SHE IS!SHE IS SWIMMING
.WHERE ARE THE PUPPIES?THERE
THEY ARE!THEY ARE IN THE FOOD BOWL.
IT IS TASHA'S FOOD BOWL
.TASHA IS PUSHING THE BOWL WITH HER NOSE.
THE PUPPIES HAVE A SMART MOTHER.
.............................
NEIGHBORS
JACK AND ANN ARE MARRIED
. THEY ARE NOT HAPPY TOGTHER. WHY NOT?
THEY ARE VERY DIFFERENT
. JACK SMOKES.ANN DOESN'T SMOKE.
JACK LIKE TO WATCH BASEBALL ON TV
. ANN DOESN'T LIKE BASEBALL
. ANN LIKE LOUD MUSIC
. JACK DOESN'T LIKE LOUD MUSIC
. JACK SNORES AT NIGHT. ANN CAN'T SLEEP.
ONE DAY, ANN LOOKS AT THE HOUSE NEXT DOOR.
IT IS FOR SALE. ANN BUYS THE HOUSE AND MOVES IN.
NOW ANN LIVES IN THE HOUSE NEXT
TO JACK. IN HIS HOUSE, JACK CAN WATCH BASEBALL ON TV
.HE CAN SMOKE. HE CAN SNORE.
IN HER HOUSE, ANN CAN LISTEN TO LOUD MUSIC. SHE CAN SLEEP.
NOW JACK AND ANN ARE MARRIED AND HAPPY.
........................................
BRAIN IS THREE YEARS OLD. HE IS WITH
HIS MOTHER. THEY ARE AT THE ZOO.
THEY ARE GOING TO SEE THE GORILLAS.
BRAIN RUNS TO THE GORILLAS. HE
CLAIMBS A FENCE. HE FALLS.
HE FALL 18 FEET 1. HE IS ON THE GROUND. HE DOESN'T MOVE.
BRAIN IS WITH THE GORILLAS NOW.
SEVEN GORILLAS WALK TO HIM.
ONE GORILLA IS A MOTHER.
HER NAME IS BINTI. SHE HAS HER
BABY ON HER BACK. BINTI PICKS UP
BRAIN. SHEW CARRIES HIM TO
A DOOR. SHE STANDS AT THE DOOR.
SHE HOLDS BRAIN. SHE PATS BRAIN
ON THE BACK. BINTI IS A GOOD MOTHER
. A MAN COMES TO THE DOOR. BINTI GIVES
BRAIN TO THE MAN. BRAIN
GOES TO THE HOSPITAL.HE HAS A BROKEN ARM, BUT HE IS OK.
BRAIN'S MOTHER IS HAPPY."THANK YOU, BINTI" SHE SAYS.
.......................................
MR. AND MRS. ZIMMER ARE IN A VAN
WITH THEIR THREE CHILDREN.
THEY ARE DRIVING FROM CALIFORNIA TO OREGON.
IT IS LATE AT NIGHT.
MR. ZIMMER IS IN THE FRONT SEAT. HE
IS DRIVING THE VAN. MRS. ZIMMER AND
THE CHILDREN ARE IN THE BACK SEATS
. THEY ARE SLEEPING. MR. ZIMMER
IS HUNGRY. HE STOPS AT A FAST FOOD
RESTURANT. HE GOES INTO THE RESTURANT
. MRS. WAKES UP. SHE IS HUNGRY,
TOO. SHE GOES INTO THE RESTURANT.
MR. ZIMMER WALKS OUT OF THE RESTURANT
. MR. ZIMMER DOESN'T SEE HIS WIFE.
MR. ZIMMER DRIVES AWAY IN THE VAN HE
DRIVES ALL NIGHT. IN THE MORNING,
MR. ZIMMER AND THE CHILDREN ARE IN
OREGON.THEY GET OUT OF THE VAN.
"WHERE'S YOUR MAM?" MR. ZIMMER ASKS
THE CHILDREN. "WE DON'T KONW" THE CHILDREN SAY
. WHERE IS MRS. ZIMMER? SHE IS AT THE RESTURANT IN CALIFORNIA.
...............................The Lucky Thief
Louise Burt was walking along a San Francisco street.
Suddenly a man took her purse and ran. Mrs.
Burt was very angry. She had ten dollars, her
bus pass, and the keys to her house
in the purse. Mrs. Burt ran after the thief.
The thief ran one block, two blocks, three
blocks. The thief was a young man, so he
could run fast. Mrs. Burt was not a young
woman_she was 73 years old_but she could
run fast, too. Mrs. Burt stayed right behind the thief.
Mrs. Burt was wearing two chopsticks in her hair.
The chopsticks had sharp ends. Mrs. Burt took
the chopsticks out of her hair. "Maybe I can
stab the thief with these chopsticks,
" she thought. "Then he will drop purse."
The thief ran into an apartment building.
Mrs. Burt followed him.
"Help! Stop him!" she shouted. "He has my purse!"
Two police officers were walking near
the apartment building. They heard Mrs.
Burt and ran to help her. One police officer
stayed with Mrs. Burt.
The other police officer chased the thief.
The police officer found the thief on the roof of the
apartment building. The thief was looking in
Mrs. Burt's purse. When he saw the police
officer, the thief dropped the purse and
jumped off the building. The building was two stories high.
A few minutes later the police officer caught the
thief. He was hiding under a car.
He couldn't run because he had two broken ankles.
The police took the thief to jail. The thief
will stay in jail for long time. But the thief was lucky.
He was lucky that the police caught him.
He lucky that Mrs. Burt didn't catch him!
~ CARING FRIENDS ~
A teenage boy had cancer and was in the hospital for several
weeks to undergo radiation treatments and chemotherapy.
During that time, he lost all of his hair. On the way home
from the hospital, he was worried ... not about the cancer,
but about the embarrassment of going back to school with a
bald head. He had already decided not to wear a wig or a hat.
[b]When he arrived home, he walked in the front door and turned
on the lights. To his surprise, about fifty of his friends jumped
up and shouted, "Welcome home!" The boy looked around
the room and could hardly believe his eyes... all fifty of his friends had shaved their heads!
[b]Wouldn't we all like to have caring friends who were so sensitive
and committed to us that they would sacrifice their hair for
us if that's what it took to make us feel affirmed, included,
and loved? Friends like that are hard to find in today's world.
Edited from Hot Illustrations for Youth Talks by Wayne Rice.
Copyright 1994 by Youth Specialties, Inc.
Happiness is the Best Gift
Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room.
One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon
to help drain the fluid from his lungs. His bed was next to the room's only window.
The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back.
The men talked for hours on end. They spoke of their wives
and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in
the military service, where they had been on vacation.
And every afternoon when the man in the bed by the window could
sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all
the things he could see outside the window. The man in
the other bed began to live for those one-hour periods where
his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and
color of the world outside. The window overlooked a park with
a lovely lake. Ducks and swans played on the water while
children sailed their model boats. Young lovers walked arm in
arm amidst flowers of every color of the rainbow. Grand old
trees graced the landscape, and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance.
As the man by the window described all this in exquisite detail,
the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes
and imagine the picturesque scene. One warm afternoon
the man by the window described a parade passing by.
Although the other man couldn't hear the band -
he could see it in his mind's eye as the gentleman by
the window portrayed it with descriptive words. Days and weeks passed.
One morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water
for their baths only to find the lifeless body of
the man by the window, who had died peacefully in his
sleep. She was saddened and called the hospital attendants
to take the body away. As soon as it seemed appropriate,
the other man asked if he could be moved next to
the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch, and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone.
Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take
his first look at the world outside. Finally, he would have
the joy of seeing it for himself. He strained to slowly turn
to look out the window beside the bed. It faced a blank wall.
The man asked the nurse what could have compelled
his deceased roommate who had described such wonderful
things outside this window. The nurse responded that
the man was blind and could not even see the wall. She said, "Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you."
Epilogue. . . There is tremendous happiness in making others happy,
despite our own situations. Shared grief is half the sorrow,
but happiness when shared, is doubled. If you want
to feel rich, just count all of the things you have that money can't buy.
"Today is a gift, that's why it is called the present."
~ BUTTERFLY ~
[b]It was 1953, it was spring, and it was a great time to be a kid!
School would be out soon, and there were three long months of summer vacation to look forward to.
Tom Mix and Roy Rogers were still making movies, and the local theater
had decided not to raise it's prices. You could still get into
the Saturday matinee for thirty five cents. And that included a Buck Rogers cliff hangar serial and a cartoon!
A carnival was coming to town in July, and a circus in August. What more could a guy ask for?
The boy and his friend had been thinking about all these things as
they watched their kite soar gracefully above them in the sky over
the large open field. The boy was ten and his friend was eleven,
and although they were a grade apart in school, they were the best of buddies and did everything together.
They came to this field often, to fly kites, or play cowboys
and Indians, or just to explore. There were woods along one
side of the clearing that were great for hiding and building forts in.
And if you were playing the part of an Indian there was
a stone fence that offered protection from the cowboys after a raid on their camp.
It was in this very field that the carnivals set up their rides and
the circuses put up their tents. And as much fun as it was to
wander around those events while they were there, it was
even more exciting to see them leave, and then race to the field to see what treasures may have been left behind.
There was always something. A broken trinket, a length of
thick rope, or maybe even change from some kids pocket
when he had been turned upside down while riding "The Octopus"! A person never knew what they might discover.
Yup, it was a really neat field.
It was getting late, and the two friends decided it was time to go.
The older boy gave one last hard tug on the kite's string,
as he always did, trying to get it to dive and loop, and then they reeled in the line and started for home.
The path out of the field went by an old apple tree, and for
the past week or so they had been watching a large yellow
caterpillar who had made his home on one of the branches.
They had watched him slowly inch his way up and down
the branch looking for any new leaves that might have
sprouted. But there wasn't much new growth on
the tree this early in the year, and so they had wondered how he would survive.
They didn't see the caterpillar today. Instead they noticed
a large, grey, lifeless looking cocoon, and they wondered
if their yellow friend had died. But it was getting very late,
and the boys friend said his stomach hurt, probably
from hunger, so they didn't wonder about it too long, and continued their walk home.
The next morning the boy and his friend walked to school
together as usual. They arrived with a little time left before
the first bell, so they took a few moments
to wander around the playground and discuss their plans for that evening.
The boy's friend wanted to go fishing at Mudd Creek,
the water was getting high there and he thought perhaps the trout may have come back early this year.
It was also just about time to start getting their bicycle-built-for-two back
together. Neither friend had a great bike, but when the rear
wheel was removed from one, and the front fork of the other
attached, it made a super fast and fun vehicle!
(and sticking playing cards in the spokes of
the wheels made it sound just like the full dress Harley Davidson
motorcycles they would see on the highway...well, almost...)
But nothing definite was decided upon,
and so, when the second bell rang they went their separate ways.
Noon came, and when the boy entered the cafeteria it was
buzzing with excitement. Someone in Mrs. Foster's class
had gotten very sick and had to be taken to the hospital!
The boy's friend was in Mrs. Foster's room, and so the boy
looked around the busy lunch room trying to find him.
But his friend wasn't there so the boy sat next to some of his other classmates.
Everyone seemed to have a different version of what had happened,
and there were a lot of rumors, but the one thing they all seemed
to agree upon was the fact that it had been the boys friend who had gotten sick.
Lunch period ended and soon the school day was over.
The boy hurried home to see if his friend had returned from
the hospital yet. He was sure his friend would have
wonderful stories of being poked with long needles,
being asked to say "ahhh" a hundred times, and other strange and unknown things.
There were a lot of cars in his friends driveway as the boy walked
past, but he didn't see anyone and so he continued to his home two
houses away. His grandmother was in the kitchen baking when
he walked in, and she asked him if he had heard about his friend.
She said he had suffered an attack of acute appendicitis. His
appendix had burst in school, and by the time they got him to
the hospital it was too late. The poison had spread
throughout his body and he had died a short while ago.
His best friend was gone.
There was no one to take him to the funeral, and so he decided to
go to the field. He hadn't had much experience with death.
He had seen dead squirrels and birds of course, but a person, that was different. He didn't understand.
Why did things have to die?
Where did they go?
Why did his best friend have to leave him?
He wanted to think about all these things and so he walked slowly
down the road to the field, carrying the kite, it's tail dragging along behind him.
As he passed the apple tree he noticed the dull, grey cocoon was
broken open. There was nothing inside, it was just a
cold empty shell now, and there was no trace of the caterpillar.
There was a strong breeze, and the kite went up into the bright sky
easily. The boy sat on a rock and watched as the colorful kite swayed
in the wind and danced on it's tail. As he watched he thought about
all the good times he and his friend had had. Times that they could never have again.
Never again!
That was the part he couldn't accept. That he would never see his chubby, funny friend again.
The boy was very sad, but he didn't cry.
There was less wind now and it was getting cool.
It was time to go.
He stood and began to wind the kite string onto it's holder.
He hadn't wound more than a half dozen turns when a beautiful yellow
Swallowtail butterfly landed on the line no more than two feet from his hand.
The string went slack in his hands, and it seemed the butterfly was
pulling on the line, trying to catch just one last gust of air under the
kite. The kite responded by soaring another fifty feet up into the air and then started floating slowly back to earth.
The line was taut in his hands again and the boy continued reeling it in.
As he did, the Swallowtail let go his hold on the line and flew upwards,
up past the kite and into the clear blue sky until it disappeared from the boy's sight.
Now the boy understood.
The caterpillar hadn't died. He had changed into something new
and wonderful, leaving behind an empty shell which was no longer needed.
The boy knew he would never see his friend again, not as he had been.
But he knew his friend wasn't really gone. Instead, he too was off on a
great new adventure, his spirit soaring among the clouds. And he knew
that if he kept all the memories alive, the friendship and the good times, then his friend would never truly leave him.
His spirit would always be there.
Written by D. A. Tony Ciango for his friend...Jack G...1940-195
[/b]
