Agraine

Everyone here knows the hummingbirds, right?
Aren’t they beautiful?
The way they fly, this way and that -
and flash their bright colors
just bouncing off the sunlight.
Don’t you love them?
Well I do too!

But once upon a time,
hummingbirds were just like lots of other birds.
They flew the same way,
they pecked for food on the ground the same way,
and they didn’t have their painted feathers.
They all had plain feathers
so they could hide better in the forest.

Most of the hummingbirds were very happy,
but a young one came along
who was always looking for something new to do.

Little Hummingbird walked, and flew, and hopped all over the mountains
looking for adventure and excitement.
He went farther than any hummingbird ever went before.

And you know what happened?

Well-
one day as he was roaming the mountains,
he found something fantastic!
There among the rocks and boulders
was the most beautiful patch of colored earth he’d ever seen.

Some of the earth was bright red!
Some of it was blue as the sky!
Some of it was green as the freshest grass!
Some of it was gold as the sun!
And all the colors sparkled like gems.

The Little Hummingbird flew down to the magic colored earth,
and he picked up tiny little pieces
with his tiny little beak,
and began to paint his feathers with it.

When he was done,
he flew back home to show
all his hummingbird brothers and sisters his new colors.

All the other hummingbirds thought his feathers were very beautiful.
They were all a little envious too.
They all wanted bright beautiful feathers just like their little brother.

Little Hummingbird was proud,
and wouldn’t tell anyone how he got his new colors.

But -
he was just bursting to boast about his discovery,
so finally he told his best friend about the magical place of colored earth.
He told his friend not to tell anybody else,
it would be their secret.

So the next day, Little Hummingbird and his best friend
went to the place of magic colored earth,
and before you know it
his best friend had a new coat of bright feathers too!

When they flew back home,
all the other hummingbirds
begged to know how to paint their feathers too.

Well you know,
Best Friend was also bursting to tell his secret
to somebody else.
And so he told his sister all about the magic earth.

Well, things went on like this for a while,
and before too long all the hummingbirds
knew about the magic colored earth,
and they all flew there
and painted themselves silly,
each one trying to look more beautiful that the others.

Pretty soon the hummingbirds started to fight with each other
so they could get painted too,
before all the magic colored earth ran out.

And that’s exactly what happened -
all the colored earth was used up,
and disappeared forever.

The Earth was very angry at the hummingbirds
for being so proud and selfish and using up all the magic colors.

So the Earth said,
“from now on, hummingbirds,
I will never allow you to land on the earth again.
That is your punishment, and it is enough.”

“But I will not let you starve.
I will give you the fastest wings among all the birds,
so you can hover in the air
and live on the nectar of the flowers.
This is how you will live from now on.”

And to this day -
if you watch the hummingbirds,
you will see them flying faster than the blink of an eye,
and hovering in the air among the flowers,
you will even see them still arguing about
who has the prettiest feathers.

But you will never see one land on the ground.

Rabbit had a problem.

Owl was trying to eat him.

The animals called a conference.

Rabbit’s ears were very small, and Owl’s flight was nearly silent. It didn’t seem fair.

It was decided that Owl would teach Rabbit his language, in the hope that there could be peace between them.

Owl spoke next.

“For every new word you learn, I will make your ears a little bit longer.

And every time your ears grow longer, you will hear me better.

When you can listen to my words and understand everything I say, you will no longer fear me.”

And that is how Rabbit got his ears!

This is just a short bedtime story I wrote for Agraine. He told me he likes spooky bedtime stories. I thought that was odd, considering how cute and cuddly he is…and that fact that he cannot speak…but whatever helps a bunny sleep is okay by me.

-El Goofus

 

How Raccoon got his Mask

Have you ever met Raccoon?

No?

There are a few things you should know about him if you are new to the forest.

Raccoon is very curious, and very smart…but mostly very curious.

Do you know how he got his mask?

One day, Fox came to Raccoon and said, “I have something to show you.”

Raccoon was wary. Fox was well known for her trickery.

But his curiosity overcame his fear, and he followed her.

Fox lead Raccoon to new places to hunt and forage, and they became fast friends.

And then one day, Fox said, “I have nothing more to teach you.”

Raccoon was puzzled.

He asked her, “Is there nothing else you can show me?”

Fox replied, “I can show you something more, but you must not look at it.”

“I want to know!” Raccoon cried.

He did not stop to consider her words carefully.

“Very well”, said Fox.

“But you must wear this hood on your head, and this blindfold over your eyes.”

“But how can I see this thing if I am blinded?” asked Raccoon.

“You will know it without seeing it.

But you must not look at it!

Do not remove your blindfold!”

And Fox led Raccoon through the woods, until…

“We are here,” said Fox.

“Do you feel it?”

“Yes,” said Raccoon.

“Would you like to get closer to it?”

“Yes.”

Raccoon felt warm in a way he had never felt warm before.

“Closer?” asked Fox.

“Yes,” said Raccoon.

Raccoon was feeling very, very warm.

He wanted to know what made him feel that way.

“Can I get closer still?”

“Yes”

Raccoon felt hot, as if the sun was beating down on him.

But it was nighttime.

“Closer please!”

“Okay, but be careful.”

Raccoon moved closer to the heat…

And then, his curiosity overcame him.

Before Fox could stop him, Raccoon took off his blindfold, and looked…

And the fire blackened all of the hair around his eyes!

And that is how Raccoon got his mask.

Once upon a time,
there was a boy
who loved to play the flute.

Every day,
after he did his chores of course,
he’d sit down in the forest to play his flute.

But -
every time he played,
people would come around to listen -
and talk -
and they distracted him so much
that before too long,
he’d forget his new song.

One day,
while he was playing his flute
waaay out in the forest,
a plain brown bird came to listen.

“That’s a beautiful song
you’re playing on your flute.
How did you learn it?”

And the boy answered politely,
” It is a new song I am making,
but whenever my friends hear me
they come to visit and talk,
and then I can’t finish the song.”

Well -
the little brown bird,
who didn’t look like much,
his name was Wood Thrush.

Do you know Wood Thrush? No?
Well, you’ll know
after you hear the rest of the story!

And Wood Thrush said,
“Maybe I can help you finish your song.
Whenever you want to play your flute,
I will come to visit you.
And I will scratch around in the leaves in the underbrush,
so maybe people will wonder where the scratching is coming from
and then they won’t bother you while you play your flute.”

The Boy thought this just might work,
and he thanked the Wood Thrush politely.

The very next day,
the Boy went into the woods
to play his flute and finish his new song.

Wood Thrush came as promised,
and scratched around in the leaves
and made lots of noise.
Everybody went to see who was making so much noise!
But all they could find was a little brown bird.
Some of the young boys tried to catch Wood Thrush,
or scare him away with pebbles.
Can you believe that?

But -
thanks to Wood Thrush,
the Boy was finally able to
finish his flute song.

The Boy saw that Wood Thrush was in danger,
And he wanted to help his friend.
He had an idea.

He called Wood Thrush to him, and said -
“Wood Thrush, you helped me finish a
very special flute song,
even though you were teased and in danger.”

“I have a special thanks for you.”
My new flute song is magic,
and I give it to you for ever and ever.”

“Now, when you sing the flute song,
nobody will know where you are.
They can listen and listen,
They will think you are here,
or maybe over there,
but they will never find you.
You will be safe from now on.”

And so,
to this day,
the Wood Thrush sings the magic flute song.
He may sound like he’s over here,
or he may sound like he’s over there,
but you just never know
where Wood Thrush is singing!

Dear Agraine,

Since you recently saw Bears for the first time, I wanted to tell you a story about them. I am still looking for more stories about Bears, but meanwhile here is one I found about Bears and Birds and many other creatures. I hope you enjoy it.

The Woman Who Loved Birds

Once upon a time,
There was a woman who lived
in a little cabin in the woods.

She loved all her woodland friends,
from the tallest tree to the tiniest flower,
the bears and lions and the tiny jumping mouse,
even the littlest creatures who lived on the forest floor.

But she especially loved the birds.

Do you love birds?
Well, so do I,
but here’s what happened.

Every spring,
the woman put out bowls of nuts and seeds
for her favorite friends the birds,
and she did this every day.

Before too long,
Squirrel and Raccoon discovered these bowls of food.
And every day and every night,
they emptied those bowls
before the birds got to eat anything.

The woman tried to keep the bowls full for the birds,
but Squirrel and Raccoon always ate everything!

The woman got angry.
So she tried hanging the bowls on a rope
but Squirrel just chewed through the rope
until the bowl fell to the ground.

She tried putting locks on the bowls at night,
bur Raccoon is very smart
and with his little fingers,
Raccoon had no trouble at all opening those locks.

Every morning,
and every night,
the bowls for the birds were empty.

Finally -
the woman made a very special bowl,
and hung it on a very special pole,
made of the strongest wood in the forest.

Only the birds could get the seeds now.
Hurray!

But -
Bear heard about this special bowl,
and this special pole,
and he came to see it for himself.

Bear thought it was very unfair
to all the other forest animals,
to be helping only the birds and nobody else.

Only Bear was strong enough to bend that pole,
and break that bowl,

And you know?
That’s exactly what he did!

The woman felt very sorry for the birds,
but she didn’t know what to do!
She sat down and started to cry.

Then -
Along came a litte yellow bird of the forest,
and he sat on her shoulder.

Yellow bird told her,
“Don’t cry, it’s OK.
The plants have given us many seeds,
and the trees have given us many nuts.
Look at me,
I am so chubby from feasting!”

The woman said,
“I am grateful to my friends the plants,
but it’s summertime now.
What will you do in winter
when the plants are asleep?”

Yellow bird gave this some thought,
and here’s what he told her to do.

“Let’s have a meeting with the birds,
and the Squirrels,
and the Raccoons,
and be sure to invite Bear too.
Let’s hear what they have to say.”

The woman thought this was wise advice,
and yellow bird told everyone in the forest
to come to a meeting the next day at dawn.

And you know what?
There they were,
everybody came.

The trees and plants spoke first.
They promised to make some extra seeds and nuts,
so the woman could store them up just for the birds.

Well!
Bear and Squirrel and Raccoon said,
We want more seeds and nuts too!
After all,
we have families to feed too you know.”

Just then -
a little bird called Wren spoke up.

Do you know Wren? No?
Well -
Wren is a tiny bird,
but he has a big, beautiful voice.
Everyone could hear him,
all through the woods.

And here’s what Wren said:

“It’s all well and good for my bird cousins
to feast during the summer,
then fly away in winter when the plants are asleep.
I stay here all winter – what about me?”

And the woman said,
“I promise to feed you, little Wren,
through the hard times of winter,
with the extra seeds and nuts
I will save up for you.”

Wren said -
“But that’s not fair to my forest friends.
What about them?
You can’t use the gift of the plants just for me!”

And so the woman promised,
that from now on,
the gift of the plants would be shared equally
with any forest friend who needed it.

After all,
it was only fair.