Up, Up and Away

A long time ago, when I was eight, dad took me fishing. It was in April, the first day of fishing season in northern Quebec. And I didn’t care if it was cold, or if there was still snow on the ground. “Help me find my warm boots?” I asked. And he did. Then I helped dad make peanut butter sandwiches, my favorite. “Where’s my packsack?” I asked. Smiling patiently, he found it for me.

“This is how I’m going to get a fish,” I said. Holding my new fishing rod birthday gift full stretch, I saw its neat lines, tightly wound threads and shiny eyelets. Then swinging it around, smacked the water glass from the kitchen table. Good thing he helped me clean up all the bits and pieces.

Mom just stood and shook her head. I don’t think she was upset. Just glad her boys were going fishing together, anywhere out of the house. We loaded up our pickup truck. First my fishing rod was too long in the front. So I placed it in the back. Then I put our packsacks with sandwiches and water right beside it. Almost forgot our fishing box with some neat lures, but dad didn’t. He handed the green tin box to me.

The gravel road was full of loose stones. And they flew behind us as if fired from slingshots. But I couldn’t see much because of the dust. Then we hit a huge bump. “My fishing rod!” I yelled, as I watched it bounce from the truck. Dad put the brakes on so hard I flew across the seat and almost choked on the road dust that soon covered us. “I saw it fly across that ditch,” I said. Dad climbed down the side of the road. And stepped on some ice. “Don’t get wet!” I yelled. But, he did. Soon dad came back with my neat gift, scratched and covered in mud. The broken cork handle made it shorter than before. After starting on our way, I could now keep my fishing rod in my lap. And my tears had stopped.

It’s hard to try and be a man when your birthday present tries to take off like a crow then gets broken. At least it fit inside the front of the truck. “Does that mean I can’t go fishing? I ask. “No,” dad answered. “I’m going to show you another way to fish,” he said. “Just like my own dad showed me.” “At least we’re still going fishing!” I shouted. After a while, my hat blew off. Dad stopped the truck and this time I went along to help him find it. I tried not to notice him talking to himself.

“Keep it in your lap, under the tackle box,” he suggested. “This is where our hiking begins,” dad said when we finally stopped. The trail was full of icy ditches. He said, “Try not to get wet.” But I did.

It was fun jumping on the ice. Except when I broke through. It was like a freezing /waterfall splashing all over. Good thing he brought an extra pair of pants for me. He must know me really well by now.

Finally we reach the lake. It seems like we walked half way around the world. Most of the ice is gone. And some ducks are swimming. The water’s too cold for me though. I just want to fish.

I watch carefully as dad shows me my grandfather’s way to fish, without a fishing pole.

He finds a heavy rock, wraps some line around it then ties a knot. After that he makes a little circle with the rest of the line, in a pile beside his foot. And ties a neat silver spinner on the very end. Then he makes another knot keeping it fast to the strong black line.

Holding about three feet of line in front of him, he begins to twirl. He does that a couple of times and sends it flying over the water. It sure took off, making a heavy splash some distance away. I can’t wait for my turn.

“Do you want some help?” Dad asked.

“No, I want to do it all by myself.”

“Did you watch everything I did?” he asked.

“Yes,” I answer. “And I’m going to throw it farther than you!” I bragged loudly. I take my line and wrap it around another rock. Then I make a circle with the rest beside my feet. And knot my special gold spoon on the end I am going to throw.

After winding up like a baseball player, my first throw goes backwards and catches on a tree limb. But dad gets it down for me. I think he ripped his pants. Now I’m ready to begin twirling again. First, I do one big circle, then two, then three. And finally let go. My spoon, like a rocket, goes up and up. The sun makes it shine.

A lucky crow gets out of the way. The floppy bird might think it’s a truck…no, maybe a plane that flies. My line flies through the air, past a floating log. And over some ducks on the water.

It goes and goes and…Oh, oh. “Dad, I forgot to make a knot when I wrapped the line around my rock!”

I remember long ago how he shook his head. And smiled. Now I do too. I think he’s still out there on the lake. And he’s looking for a lost gold spoon for his little boy.

The Paper Boy

A clump of hair smacked across Colin’s face. The wind even tried wrestling him to the ground. Instead of newspapers, it felt as if Colin’s news-bag was full of Nova Scotia potatoes. Maybe it had to do with the news dad read before Colin left the house. The morning headlines were full of the usual sad stories.

“For goodness sakes,” dad said. “No good news again!”

CAR ACCIDENTS! HOUSE BURNS! STORM DAMAGE!

Colin wished he could have been able to cheer up dad. He moved quickly from house to house leaving papers on the porch or in the mailbox. It helped being the fastest runner in the school and even wearing his new running shoes. Right now Colin wished he could bring only good news to his family, also to his friendly neighbors. “There’s that paper boy bringing sad news again,” they were probably saying.

“How could he make things better for everyone?” he wondered as he continued to deliver his papers. He met Nathan near Victoria Park. Colin really liked Nathan, even if his words sometimes got mixed up. Someone told him Nathan was mentally challenged. But Colin didn’t care. Nathan was his friend.

Colin noticed Alice coming. She was in his class. She only had one real eye. The other was made of glass. He liked Alice even if people called her, “Bionic lady,” behind her back. He didn’t realize how much It helped her, having a friend like Colin. The dog down the street barked loudly. Prince was lonely tied to his chain and Colin knew all he needed was a good friend. He always liked to pat the dog’s head.

Prince’s breath was warm as he licked Colin’s hand.

“It’s okay boy,” he told the dog.

Each time Colin left a paper by a customer’s door he felt bad, such sad news. How could he make some good news? He thought about it a lot, as he made his rounds. Colin gave his usual cheerful “Hi” to everyone on his route. Adults and children on both sides of the street yelled and waved back. His smile was like the rising sun. Someone was crying and he ran to where a little boy had fallen and hurt his leg. Colin calmed him down until the boy’s mother arrived. ”I’m glad you’re my paperboy,” she told Colin.

He continued on his route, still ten more customers to go. But, he didn’t feel tired. It was fun doing what he usually did, helping others.

Now, let’s see. What else could he do to cheer up people?

His best friend Donna came by to pick up her paper. It saved him from going all the way to the second floor. It was her way of saying ‘thanks’ for giving her a chance to earn money, helping him on Saturdays. She was saving money for Christmas presents. Besides, he liked Donna a lot.

Mr. Weatherby was such a grouch but Colin didn’t mind. His car was not working, again. And Mr. Weatherby’s lawn was all grown up, again. Colin would come later and cut the grass. No charge, again.

He raced up the street to his last customer. Colin had quite a bit of energy left, as he bounded up the stairs. Mrs. Williams saw him coming and had her usual snack waiting. She wondered why such a lively boy always had time to chat with an old lady. Lemonade and his favorite peanut butter cookies were a neat treat. After all, she had told him many times he was her favorite paperboy.

His own treat for his customers came from his little boy’s heart. Colin was so full of joy, and it made him many friends. Everyone looked forward to his daily trips with the newspaper, even if some of the news was sad. There were customers from all over. Some even came from China and Africa. Others had thick, wavy hair and some, no hair. Colin didn’t mind. He liked them all. Some of his customers were fat, others skinny. And some had customs and clothes, which were different. But it didn’t matter to Colin. He liked them all.

Colin did have much good news to share, even if he didn’t realize it. His smile and polite manners brought cheering-up news to all his customers. Yes, Colin was a very special paperboy.

At Red Rock

The red spool held in the boys’ hands twirled rapidly as the kite tugged.

“Let the line out slowly,” dad said. “You don’t want to use it all at once.”

“But dad,” Colin answered, “I want it to go higher and faster.” His face was sunburned as the sandy Red Rock on which they were standing. Two sparrows shared a branch above the pebbly ocean shore. “Up, up and goodbye,” they chirped.

“Careful Colin, don’t slip on the moss,” said Mom. She stepped carefully across the huge rock, almost the size of their car garage.

“Mom, I am being careful. LOOK! It must be a mile high.”

“Not really, son,” said mom. “You only have five hundred feet of string.”

“It’s really neat having our family picnic on top of Red Rock,” Colin said.

It was such a pleasant place on this finger of land poking into Cobequid Bay, Nova Scotia. The day was sunny and clouds white as ocean whitecaps danced against the shore. Colin’s waxed string held tightly to the climbing kite. A happy face on its plastic shape jiggled around, up and down. At times it teased the boy, plunging downwards. Colin pushed the spool forward, then pulled it back to his chest. This quick movement, made the kite climb with new energy.

“We must leave soon. Before the tide comes in,” Dad said. Colin wasn’t listening; eyes were fixed on the kite’s shimmer of red and white. Also busily munching on his turkey and mayo sandwich.

“We can finish our picnic on the shore,” suggested Mom.

She was first to step down from the sandstone rock. Colin’s dad also crossed the sandy beach and up wooden steps onto higher land.

They didn’t notice Colin had not followed. From their scenic view, the open water stretched to Maitland, fifteen miles on the other side of Cobequid Bay. Sea gulls flew in twists and turns.

ERK! ERK! Calls were more like warning cries from their long beaks.

So what if the tide came in? Colin thought. “Then I’ll have to spend all night here on this rock,” he chuckled.

Before long he realized his new problem was huge as Red Rock itself. It would take a while to retrieve his line, and began winding furiously. It seemed as if it touched those Cirrus clouds. Oh-mi-gosh it was getting dark. Was that the moon behind his kite? Now he realized Mom and dad were gone. He couldn’t hear their voices calling from shore. Tidewater began lapping at the base of Red Rock. But Colin was still determined to reel in his kite. It had been a birthday gift from uncle Lawrence.

“Mom! Dad!” he called, seeing them wave from shore. They couldn’t hear him either. Only shadows in the forest heard their frantic calls. The kite soared and dipped. And circled and climbed reluctant to leave its freedom in the sky. Trees rustled from the approaching wind. Stars came out. Colin held firmly onto his kite string, arms too tired to wind any further. Tidewater rose higher.

The Milky Way seemed so close. Planes flew by. Colin heard water sloshing in the darkness. Some water even splashed against his sneakers. Tired legs hoped the boy would sit down and rest. However, Colin waited for some kind of miracle. And, IT DID! A super gust of wind blew in from the ocean. With a mighty “WHOOSH!” his kite lifted high, dragging him along. Thankfully Colin didn’t eat his extra sandwich. He might have been too heavy.

The powerful wind blew the kite dragging Colin towards the shore. He held firmly onto his red spool. Stars blinked at the scene before them. Several planes flew high above. Before long, Colin was directly overhead his parents. Dad’s strong arms reached up grabbed Colin’s legs and pulled him down. Mom wrapped warm arms around her little man. In all the excitement, Colin forgot about his kite that carried him here. In fact, he still held tightly to the spool of string.

High above, the plastic kite with its smiling face continued to make circles. Suddenly there was a snap. Colin was not disappointed as he watched a trail of string follow his kite. He was also happy to be back on land with his parents. Besides, his kite was free to travel anywhere it wished.

Now when you look up at night, you’ll notice a few clouds, stars and planes, perhaps a few seagulls. if you’re lucky, you may even see an eagle. But if you look closely; you may see something quite different. It’s Colin’s red and white kite. And its smiling yellow face is looking for another friend.

Foolish Imitation

Long ago, a hawk lived on the top of a hill. At the foot of the hill there was a banyan tree on which a crow used to perch every day. The crow was very foolish. He would imitate everyone.

The hawk atop the hill would fly down every day in search of food. The crow watched the hawk circling in the air for long hours and swooping down when he saw his prey. The hawk gifted with eyes that could see long distances would spot his prey from the hill top and then fly down to pounce upon the prey.

The crow watched the hawk thinking, “Hunh! If the hawk can do that, I too can. What does he think? One day, I will show the hawk that I can do the same thing.”

A few days later, as the hawk was circling in the air, the crow decided to do the same. Suddenly a baby rabbit came out of the bushes. The hawk saw it and the crow too saw the rabbit.

Before the crow could move, the hawk swooped down, caught hold of the rabbit in his strong sharp talons and flew away. “Swoosh!” was all the crow heard as the hawk disappeared in the sky with his prey. “Hmmph! That is no great skill,” thought the crow, angrily.

Next moment he spotted a big fat mouse coming out of a hole. Without wasting time, the crow swooped down. Like the hawk he tried to catch the mouse in his claws.

But the mouse saw the crow and moved away, the crow crashed against the hill. “Eeeaaa!” cried the crow in pain.

Just then the hawk came flying down. “I hope, now you know it is not easy to hunt and it is not easy to imitate, either,” said the hawk and flew away.

Thereafter, the crow never imitated any one in its life. It lived happily with the God-given abilities.

The little bird who was afraid to fly

Once upon a time there was a little bird named Birdie and she was afraid to fly. She would hide all day and all night in the bushes, mostly because there were these big bully crows that would land on the ground in front of Birdie they would scare her and tease her by squawking “you can’t flyyyy your afraid to flyyyy” and the little bird would be soooo scared she would hide in the dark underbrush of these bushes.

One wonderful sunny day a very funny little squirrel named Quirk scurried by and saw the little bird and he asked her “what’s your name and why are you hiding in these bushes”.

The little bird replied “My name is Birdie and I am hiding because I’m afraid to fly and those big bully crows tease me”.

So the squirrel said “would you like to go sit in the tree” the little bird said “yes very much!” so the squirrel sat down and said “hop on my back and I will take you up the tree.”

So he did, and everyday since then the squirrel would come by the bushes and the little bird would hop on his back and he would take her up the tree and Birdie would sit on the branch all day long. Quirk would spend the day scurrying and playing around the branches and up and down all the trees in the forest. Birdie would just watch wishing she could play too. Then when it began to get dark the squirrel would bring the little bird back down the tree and would leave her in the dark shelter of the bushes so she could go to bed.

On this particular day the little bird said “Quirk would you stay here on this branch with me so we can laugh and play and be friends forever.” The squirrel happily said “yes, I would like that!” so that is exactly what they did they laughed and played, they had been having so much fun. Then the crows noticed the little bird was in the tree and they swooped down and started teasing the little bird squawking, “you can’t flyyyy your afraid to flyyyy you can’t flyyyyy”.

Well the little bird was so upset that she started flapping her wings and frantically saying “I can too fly, I’m not afraid to fly, I can fly if I wanted to fly, I can Fly If I want too!!!” Quirk couldn’t believe his eyes he was stunned looking at the little bird he exclaimed “Birdie you’re flying, you’re flying!”…the little bird had flapped her wings so hard that she had begun to fly “I’m flying?” she said “I am flying!” she was so happy she flew looped deedoos then up and down and in and out of all the branches. Then she saw it, the tallest tree in all the forest and she flapped her wings as hard as she could and flew all the way to the tippy top of that tallest tree and she sat there so proud and so brave. Birdie wasn’t afraid of flying anymore and she was never bothered by those big bully crows ever again.

Everyday the squirrel would scurry up the tallest tree in all the forest to meet the little bird and they would laugh and play throughout the whole forest, in and out of all the branches, and up and down all the trees having so much fun, Quirk and Birdie remained best friends forever.

Jumbo The Little Elephant

This story reminds us that you should always be careful about who you make friends with. You will meet some good friends in as well as some who are there to make fun of you or make use of you. And always remember that mom’s advise can never be wrong.

Once upon a time a baby elephant named Jumbo used to live in a forest. He always used to dream that one day he would be able to swim. His mother tried hopelessly to make him believe that he is very heavy in weight that’s why he could not swim. But he never listened. He would reach by the river and happily look at his glance in it.

Once he slept early and then he dreamed that he was swimming deep in the river. He was swimming here and there and frolicking happily. He made friendship with some small but harmless fishes. He even found a place to take rest in nights. He was very happy. He could see the colors of different lights that were flickering ceaselessly. The lights were coming out from some fishes that were very beautiful and colorful.

After seeing him, the colorful fishes went to him and they asked his name. He said his name was Jumbo and from the very next day he became friends with them. Now they would daily play hide and seek together. But in the meanwhile Jumbo could not realize the mischievous plan of those fishes. The fishes actually were very amused at the look of Jumbo. They wanted to make his big ears there home. They thought how would it like be if they play hide and seek in Jumbo’s big fans like ears and his mouth.

One day when Jumbo was fast asleep after playing, all those colorful fishes arrived and entered his mouth and making exit from his ears. They were playing and making fun of Jumbo. When Jumbo woke up he realized that he made a big mistake by making friendship with them. He cried but nobody came for his help. At last his mother woke him up from his dream. Seeing his mother in front of him, Jumbo cried inconsolably and promised that he would never ever think of swimming in future. That made his mother happy and she served him hot delicious food.

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Alone

You should always remember one thing kids, never open the door to any stranger especially when your parents are not home. Make sure you check to see who it is or take a peek and if you don’t know them just lock the door and stay inside. 

My mother and father had just left the house to go to the movies.

I was baby-sitting my two little sisters when the doorbell rang. I knew that I shouldn’t answer the door for obvious reasons, but something drew me to open it.

I saw a man at the door and said, “Can I help you?” He looked at me and stared, as if he didn’t hear me the first time. I repeated myself several times, but he just stared. I remembered that he might be deaf, and taking three years of sign language, I signed ‘Can I help you?’ He nodded, heavily and then pushed me aside and stepped in. I signed ‘Do I know you? Do my parents know you?’ He nodded again. And then stared at the back wall with the picture of a strange figure that came with the house.

My father wanted to throw it away, but my mother said it would go with her new wallpaper. Anyway, back to the story.

He automatically sat at the kitchen table, like he knew where everything was in the house. I asked him what his name was and he shook his head no. I asked him again and he shook his head no, more seriously this time. I started to get scared for myself and my two baby sisters in the house. I told him to wait there and I would be back later. I ran into the next room and picked up the phone to call the police. But when I picked up the phone, I didn’t hear a dial tone; I heard breathing … deep breathing.

I hung up the phone and stared into the kitchen. The man was still sitting there, he hadn’t moved. I called the kids upstairs and I locked them in my room so he wouldn’t hurt them or whatever he planned to do. Then I ran into my parents room to get the cordless, so I could peek into the kitchen to see if he picked up the phone. When I went downstairs, I looked into the kitchen. ‘Good,’ I thought. ‘He’s still sitting down. Now I can call.’ But when I clicked the phone, I heard breathing, even though he was sitting down. I screamed and hid behind the wall.

I didn’t like this. When I looked to see if he heard me (I screamed so loud that even a deaf man could hear me) he was gone. I don’t know what happened, but when I looked at the picture on the wall, there was the man; he was staring at me and occasionally he would blink.

I told my parents and they didn’t see the man there. Only I could see him. I don’t know why, but I am never alone anymore.

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