Ted the Tractor makes his Engine Shine

One day there was a little tractor named Ted. Every day Ted worked on the farm. He worked very hard under the guidance of his friend the farmer. On a particular day, Ted and the Farmer worked late and at the end of the day the farmer said, "Ted, today was exhausting. I need a better tractor. Your engine is rusty and you aren't working as hard as we need."

Well, Ted was surprised to hear this. Even though the work was hard, he had always thought that he and the farmer would go on together, forever. Ted resolved that very night to make his engine new and shiney, so that he could work harder.

When the farmer went into the farm house, Ted started his journey. First he drove up a mountain. At the top he met a rock climber. Ted said, "Can you help make my engine shiney again?" and the rock climber said, "All I have is this rope, and this climbing axe. I can not help you."

So Ted drove down the mountain and into a swamp. A swamp is like a forest and a lake all mixed together. It is full of mud, and Ted had a difficult time rolling through the mud. But he tried hard and he made it. In the swamp he met an aligator. Ted said, "Please Mr. aligator, can you help make my engine shiney again?" and the aligator said, "All I have are these big teeth for chomping fish. I can not help with your engine."

So Ted drove out of the swamp and into a forest. In the forest he met a wood cutter. Ted said, "Please Mr. Wood Cutter, can you help make my engine shiney again?" and the wood cutter said, "All I have is an axe. I can not help you."

Ted began to think he would end his days with a rusty engine. But Ted had pride. He did not want to have a rusty engine. He believed that he was a good, strong engine and that his engine should shine!

So next Ted went to a city, and as he entered the city he crossed over a bridge. And on the bridge were some men working. The paint on the bridge was old and needed to be removed, and these men were using something called a "sand blaster" to do it. The sand blaster was kind of like a water pistol the shot really hard and fast, and had little grains of sand in the water.

Ted asked one of the workers, "Can you help make my engine shine?" and the worker said, "Sure. We can remove the rust with our sand blaster. But the san blaster hurts a lot. The little grains of sand will sting when they hit you. Do you still want a shiney engine?"

Ted thought about this. Was it worth being hurt so that he could have a shiney engine? It might mean the difference between working with the farmer and being put out to pasture. Ted asked, "Will it hurt me forever, or just for a little while?"

The worker said, "Well, it will only hurt while we blast you. Then it will ache for a day, and then it will hurt no more."

Ted said, "Then I want it."

So the worker blaster Ted's engine with sand, and the rust came flying off, but only a little bit at a time. It took two hours to blast all the rust off, and it hurt Ted the whole time.

When it was done, Ted drove back to the farm. As he drove, the ache of the blasting stayed with him, but by the time he got to the farm the pain and the ache were only a memory.

When the farmer came out the next day to see Ted he said, "Oh my! What a nice shiney engine! I do not need to get a new tractor, this one is terrific!" and sure enough, that day Ted and the farmer plowed the field in half the time it usually took them, and they spent the rest of the day together just talking.

The End
(c) 2007 Ken Demarest