A Flu Comes

One day Tigedy the white tiger was staying with his friend Teddy Bear. Tidegy was born far away in India. He was not used to Teddy Bear's cabin, but he was starting to like it. It was comfortable, and it was surrounded by a beautiful forest, and Teddy Bear always had a nice warm fire burning in the fire place.

Tigedy did not feel right today. He was sick. He had the flu.

Now, you might wonder why Tigedy was sick. Because he was born in India, his Thymus was used to India germs. The Thymus is right near your heart, and it is the part of you that learns all about germs and how to make your body fight them. Tigedy's Thymus knew all about India germs.

But now Tigedy was in United States and his Thymus was meeting United States germs instead. The United States germs, like the flu, would come into Tigedy's body and his Thymus would say, "Holy moly, what is that? I don't know how to fight that germ... yet."

So that is why Tigedy was sick with the flu.

His nose, which is pretty big, was running and snot and boogers were stuck inside. Teddy Bear felt sorry for his friend.

"Tigedy," said Teddy Bear, "let me get out the humidifier. It will help get those boogers out of your nose."

"Thank you." said Tigedy.

But when Teddy Bear got out the humidifier it was missing a piece, so Tigedy decided to sleep beside the fire. He hoped that the warmth would help him get better.

Late that night Tigedy woke up. His nostrils were stuck together! Instead of being able to roar like this: "Roooar!" he could only roar like this: (hold your nose and roar weakly) "roar."

Tigedy woke up Teddy Bear (hold your nose) "The fire dried out my d'ose. My boogers are stuck!"

Teddy Bear felt sorry for Tigedy, but he still giggled a little. He put a kettle of water on the stove. When it heated up, steam started to float around the cabin. Tigedy would leap into the air and breath in a patch of steam. Leap and sniff (make the motions), leap and sniff.

Soon the steam helped Tigedy's boogers loosen up. His nose opened. "Phew," he said, "that is much better."

The next morning Tigedy felt a lot better.

Teddy Bear said, "I bet your Thymus figured out how to fight that flu."

Tigedy said, "Maybe next time it meets that flu I won't get so many boogers!"

And that is how Tigedy's Thymus learned about its first United States germs.

The End
(c) 2007 Ken Demarest

Teddy Bear and Spotty Spot hear a Growl in the Forest

One day Spotty Spot, who lived by the river, was taking the forest path to visit his friend Teddy Bear. It was a pretty long path. Parts of it went through deep, dark woods where the trees hung darkly over the path.

Spotty Spot ate a snack as he trotted along, a nice dried stick of beef jerky. Then Spotty Spot heard a sound: "growwwl".

He stopped. He looked around. There it was again: "growwwl."

Spotty Spot tried to look into the forest, but he couldn't see anything. He walked faster. He felt a little nervous about that growling sound, and he thought about it all the way to Teddy Bear's house.

When he arrived he knocked on Teddy Bear's door and waited nervously for it to open.

"Teddy Bear! I heard a growl on the path today!" said Spotty Spot.

"Oh, that must have been quite nervous-making." said Teddy Bear.

"It was," said Spotty Spot, "What do you suppose it was?"

Teddy Bear thought about that for a moment. He said, "I don't know, but I think that I have heard growling for the last three nights, outside my cabin."

The two friends decided right then that they would figure out what was making that noise. They got out some torches. If you don't know what torches are, they are like long sticks with a fire at one end. Anyway, Teddy Bear's house was in a clearing, and all around the edge of the clearing they stuck torches in the ground, and lit them. When night came, there was a ring of fire light all the way around the cabin.

While they waited Teddy Bear and Spotty Spot cooked. They made a nice beef stew, with big chunks of meat, carrots, potatoes, leeks, mushrooms, and some peas. The smell was delicious.

Then, outside the cabin, they heard it: "growwwl".

They two friends rushed to the window. Lifting the drapes, the peeked slowly out. They could not see anything at first. Then, out in the woods, beyond the torch light, they could see two eyes reflecting red.

Spotty Spot went to the front door and opened it.

"Who is out here?" he shouted.

The eyes blinked, and then a white tiger stepped forward into the light.

"It is only me, Tigedy" said the white tiger.

"Come up onto the porch where I can see you," said Spotty Spot, "and tell me why you have been growling at me and Teddy Bear. Are you a nice tiger, or a mean tiger?"

Tigedy walked up to the porch. He was skinny, and his ribs were showing through his skin.

"I am a nice tiger, and I wasn't growling," said Tigedy. "It was my stomach! I am so hungry that my stomach is growling. I smelled your stew, and I couldn't help it."

"Oh, well," said Spotty Spot, "that is different. Would you like some stew?"

"Yes please." said Tigedy.

So Teddy Bear ladeled out three large bowls of stew and brought them to the porch. Spotty Spot and Teddy Bear sat on one side of the porch, and Tigedy ate on the other, because they still didn't know each other very well.

As Tigedy ate his stew he said, "Oh! Yum! This is the best stew I've ever eaten! You two must be famouse chefs, to make a stew like this. Why, I can't believe how good it is. What a delightful feast!"

This kind of talk appealed very much to Teddy Bear and Spotty Spot, as Tigedy hoped it would. Teddy Bear asked, "Why are you so hungry, and wandering in the woods?"

Tigedy explained about that.

"I was born in a country called India, far away from here. I was captured by a man, who put me in a cage. Three days ago I was being moved, in a truck, and the truck tipped over. My cage opened, and I escaped. But this is not like India. I don't know how to find food, I have no friends, and no place to live."

Teddy Bear and Spotty Spot asked Tigedy so many questions, and when they were convinced he was telling the truth, they invited Tigedy into the house. And that is how Tigedy met Teddy Bear and Spotty Spot, and they all became friends.

The End
(c) 2007 Ken Demarest

Moobaloo Saves the Telescope

One day Moobaloo the mermaid was swimming through the ocean. Now, a mermaid isn't quite like a person. Mermaids have the same face, and the same torso, but instead of legs a mermaid has the tail of a fish.

On this particular day Moobaloo was looking up through the water and she saw a huge shadow on the water's surface. She wondered what it was so she swam towards it.

As she got close she could see it was a great big ship, a three masted schooner. That is a kind of boat with really big sails, and three masts all sticking up from its decks. She saw the silhouette of a man standing by the railing, holding something long and shiny.

Moobaloo swam under the water and popped up right below the man. "Hello!" she said.

The man was startled. He dropped the long, shiny thing right into the water.

He said, "You surprised me!"

Moobaloo asked, "Who are you, and what are you doing?"

The man responded, "I am a pirate captain, and I was using my telescope to look far away."

Now, a telescope is a special kind of long tube. When you hold it up to your eye you can see really far away. The capatain was using it to look for other ships.

Moobaloo said, "I didn't mean to surprise you."

The captain said, "Well, you did, and now I've dropped my telescope! It was my favorite telescope, made of brass, given to me by my father."

"Don't worry," said Moobaloo, "I will get it back for you."

She dove under the water and started swimming down. As she swam, deeper and deeper, the sunlight started to change. Pretty soon she lost the color red. Then she couldn't see the color orange any more. The deeper she went, the more colors were absorbed by the water above.

Just as she was startting to lose the color yellow she saw her good friend Horace the fish.

"Hi Moobaloo!" said Horace, "What are you doing?"

"I made a pirate captain drop his telescope. It is sinking to the bottom of the ocean and I have promised to get it back." she said.

"But Moobaloo," said Horace, "its is very deep here. This is one of the deepest parts of the ocean! Are you sure?"

"Yes. I promised." she said.

"Well then, I will come and help you get it." said Horace.

So Horace and Moobaloo started swimming down together. Pretty soon the color green was gone, and the water was getting colder and colder.

Soon they came to a huge squid, who said "Surface swimmers, what are you doing down here in the depths of the ocean?"

"Have you seen a telescope fall past?" asked Horace, who knew Squid Language.

"Yes," said the squid, "but you are very late. The telescope was going very fast, and it passed here a few minutes ago."

"Thank you," said Horace, and they started swimming down again.

When they finally lost the color blue there was no more sunlight left. It was completely dark.

"We will never find the telescope in the dark!" said Moobaloo.

Just then Horace said, "I think I see a light."

Sure enough, a little light came bobbing towards them through the water. At first it looked like a little star all alone, but pretty soon they saw that it was attached to a fish called an Angler Fish. It stuck up out of its noggin on a long stalk. The Angler Fish had lots of strange pointy teeth in its mouth, like this (point all your fingers and weave your hands together) and looked a little scary.

"Surface Swimmers, what are you doing here in the depths of the ocean?" asked the fish.

Moobaloo said, "We are looking for a telescope that fell to the bottom. But it is too dark for us to see, and we may never find it now."

"Let me help you with my light," said the fish.

And so the three companions began to swim even deeper. The water got colder, and the pressure started to increase. (grab you child's calf in your hand, and squeeze very lightly) At the top of the sea the pressure is very gentle. But when you go deep, you get more and more pressure, like this: (show increasing pressure on the calf with your hand. Don't overdo it)

The Angler Fish lead the way with the little light bobbing on the end of its stalk.

Then they got to the bottom. There they saw the huge white bones of a whale sticking up from the bottom of the sea. When whales die their bones fall to the depths. The telescope had fallen in the middle of the bones.

Moobaloo swam towards it, but Horace said, "Moobaloo stop! Look at those long worms with all the teeth."

Parts of the whale were still on the bones, and large worms with a ring of teeth on one end gnawed away at the meat. The worms were blind, and if Moobaloo swam past they would not know her from the whale meat, and might eat her.

"How will we get the telescope?" asked Moobaloo.

At that moment they saw more lights coming towards them. These lights were arranges like the spokes of a wheel, and they strobed from the center outward. It was a big jellyfish.

"Surface swimmers," said the jellyfish, "what are you doing here in the depths?"

"We are trying to get that telescope," said Moobaloo, "but we can not get near because of the worms."

"I will get it for you," said the jellyfish. "Those worms eat meat, but I am not made if meat. I am made of jelly."

And so the jellyfish swam between the whale bones, and used her long tentacles to grab the telescope and bring it to Moobaloo.

"Thank you for helping us!" said Moobaloo. "We are going to swim up now. Would you like to come with us?"

"Certainly!" said the jellyfish.

So the four companions, Moobaloo, Horace, the Anglerfish and the Jellyfish all swam up together. But while it was still very dark and very cold the jellyfish said, "This is as high as I can go." and they said goodbye.

Up they swam and just as the the first hints of light appeared the Anglerfish said, "This is as high as I can go." and the said goodbye.

Then Horace and Moobaloo swam up towards the surface. The water felt warm compared to the freezing depths. The pressure was less, and as they swam up they started to see colors again - first blue, then green, then yellow, orange and red.

The popped up beside the pirate ship and threw the telescope up to the captain.

"Thank you!" he said.

And that is how Moobaloo met the pirate captain.

The End
(c) 2007 Ken Demarest

The Pine Needle and the Moon

One day there was a little pine needle.

All its life the pine needle lived very high up in a tree. It was surrounded by all of its friends, many many other pine needles that grew in the tree along side it. It was never alone.

When the wind blew the little pine needle would hold on tight. It loved the way the tree would sway back and forth, back and forth (rock your body). It was very exciting! As the wind blew, always there was the sound of his neighbors rustling together.

Late at night, when everything was dark and the stars were winking in the sky, the little pine needle would look up at the full moon. Its heart ached with the beauty of the moon. With all its might the little pine needle would stretch up, trying to touch the moon. But it never could.

Time went by. The pine needle got older. One night the time came when he was very old, and he was going to fall off the tree. His friends all said, "Hold on! Don't let go!"

The little pine needle held on tight until the moon rose. He looked at it, huge and luminous, one last time. The pine needle said, "I have lived a long time. I am ready to go."

So he let go and drifted down, and down. He was not sad to leave all the other pine needles, who had been with him all his life. He was only sad that he had never gotten to touch the moon.

He fell onto a trampoline.

The next day the sun rose. A boy named Will (your child's name) visited the trampoline that day. The little pine needle saw him bounce up and down, up and down. The pine needle watched everything.

The next night, the little pine needle practiced jumping. Each day the boy came, and each night the pine needle practiced. Higher and higher it learned to jump, until one night it was ready.

The moon rose high up into the sky that night and the little pine needle jumped. Up, and up, each jump higher and higher, it jumped so high that it reached the moon and stuck right into its nostril just like a nose hair.

And that is the story of how the little pine needle touched the moon.

The End
(c) 2007 Ken Demarest

Moobaloo, Horace and the Cave

One day Moobaloo, who was a mermaid, was swimming along with her friend Horace the fish and they saw a sea horse.

Now, a sea horse isn't quite like a regular horse. Instead, it is about the size of your foot. It has a very horse-like head, but then it curves down to a chubby belly, and curves around again to a pointy tail.

Sea horses come in so many shapes and sizes! This particular sea horse was very special. On its head were golden sparkles, and little fronds sprouted up around its cheeks and forehead. The fronds were like this: (hold your hands up beside your temples and wave your fingers). Its body was covered with purple stripes. On its tail was a deep red fading from its stem to its very tip.

Moobaloo said, "Horace! That sea horse is so special, I would like to catch it and take it home to show my parents."

Horace said, "OK, but sea horses are wild creatures, and it might not want to be caught."

Moobaloo and Horace swam toward the sea horse, whose name was Naylee. At first Naylee did not see them coming, but they made some noise. When Naylee saw them she was startled, and she ran away into a big cave.

Horace said, "We need to go into that cave." but Moobaloo said, "Caves can be dangerous. Sometimes they are safe, just filled with stalactites and stalagmites. But sometimes creatures can live inside a cave, so you have to be careful."

Moobaloo and Horace swam up very slowly to the cave. Inside, they could see a great big green eel. It was as long as Moobaloo, and it sat near the opening of the cave with its mouth gaping wide, like this: (open your mouth very wide, tilt your chin up a bit, and breath in and out about once a second. Stare. It should be just a little scary)

"We can't go in that way!" said Moobaloo, "That eel is scary."

"Maybe the cave has another opening." said Horace.

So they looked around to the left of the cave, but nothing was there except some rocks and the bottom of the ocean. Then they looked around to the right and about twenty feet away (which is about the length of two cars) they saw a little opening.

Horace said, "This entrance to the cave is too small for you, Moobaloo. I will swim in and see if I can find the sea horse."

So Horace carefully swam in the hole. It was dark, and he stopped near the entrance. His eyes were used to the bright light outside, and he waited for them to adjust. Sure enough, as he hovered in the darkness his eyes got more and more used to the darkness, until at last he could see pretty well.

He said to Moobaloo, "Watch the entrance. If I startle the sea horse, you can catch it as it swims out."

"OK." said Moobaloo.

Now that his eyes were adjusted Horace swam into the cave. It was still very dark, filled with stalctites hanging from the ceiling. The farther he swam the darker it got. Soon it was so dark that he stopped again, afraid that he might swim into a wall and bonk his noggin.

Just then Horace saw a faint light ahead in the darkness. It looked a little bit like the lights of a Christmas tree when you turn off all the other lights in your house, and they glow with many colors against the branches of the tree.

Horace wondered, 'what could that be?' and he swam towards it. As he got closer he started to see a shape.

Soon he saw that it was the sea horse, Naylee. The fronds on her head each gave off a little light from their very tip, like Christmas tree lights.

Horace thought she was very beautiful. He did not want to hurt her, but he still wanted to catch her.

First he said to her, "Sea horse, will you please come with me and my friend?"

But Naylee did not speak English. She only spoke Sea Horse, so she did not know what he wanted.

Horace swam slowly and carefully around to Naylee's other side and said, "Boo!". Naylee was startled again, and she swam quick as a wink out the little cave entrance, and right into Moobaloo's arms.

"I have the sea horse!" Moobaloo shouted into the cave.

Horace was glad, but just as he was about to leave he realized that something in the cave was different. The big green eel was behind him, with its mouth open, breathing like this: (do the open mouth, and the breathing)

Horace was very still, and he was very worried. He didn't know if the eel could see him in the dark, but he did not want to move and give himself away. The eel just hung there (do the breathing).

Moobaloo shouted in from the hole, "Horace, you can come out now."

But Horace did not reply. He was scared. He stayed very still and did not make a sound.

Outside, Moobaloo was curious. Why was Horace not coming out? First she peeked in the hole, but she couldn't see anything. It was too dark. So she thought about it, and she had an idea what might have happened.

Moobaloo swam around to the front of the cave. She held up Naylee the sea horse. Naylee's fronds glowed and blinked. When the eel noticed, it swam to investigate and Moobaloo backed away from the cave entrance.

Horace swam as fast as he could, like a rocket, away from the eel and out the little hole.

"Thank you Moobaloo! I was very worried."

So Horace and Moobaloo swam back to her parent's place to show them Naylee. They fed Naylee a great big meal of yummy sea horse snacks, and released her back into the wild.

And that is how Moobaloo and Horace had an adventure in a cave.

The End
(c) 2007 Ken Demarest