Seleke is Visited by the Miller

One day there was a girl named Seleke. She lived in a house near the ocean with her mother, not at the bottom of a cliff, and not at the top, but right in the middle. Below the cliff lived Ugly Giants, and above lived Snarling Wolves.

Today Seleke asked her mother, "Can we eat pancakes for breakfast?"

Seleke's mother replied, "I am sorry, but we are out of flour. I can not make pancakes without flour."

Seleke was very unhappy about this. She really liked pancakes.

"But," said Seleke's mother, "we can have pancakes tomorrow."

"Why?" asked Seleke, "I thought you said we were out of flour."

"Because," said her mother, "today you will be getting more flour for us."

"How?" asked Seleke.

"Come with me." said her mother.

First, Seleke's mother got out a large bolt of red silk. Using two sticks they make a very large kite and tied a tail on it, with many bows. Then they attached a strong, thin string.

Seleke carried the kite outside. The wind from the sea was always very strong, and with the kite in her hands Seleke was nearly blown off her feet.

Seleke's mother put some money in an envelope and attached it to the kite. Holding the kite string Seleke ran. The kite flew high into the air. Seleke played out the string, bit by bit, and the kite rose ever higher, the little envelope of money dangling below.

"Now wait," said Seleke's mother, and she went back inside the house.

Seleke did not like waiting. But she liked flying kites, so the waiting was easier. The sun reached noon, and was almost starting to set when Seleke saw a strange cloud out over the ocean. The cloud was coming towards her very fast.

When it got closer Seleke thought she saw something on it, but that couldn't be true, because there is nothing among the clouds but more clouds. Still, it got closer and closer.

Then Seleke saw that on the cloud was a great big windmill. The mill had four large arms on the front, each with a great big sail on it. A man stood by the mill, at the edge of the cloud, looking over the edge at Seleke and waving.

Seleke waved back. The man waved at her. She waved. He waved. Then she realized he was waving for a reason. Seleke flew her kite to the edge of the cloud.

The man used a gaff to snare the string of the kite. Then he removed the envelope of money and tied something new to the kite. It was heavy, and the kite dipped down, but kept flying.

Seleke reeled the kite in to see what it was. The man had attached a big sack of flour! Seleke ran inside to tell her mother.

Seleke's mother took the flour as if she had been expecting it.

"Now we can have pancakes for breakfast tomorrow!" Seleke said. She ran outside and waved at the miller as his cloud began to drift away.

The End
(c) 2008 Ken Demarest