Children's Stories

Once, upon a cornfield there lived a small little field mouse named Martin. Martin spent most of the year running around having fun, as most little mice did. In the winter he would race around on his little ice skates and try to catch snowflakes. In the spring he would go and play in the fields and stop to smell the beautiful new flowers. In the summer he would splash around in the ponds and bask in the summer sun. In the fall… well in the fall Martin had to go back to work. Not that going back to work was a bad thing. In fact, Martin rather enjoyed his job. You see, unlike most little mice Martin had a very important job to do and that job was to look after the fall season. In fact each and every season had to be carefully looked after or else it would waste away and disappear. Penny the polar bear looked after winter, Hendrix the hummingbird was in charge of spring, Tamara the turtle oversaw summer and that left little ole Martin the mouse to care for fall. 

Martin took his job very seriously. He started his job early by planting seeds and fiddling with the weather. Some days would be nice and cool and others would be a little chilly. He would always make sure not to turn the weather down too low though. If he did that all the crops would freeze and you simply couldn’t have that. Soon after all the seeds were planted, harvesting time would be here and all the humans would go and gather the crops. Of course, he’d take some for himself as well. After all, who would make all the delicious pumpkin pies and spooky jack-o-lanterns if not for him. He also took some time to go apple picking as well. 

By this time he would be finished plucking and painting all the leaves red and orange and brown. He would decorate the sidewalks with them, showcasing them for all the world to see. Each day he’d make the sky just a little darker and the air just a little colder. At least until Halloween. Halloween was when the ghosts were set loose and all the humans were filled with fear and fright. Martin liked to watch as they dressed up as scary creatures and went door to door collecting candy and scaring one another. He found it all quite amusing. 

“Why do you wish to frighten humans?” Tamara had asked him one fall afternoon as they were enjoying a nice slice of pumpkin pie.

“I never wished to frighten them.” Martin replied, “I suppose they’re just easily frightened.” 

“Well if you know the humans are frightened by ghosts, why do you keep letting them out?” 

“The annual banquet of course,” Martin replied happily. “I can’t possibly have my banquet without all of my ghostly friends now can I?” 

“I suppose a banquet isn’t a banquet without the ghosts as well.” Tamara smiled. “But what about Grim? Does he really have to be here every year?”

“Why of course!” Martin said. “Besides, Penny and I need him here on earth for the last part of fall and the beginning of winter.”

“I guess,” Tamara said. She sounded sad. “I don’t know how you do it.” 

“Oh cheer up Tamara,” Martin said. He hated seeing his friends all mopey and sad.. “It’s not too bad. Besides, it’s all a part of the natural cycle.” 

Tamara sighed and poked at her pie. It seemed as though her appetite was gone. 

Tamara never understood the natural cycle. She was a summery, happy, fun-filled turtle who never knew the truth. Well, not never. It just took her a long time to figure it out. 

Spring was filled with new life and winter was filled with new death. Martin had always helped Penny prepare by letting loose all the ghosts along with their leader, Grim. They would take their toll on the land bringing those who could no longer survive on the Earth, to the underworld, which despite popular belief, was actually quite nice. After Grim returned to the underworld with all his ghosts in hand, Hendrix was always there to help repopulate everything. He sewed new flowers out of silk and grew new babies out of old cabbage patches. Tamara never saw these things though. Everything was done and over with by the time she went back to work. All she knew was sunny days and happy smiles. Martin almost felt sorry for her. 

Then the day came. It hit Tamara like a ton of bricks. She had woken up just in time to go back to work when she received a letter from her good friend Tory-Anne. Tory-Anne was an old turtle who was finally starting to see the test of time. Grim had taken her to the underworld that winter while Tamara was hibernating. She had written a letter to Tamara saying her goodbyes. Tamara was devastated, confused and heartbroken. 115 years of friendship had come to an end. This was the first time she had ever heard of grim taking people with him. That summer was filled with rain and sorrow. Tamara had spent the whole time couped up in her house, not even bothering with her work. 

They finished their pie in silence and Tamara bid Martin a farewell. He quickly washed the empty pie tin and returned to his work. The banquet would be here sooner rather than later and he needed all the time he could get. He decorated the earth with spider webs and black cats. He stuffed the scarecrows full of hay and dressed them in red plaid. Everything was coming along nicely. Or so he thought. 

Suddenly there was an urgent knock at the door. It was none other than Penny. 

“Oh, Martin!” Penny cried. “Something terrible has happened. I don’t know what to do!”

“What’s wrong, Penny?” Martin asked.

“Someone stole all of my snowflakes!” she sobbed into her giant white paws. 

Martin handed her a checkered handkerchief and watched as she blew her nose into it. All year long Penny would hand knit the most beautiful snowflakes anyone had ever seen and carefully store them until winter. 

“Who would do such a thing?” Martin asked, shocked. 

“I don’t know.” Penny cried. “I was out all day planting evergreens and when I came back they were gone. All 15 billion of them, just gone.”

“Don’t worry, Penny. I’m sure there’s still time to knit some more. In fact, after the banquet, I could help you.” 

“Really?” Penny sniffled. “You would help me?” 

“Of course,” Martin said. “Afterall, you can’t have winter without snowflakes.” 

Penny scooped up Martin with her huge paws and squeezed him as tight as she could.

“Oh thank you thank you thank you Martin!” 

“Can’t… Breathe….” Martin wheezed.

“Oh, sorry.” Penny apologized and set him back down.

“Oh! By the way, what day is the banquet?” Penny asked. “I wanted to bring some ice cream cake for dessert.” 

“It’s the day of the full moon.” 

“That’s coming up pretty soon. Do you need help with anything before then?” 

“Now that you mention it, I do need more apples,” Martin replied.

“Say no more, I’m on it,” Penny said. 

With Penny apple picking and the last of the pumpkin pies cooking in the oven, Martin could finally start on his guest list. He had Penny, Hendrix, Tamara, all of the ghosts, Grim, the three witches, the scarecrows from the field, and finally the skeletons from the graveyard. Yep, his list looked just about perfect. After that was done with that he started on the mashed potatoes for the banquet. Penny soon arrived with dozens of apples in tow. 

“I hope you don’t mind, but I also got a bunch of cranberries too,” Penny said.

“Cranberries! Why, I almost forgot the cranberries!” Martin said. “Good thinking Penny.”

Apple pie and cranberry sauce were next up in Martin’s cookbook. Penny started peeling the apples while Martin mashed up the cranberries. They were having a lovely time baking and talking when there was another knock on Martin’s door. In flew Henrix the hummingbird. 

“Hey Martin, you don’t happen to have any extra seeds do you?” Hendrix asked.

“I have plenty of apple and pumpkin seeds now.”

“What happened to your seeds?” Penny asked. “You usually have tons.”

“Well normally I do but today I came home and they were just all gone. Every last one. It was like someone stole them!” 

“Stole them?” Martin squeaked. “Well that’s just like Penny’s snowflakes!”

“What happened to your snowflakes?” Hendrix asked.

“I came home and they were all gone. It was awful.” Penny said.

“I’d hate to think we have a thief on our hands.” Martin said, “but if that’s the case I'd keep everything locked up real tight.”

“What do ya say we make a deal,” Hendrix said. “You guys save all those extra seeds for me and I’ll help out with the banquet and snowflakes. 

“Deal!” Penny and Martin agreed. 

For the rest of the day, they spent their time baking pies, collecting seeds, knitting snowflakes and enjoying each other’s company. The next day, Martin found a letter in his mailbox from Tamara. 

Dear Martin, 

I don’t think I’m going to make it to the banquet this year. I’m too busy working on a new project. Save me a slice of apple pie. 

~Tamara

Tamara Missing a banquet? …but Tamara would never miss a banquet, Martin thought. Surely this was just a joke or something. Perhaps one of the scarecrows was playing a trick on him. Yes, that must be it. After all, it was the season of tricks.

“Ha ha, very funny.” Martin called out as he walked into the cornfield with the letter in hand. The scarecrows looked down from their perches and greeted him.

“What’s funny?” one of them asked.

“The trick you played on me.” Martin replied, “It was pretty clever but I could see right through it.” 

The scarecrows looked at one another, confused. 

“We’ve been scaring crows all day long. None of us have had time to play tricks.” one of them said. 

“But you left me this note.” Martin said. “You were pretending to be Tamara.” 

The scarecrows shook their heads. 

“Well I don’t know who left you that letter but it wasn’t us.” they said. 

Martin left the cornfield confused. Surely it had to be the scarecrows. Nobody else would play a trick like this. Or maybe Tamara was playing a trick. Yes, that could be possible, he thought. Perhaps he should just go talk to her. Yes, a nice visit should clear things up. He’d even bring her a slice of freshly made apple pie. Martin spent the next few hours taking a lovely stroll down to Tamara’s house. Oddly though, Tamara wasn’t there. Martin wondered where she could be. Perhaps she was helping Penny with snowflakes or trying to find seeds for Hendrix. Nevertheless, he still had some pie for her and good pie should never go to waste. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind if I wrapped this up and left it in her fridge for her, Martin thought to himself. He let himself inside and looked around for some tin foil. 

When he opened one of the cabinet doors a couple little seeds fell out onto his head. That’s odd, Martin thought, brushing the seeds off his head. When he opened another cabinet more seeds fell out. And then more seeds. And even more seeds! Until the ground was completely covered in seeds! Finally Martin found the tin foil and opened up the fridge to put the pie away. But to his shock, there, sitting in the fridge was tons of little, hand knitted snowflakes. Not just any hand knitted snowflakes though. They were Penny’s snowflakes! But why had Tamara stolen all of these snowflakes and seeds? What was next? Would she steal all of Martin’s pies!? Suddenly Tamara’s door creaked open and in she walked with dozens of pies. And not just any pies. Martin’s pies! Martin nearly fainted. 

“Tamara!” He squeaked angrily “How could you?” 

Tamara quickly hid away in her shell, hoping he wouldn’t notice her there. 

“Tamara isn’t home right now. Please leave a message after the beep…. BEEEEEEP.”

“Tamara, you get back out here and explain yourself, right now! How could you steal all of this stuff from us? Why I...I thought we were friends.” Martin sounded hurt. 

Tamara nervously peeked her little head out from her shell. 

“We are friends,” she sighed. “But…”

“But what?” Martin asked. 

“But I don’t like winter or the end of fall.” Tamara admitted.

“What do you mean? Why not?”

“You and Penny just open the door for Grim to come and take all those innocent people! It’s not right.” 

Martin sighed. “That’s just how the cycle works Tamara. It’s not like Penny and I like seeing people leave the Earth. We wish everyone could stay too, but they can’t.”

“If you wanted people to stay you’d just keep that stupid door shut.” She snapped. 

“I have to open it.” he snapped back.

“Why?” 

“Cause that’s just how life works!” Martin said. “Look Tamara, normal creatures can’t just live forever. It wouldn’t be good for them.” 

“But we get to live forever and we’re just fine!” 

“But we’re different!”

“Well I don’t want to be different!” Tamara crossed her arms and her eyes welled up with tears. 

“Tamara…” Martin sighed. “You know new flowers can never grow if old ones don’t die. That’s just how nature works. You know we can’t change it.”

Tamara looked away from him. Martin could tell she still didn’t understand. Either that or she didn’t want to understand. He felt bad for her. 

“Tamara, I know how much you miss Tory-Anne” Martin said, sitting on the floor next to her, “But do you remember the note she left you?”

“Of course I do,” Tamara told him, “ I read it all the time when I’m feeling sad.”

“Do you remember what she wrote at the very end?” Martin asked.

“She said that the snow was beautiful and she wished that I could see it… and then she said she would miss me,” Tamara sighed, “Tory-Anne always did want to see snow. She would ask me about it all the time and I would show her the snowflakes that Penny knits. But in her letter she said that there was so much more to winter than the snowflakes. Something more important and magical… but I could never figure out what it was.”

“I think I might know exactly what she’s talking about,” Martin said, "You know Tamara, I think you should see the winter too. After the banquet you can stick around and see exactly what Penny and Hendrix do. That is if you still wanna come to the banquet.” 

“Will there still be apple pie?” Tamara asked, wiping away her stray tears.

“All the apple pie you can eat,” Martin promised, handing her a handkerchief. “but you have to do one thing first.”

“What’s that?” 

“Return everything you stole.”

Tamara spent the rest of the day gathering up all the seeds and snowflakes and pies and returning them to their rightful owners. She apologized to Martin, Penny, and Hendrix and even offered to help with the rest of the cooking for the banquet. They made turkey and stuffing and gravy for the potatoes. Hendrix decorated the table with checkered napkins and red plates. They had apple cider and cheese cubes and candy and all the other delicious food Martin and his friends had cooked. Penny brought ice cream cake and Hendrix brought fresh lemonade and honey.

Finally the doors to the underworld were opened and in walked grim, the ghosts, the witches and everyone else Martin had invited. Grim told Tamara more about the afterlife and what it meant to be “dead”. 

“It’s always sad to be away from those you love,” Grim told her “But in time, they’ll all join you there.” They smiled and chatted and ate amazing food. The skeletons and scarecrows spent the rest of the night dancing on the moon while the black cats and ghosts retired to bed for the night. Usually this would be when Tamara went to sleep. She would always stay up just long enough for the banquet but go to bed right afterwards but this time was different. This time she stayed awake. Once fall had ended Penny began to hang up her snowflakes. Together, her and Grim showed Tamara the end of the seasons. They showed her the wilting flowers and hibernating bears. The fish frozen in the pond and the squirrels who didn’t quite collect enough for the winter. Some of these creatures would be going with Grim, but many would stay here for another season or two or perhaps even three. The winter was beautiful yet sad and Tamara cried many times. Finally it was time for Grim to leave. The door to the underworld creaked open once more but before Grim could step inside, Tamara stopped him. 

“Wait!” Tamara called, “Can I come with you?” 

“Come with me?” Grim replied, “But you’re still alive. The living can’t make their way into the underworld.” 

“Not even for a visit?” Tamara asked sadly. “I just… wanted to visit Tory-Anne… one last time.”

Grim thought for a moment but finally shook his head. 

“I’m sorry… but it’s too risky. You may never find your way back to the surface. Besides, you still have really great friends up here.” He said, gesturing to Martin, Penny, and Hendrix. “But… I suppose I could make you a deal. If you write her a letter I will make sure it gets delivered to her” 

Tamara nearly leapt with joy. Grim stayed a few more moments while Tamara wrote a quick letter and then he was on his way. 

The spring was so much more beautiful. Hendrix had been planning ever since the middle of winter. The thousands upon thousands of seeds he had collected were finally being planted. The cabbage patches that had been sitting barren all year were filled with brand new babies. The wilting flowers stood upright and the ones that had passed on were replaced with brand new ones. Hendrix took a lot of care in making sure that each and every loss was replaced with something new and fresh. He showed Tamara the unthawing of ice; a grand spectacle where the fish who were frozen in time could finally move about freely. They then stopped by the forest where new baby squirrels and birds and bears would emerge from their cozy nests and dens to embrace their new life. It was all so beautiful, Tamara thought. 

Finally spring had come to an end and it was time for Tamara to get back to work. As she walked home she took some extra time to admire the flowers and trees and chirping birds. The same flowers and trees and chirping birds she had always passed by on her way home, or at least that’s what she had always believed. Now she knew better. She knew that despite looking the same, they were different. The old flowers had faded away and were now replaced with brand new ones. Perhaps, she thought to herself, the end of the seasons weren’t all that bad.

Hello There Children

I’m Dr. Mist 

And my number one job

Is a scientist

I bring information

Of the world where we live

I have great knowledge 

And wisdom to give

I’ll tell you how things work

And what they all do

Just ask me a question 

I’ll answer! It’s true!

You There Girl!

Why do you cry?

Come tell me what’s wrong

Don’t be shy

Oh Dr. Mist

I don’t know what to do

My Daddy is sick

That’s why I’m so blue

Your daddy is sick?

What do you mean?

Is he looking

Profusely green?

Not green so to say

But more of a gray

Well what does he have?

Speak up if you may

My daddy has cancer

But I don’t know what that is

The doctors won’t tell me

They say it’s “None of my biz.”

Nonsense my child

It’s good that you know

After all without knowledge

You’ll never grow

So come with me 

I’ll give you the answer

I’ll tell you exactly!

“What is Cancer?”

Here we start with a simple cell

In our bodies is where they dwell

Millions and trillions inside of you 

Living their lives, with jobs to do

Some make up your skin,

Or your hair, or your eyes

But at the end of their life

They meet their demise

No one lives forever

It’s sad but it’s true

Not even the cells 

Living inside of you

But before their end

They have different stages

Where they divide

And go through new phases

Each cell has a cycle

An order to life

But some cells rebel

They struggle and strife

They don’t follow reason

They don’t follow rules

Why if they were humans 

We’d call them great fools

These cells divide every day with no stop

Why if they were balloons they’d divide till they pop!

With too many cells, problems occur

Tension arises and things start to stir

Our bodies try to get rid of these foe

But we don’t always win on our own, don’t you know…

This is when we start to get sick

The cancer just grows 

and it grows quite quick

Then, doctors come in 

To look at these cells

They try all they can

to make you feel well

Therapies! 

Medicines! 

And surgery too!

They don’t always work

But sometimes they do

If they don’t work

It’s ok to feel blue

But now you know 

What cancer can do

Best wishes to you 

And your father my dear

And if you need me 

I’ll always be here