The Rowboat Surprise

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Danny looked at the rowboat. It was still here, just like it had been for the past 3 days. Did it belong to someone or did they decide to leave it docked here for anyone to use?

Dare he use it? He would bring it back and leave it here for when its owner returned.

10 year old Danny wrestled with the question in his head. The water was sparkling and the ducks were quacking, They were calling to him, he had to get in the boat.

Not being able to resist it any longer he climbed in and started rowing.

Being out on the water was great. The perfect way to spend the day. He was so happy that it was summer and school was out. Rowing on a lake sure did beat sitting in Mrs. Willian’s boring geography class!

The ducks were following him and he wished he had brought some bread along to feed them.

Feeling the rays of the sun shining on him Danny started to feel drowsy. Really drowsy. Before he knew it he drifted off to sleep.

“There he is, someone finally took the bait. But he’s only a boy.”

“Doesn’t matter, she wasn’t specific about what age the person was. You heard her, she said to bring to her the person who takes the boat.”

Edmund sighed. How did he end up in this position? Working for a crazy woman. What was her plan? She hadn’t even told them. To her they were only peons, she said “Jump” and they said “How high?”

Edmund and Billy rowed over to the boat and picked up the sleeping boy. The sleeping potion that had been spread inside the boat was doing its job pretty well. Danny groaned a little, but didn’t open his eyes. They laid him on the bench in their boat and started rowing to the secret cove.

(To be continued…)

Tuesday’s Thoughts!

 

Happy Tuesday! I hope you have already laughed at least once today and smiled. I am smiling as I think of where I will be next week at this time. I will explain, closer to the time. My kids are excited and smiling about going to Hershey Park next week. We are fortunate to live close, so they have been going since they been little. As for my husband and I, age kicked in! I can not do the spinning rides anymore and I have never been a big fan of roller coasters. Is there something special that you are looking forward too? Keep Smiling and I hope you enjoy the quotes! 

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Feeling Blue!

Cara was sitting down by the lake. The weather was perfect for sitting under a tree and reading. She looked up from her book at the sound of geese on the lake.

Oh, would she ever be able to hear geese again without thinking of the bizarre, embarrassing time she had a week ago! She felt great relief that finally she had stopped “honking!” The magic spell had worn off.

Her face flushed every time that Miss. HennyPenny came into the coffee shop. She remembered running into her when she was a goose! Thank Goodness that Miss.HennyPenny didn’t know that the goose was Cara.

Most of the time Cara was able to try and cover up the “honks” that would slip out, but she hadn’t always been successful! She hadn’t been able to hide it from Sarah and had to explain to her about Jenny the donkey who had turned her into a goose.

Cara thought that Sarah would never stop laughing. The tears of laughter had rolled down Sarah’s cheeks, as Cara patiently waited for her to stop.

At least she knew that Sarah would keep it a secret between the two of them. Cara made her promise not to let it leak out to Grayson at all. She could not risk Mason finding out! He would have way too much fun knowing that Cara had been a goose. She would never live it down!

Cara couldn’t rid herself of the nagging feeling though that he did know more than he let on about her bizarre experience! She wouldn’t put it past him to even have had a hand in it somehow. He had a mischievous streak. Hmmm….she thought for a moment and then went back to losing herself in her book.

Meanwhile Jenny and Betsy were walking to Mason’s house. Betsy was finally making good on her promise to Jenny to have her meet Mason.

They found him outside painting the siding of his house. His clothes were splattered and he was shocked to see Betsy and a donkey coming his way.

“Hi Mason! I wanted to introduce my friend Jenny to you. She has been anxiously waiting to meet you.

Jenny couldn’t speak she was so enraptured to be in his presence.

Betsy rolled her eyes at the starstruck look on Jenny’s face. Poor Mason wasn’t quite sure what was going on. A donkey wanted to meet him? He smiled,it must be his hair!

“Ummm nice to meet you Jenny.” He put his hand out and then quickly withdrew it, feeling foolish. Betsy smirked shaking her head.

Finally Jenny spoke. “I. .I…love your blue hair.”

Blue hair?? Then Mason remembered his earlier incident with the paint can falling off the ladder and landing on his head. Apparently he didn’t get all the paint out of his hair in the quick shower that he had taken.

“Thank you” he said, trying to hide his embarrassment. They talked for a little more and then they bid him goodbye.

Mason had been busy painting again when he started climbing down the ladder to get himself a drink.

Oooh!! His foot sank into the paint can which still contained blue paint. Blue hair, and a blue foot, he was all ferhoodled now. He headed back into the house deciding that he was finished painting for the day.

Ding Dong! Mason wondered who was at the door. He opened the door and was met by a camera man, and reporter.

Oh No! He had totally forgotten! He was being interviewed today about the coffee shop!

The reporter tried to contain her laughter. “I see that perhaps you forgot about our appointment?”

The reporter looked in her notebook and dialed a number. She stepped out of earshot as Mason was left staring at the photographer, feeling awkward.

Soon the reporter was back. “Good news! I called Cara Mellow, and she was more than happy to grant an interview. She said to tell you not to worry one bit. So we will head over to her house and then be back, okay?

Inwardly Mason groaned, imagining Cara’s reaction to the reporters call. He apologized once more and said that sounded fine.

Watching them leave, he closed the door and smacked his head against it. Tomorrow had to be a better day!

Magical Pizza?

This is Part 2 to last night’s post, Disorder in the Court

Sid was sitting on a park bench back in Rosewood Park, shaking his head! He had grabbed some mushroom pizza and was enjoying it in the park.

That was the most wild ride he had ever experienced! He looked at the cowbell in his hand. How did it have such magical powers?

He so didn’t understand, but he was truly thankful that he was out of the police station! Talk about being scared witless!

That Veronica woman had looked like she was about to deck him when she saw him in her apartment. He didn’t blame her. Its just too bad that he wasn’t thinking straight enough to shake the cowbell before the police got there!

He thought he wouldn’t see the cowbell again but somehow it ended up back in his cell on his tray of porridge. Had one of the guards taken pity on him and returned it or was it a mistake? He wasn’t goimg to debate the answer, he shook it 3x and left in a cloud of pink and purple dust.

Now he was back in the park wondering what to do with the bell. He was scared to see where it might take him next but his curiosity might get the best of him!

What was that? He squinted and looked again. Yes, he wasn’t seeing things. There really was a large, brown cow standing at the edge of the field, across from the park.

Hmmm…he hadn’t ever remembered seeing a cow before when he was at the park. Looking at the cowbell again, a thought dawned on him. Nooo! That was crazy, but…he looked again and he got the distinct impression that the cow was watching him.

Could it really be? Could the magical cowbell belong to the cow? Oh, he was going loco, perhaps he shouldn’t have got the mushroom pizza from the Food Truck across the street.

This was beginning to feel like deja vue. Wasn’t it mushroom pizza that he had just finished eating the other day, before he landed in Veronica’s house? OH NO! He looked at the last piece in his hand. It flew out of his hand as a great cloud of pink and purple smoke circled around him.

Disorder in the Court

“Order in the court!” The judge banged his gavel and the courtroom grew silent.

“Now you may continue with your witness.”

Toby cleared his throat and began.

“Veronica can you please describe the events that unfolded on the night of Monday, April 5rh?”

Nervously biting her lip Veronica spoke.

“I returned home from work and when I walked into my house I screamed at the sight of a man sitting on my couch.”

“Is that man in the courtroom today?” Toby asked.

“Yes, right over there.” Veronica pointed to the defendant. A man of average height with black hair, who was looking very pale at the moment.

“Did you speak to the man after you finished screaming?”

“I asked him what he was doing in my house and he said he didn’t know!”

Murmurs were heard in the courtroom.

“Did he try to harm you in any way?”

“No, all he did was keep saying that he wasn’t goimg to hurt me and apologizing for being in my house. He obviously is psycho!”

“Objection!”

“Sustained” said the judge, “No name calling!”

“Yes, your honor, but he ….” the judge raised her eyebrows at Veronica whose face grew flushed.

“He kept mumbling something about a magical cowbell and about pink and purple smoke! Like I said, he is clearly … “

Stopping herself Veronica said “not right! He is clearly not right.”

“How did he expect me to believe that one moment he was in a park and the next he was in my house, the guy had to have been high on something!”

“Objection!”

“I have no further questions your Honor.”

Toby almost felt sorry for the poor guy, he looked so frazzled!

When court ended for the day, the reporters gathered outside the courthouse. They all wanted to hear about his client. What did he mean about a magical cowbell and why was there smoke?

After a little while the crowd outside the courthouse dispersed and everyone left.

No one ever learned the truth about how poor Sid ended up in Veronica’s house. For the case was never finished! Sid had mysteriously disappeared! He never showed up for court the next day. Questions circulated around about what had happened to him.

It was one of the strangest cases the court had ever seen. One minute Sid was in police custody and the next minute POOF! He was gone in a cloud of pink and purple smoke!

It was the talk of the town for awhile. Then there was the small news story that had happemed around the same time but didn’t get much attention. There was some crazy cow that had been seen eating all the begonias outside tne courthouse.

No one saw the cow who was standing in the moonlight in front of the courthouse, and more importantly no one knew how Sid mysteriously disappeared!

Friday’s Super Short Stories!

 

One can have good motives when starting something, but then gets lost along the way.

Some are expert “fisherman”, they are very good at “casting” the blame on everyone else if it gets them off the hook. 

 

 

 

 

Breaking the Silence

Image from Pinterest

The sky was growing dark, the wind was picking up, a storm was brewing. Boris stood in the prairie as the rain began to pelt him. He didn’t care about the rain, he was wearing a thick coat. Staring into the distance he sighed. He missed his herd, but they were probably far away by now.

Unfortunately Boris did not have the greatest sense of direction. He had only wandered away for a short bit, but when he had turned around to rejoin the herd, he must have taken a wrong turn. His herd was nowhere to be seen. He knew they had been planning to head out soon for new territory. They may have waited a bit on him, but they wouldn’t have waited around too long. What had made him wander off in the first place? Why did he care about following a rabbit? His curiosity had got him into trouble once again.

What did he do now? Should he stay, or take off for somewhere new? The wind was blowing harder now, and making a strange sound. A rather awful sound, thought Boris. Like a screeching sound that he had never heard before, this was some weird storm.

Ahh! The screech appeared to have gone away. No, he was wrong, there it was again, and it seemed even louder this time. What was that in the distance? There was some dark shape that was coming his way.

Boris’s senses went on high alert. He didn’t have to worry too much about predators, he wasn’t someone you wanted to mess with. Mountain lions though sometimes got too daring. Usually they went after the young, smaller buffalo, but some liked to take on a challenge. At least Boris only saw one shadow moving his way. A lot of them could spell trouble.

“Screeeeech!” Boris shook his head and looked again. No, he could tell now that the shadow was not a mountain lion, much more bigger than that. Was it another buffalo? Did someone from his herd come back for him?

The shadow moved closer and Boris couldn’t believe it! Now this he had never seen out on the prairie before! Apparently this animal must have a bad sense of direction as well! What was it doing here, and what was that awful sound coming out of its mouth! Boris realized that screeching sound was not the wind, seeing that the animal’s mouth was open.

The animal was almost in front of him now. Fortunately it had closed its mouth and the screeching sound had stopped.

“HI! I am Henrietta the hippo, what is your name?” Henrietta asked with a smile, showing off her pearly white teeth.

Boris was a little taken back with her outgoing personality. They were standing in a the middle of a storm and she acted like there was nothing strange about her being here in the middle of a prairie.

“I am Boris.” he replied.

“Well nice to meet you Bo, do you mind if I call you Bo?”

Boris shook his head, not knowing what to say.

“I guess you are a little surprised to see me here, me being a hippo and all.” said Henrietta.

“You could say that.” replied Boris, finding his voice again.

“I like adventures and I told my friends Bobo, and Myrtle and Tulag that I was going to go on an adventure, so here I am. Its as simple as that. I want to see the world.”

“Are your friends hippos too?”

“Oh no, Bobo is a bear and Myrtle and Tulag are turtles.”

Now Boris really didn’t know what to say. This was the strangest animal he had ever met!

The rain was starting to slow down, and the sky beginning to clear. Boris shook himself to dry off, splattering Henrietta, but she didn’t care. She loved getting wet.

“So Bo, are you out here all alone?”

That name sounded so strange. He opened his mouth to tell her he preferred to be called Boris, but there was something about her that stopped him.

“Yes, I am, I got lost from my herd.”

“Oh, I am sorry, but now its your lucky day, for I am here! I knew there was a reason I came this way!”

Boris almost laughed, she was so cheerful. He had to admit it was nice to have someone to talk to again.

They chatted a little more, she told him about how she used to be in the zoo. He was glad he had never been in a zoo. He couldn’t imagine leaving the big, open prairie. He didn’t blame her for wanting to get out.

Pausing in conversation they were both standing in silence, when “SCREECH!” Boris jerked his head around, looking at Henrietta, whose mouth was open wide.

“Wh-what are you doing?” he asked.

“I am singing! I was in Vegas for a little bit you know.”

“Vegas? What is Vegas?”

She proceeded to tell him about her show that sold out every night, for people came from all around to see the singing hippo. She didn’t stay too long though, for she was afraid that they would try to cage her up again. After she told him about leaving, she opened her mouth to sing once more.

“Wait, wait… tell me more about Bobo, and that lady that you said he scared.

Henrietta started laughing. “That was funny, we laughed about that for days. The day had started out in an ordinary way, I was down by the river ….” and she continued on, as they started walking.

All he had to do was keep her talking. Shouldn’t be so hard, after all she was a female. His ears may grow tired, but at least it was better than that awful screeching that she considered singing!

Boris shook his head, longing again for the silence of the prairie.

Goose on the Loose

Thanks to Jason, we are going back to Bittersweet Creek and taking a peek at what is going on with the crazy characters there. I am sure you will enjoy his short story, in fact you may think that it really needs to be continued. Be sure to let him know. 🙂 

Betsy was excited. Today one of her best friends was coming for a visit – Jenny the donkey. Now, Jenny was no ordinary Donkey; Jenny could perform a few magic tricks when she concentrated really hard. At last Jenny arrived and Betsy was delighted to see her again. They decided to go for a nice walk in the meadow and enjoy the afternoon while catching up. Jenny noticed that there were several bees and butterflies about, but no flowers to speak of. Feeling sorry for the insects she paused in her walking, concentrated really hard, and said “Hee-haw” and presto, there were lots of beautiful wildflowers for the bees and butterflies to visit.

They continued their stroll and Betsy began to tell Jenny all about this quaint little town with quirky people that she sometimes visited. As Betsy told of her adventures there, Jenny finally said “I’d really love to visit this town. I’d especially like to meet this Mason that you speak of.”

“Wait just one second.” Betsy said. And she shook her neck, ringing her cowbell, and poof!. After the colorful smoke cleared, Betsy and Jenny found themselves in Bittersweet creek. As they began to stroll around, Cara Mellow came around a corner holding a very colorful coffee drink and ran into Betsy and Jenny, spilling her drink. Some of the drink landed on Jenny’s nose and she sneezed “Achoooo… hee-haw!” and ‘poof!’ Cara was now a goose.

“Oh, what have I done?” Jenny said. “I must have accidentally turned her into a goose when I sneezed, but I don’t quite remember how I did it. Let me concentrate and I will try to make her a person again.”

As Jenny was concentrating, Cara the goose became panicked by the strange event and ran away.

“Oh no, she’s getting away!” screamed Jenny. And Betsy and Jenny began to chase the loose goose. But Cara goose eluded them and they couldn’t figure out which way she went. Just then, from down the street, they heard a “honk” and then a scream.

“This way!” Betsy said and the pair ran down the street and saw Mrs. Hennyfeathers laying on the ground with all her shopping packages strewn around. At the end of the street they saw a goose running toward the creek. “Follow that goose” Betsy said.

Arriving at the creek they found five geese swimming around in the water. “Oh no, what do we do now? I can’t tell which goose is which.” Jenny said.

“I’ve an idea.” Betsy said “Stay here and keep an eye on the geese and I’ll be right back.”

Betsy rang her cowbell and was gone. A minute passed, then another, and then ‘woosh’ there was Betsy with a really fancy looking coffee drink.

“This is the sweetest coffee drink that Mason knows how to make and it is Cara’s favorite.” Betsy said. Betsy put the drink on the ground near the creek and they backed away.

Soon, one of the geese swam over to the shore, climbed up and headed right for the coffee drink.

“That must be her.” Betsy said “Now concentrate and make her a human again.”

Jenny tried real hard and shut out all distractions focusing on the silly goose drinking coffee. “Hee-haw” she said and presto, there was Cara Mellow, the person again, sitting on the ground drinking coffee. She looked up and said “Oh, hi Betsy. Nice to see you again. I’d love to stay and chat but I have to get to work.” And she hurried off to the coffee shop.

Jenny was very relieved. The pair returned to the meadow and continued their day.

Meanwhile, Cara and Mason were busily serving customers at the coffee shop. “I need two more slices of shoo-fly pie for table three.” Mason said.

“Coming right up, honk.” Cara said.

“Did you just honk?” Mason asked.

“No.” Cara said blushing “Must have been a passing car.”

Tuesday’s Thoughts!

Work schedule is crazy this week with some changes that have been temporarily made. Working some 12 hour shifts. Yes, more caffeine than normal may be indulged in this week. What is your week looking like? Caffeine needed? Wishing you all a great week, even if it gets a little crazy! Hope you enjoy the quotes, and always look forward to hearing which ones you liked the most. 

 

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The Magical Mission!

This is Part 3, to A scoop of Magic with Icecream . I hope you enjoy the conclusion. 

 

The beauty of the magical woods took him by surprise. He had always enjoyed being in the woods, but this time it was different. There was a feeling in the air that he couldn’t deny. Goosebumps prickled his skin as he looked about and felt that he had walked into a magical realm. He had always been skeptical of magic, but here he stood, wondering what adventure awaited him. 

Dustin heard the roar of the waterfall in the distance, that is where he needed to head for. At the waterfall is where he was supposed to meet FairLight the fairy. She would have a unicorn for him, for him to take back to his boss. It sounded so simple. Yes, there was the evil fairy to be concerned about , but hopefully he would be in and out of the woods before the evil fairy even knew that he was there to take one of her unicorns. 

He kept telling himself that everything would work out as he walked. That there was nothing to be nervous about. Why should he be afraid of an evil fairy? Was there even such a thing? His boss was probably trying to scare him and they would laugh about it when he got back home. Yes, that was it, Dustin assured himself and walked on, feeling more confident. 

Stunning, magnificent! Dustin couldn’t find the words. His jaw dropped when he saw the unicorn on the hill. Its iridescent wings shimmered. The fairy standing beside the unicorn must be Fairlight, all was working according to plan. His smile was huge. He couldn’t wait to experience the thrill of flying through the sky, on the back of a unicorn. To think that he had never believed in them before, now he saw how wrong he was! 

Feeling bold and excited he walked up to Fairlight ,  “HI! I am Dustin, and you must be Fairlight.” 

She smiled demurely at him. 

“Sooo nice to meet you,” she said in a saccharine sweet voice. 

“The unicorn is magnificent, I have never seen such a beautiful animal before.” Dustin had admiration in his voice. He couldn’t stop looking at the glowing unicorn. 

Suddenly before his eyes, another unicorn came flying straight towards the fairy. Dustin grabbed the fairy out of the way, for he had always been a true gentleman. 

“Dustin NO!” the yell came from the fairy who was riding the other unicorn. 

He heard cackling from Fairlight, who he was still holding onto. What was happening to his hands, they felt funny.”Fairlight, what is going on? Was that the evil fairy?” 

The cackling got louder. “That was Fairlight, and she was trying to save you from me, you crazy fool! What were you thinking trying to steal my unicorn!” Her eyes gleamed with a fiery rage. 

“Why don’t we see how well you can hop, and I hope you like flies!” 

Dustin was terrified when in the next minute he found himself turned into a frog. Ribbet! Ribbet! 

“Now what do we do?” came a voice from behind the bush. 4 guys dressed in all black were behind the bush, wondering what the next step would be. 

“I guess we need to go frog catching, did anyone bring a net?” 

The one guy spoke up, “I got one. I was trying to catch some butterflies with it, but to no avail.” 

“Well let us hope that you are better at catching frogs!” 

“Why do I have to be the one?”

“Its your net, so why not. Is it unanimous guys, that TG should try to save Dustin?”  

“YES!” they all said. 

“I will be on the lookout for the evil fairy, while you try to catch him.” said the other guy. 

“We will go and try to find Fairlight so we can bring the unicorn back here.” the other 2 nameless guys  said. 

“We are such Wise Guys, aren’t we! A foolproof plan, if you ask me. Okay, everyone smile for the camera.” They all posed for a selfie. Then the 2 guys left and TG grabbed his net while the other guy brushed back his hair, preparing to stand guard. 

Poor Dustin was hopping frantically about, making it very hard for TG to swoop him up with the net. He tried to keep an eye on the evil fairy, who had temporarily seemed to have forgotten about Dustin, but he lost sight of her. 

“Got you!” 

Now Dustin was really jumping around with the net over him. 

“Its OK, I am a friend, who is trying to save you. We will break the evil fairy’s spell.” When Dustin heard those words, he calmed down and TG headed back to his friend who had been keeping guard. 

Hey, where did he go? wondered TG. He had been standing right on this rock. HIs camera was sitting on the rock. OH NO! He never would have left his camera behind, something must have happened! 

“You guys just keep coming back to cause trouble, don’t you! This time I will be sure that you don’t get away.” the evil fairy cackled. With a wave of her hand, she was ready to cast a spell on the poor photographer, when the flying unicorn knocked the evil fairy over, causing her to lose her grip. The photographer quickly jumped onto the unicorn’s back with TG and Dustin and away they flew. 

 “Wow! How do I thank you all?”” Dustin was standing in human form once again ready to soar into the sky with his unicorn. Fairlight and the 4 nameless guys were gathered around him. 

“Always glad to help! I would say we are becoming quite the experts with dealing with the evil fairy.” TG said. 

“Yes, quite wise indeed,” agreed the photographer, and the others looked doubtfully at him. 

JB spoke up, “According to my calculations, I would say that you are in the negative! You were a few seconds away from falling under a spell! She probably was going to turn you into a monkey, or perhaps a silly goose!”  They all laughed at the face their friend made. 

“Well, in my book, you all were great, so thanks again!” Dustin shook their hands and got up onto the unicorn and then turned around to say one more thing. He looked at the photographer,  “Could you please send me some pictures, for my wife is never going to believe all this!”  The photographer smiled , “Sure!” aiming his  camera at Dustin he snapped several pictures as the unicorn lifted him up, up and away.