When the clock got sick

When The Clock Got Sick
By Phil Shapiro
	Once upon a time, in a land not too far from where you live, there was a bank whose outside clock was the talk of the town. Clocks usually don't cause people to talk about them, unless they're not working right. This clock wasn't working right at all. The clock was a digital clock, meaning that it was the kind of clock with large neon red numbers that glowed both day and night. You could read the clock from an entire block away. The clock sat prominently a few yards above the main doors to a respected bank, right on the corner of a major intersection in town. In some ways, the clock represented the very center of town. One day, a few months ago, the time on the clock started slipping backwards a few minutes. At first this didn't cause any alarm. After all, if you are two minutes late, or two minutes early to an appointment, is there any harm done? But then the clock's health got even worse. Not only did the clock slip back more than a few minutes, sometimes it would actually jump forward an hour or two, and then jump back to being a few minutes late. It was clear to everyone in town that this was a sick clock. What do you do with a sick clock, though? Take it the clockerenarian? Take it a clockpital? Visit a clocktor? You're right. Healing a sick clock is not an easy thing to do. First you need to find what's wrong with the clock, and then you need to find a place that sells the particular part that needs replacing. The bank, being a respected bank, was eager to get the clock fixed and working again. The bank became even more eager after last month's birthday party. You see, a young child on the way to a birthday party burst into tears when he looked up at the clock and realized that he was going to be late. On that day, the clock was running about two hours fast, and the child was in perfect time for the party. The child just thought he was late, because who would ever doubt the time on a public clock? And then there was the whole wedding fiasco last week. A groom, on the way to his wedding ceremony, noticed that he was two hours early, so he stopped off at the cybercafe to do some web surfing. When he showed up to the ceremony two hours late, the bride and everyone else were not overjoyed to see him. The straw that broke the camel's back, though, was last week when an army major was traveling through town. Being an army major, he would regularly adjust his wristwatch to make sure it was perfectly on time. When he saw the clock above the bank, he immediately reset his watch three hours ahead of time. And the next morning he woke his troops at 3 AM to do their regular 6 AM ten-mile morning run. The troops were not amused. And so they stopped by to pay a friendly visit to the bank manager. "Please, please, please repair the clock above the door of your bank," they spoke in military unison. "Each one of us would like to chip in $20 to repair the clock," they added. The bank manager, a kindly young woman, promised that she would do whatever she could to find a part to repair the clock. She would even take the clock to a clockerenarian, if need be. And she had not ruled out the possibility of driving the clock straight to the clockpital, herself. Her own doctor had recommended some skilled clocktors that she could use when she received the replacement part. Until the clock was repaired, though, she decided to switch off its electricity. For three weeks the lights on the clock were entirely dark. And then one day a UPS truck drove up the bank with a very small package. Inside that very small package was a very small part that made the clock healthy again. The town sighed a huge sigh of relief when the clock was switched on again. And then everyone reset their watches and went on their merry way. FROM: WWW.GOODNIGHTSTORIES.COM

The Hiccup Mouse

The Hiccup Mouse
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	Once there was a little mouse named Lucy. She lived in the meadow with her mother and father, and her little brother Harvey. She and Harvey got along very well. They played in the fields, went swimming in the summer, climbed trees, and even had tea parties together. Lucy thought that Harvey was just about the most perfect brother she could have, except for one thing…he had a way of sneaking up on her when she just wasn't expecting it. Why only this morning he had startled her so badly that she had spilled her juice all over the table. Mother had been upset and so had she. In fact, she had been so upset it had given her hiccups and now she couldn't get rid of them! She had tried drinking water, and holding her breath but the Hiccups just wouldn't go away. No matter how hard she tried to get rid of them every few seconds a giant HIC-CUP would burst out of her little self. Maybe my friends will know what to do, she thought. First she went to Skunk's house. "Hello -HIC- Skunk" she said. "Hello. How are you today?" Skunk replied. "I'm -HIC- fine" said Lucy "but -HIC- I have -HIC- the hiccups -HIC- and I can't get -HIC- rid of them!" " I noticed" said Skunk "Perhaps if you stand on your head the Hiccups will fall out" she suggested. "That's what I always do and it works great for me. Toodle Loo!" and she dashed off without another word. So Lucy stood on her head and waited for a very long time. It was very difficult because with every Hiccup she would lose her balance and have to start all over again. While she was doing this Frog hopped up. "What are you doing Lucy?" he asked. Lucy started to tell him but suddenly a really huge Hiccup came out, and Frog said "Oh my, it seems standing on your head has given you the Hiccups. You should try hopping on one foot while patting your tummy" he offered helpfully. "Thank -HIC- you" she said, but when she looked up Frog had already hopped off towards the pond. Hopping on one foot and patting her tummy sounded silly to Lucy but the Hiccups were getting worse and she was willing to try anything if it would make them go away. But no matter how hard she hopped and patted, the Hiccups wouldn't go away. "Oh no!" she said as she began to walk home. "Perhaps I will have Hiccups for the rest of my life. I will be known as the Hiccup Mouse. Maybe I will never be able to go into the library again, the Librarian will surely tell me I am too noisy to be there! And I can forget about ever playing Hide-n-Seek, because everyone will find me!" By now, she was so busy feeling miserable that she hardly noticed where she was going. Just then Harvey jumped out of the berry bushes beside the path holding a large, juicy berry. "Lucy look what I found!" he exclaimed. But Lucy was tired of being surprised by her little brother and she'd had enough. "Harvey, how many times have I told you not to…" she started to say. Then she stopped and a huge smile spread across her face. She realized that her Hiccups were gone! Harvey had surprised her so much that the Hiccups had disappeared. "Oh, Harvey" she said and then she threw her arms around him and gave him a gigantic hug. "Thank you! You cured me of those horrible Hiccups!" she cried. Then she and Harvey went off to share that delicious berry. Copyright © 2000 Goodnight Stories

The lonely traffic light

The Lonely Traffic Light
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	Once upon a time, there was a traffic light… a lonely traffic light. She felt that nobody gave her much attention. Sometimes people would stand by her and push the button for the light to change, and she felt less lonely while they were waiting. But once the light changed the people would leave and cross the street. At times, when the light was red, the people waiting in the cars would give her their attention as they waited for the light to turn green. That also made her less lonely, but not for long. Once the light turned green the cars would zoom by without noticing that she existed. Then, the traffic light noticed that there was a little red car that passed by early every morning and again every afternoon. It was a mother and two little kids dropping off their Daddy at the train station in the morning and picking him up in the afternoon. Sometimes when the light was red, the two kids would wave to the traffic light, show her their stuffed animals, or stare at her waiting for the light to change. That made her very happy. At other times when the light was green the car would go right through the intersection and the little kids wouldn't even look at the light. That made her very sad. The traffic light wanted the attention of the two little children and decided that the next time she saw the car she would turn herself red. That would give the kids a chance to wave to her or stare at her. She thought the idea sounded very nice, so that is what she did the next morning and afternoon when she saw the red car. After a few days of switching herself, the circuit inside of her pole got messed up and the light stayed on yellow. She tried very hard to switch it to red or green but she just couldn't. The next morning, the repairmen came and opened the little door on the side of her pole. They worked for a couple of hours and found the problem. The switch that she used to turn the light from red to yellow to green had burnt out. In a few minutes they had replaced the bad switch and the traffic light was back to normal. Now she was again able to stop the red car and see the little children every morning and afternoon. But after a few days the switch burnt out again and the repairmen had to come out to fix it once more. As they were working, the traffic light could hear them talking to each other. She heard them saying that the traffic light must be getting too old and that it was really hard for all of the people, because it was making traffic jams when she broke down. When she looked up she saw a huge line of cars all waiting and honking. All of the people in them were very upset because they couldn't get where they needed to go. It was then that the traffic light realized how important she was to all of the people in their cars. She had always thought that they were simply ignoring her when they drove away, but now she knew that without her no one would be able to drive anywhere. Then she felt very bad that she had caused all of these problems. The traffic light did not want to make people unhappy, so she decided that from now on she would only switch herself from green to red when it was the proper time so that her switch wouldn't burn out too soon. She thought of how happy it made people when she was working properly, and she knew that she would still see the kids every day, even if it was for only a few seconds. That made her VERY happy, and from that day on she was never lonely again. FROM GOODNIGHTSTORIES.COM

Miri and the Gardener - from WWW.GOODNIGHTSTORIES.COM

Miri and the Gardener
	By Dr.Claude Gagné
	The sun shines on the magic forest. It also shines on a giant oak tree, many centuries old. It’s in this tree that Miri’s family lives. Miri is a young Fairy, she’s very small, barely a few centimeters(A couple of inches) like all the fairies of her race. Miri loves that tree with the many cavities sculpted with art and dedication. But with the respect for the survival of the living tree, of course. The problem is that poor Miri is suffering from a mysterious illness. The magician healer was very upset. He had never encountered any such sickness before. He searched the memory books left by previous magician-healers to no avail unfortunately. The little fairy, courageously continued to believe, in spite of her suffering, that she would heal. Winter was long for little Miri who, from her bed entertained her friends. She could not stand sorrow so she kept her morale up. With spring came a hope, as fragile as the eggs in the nest. The healer had discovered a cure. But it was the powder that rests on the wings of butterflies. Hundreds maybe even thousands of butterflies,would be needed to harvest sufficient quantities for the medicine for Miri. Miri’s father was at the inn with his friend. He was discussing the problem of which no one seemed to know the solution. It was a sad day for Miri’s father. A stranger seated at a neighboring table, approached them discreetly as the custom prescribes. He told Miri’s father; ”I think I can help heal your daughter”. “Stranger, if you can accomplish that, I’ll give you everything you want” “I have no need for everything, all I need is work.” “Are you a healer?” “No a gardener, if you hire me I guarantee that your daughter will be healed by the end of summer." The honest tone and truthful gaze in the eyes of the gardener convinced Miri’s father to give him a chance. He had nothing to loose and Miri all to win... From her window, Miri looked at the gardener work, an old man with the precise movements acquired along a lifetime dedicated to the love of plants. The gardener planted lilac trees in many shades. He even planted unknown plants, bushes and flowers with strange, mysterious names that brings visions of exotic places. The old man told Miri that soon, he assured her, it would translate into a symphony of colors and textures that will perfume the air. He had such a pleasurable expression as he said it, that Miri was certain “HE” could smell it already. Miri observed as the young sprout escaped the soil, as the tender green shoots grew. Soon flower buds appeared followed by the most beautiful blooms. The gossipers were having a good time. “Shameful, he buys himself a garden while his daughter, poor girl, lay sick and all. Shameful, I tell you.” Then one warm day, attracted by the selected flowers butterflies came, more and more of them kept coming to invade the garden. The gardener installed a lawn chairs in the clearing and installed Miri comfortably in it. Miri received a shower of the powder falling from the wings of the butterflies. The powder was of many colors shining in the sun. The rays of the sun reflected in the fine powder. The clearing was bathed in the light and in that light Miri’s healing… In a week Miri was cured. Her delicate wings shone brightly again. Her face had regained her healthy colors and above all her smile was resplendent. And this is how Miri got her name: “MIRI THE BUTTERFLY FAIRY”

Niblet, the mouse

space rNiblet, the Mouse
	I am a mouse. My name is Niblet. I live in a little hole in a house. Living in the house is a man, a woman, a boy, and a girl. I like the two children a lot. They always leave crumbs behind and I get to eat them when everyone is asleep. They also have cool little toys. Some of the toys are good for my home so I borrow them and use them in my house. Last week I found a little chair, just big enough for me. It fits so nicely in my living room. Today I found a little spoon. It is great for scooping up crumbs that are in cracks that I can't reach. I also have a little blanket that I found under the little boy's bed. It really isn't a blanket, it is an old shirt from his little teddy bear. He doesn't need it anymore because he got his bear a new shirt and the old one makes a perfect blanket for me. I miss the kids when they go to school in the morning. The house is so quiet without them. I really miss all of the squeaks and noise they make. Kids are just like mice. I love the family I live with, and I hope they never find out about me. People are scared of mice and try to get rid of them if they find us in their house. That's why I need to be so quiet. Shhhhhh! FROM GOODNIGHTSTORIES.COM

The two Caterpillars

The Two Caterpillars
	Once upon a time there were two caterpillars, a brother and a sister, who lived together way way up on the top of a big oak tree. The two caterpillars loved each other very much. They played together, ate together, and watched out for each other. One day, while they were munching on a nice delicious green leaf, a strong breeze blew them off the tree and they both landed on the ground. They looked up and saw how far their little home was, all the way up in the top of the tree. "Oh, no" said Cater "it will take us forever to make it back home." Pillar sighed and then she said "You're right, but we will just have to keep going until we make it, otherwise we will never get home." So they started climbing the tree. They were a bit surprised because the part they were climbing was smooth and gray, not at all like the rough brown part up at the top of the tree where their home was. But since they had never been to the bottom of the tree they thought that this was just how it was. They had only climbed a few inches however, when the tree started to move! "Wow, the tree is moving now" said Pillar sounding a bit worried. "Look!" Cater said pointing up "This isn't the tree that we're climbing. It's the foot of Elephant!" When Pillar looked up she saw two giant elephant eyes looking straight at her. The elephant said "Why are you tickling my leg you little caterpillars?" By now Cater and Pillar were very afraid, but they explained to the elephant how the big wind had blown them out of the tree and they had thought his leg was the bottom of the tree where their home was. The elephant was very kind even though he looked very frightening to the little caterpillars and he felt very sorry for them being stuck on the ground so he decided to help them. He put his long trunk down next to them and told them to climb on. Then he carried them up to the top of the tree by stretching his long trunk way up high. The caterpillars were thrilled to be home again and they both shouted at exactly the same time "Thank you Elephant! You saved us a lot of work climbing back up this big tree." The kind elephant waived his long trunk at the two caterpillars and went happily on his way. The two caterpillars continued to live in the top of the tree and to take care of each other, but soon it was time for them to make their cocoons and turn into beautiful butterflies. Cater and Pillar said goodbye to each other and promised that who ever came out first would stay and wait for the other one. Then they spun their cocoons and sealed themselves inside. While they were in their cocoons, another big storm came and blew them off their branch and far away. But this time they did not land next to each other. Cater landed near the river and Pillar landed near the field. When they came out of their cocoons the caterpillars could not find each other. They looked this way and that but they couldn't even see their home. Each caterpillar, now a beautiful butterfly, was alone in the middle of the great big world. "Where is Cater?" Pillar said when she came out. "Where is Pillar?" Cater thought when he came out. So the two butterflies decided to look for each other. As he flew off Cater looked down at himself and realized that he had turned into a butterfly with a yellow body and yellow and black spotted wings. He didn't look anything like the little green caterpillar he had been before he closed himself up in the cocoon. He landed on a nearby leaf and sat there wondering how he was going to find Pillar since he didn't even know what she looked like any more either. All his life he had known her as a little green caterpillar too. "This is not going to be easy" Cater thought to himself, "How can I search for my sister butterfly when I don't know what to look for?" But Cater knew that he had to find her somehow, so he flew up into the air and began to look around for his sister. Each time he saw another butterfly he would rush over and ask, "Are you Pillar?" But each time the answer was "No" so he kept looking. He must have asked one hundred butterflies this question, but none of them were his sister. Everyone wanted to help and they all asked what she looked like but Cater could not tell them because he didn't know. All he knew was that her name was Pillar and that she was his sweet sister. By now Pillar was just as worried. She had also realized that since she had turned into a butterfly with purple and red wings and blue spots, her brother must look different too. She knew that he must have changed just as much and she would never be able to recognize him. How was she going to find him? How? How? How? Pillar also began to look for Cater by flying around and calling his name as loudly as she could. Suddenly she had a great idea and she started to ask all of the other insects she saw to help her find her brother by calling his name too. Before she knew it there were hundreds of insects flying around calling her brother's name. The air was full of bugs saying ''Cater". Before long Cater heard someone calling his name and rushed see who it might be. He followed the sound of his name until he reached a big fat green praying mantis. Cater was very disappointed to see that it was not his sister, and he asked the praying mantis why he was calling his name. The praying mantis told him that a beautiful purple butterfly with blue spots was looking for her brother and had asked him to help. Cater was so happy! He was close to finding his sister again and he could hardly believe that he would see her again. Once Cater had calmed down he asked a praying mantis which direction his sister had gone. The helpful praying mantis pointed him in the right direction and Cater flew off as fast as his wings could carry him. Every time Cater passed an insect calling his name he would happily shout "That's me!" He was getting happier by the moment because he knew that he was going in the right direction and soon he would see Pillar again. Then, far away, he saw his sister. He started calling her name and flying to her as fast as he could. Pillar heard her brother's voice and turned to see a beautiful butterfly with black and yellow spots heading towards her. In no time the two butterflies were back together again and they were laughing and playing as they flew off across the fields to search for their lovely home. Copyright © 2000 Goodnight Stories FROM WWW.GOODNIGHTSTORIES.COM