Once Upon A Time …

Once upon a time in the magical land of LuMarFin, a pretty little princess with golden hair and lovely blue eyes and pretty pink lips was resisting the whole idea of taking a nap.  The queen of LuMarFin sighed as she listened to the rhythmic thumping from the second floor of the castle that the princess made by jumping in her bed when she should have been napping.  There was an old grampy who was visiting the castle and the queen asked him if he might tell a story to the princess that would put her to sleep.  The grampy thought this was a great honor and, though he had never spun a bedtime story before, he gladly took the challenge.

Faced with a stubbornly jumping princess who glared at him and demanded an audience with her mommy, the grampy laid himself down on a very large pillow next to the princess’ crib and pressed his bearded face close to the side.  The princess began to smile and sat herself down and leaned over to put her face close to his.  This is the story the grampy told:

Once upon a time, there was a little girl with golden hair, and lovely blue eyes, and pretty pink lips.  She decided one fine and sunny day that she wanted to take a walk.  She put on her walking shoes and set off down the sidewalk (because she knew she should not walk in the street) to see what she could see that was interesting.  Before she had gone very far she heard footsteps behind her and she turned around and what do you think she saw?

She saw a yellow kitty cat following behind her!

“Hello kitty cat”, she said.  “Meow, meow” said the kitty cat.

“I’m going for a walk”, said the girl with the golden hair, and lovely blue eyes, and pretty pink lips, “Would you like to come with?”  “Meow”, said the kitty cat and began to walk with the girl with the golden hair, and lovely blue eyes and pretty pink lips.

They had not walked far before the girl with the golden hair, and lovely blue eyes, and pretty pink lips heard more footsteps behind her and she turned around, and what do you think she saw?

She saw a little brown puppy dog following behind her!

“Hello puppy dog”, she said.  “Arf, arf”, said the little brown puppy dog.  “Meow, meow” said the yellow kitty cat.

“I’m going for a walk”, said the girl with the golden hair, and lovely blue eyes, and pretty pink lips, “Would you like to come with?”  “Arf”, said the dog and the girl with the golden hair, and lovely blue eyes, and pretty pink lips continued her walk with the yellow kitty cat, and the little brown puppy, following close behind her.

They had not walked far before the girl with the golden hair, and lovely blue eyes, and pretty pink lips heard more footsteps behind her and she turned around, and what do you think she saw?

She saw a white billy goat following behind her!

“Hello billy goat”, she said.  “Baa Baaa”, said the white billy goat, “Arf, Arf”, said the little brown puppy dog. “Meow, meow”, said the yellow kitty cat.

“I’m going for a walk”, said the girl with the golden hair, and lovely blue eyes, and pretty pink lips, “Would you like to come with?”  “Baaa”, said the billy goat and the girl with the golden hair, and lovely blue eyes, and pretty pink lips continued her walk with the yellow kitty cat, and the little brown puppy, and the white billy goat following close behind her.

They had not walked far before the girl with the golden hair, and lovely blue eyes, and pretty pink lips heard more footsteps behind her and she turned around, and what do you think she saw?

She saw a frisky black horse following behind her!

“Hello horse!”, she said.  “Neigh, neigh”, said the frisky black horse, “Baa, baa”, said the white billy goat, “Arf, Arf”, said the little brown puppy dog. “Meow, meow”, said the yellow kitty cat.

“I’m going for a walk”, said the girl with the golden hair, and lovely blue eyes, and pretty pink lips, “Would you like to come with?”  “Neigh”, said the horse, and the girl with the golden hair, and lovely blue eyes, and pretty pink lips continued her walk with the yellow kitty cat, and the little brown puppy, and the white billy goat, and the frisky black horse following close behind her.

They walked and they walked until they came to the seashore where they ran, and skipped, and jumped playfully across the sand and into the water, and what do you think she saw?

She saw a smiling fish!

“Hello smiling fish!”, she said.  “Blub, blub” said the smiling fish, “Neigh, neigh”, said the frisky black horse, “Baa, baa”, said the white billy goat, “Arf, Arf”, said the little brown puppy dog. “Meow, meow”, said the yellow kitty cat.

“I’m going for a walk”, said the girl with the golden hair, and lovely blue eyes, and pretty pink lips, “Would you like to come with?”  “Blub”, said the smiling fish, and the girl with the golden hair, and lovely blue eyes, and pretty pink lips continued her walk in the shallow water with the yellow kitty cat, and the little brown puppy, and the white billy goat, and the frisky black horse following close behind her.

The girl with the golden hair, and lovely blue eyes, and pretty pink lips, and the smiling fish, and the frisky black horse, and the white billy goat, and the little brown puppy, and the yellow kitty cat played, and laughed as they had great fun jumping and running and splashing in the water.

After a while, the girl with the golden hair, and lovely blue eyes, and pretty pink lips stretched her arms out and with a big yawn said, “I’ve had so much fun and now I’m so tired.  I think I must take a nap!” 

“Blub blub”, said the smiling fish, “Neigh, neigh”, said the frisky black horse, “Baa, baa”, said the white billy goat, “Arf, Arf”, said the little brown puppy dog. “Meow, meow”, said the yellow kitty cat.

Spotting a shady place with thick soft grass, the girl with the golden hair, and lovely blue eyes, and pretty pink lips said good-bye to the smiling fish and lay down on the soft grass with the frisky black horse, and the white billy-goat, and the little brown puppy, and the yellow kitty cat lying beside her.

“Good night”, she said to her friends and she closed her eyes.  “Neigh, neigh”, said the frisky black horse and he closed his eyes.  “Baa Baa” said the white billy goat, and he closed his eyes.  “Arf, arf”, said the little brown puppy dog (but not too loud), and he closed his eyes. “Meow, meow”, said the yellow kitty cat softly and he closed his eyes and in a moment they were all fast asleep, dreaming of the fun they had together.

And the smiling fish swam quickly home and told his mother all about his new friends!

Quietly, the grampy smiled and struggled to his feet beside the crib that held the sleeping princess.  He tenderly caressed her cheek and whispered “I love you Margo” and then he turned and left her room, quietly closing the door behind him.