For Kids
Maude the Pink Turtle
by Sara Hickman
dEaR RoBiN boBbiN!
here is a story:
once upon a time, there was a turtle named maude. she had a problem. her shell was pink. all the other turtles had green and brown shells, but maude's shell stuck out like a ruby in white sand.
somedays she would get up and be pretty plucky about how unique and special her pink shell was; she would groom until her shell shone, and then she would treat herself to strawberries and cream. but by the end of the day, she didn't feel special and unique anymore. she felt like a blob. she would get teased and taunted by all the other turtles until she wanted to run away and hide. sometimes she would walk home with tiny turtle tears running down her tiny turtle cheek, wondering why the turtle God had made her so weird.
well, as time went on, maude started to notice something strange. each day when she walked to the chocolate factory (where she made chocolate turtles to sell in the local candy store), she would take a certain path. and each evening she would take the same path home. and all along the path, baby pink flowers were blooming. and they all seemed to be sprouting from the exact spot a teardrop would fall. every day at the factory, she tried to tune out the meanness of the other turtles, but every night, tears would fall from her sad eyes, and the next morning, there would be new flowers reaching toward the sun.
maude began to get excited. she didn't know why. but deep in her turtle heart, she knew something BIG was about to happen. something that the world would sing about and celebrate.
after a few months, her path was littered with so many flowers, she had to walk alongside it! the flowers had grown tall and strong, with big green stalks and long, gleaming leaves. she wasn't crying on the walks home anymore. when someone was rude to her at the factory, she didn't seem to notice it anymore. in fact, she just smiled and went about her business. pretty soon, the other turtles starting whispering, "something is happening to maude!" and they were right. her shell looked as bright as fairy wings, her face had a radiance and expectation. the other turtles tried to figure it out. they ate more chocolates, but they only got fat. they thought maybe maude was exercising during her lunch hour, so they all began to do aerobics, but they only felt tired when they went back to work. they eavesdropped on her phone conversations, but she only talked to customers, and her sister, lula, in oklahoma. the other turtles were puzzled. "what can it be that is making maude so happy?!" they cried. one of them decided to follow maude home and see if she had a boyfriend that they could tease her about. it was decided he would follow her home that afternoon.
at five o'clock, maude left the factory. she was almost skipping, she was so excited to get to her path. the flowers were smelling like a bubblebath these days, rich and sweet. maude knew any day now that the something was about to occur. maybe even today! the spy turtle was trying to keep up with her, but he was very slow. his name was pokey, and his shell was dull and thick, he never took care to use turtle wax, or to even look in the mirror at his complexion. he was a sad little turtle, and had put on twenty pounds from the chocolates! as pokey followed maude, he began to smell something wonderful. his mouth started to water, not because he was hungry, but because he felt like he was going to start giggling!
"why, i don't giggle!" he said to himself, but sure enough, he began to feel a tickle in his turtle tummy.
maude was up ahead, rolling around among huge pink flowers, pokey almost lost her, she was the EXACT same color as the flora. maude was giggling, too, and as pokey tried to cover his mouth to stop the giggling, he saw something that made his eyes nearly pop like corn in a fire: the petals on the flowers were opening up, and itsy-bitsy pink turtles were cascading down around maude in the hundreds! by now he was laughing so hard, tears were rolling down his cheeks, and he didn't care WHO heard him, it felt so delicious to be so HAPPY! maude was encircled by the little turtles, who were singing, "Pa-la-ti-la-da!" and dancing joyously. maude stopped rolling around on her back, her shell lit up, a pink wave of light, and sat in wonder, still giggling, at her new family of friends. pokey was in love. and all of a sudden, he felt itchy. he tried to scratch his back with his claws, but he fell over every time he tried to reach that itchy spot. the itch was horrible now, and he stopped laughing, afraid he was going to split in half.
he started crying unhappy tears, and the tiny pink turtles and maude the big pink turtle stopped their gay celebration and came over to pokey and surrounded him in a sea of pink. "help me!" he cried. "my shell is breaking!" all the tiny turtles burst into a swell of laughter, but maude gently shushed the turtles and said, "no,no pokey! your shell is getting happy!" and sure enough, pokey waddled over to a little stream, and there in the reflection he saw a bright, shiny brand spanking new pink shell on his back. and he felt GREAT! everyone took to dancing and singing, and pokey and maude didn't go to work the next day, or the day after that, or even the day after that. but on the FOURTH day, they waltzed off to the factory (after showering and cleaning up back at maude's place). turtles tongues were wagging. pokey announced his engagement to maude. maude was a pink sunbeam of radiance. the turtles came up to her, one by one, and apologized for their wicked gossiping ways. maude didn't care! she hugged each of them and said, "no bother! just enjoy your bliss!" the head turtle threw a company picnic, talent show included, and there was even a pink shell contest in which all the brown and green shelled turtles taped pink paper on their shells. (first place was a trip to the galapagos islands!) at the end of the day's festivities, maude took the stage and the mic, and cleared her throat. everyone grew silent, some still feeling bad for not seeing maude as a special turtle in the first place. maude spoke. she said, "i have one thing to say. from this day on, we will look beyond the shell and celebrate the heart of another turtle. please remember---a shell is temporary, but a turtle is forever!" at that, everyone threw up their arms and pokey jumped on the stage, grabbed maude, gave her a passion filled turtle kiss, men were dancing with men, women were throwing back beers, turtle mania ensued!
and so, pokey and maude walked home, not even noticing all the pink flowers, and all the pink turtles, had disappeared without a trace. for after all, a story is only what you choose to make of it.
the end
The Legend of the Rainstick
by Sara Hickman
Many, many moons ago, our people's nation was deprived of rain for days upon end. The grasses grew brown, the leaves fell from the trees and our creek beds dried up and left the fishes gasping.
My forefathers and mothers became restless. Without water, they knew they, too, would fade back into the earth's dust. But my people were patient and wise. They knew Father Rain would send his tears when moved by a certain sound. They were determined to place their teepees and train their horses and generally carry on with life until Father Rain let his waters down.
However, there was one little boy, Running Without Fear, who grew impatient. Every night he heard his baby sister, Little Tiny Feet, crying from thirst, and he decided he must do something to get Father Rain's attention.
Now Running Without Fear's grandfather was a great medicine man, so one afternoon the boy snuck into his grandfather's teepee and stole his grandfather's medicine stick.
The stick was heavy with power, and decorated with beads and feathers. Running Without Fear ran to the middle of the dry grasses surrounding his family's circle of teepees, raised the stick above his head and shouted, "Father Rain---you have abandoned your people!!! Let down your waters!"
Running Without Fear waited, staring hard at the sky, but nothing happened. All he heard was the wind whipping through the tall grasses. Again, he raised his grandfather's medicine stick and yelled, as loud as he could, "Father Rain! I will not leave until you let down your waters!" This time the sky started to turn dark and the clouds began to angrily swirl. "Aha!" laughed Running Without Fear. "I have your attention, Father Rain! Now LET YOUR WATERS DOWN!" Father Rain was very annoyed, so he threw a lightning bolt towards the little boy. "AAAAAAAH!" hollered Running Without Fear, holding the medicine stick tightly in front of his face. He closed his eyes and held his ground as the lightning bolt hit the top of the stick and BZZZZZ-ZAP! it went right down the middle of that stick and directly into the ground. Running Without Fear opened his eyes, and with wonder he looked right down the middle of the stick. It had become an empty tube!
Running Without Fear had an idea. He was not one to give up easily. He started to run around the field, looking for dried seeds and dried nuts. He made a little pile of the dried things and found a large leaf, tying it to the bottom of the stick with a cord of leather. Next, he proceeded to fill the stick with the dried seeds and nuts. Then he took another leaf and covered the top of the stick. Now his grandfather's medicine stick made sound when he shook it.
"Aha!" said the little boy. "Now I will show you, Father Rain!" And Running Without Fear began to dance. He shook that stick and danced and the air was filled with the sound of chooka-chooka-chooka-chooka....Soon, to Running Without Fear's amazement, the sky grew dark as night, and he felt the kiss of a raindrop on his cheek.
Father Rain was happy with tears, for the sound of the chooka-chooka made him smile. Running Without Fear danced faster and harder, whooping and hollering, and the waters fell fast from the sky. Soon the creeks began to flow, the earth began to turn green, and Running Without Fear was dancing in mud, laughing while shaking his stick.
The peoples of our nation came running out into the rain and they laughed and danced, too, and even the little boy's grandfather cheered when he saw how Running Without Fear had saved his family by using the medicine stick in such a creative way.
And so... this is why we call these magic sticks "rain sticks." We decorate them with things that are precious to us, and we share them with Father Rain, and then he keeps our sweet earth wet so life can grow.
