Monthly Archives: September 2012

A man walked along a beach one morning…

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A man walked along a beach one morning, when he heard a voice singing from behind some rocks. He sought out the source of the song, and found a grey seal, lying alone in the cave, crying silver tears and singing so sad a song that the man pitied the beast. He wrapped the seal in his own coat and sang along with it as the sun rose in the sky.

The seal’s silver tears soaked into the man’s coat, giving it a shimmer, so that as night fell and the seal’s song ended, the coat fair glowed in the moonlight. The man brought the seal to the water’s edge and sent it into the waves, promising to return the next day. He wore the coat home, and when his friends asked what had happened at the beach he replied “I met a friend, and we sang the day away”.

The next day he returned to the beach, but the seal was not there. The man searched, and eventually saw a fishing boat on the horizon. He ran to fetch his own rowing boat and met the fisherman. The fisherman said his net was caught on something, so the two men pulled together, but the net didn’t budge. The man saw his seal friend bobbing in the waves, and he knew what to do. Still wearing his silvered coat, he jumped into the water and swam to the sea bed to free the net. The net was caught on the prow of a sunken ship, but as the man reached out to untangle it, he noticed his hand had turned to a seal’s flipper. He saw his friend beside him, and together they freed the net.
As the man rose to the surface he returned to human form, but his coat was no longer silvery.

He told the fisherman of the sunken ship, and the fisherman spoke of a local legend about a long lost ship, that sank in ages past. All had been rescued except a little girl who had been asleep in a bunk right at the bottom if the ship. It was said that on starlit nights, she sang to travellers to guide them home.

The man then understood, and swam back down to the wreck, where he found a doll, long lost on the sea bed. He brought it to the surface, rowed it to shore, and left it in the cave where he first met the seal. He waited until nightfall in the cave, and the seal returned.

“I found your doll”, he said to the seal, and as the seal touched the doll, she turned into a little girl, and when the little girl looked up at him, her eyes were like the seal’s eyes, and silver tears dried on her cheeks.

The man took the little girl home to his own family, and they lived Happily Ever After

The End.

Once there was a tailor…

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Once there was a tailor, and he was famous throughout the land as he wove the finest fabrics to make magnificent garments for kings and emperors.

One king set out to find the tailor’s secret. He travelled far and wide until he saw a forest with strange lights glowing in the centre. He entered the forest and found himself in a fairy glen, bedecked with fireflies and will-o-the-wisps.

In the centre of the glen was the famous tailor, and he listened to the fairy’s stories. As he listened, gossamer threads appeared in the air between them, which he skilfully wove into a fabric. The king was about to leave, glad he had discovered the secret at last, when he stepped on a twig, and the fairies stopped their tales, and the tailor stopped his weaving, and they all turned to look at the king.
The tailor invited him into the glen.

“It is time to weave your story into the fabric, you have found my tapestry of words, you must add your own”.

The king sat down and recounted his adventures, and as he spoke, the tailor took the very words from the air, and span them into shimmering threads, then wove them into as fine a fabric as you have ever seen.

When the king had finished speaking, the tailor sewed the fabric into a cloak, then handed a needle and some scissors to the king.

The king was surprised, and asked why he had been given such fine gifts.

“It is the curse of the story weaver to carry the needle until such a time as he can weave a cloak from the life of another. I have woven your life into my cloak, and shall wear it henceforth. I wear your life and it is mine.”

The truth dawned on the king “but what will I do without my life?”

The tailor had put the cloak on, and looked just like the king now “I have been where you are now, and my advice to you is to do the very best story weaving you can, for once you have woven the finest stories you will ignite the curiosity of one who will tell you theirs, and perhaps one day we shall meet at my palace.”

The old king replied “you mean my palace!”, but found himself alone, save for the needle and scissors. He set out to search for stories to weave, a long journey, and the hope of redemption.

A good wolf

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One of the children at my nursery asked for a story about a Good Wolf today.

Once upon a time, Goldilocks was walking through the woods. After the recent “three bears” incident, she was on her best behaviour and was minding her own business, when she heard a big growly sob coming from a clearing in the trees.

She went to see what it was, and was surprised to see a wolf sitting all alone at a huge table that was full of party food, sobbing his little heart out.

She approached the wolf and asked what was the matter, the wolf told her it was his birthday, and he had invited all the forest creatures, but nobody had come because they were scared of wolves. “But they’re wrong!” Wailed the wolf “I’m not a big bad wolf at all! For a start, I’m only little, but also, I’m nice if only people get to know me”.

Goldilocks couldn’t bear to see any creature that sad, so she came up with a plan. Together, they took the party food and went to the three bears’ house, and the five of them had a lovely party. Daddy bear’s food was salty, just the way he liked it, and mummy bear’s was sweet.  Baby bear, Goldilocks and the wolf each found food they loved, and soon they were all full up.

Goldilocks and the bears told their friends about the good little wolf, and soon he had plenty of friends, and lived Happily Ever After

The End

The Tiny Cottage

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Long ago, and far away, there lived an old lady. She had a small cottage, but felt cramped.

A wise elder heard her grumbling, and asked if he could help in any way.

“My cottage is too small, what can I do?” She wailed.

The wise elder advised her to bring her pig into the cottage.

The lady was confused, but did as advised. As soon as the pig got into the cottage, it wrought havoc, smashing ornaments, breaking furniture and leaving muddy footprints on the carpet.

The lady complained to the wise elder, who told her to bring in her sheep too. She did this, but it only made matters worse! The sheep and pig fought, and broke even more things.

The lady shouted at the wise elder “Do Something! My cottage is far too small for all these creatures.”
The wise elder advised her one last time, to bring in her goose.

She did so, more confused than ever. The goose flapped and shed feathers all over the cottage, the cottage smelt like a farmyard, the woman called the wise elder in despair “help me, the cottage is far too small for all these creatures!”

“Put them all back out again” he said.

The lady did so, and immediately the cottage felt huge! She thanked the wise elder for all his help,  and lived happily ever after in her enormous cottage.

The End