A story for a cranky little girl

Once upon a time there was a beautiful little girl who loved to run and play, sing and dance, color and paint, laugh and talk, twirl and whirl, and of course the little girl LOVED to hear stories. The little girl was always happy and smiling. She was always SO happy and smiling that all the people around her couldn't help but be happy and smiling too. 

The little girl had lots of friends that she loved to play with. One day the little girl got to go over to her friend's house for the afternoon. She was so excited and her friend was too! The little girl's friend couldn't wait to show her all of the wonderful things at her house. They went to the bedroom and turned on the t.v. There were so many shows to watch that the girls couldn't decide which one to watch first. So they closed their eyes and picked one. 

When the show was over they ran to the kitchen to find something to eat. There was ice cream waiting for them. Ice cream with lots of yummy chocolate poured on top. When they finished their bowls they left them on the table and went in search for the Halloween candy that was stashed in the closet. With their shirt fronts full of candy they went back to the bedroom to watch the next show. 

The candy was gone by the time the show was over. The girls then went into the family room and asked if they could play the video games. OF COURSE! So they played and played and played the video games. They started having a hard time getting along as the afternoon went on.

There were tears because one girl beat the other one.

There were tears because one girl laughed when the other fell down.

There were tears over which game to play.

There were tears over whose turn it was.

There were tears and tears and tears.

The mommy told the girls that it was time to find something else to play if they couldn't get along. So they stomped off to the kitchen to find something to eat. Chocolate Milk!! They poured chocolate syrup in their glasses until it was hard to tell which was the syrup and which was the milk. They decided to have a race to see who could drink their milk the fastest.

The little girl won and her friend burst into tears. The little girl got mad that her friend wasn't happy for her so she burst into tears and screamed, "I HATE YOU!!!".

There was a knock at the big front door. The little girl's mommy was here to take her home. The little girl threw herself down on the floor and started kicking and screaming. She didn't want to go home! She wanted to live with her friend and play video games and watch tv and eat ice cream and drink chocolate milk FOREVER.

Mommy could see that she'd had a very exciting day. Maybe a bit too exciting. She gathered up the little girl into her arms and carried her to the car. The little girl didn't want to go and she was screaming and crying the whole way there. Soon her mommy had her buckled into her seat with a blanket tucked around her. Mommy handed the little girl her unicorn and then shut the car door. 

As the car pulled away from the curb mommy started to sing. The little girl was still crying and she cried almost the whole way home. She was angry. She was tired. She was cranky. She was crabby. Her tummy hurt. Her shoes hurt. She hated her shirt. She didn't want to go home. She didn't want to laugh. She didn't want to sing. She didn't want to play or run. She didn't want to laugh and talk. She didn't want to twirl or whirl, and she definitely DID NOT want to hear stories!

Mommy carried her into the house and shut the door. Humming quietly, mommy set the little girl down in the bathroom and started warm water running into the tub. Mommy took off the little girl's clothes and placed her into the warm water.  The little girl watched the water running into the bath. She picked up the cup and started filling it with water. Mommy started washing her back with a soft cloth and some lavender soap. The small bathroom started to smell sweet and good. 

Soon the tub was filled up and the little girl played with her boat and cup while mommy washed the sink and rearranged the cabinets. Mommy got the little girl's warm jammies all ready for her and placed her special towel on the sink. The little girl stood up and pushed the plug over to let the water out. She giggled when it made it's funny sucking noise. She stepped out of the tub into the warm towel that mommy had waiting for her. She started chatting about her afternoon while mommy dried her off and helped her into her jammies. The little girl took her dirty clothes to the hamper by the washer. Then she came back and turned off the bathroom light. 

She went to sit on the couch with her mommy. She smiled at her mommy because now it was time to hear a story. But first mommy had a surprise for the little girl. Mommy had made her some oatmeal with butter, cream, and bit of maple syrup! She ate it all up and drank a tall glass of milk. Then she followed Mommy into the big bathroom where the special oil lives. Mommy put a drop behind both of the little girl's ears. She smelled so sweet and good. 

The little girl ran and got her blanket and unicorn. Then she ran to the couch and tucked her blanket all around her. Mommy sat next to her and cuddled her up close to tell a story.

The little girl couldn't wait to hear all about it.

A story for a sick little boy

Once upon a time there was a little boy who lived in a small village at the bottom of a tall mountain. This little boy was friends with everyone in the village and he would visit his friends each day. First he would stop by the stables to say hello to the horses, the stableboy, and the cats who patrolled the stables. Then he would make his way through the village with his smiling face and greet each person he would see. He said hello to the miller who ground the wheat into flour for his Mama. He said hello to the Baker who created the special muffins he had on Sunday mornings. He said hello to Father at the church and he had a cheery hello for the ladies as they worked on the flower beds. 

He made his way to visit the cows, sheep, goats, and farmers that lived outside the village. All the farmers had dogs that the boy loved. And the dogs loved the boy. They would race through the fields and then stop and watch him when he had to leave. 

One day the boy decided that he would climb a little higher up the mountain so he could look over the whole village at once. So he climbed, and he climbed, and he climbed and he climbed. Then he turned and looked. 

He could see his house from here! He could see the miller and the baker, and the church, and the cows, the sheep, the goats, and the farmer's houses from here! What a lovely view. He enjoyed the picture for a while and then he saw the sun was getting low in the sky so he started to climb down. 

The sun dropped faster than he could climb and it began to get very chilly. As he walked across the farms he wished he had his woolies and he thought that summer must be coming to an end. Soon he would be warm and safe at home.

The walk home seemed so much longer than the walk up the mountain had been and he was very happy to see his home with the warm lights in the window. The wind had picked up as the sun went down and he felt like it blew him the rest of the way home! 

He opened the door and closed it behind him quickly. The warmth of the fire called to him and he quickly took off his boots and made his way to the special chair that sat beside it. As he sat down he sneezed, then he sneezed again. His mother came through the kitchen to bring supper to the table and she quickly came over to the boy. She saw that his nose was red. She saw that his cheeks were red, not the lovely glowing red of good health, but the too bright red of a little boy who'd gotten a chill. She placed her hand on his forehead and said, "Oh little one! What have you been up to?" 

He was very happy when she cuddled him up and got him into a warm bath. She helped him into his woolies and tucked him into bed with a yummy mug of medicine tea.

He didn't feel well. His ear ached. His head ached. He was tired and very cranky. His mother sat down by the bed with her knitting and he fell asleep to her lullaby. 

The next day was the same. But his mama knew what to do. She told quiet stories when the little boy felt cross and she fed him special broth and kept him warm and cozy. He slept and slept all through the day and through the night. When he woke up he felt better and he heard a knock on the door. 

It was the miller and he'd brought a loaf of bread for the boy. He patted the boy on the head and told him that he hoped he felt better soon. As he was leaving the Baker came in and he had brought some of his best molasses muffins JUST for the boy. He kissed the top of the boy's head and told him to rest up because there would be blueberry pancakes at church this week! The baker left with a happy good bye because he could see that the boy was getting better. 

Next came the stableboy. He had carved a little wooden horse and a small cat for the boy. He gave them to the boy and told him that the horses and the cats were missing him. They all hoped to see him soon.

The boys were playing with the horse and cat toys when the boy's mama came in with his medicine tea and she shooed the stableboy out with a warm smile. Mama told the stableboy that the boy might be able to visit tomorrow, but only if he got some sleep.

The boy took a nice nap and felt EVEN BETTER when he woke up. He could hear voices in the living room and when he called for mama she didn't come alone. ALL the ladies of the church came in too. They had brought the boy a plant to sit by his bed. The plant smelled good......it was lavender! The Priest had come with them and he gave the boy a happy smile and a special blessing.

That evening the farmers all came with their dogs to visit the boy. The dogs sat politely and wagged their tails as they watched the boy. They looked as if they hoped the boy would jump up and go running with them. He couldn't, of course, because he needed to stay in bed until tomorrow.

That night he lay in bed with his tummy full of good broth, fresh bread, molasses muffins and medicine tea feeling very happy that he had so many friends and thinking of the sweet fields he would visit tomorrow if his mama said he could get up. With one last sleepy yawn, as his mama sang him a gentle lullaby, he decided that he would put his woolies on as soon as he woke up and visit all his friends.