Short Stories

STORIES

 

At the Playground with Gramma

I Go Camping with Gramma

At Boundary Bay (short version of Clay Cliffs)

Clay Cliffs

Margaret’s Instruction

Turnabout

Going With the Flow

The Eagle and The Wind

Dragon Coat

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THERAPEUTIC METAPHORS FOR CHILDREN

Therapeutic Metaphors are short stories written for specific children in a counselling or teaching relationship. They are based on the presenting problem, and use the child’s favourite animals, colours, and experiences. The plot structure of problem, climax and resolution consistently finds the hero (the child) using his/her talents to solve the problem. The story is read to the child in a slow, emotionally laden voice. It does not need to be discussed after, as the story says it all. It works on a sub-conscious level to move the child toward solution-oriented behaviour. The story is intended as a respectful loving encounter between child and adult.

While all the stories that follow were written with specific children in mind, the problems they present are common. Read the description of each title to see what situations are addressed.

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Thunder and Grit

Thunder is a young horse who moves so quickly and carelessly that he often causes problems.  The other horses don’t like him.  He meets a grasshopper named Grit who helps him to slow down and notice what is around him.  He notices the pool where the spilled water flowed, and rejoins the horses.

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Rocky Mountain Goat

Rocky is active and impulsive, often breaking things or bumping into his friends. He is shunned after yet another accident, but when his former friends need rescuing from a predator, he springs to help them.

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Blue Sparkle (prose)

Blue Sparkle is a little fish who misses out on many things because he doesn’t notice what is around him. When he learns to relax and float within the current, he sees much more and makes new friends.

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The Bee Who Couldn’t Buzz

Julia is an Italian honeybee who cannot make a sound. She works hard but is teased by the other worker bees because of her silence. She makes up a way to show the other bees where to find good pollen, by dancing a map on the side of the hive.

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The Bike Rally

Tyler doubts his ability to finish a mountain bike rally, but he perseveres through falls, mechanical failure, and tough competition. He finds the best route to avoid fallen bikes ahead, leading others to a successful finish.

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Tukton the Arctic Wolf

Tukton was born with two differently coloured eyes. His different eyes see the world in two different ways, so he does not act like his den mates. Grandfather Wolf helps him assume his adult responsibilities, instead of relying on his parents and older den-mates to help him all the time. As he matures and takes leadership, he sees how being a friend with man can help the wolves.

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Silver and Flowabee Fish

Silver is a fast capable fish who lives near the top of the ocean, and Flowabee is a ground feeder, who moves slowly and defensively. Silver is so dependent on being Flowabee’s friend and protector that he loses some of his own abilities. Through practice he learns to take space to be himself, and returns to Flowabee to tell her all his adventures.

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Chucky Squirrel

Chucky is a little squirrel who doesn’t like to dig in the earth, climb too high, or work too hard to get food. He relies on his family to look after him. He doesn’t realize that his teeth are growing strong enough to crack open nuts. When challenged by his father, who refuses to bring him soft peanuts any longer, Chucky discovers he is strong and capable. The nuts are hard to crack, but he does it.

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NARRATIVE POEMS

Blue Sparkle starts:

This is the story of a speedy little fish
Who moved so fast that he never got a wish.
He wiggled and he squiggled and he moved so fast
That all the other fish saw blue flash past.

This is the first of 12 verses that tell how Blue Sparkle learned how to slow down, relax, and notice what was happening around him.  It is the same story as the prose version above.  When I read the story to a class of 6-7 year-old children, they much preferred the poetic form.  It has rhythm, punch, and novelty. 

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The Invisible Hole

 

This story tells how six children slid one-by-one into a hole at the bottom of their sleigh-riding hill.  As each child came out of the hole, the part that slid deepest was  invisible.  The children had great fun doing tricks with their invisible hands, legs, or head, and confounded their parents when they went home for cookies and hot chocolate.  The first two verses are:

 

The snow reached the top of their snow boots
When Bobby and Lynne went to play.
Their snow suits were bright in the sunlight.
They took turns in pulling their sleigh.
They called on two friends
then walked to the end
of the lane
for Shane.

 

Approaching the corner the children
Saw what they were hoping to see.
The snow on the hillside gleamed brightly.
The run down the middle was free.
Their quickening feet
Ran fast up the street
to the top
then stopped.

 

This free-form verse and rhyme structure allows for illustrations along the right side of the page, in a sleigh-riding style.  I haven’t yet approached an illustrator for this project.  The story was created one winter day in the 1960s when my children Bob and Lynne were fussing, and I was ironing.  Originally in prose, it became their favourite bedtime story.  My biggest challenge at the time was to remember which child had what part of their body made invisible.  I first wrote it in verse form for a Children’s Literature course assignment in 1974.   I have submitted it to two different publishers, with no acceptance yet.  I may self-publish it, once drawings are completed.  If anyone is interested in the whole story with an eye to providing illustrations, let me know!

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Polar Bears

The polar bears are dying.  Why?  Why?  Why?

We say they are endangered, which means they all could die.
Maybe we could stop it if we knew the reasons why.

Polar bears live in the north with lots of ice and snow.
They hunt for many kinds of food everywhere they go.

This poem was created after working with five 8-year-old children in a study of polar bears.  It has not been illustrated yet.  The poem is 11 stanzas long, and suggests ways that we can reduce pollution, which ends up in the polar seas.

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