Once upon a Time

This is a little piece I had written when my boys were little. I hope you can share it with your children and grandchildren. Little things like this brings back so many memories.

Once upon a time, in a world with bubble gum skies, and clouds of baaing sheep, peppermint striped grass and green Giraffes as trees, lived a teeny, tiny, teensy weensy little mouse.

Every morning he would come out of his teeny, tiny, teensy weensy little house and sit on his favorite tiny little pebble, dreaming of being big.

One day a clumsy brown June bug comes crashing down through the grass, almost landing on the teeny, tiny, teensy weensy little mouse. Landing on his back, legs in the air, he was a sight to see, kicking about trying to right himself.

“Hello teeny, tiny, teensy weensy little mouse. What worries crease that teeny, tiny, teensy weensy little brow of yours?”

”I was just thinking how wonderful it would be to be bigger.”

“Oh no, no, no. Believe me, it’s not as cracked up as you would think. I once was small and had the same mindset as yourself. My wish came true and look at me now, I’m all bulk and believe me, bulk does not fly well. I’m always bumping into lights and I always seem to land on my back, and believe me, it’s not that easy to right myself,” explains the June bug.

“Thank you sir, I will take your words to heart.”

“While I’m here, might I ask a favor of you?” The June bugs asks.

“Anything dear sir, how might I be of assistance?”

“I have something under my wing hindering my flight. Might you look for me, as I have no neck or fingers to check for myself.”

“I would be honored to help dear sir. Lift for me please.”

The June bug lifts his wing high for the teeny, tiny, teensy weensy little mouse to search for the problem.

“Aha! I have found the problem, it is a tiny yellow Orchid seed lodged under your wing.” Removing the seed, the teeny, tiny, teensy weensy little mouse tosses it over his shoulder.

“You should use more caution in your flight dear sir.”

“Thank you kind sir, I will take your words to heart,” the June bug spreads his wings, flapping with all his might, clumsily lifting into the sky.

The teny, tiny, teensy weensy little mouse sits upon his tiny little pebble again, thinking of his wish to be big.

“You know, I wouldn’t wish to fly, so I would not be bumping into lights, nor would I crash clumsily to the ground, landing on my back, legs kicking about, trying to right myself,” He says to himself, stretching his teeny, tiny, teensy weensy little legs out in front of him.

“Maybe if my legs were longer, that would make me bigger,” he contemplates the idea.

Just then a grasshopper pounces down in front of him.

“Hello teeny, tiny, teensy weensy little mouse. What worries crease that teeny, tiny, teensy weensy little brow of yours?” The grasshopper asks.

“I was just wishing my legs were longer, making me bigger,” the teeny, tiny, teensy tiny little mouse states.

“Oh no, no, no. You do not want longer legs. I wished for longer legs so I could jump farther than ever. But look at me now. I am always bumping my head, and before I can land on a delicious blade of grass, I have to calculate my weight by my length, thickness of the blade and the placement of my feet. And let me tell you, that is very difficult to calculate when mid air, not to mention, I really stink at math.” the grasshopper explains.

“Maybe you’re right. I will take your words to heart dear sir, thank you.”

“While I’m here, might I ask a favor of you? The grasshopper asks.

“Anything for you dear sir. How can I be of assistance?”

“There is something hindering my sight, making it difficult to calculate my landing on a delicious blade of grass. Could you look, as my feet are sharp and scratchy.” says the grasshopper.

“I would be honored dear sir, open wide for me.”

The grasshopper opens his eyes wide.

“Aha! I have found the problem. It is a tiny yellow Orchid seed in your eye.” Removing the seed, the teeny, tiny teensy weensy little mouse throws it over his shoulder.

“You should use more caution in where you land, dear sir.”

“Thank you kind sir, I will take your words to heart.”

The grasshopper blinks repeatedly, clearing his vision and takes a mighty leap into the air.

“The teeny, tiny, teensy weensy little mouse sits upon his tiny pebble, thinking about his wish again.

“You know, I wouldn’t ask to jump so high or so far, so I wouldn’t be bumping my head or doing math in mid air.” he says to himself, stretching his arms over his head.

“You know, maybe wings wouldn’t be so bad, if they beat really fast.Then I could fly high in the sky, that would kind of like being big.” the teeny, tiny, teensy weensy little mouse says to himself.

A wisp of wind blows the hair back on the teeny, tiny, teensy, weensy little mouse’s face. With bright green, blue and red flashes, a hummingbird lights in front of him.

“Hello teeny, tiny, teensy weensy little mouse. What worries crease that teeny, tiny, teensy weensy little brow of yours?”

“I was just wishing I had wings that beat really fast so I could fly high in the sky, making me feel big.” The teeny, tiny, teensy weensy little mouse says.

“Oh no, no, no. You do not want wings that beat really fast. I wished for wings that beat really fast so I could fly faster and higher, but look at me now. If I don’t keep beating my wings I can’t fly, and I am so tired that I have to keep eating all the time, so I can beat my wings all the time,” the hummingbird says breathlessly.

“Maybe you’re right. I will take your words to heart dear sir.”

“While I’m here, might I ask a favor of you?” the hummingbird asks.

“Anything for you dear sir, How may I be of assistance?”

“There is something stuck to the end of my tongue, making it difficult to get the sweet nectar from the flowers. Could you look? As my beak is so long, and I have no fingers, I cannot remove it.

“I would be honored dear sir. Flick your tongue out so I might see."

After the hummingbird flicks his tongue out many times, the mouse sees it.

“Aha! I see the problem. There are yellow Orchid seeds covering your tongue. Flick your tongue out again and I can remove them.” Says the teeny, tiny, teensy weensy little mouse.

The hummingbird flicks his long sticky tongue out. The mouse grabs his tongue near the beak, and squeezes tight, when the hummingbird pulls it back in, all the orchid seeds fall to the ground.

“You should use more caution where you stick your tongue when feeding dear sir.”

“Thank you kind sir, I will take your words to heart.”

The hummingbird flicks its tongue out several times, warming up his wings, he streaks away in a flash of green, blue and red.

The teeny, tiny, teensy weensy little mouse sits upon his tiny pebble once again, thinking about his wish to be big.

“You know, I would not care to beat my wings all the time, nor would I like to eat constantly just so I can fly high in the sky. But right now, I am too tired to think about my wish anymore. I need to sleep,” the teeny, tiny, teensy weensy little mouse says to himself with a mighty yawn.

The tiny, tiny, teensy weensy little mouse hops from his tiny pebble, and goes into his teeny, tiny, teensy weensy little house.

The next morning, the teeny, tiny, teensy weensy little mouse comes out of his teeny, tiny, teensy weensy little house to find a wonderful surprise.

There in his garden, beautiful yellow orchids stand where each tiny seed had fallen the day before. Also in his garden stood the bulky, clumsy June bug, the long legged grasshopper who stinks at math and the green, blue and red hummingbird, with the fast beating wings.

“Oh such a joy to see!” the teeny, tiny, teensy weensy little mouse says.

“Good morning kind sir. I came to thank you again for your kindness, for helping me in my time of need. So I left you a yellow orchid.” says the June bug.

“Good morning my friend. I came to thank you again for your friendship in helping me in my time of need. So I left you a yellow Orchid as well.” says the grasshopper.

“I too wish to say thank you for your strength in helping me in my time of need. So I too left you a yellow Orchid.”

“The yellow Orchid seed is the tiniest seed in the world, as you are the tiniest mouse in the world,” says the June bug.

“The yellow Orchid has the power to bring happiness into someone’s life just as you have brought happiness to us,” says the grasshopper.

“We would never want the Orchid seed to change, and we would never want you to change, because we love you just the way you are." says the hummingbird.

This story I dedicate to my granddaughter Abagail. She is that yellow orchid to me.