Shrinks across the country say the upcoming electionhas many of us in a funk.
Perhaps that accounts for the tone of this bedtime story.
*
She wanted me to tell her a story.
A story with no fighting or screaming
and where all the people lived happily ever after.
Well, I said, in most of the stories I know
there’s always some fighting or screaming.
And in most stories
the good guy
the hero
is looking for something
like maybe a princess or buried treasure
but on his way to find it the good guy meets a bad guy
the villain
and the villain doesn’t want the hero to find
what he’s looking for
so the bad guy sets a trap for the good guy
like maybe a deep hole covered with leaves
and the good guy doesn’t see it
and tumbles in
or the villain sneaks up on the hero and grabs him and drags him away to a dungeon
or they have a sword fight
stuff like that
and the thing is
sometimes the good guy wins
and sometimes the bad guy wins
so the stories don’t always have happy endings.
Well, she said, then can’t you just make something up?
Sure, I said.
Once upon a time
there was a momma bird and a poppa bird
and they made a nest in a tree.
They made it from feathers and leaves and twigs
and crunched up gum wrappers they found on the ground
and pretty soon there were four blue eggs in the nest
and one day the eggs cracked open
and there were a four baby birds in the nest
with their little beaks open
crying.
So the poppa bird went looking for food for the baby birds
while the momma bird stayed home in the nest
watching the babies
to make sure nothing happened to them.
And when the poppa bird came home with some worms
he fed them to the baby birds
but they were always hungry for more
so the momma went looking for food
and the poppa bird stayed home in the nest
watching the baby birds to make sure they were safe
and when the momma bird got back to the nest
she fed worms to the babies
and the babies grew bigger from eating so many worms
and the momma bird and poppa bird taught their babies to
fly
and pretty soon the four baby birds
who were sort of grown up by now
flew far away to a beautiful garden with beautiful trees
blooming with beautiful oranges
and each bird found another bird to love
and they built nests in the orange trees
and had beautiful baby birds of their own
and lived happily ever after
the end.
And she said, Thank you momma, and fell fast asleep.
And I sat by her bedside thinking about
baby birds
that
fall out of the nest in the tree
copyright 2016 Ozzie Nogg
Perhaps that accounts for the tone of this bedtime story.
*
She wanted me to tell her a story.
A story with no fighting or screaming
and where all the people lived happily ever after.
Well, I said, in most of the stories I know
there’s always some fighting or screaming.
And in most stories
the good guy
the hero
is looking for something
like maybe a princess or buried treasure
but on his way to find it the good guy meets a bad guy
the villain
and the villain doesn’t want the hero to find
what he’s looking for
so the bad guy sets a trap for the good guy
like maybe a deep hole covered with leaves
and the good guy doesn’t see it
and tumbles in
or the villain sneaks up on the hero and grabs him and drags him away to a dungeon
or they have a sword fight
stuff like that
and the thing is
sometimes the good guy wins
and sometimes the bad guy wins
so the stories don’t always have happy endings.
Well, she said, then can’t you just make something up?
Sure, I said.
Once upon a time
there was a momma bird and a poppa bird
and they made a nest in a tree.
They made it from feathers and leaves and twigs
and crunched up gum wrappers they found on the ground
and pretty soon there were four blue eggs in the nest
and one day the eggs cracked open
and there were a four baby birds in the nest
with their little beaks open
crying.
So the poppa bird went looking for food for the baby birds
while the momma bird stayed home in the nest
watching the babies
to make sure nothing happened to them.
And when the poppa bird came home with some worms
he fed them to the baby birds
but they were always hungry for more
so the momma went looking for food
and the poppa bird stayed home in the nest
watching the baby birds to make sure they were safe
and when the momma bird got back to the nest
she fed worms to the babies
and the babies grew bigger from eating so many worms
and the momma bird and poppa bird taught their babies to
fly
and pretty soon the four baby birds
who were sort of grown up by now
flew far away to a beautiful garden with beautiful trees
blooming with beautiful oranges
and each bird found another bird to love
and they built nests in the orange trees
and had beautiful baby birds of their own
and lived happily ever after
the end.
And she said, Thank you momma, and fell fast asleep.
And I sat by her bedside thinking about
baby birds
that
fall out of the nest in the tree
copyright 2016 Ozzie Nogg