At last the week of waiting ended. On our return we fired a
shot and Elsa came rushing out of the bush, overjoyed to see us.
She was thin but not hungry, for she showed no interest in the
buck we had brought her.
After this we paid her short visits at frequent intervals, and
although she was always delighted to see us it was quite obvious
that she could manage without us. I went to England for a
long time that summer, and after my return she was particularly
pleased to see me.
We had always hoped that she would find a mate and that one
day she would walk into our camp followed by a family.
You can imagine our great joy when a few months later she
swam across the river followed by three fine cubs.
“Now please dance, Arabella, for you make us very happy.”
So Arabella kicked and turned…and jumped…and whirled…all
in her own special way. And the two people were so very happy
and loved Arabella’s dancing so very much that they clapped and
clapped their hands.
Now Arabella performs for the whole neighborhood, so you see
she has become famous after all.
And she is also, always, indescribably Arabella.
The Boy Who Stopped Time
from
p. 354mhard to read by himself. He wished Miss Bruning, the children’s
librarian, could help as she had many times before.
He went to the movie theater, but the picture wasn’t moving,
and the silence and stillness crept into him. He felt sleepy and
dozed off. Julian didn’t know how long he had slept because
when he woke up everything was exactly the same. Then he
remembered how he had stopped the clock so he wouldn’t have
to go to sleep.
Listening to the silence within himself, Julian pedaled to the
town park. He looked at all the children frozen in their play. Now
his feeling of silence started to become a feeling of sadness,
and he knew that he wanted to go home.
He took the back road home. Cows and horses stood
motionless in the fields, and high above, an airplane hung in the
sky. He was very tired when he arrived and very happy to find
everything waiting for him just as he had left it.
He put his bike away, went inside, peeked in at his mom,
climbed up on the chair, and started the clock pendulum
swinging. His mother’s lullaby began again. He got down
and silently returned the chair to its place. The lullaby ended,
the clock went ding-dong, and his mother said, “It’s time, Julian.”
He took one last look out the window. His father was throwing
another stone on the pile. Down by the creek, the deer had gone,
and over the meadow honeybees gathered nectar in the evening
sun. Julian smiled to himself and quietly went to bed.
Manuelo the Playing Mantis
from
p. 380mNo sooner had Debby whispered this than Manuelo attached
the stick to the walnut shell. He watched as the nimble spider
spun four strong silken threads from one end of the stick to the
other.
“All we need now is a bow,” said Debby. “Can you think of
something that will do the trick?”
“Yes, yes! I know!” exclaimed Manuelo. “I saw a bluebird’s
feather that should make a splendid bow.” And indeed it did.
At last, Manuelo was ready to play his cello. Taking the bow
in his right hand, he began moving it softly across the silken
strings. And as he bowed back and forth, the most beautiful
melody filled the night air.
Gradually from the grassy glade, from behind the fig tree, and
from out of the pond, crickets, grasshoppers, katydids, and frogs
came creeping forward, making a wide circle around Manuelo.
As they listened, each creature could not resist joining in with
the cello’s mellow music. Soon everyone was taking part in the
concert with clicking, fiddling, wing-singing, and deep-throated
croaking. Never was there a more glorious insect symphony!
On and on far into the night, Manuelo played to everyone’s
delight.
And every summer night thereafter, Manuelo played his cello.
T.R. TOC
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