Kid Stories:

BoBo and his Magic Kite go to Neptune
By:  Beth Strong

Chapter One

It was a cool day. Bobo had taken out his kite when it got so windy that the leaves started rustling and Mr. Pippin’s hat blew off his head when he walked down the street.

It was a good day for kite-flying. Bobo got his kite to fly high and strong, with its tail dancing in the wind and all the colors painted butterflies in the sky. Bobo flew his kite for what seemed like hours, until finally he could tell it would soon be dark. All the running made Bobo tired. He wished he could just let his kite carry him home. He knew it would soon be time for dinner.

Well, magical things do happen sometimes.

Bobo sat down on a bench to tie his shoe. His kite, looking gently upon him, slowly began to move, and when no one was looking, softly spoke to Bobo.

"Here! Just sit upon my tail, and I will carry you home," said the kite to Bobo. Bobo had become sleepy, and didn’t notice anything strange about a talking kite. He did as he was told, and sat gingerly upon the tail of the kite.

Slowly, the kite began to move, and took itself gently into the sky. Higher and higher it went! The tail curled up and made a wonderful seat for Bobo to sit on, with its string becoming strong and steady. Before long they were reaching to the treetops, and drifting sweetly down the street, and they were getting a bird’s eye view!

Then the kite spoke to Bobo. "If you don’t mind, I’d like to make a little stop on the way home. I need to visit a friend, and it won’t take long. Would you like to come with me?"

Bobo, enjoying his kite ride, was happy to have a reason to extend his trip. "Sure! Just so long as I get home before dinner," Bobo said.

With that, the magic kite drifted higher and higher into the sky. Bobo looked down upon his street, and then the town, and watched the houses start to twinkle with evening lights.

Chapter Two

It didn’t take long for Bobo to fall into a slumber. The magic kite, careful not to lose Bobo, wrapped his tail safely around Bobo so he wouldn’t fall. Like this they traveled deep into the night sky.

As they passed Jupiter the Magic Kite spoke to Bobo. "Oh, so you woke up! Good. I was hoping you would be awake for this part of the trip. Isn’t it beautiful?"

After what seemed like a long time (and at the same time, no time at all!) the Magic Kite started to slow down. Bobo realized they were descending toward a landing. It was foggy, but Bobo guessed they were soon to land in a rolling green valley, with lush green trees and the ocean near by. It was kind of hard to see, but Bobo could feel the warmth of a special place. The Magic Kite spoke softly:

"Ah, home!" he sighed. "I’ve missed it so!"

"Home?" asked Bobo. "You mean, you’re from another planet?"

At that moment the Magic Kite floated gently to the ground, bringing Bobo to a soft, easy landing. Bobo stepped off his seat and found his feet sinking into the cool, squishy sand. "I knew we were near the ocean!" thought Bobo. He could hear the lapping of the waves nearby, and the air smelled of salt and fish.

"Where are we?" asked Bobo.

"We have come to my home planet, Bobo. We are on the planet Neptune. This is where my people are from."

Bobo noticed the kite had changed shape. He looked more like a wooly and wiry old man now, with a twinkle in his eye, laughter in his voice, and a shock of unruly yellow-white hair on top of his head. But he still had a long colorful tail that rustled in the breeze, which hopped about as this man moved around. "My name is Kit."

"I have someone I want you to meet," said Kit. He took Bobo’s hand and together they walked along the misty beach.

As they walked they passed a few little cottages, and then some more. Bobo could see a town nearby with people on bicycles. The smell of fish was strong. Frying fish, cold fish, even some dead fish. It reminded Bobo of the fish markets his mom took him to on Fridays.

Then Kit took Bobo down an alley. It was dark and windy, with lots of twists and turns. Bobo wondered how they would ever find their way out of there. Just then, Kit stopped at a door and knocked. Together they waited. There were no sounds of footsteps coming from inside. Nothing. Kit knocked again. Still nothing.

"I guess nobody’s ho--" Bobo started, when to his surprise Kit simply opened the door and let himself in, telling Bobo to follow along.

Together Kit and Bobo stood quietly in the big room within. It was dark. Bobo couldn’t see much, but he sensed a presence. He knew they were not alone.

Chapter Three

"So! You made it home," whispered an old man’s voice. "It is very good to see you."

"Father!" said Kit, who by comparison looked not so old to Bobo anymore.

Bobo looked up at Kit and saw a tear running down from his eye. Kit moved toward the old man, and knelt down by his side. The two looked at each other with great love.

"You brought someone with you . . . . Tell me who it is," said the old man to Kit. He also could sense things, although he could not see. The old man had lost his sight many years ago.

"Father, I would like you to meet Bobo," said Kit, drawing Bobo so close to the old man he could feel the old man’s breath, which was labored and slow. "Pleased to meet you, . . . sir," Bobo said. He wasn’t quite sure how to address him.

The two sat down beside the old man. It was cozy and Bobo drifted in and out of slumber while the two men talked. Every now and then he would hear bits and pieces of their conversation:

" . . . Yes, the Willows, they’re still here, . . . they were down on the fishing pier, when old Joe fell in, all his clothes got wet! He took off his clothes right there! We laughed so hard we thought we’d pee in our pants! . . . "

The two men smoked pipes and talked of old dreams, new dreams, dreams lost and found again.

And so it was in the flickering light of the kerosene lit room that the men talked and the boy dozed. He dreamed of mermaids dancing in the waves, of angels setting upon the shoulders of old men, of the shimmering sun dancing light waves upon the waters in the golden sunset. Soft music wafted through the air.

"But above all, you must remember . . . just love everyone," Bobo heard the old man say to Kit. Bobo wondered if he were still dreaming, but his eyes were open.

The three sat in silence. Kit held the hand of the old man, who closed his eyes and seemed to go to sleep. They sat like that for a long time. Bobo felt peaceful.

So peaceful was the feeling in the room that no one moved when the kerosene lamp burned its last drop of oil, and the light flickered out. The darkened room was cool and damp, but Bobo didn’t mind.

Just then, the old man coughed a little cough, but instead of sound coming from his breath, Bobo watched a light coming from the old man’s face.

The light grew. It grew and grew until the whole room was shining, and all the colors from pink faces to blue eyes and raspberry lips shone with a shimmering brilliance! Bobo and Kit stood up, as if pulled by the light to stand tall. There was a new smell in the room, a good smell, like lilacs in the spring brought along by a warm breeze.

"It’s time to go now," Kit said to Bobo. "I have said my goodbye."

Bobo wondered if Kit felt sad to leave his father, and he looked for signs on Kit’s face. But Kit, whose lips neither smiled nor frowned, shone eyes aglow with the fire of his father’s spirit. In fact, Kit’s whole being radiated light. Bobo looked down at his hands, and saw that he, too, was filled with light.

The two stepped out of the darkened room into the alley, down the street, and through the town. Everyone they met greeted them with beautiful smiles and warm, long hugs. "He’s with us all, now, isn’t he?" they cried. The town was jubilant, for everyone had known the old man. And everyone had loved him.

Bobo noticed that everyone seemed to be shimmering with light.

Chapter Four

Kit and Bobo walked with a light and joyful step through the windy streets of the town, along the cottages of the beach, and finally, onto the long stretch of white sand that greeted them when they first arrived.

"I’m glad you came with me, Bobo," said Kit. "I thought you’d like meeting my old father."

"Yes," said Bobo,. He looked down at his body. It was still shimmering with golden light. "I liked him very much."

With that, Kit’s face and body, and hands softened, and softened more, until he was almost like smoke, a mere wisp of himself. The wisp of smoke curled, and became filled with a golden hue. Right before Bobo’s eyes, the color of gold turned to a myriad of bright colors, every color of the rainbow, and each color turned into a thread of the most beautiful kite Bobo had ever seen! It was his old kite that brought him here, but now, totally transformed!

Bobo took his place upon the tail of the kite, which curled up strong and held Bobo securely in place. Together they lifted off into the starry night, and floated gently toward the heavens. Bobo quickly fell to sleep.

Chapter Five

When Bobo awakened he found himself sitting on the curb outside his house. He felt a little groggy, until he heard his mother say, "Bobo, come get cleaned up. Dinner’s almost on the table." Mr. Pippin was on his way home from his afternoon walk, holding his hat.

Dazed, he looked beside him. There he saw his handsome kite, laying on the ground, rustling here and there with the gentle breeze. For a moment he thought he heard a soft snoring sound. "Long trip, huh?" he offered.

"What’d you say?" asked Bobo’s mother.

"Nothing, Mom. What’s for dinner?"

Bobo picked up his Magic Kite and together they went into the house.

____________________________________

Beth Strong, MA, LPC, is a psychotherapist and astrologer in Denver, CO. The mother of one, she wants to share the magic of astrological wisdom for children through storytelling. Her young son used to love Bobo stories, and ask for them nightly.

Into the Forest
By:  Beth Strong

Once upon a while, a great long time ago, when animals could still talk and miracles were commonplace, there was a young peasant man who lived in a tiny little hut just beside a vast, dark forest. He lived in this hut with his wife and two little children, a boy and a girl. The peasants were very poor, and both husband and wife had to work long hours during each day to make enough money to feed their family.

One day, the peasant's wife said to the two children, "We haven't enough money for food. We have only a few grains of rice. Go out into the forest and look for berries, so that we may all have something to eat. Be sure to come home by nightfall!"

So the little boy and his sister went out into the dark forest and hunted for berries. By noon they had found only a few, but they were very hungry, so they ate all the berries they had found, even though they were hardly enough even to fill their little tummies for lunch. They searched on, eager to please their mama and papa with a big bushelful by nightfall, but there were not many berries to be found. The boy and girl wondered what they were going to tell their parents for their failure.

Then the brother saw something moving under the brush; it was a rabbit! He could kill the rabbit, cook it on a fire, feed himself and his sister a hearty supper, and still have meat left to take home for his hungry parents. He swooped down and grabbed the rabbit by the ears, swung the rabbit onto the trunk of a large tree, and before he knew it he and his sister were feasting on the tasty meat of a wild hare! It was all the more scrumptious for the boy, since, even though he had watched his father hunt rabbit dozens of times before, he had never before killed his own game.

Unbeknownst to the brother and sister, while they were enjoying their rabbit supper, there stalked a giant tiger just beyond the next tree. The giant tiger paced, angrily eying the two young children, for the tiger was very hungry. Suddenly, he pounced out from his hiding place and with his giant tiger voice, demanded: "WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY FOREST?"

The little girl screamed, "Oh no! and started to run. But her brother cried out, "WAIT! Don't be frightened by this silly tiger! We will simply tell him we are traveling to our uncle's house in the next village."

Just then a big drop of rabbit blood dripped down the little boy's chin. This enraged the giant tiger, who had been waiting all spring for the rabbit to fatten. Today was the day the tiger was to make his rabbit feast. "YOU HAVE BEEN EATING MY RABBIT!" roared the tiger. "No, it was just a cut on my lip," cried the boy, trying to persuade the tiger. "We have not been eating your, or anyone else's rabbit!"

With this the little girl got very worried, for it was plain for all to see there was a half-eaten rabbit lying on the ground beside them. She spoke to the tiger, "We were very hungry, for we had only a few berries. . . "

But the giant tiger wasn't listening to the girl. "YOU ARE IN MY FOREST, YOU HAVE EATEN MY RABBIT, AND NOW YOU HAVE LIED TO ME! Now I must eat YOU for my dinner!" And in one bite the tiger swallowed up the boy.

The peasant sister trembled in her fear. She tried once again to reason with this awful beast: "Please, oh Tiger, don't you see? We are just two little children trying to find some food for our hungry parents."

Once again, the tiger wasn't listening. He was licking his chops from the dinner he had made of her brother. But after taking in the boy, he was still hungry. Then he eyed the young girl. "AND YOU SHALL BE MY DESSERT, YOU LITTLE RABBIT THIEF!" he said, and swallowed her up whole!

Now that the two little heroes of our story are gone, there comes an interesting aside. All the while the giant tiger was terrorizing our peasant friends, there sat quietly a tiny gray forest mouse. This mouse, although he was small and frail, knew how to survive in the forest, and knew how to talk to even the most frightening of beasts. "Yo, Tiger!" said the forest mouse. "That was impressive. 'GIANT TIGER TAKES ON TWO SMALL CHILDREN AND WINS!' What's your next trick for the day?"

"I am a giant tiger and I eat whomever I want for dinner, so you had better watch it, little mouse! YOU could be NEXT!" said the tiger in a low, menacing tone. He was not so hungry any more, but was still in the mood to be very mean.

"You could eat me if you like, but if you do, on the very next day you will meet your own fate with death. But if you choose to let the forest mouse live, then you will go on to live a happy and contented life for a very, very long time." This was told to the giant tiger simply and without embellishment, as if the forest mouse were talking about the weather.

The tiger considered. He did not want to die tomorrow, and while he was not afraid of the forest mouse, he was afraid of death. "Okay, today I will let you live. We shall see what tomorrow brings, and if you have lied to me, I WILL EAT YOU UP, sure as I have eaten these little peasant children!"

Night fell, and the tiger and the mouse fell to sleep. Meanwhile, the poor peasant man and his wife couldn't sleep a wink, so worried were they for their son and daughter, their only real value in this world.

The next day, the tiger awoke and went on his daily rounds of looking for food. He had forgotten all of what the forest mouse had said, and was even thinking of eating the mouse for his breakfast. Then, all of a sudden, there dropped from a tree a huge trapper's net, onto the great tiger. The tiger was trapped. He could not move, nor claw his way out of the net. "I thought my life would be spared, oh forest mouse. You have tricked me into not eating you once again!"

"No," said the forest mouse. "I haven't tricked you, nor have I ever. On my word, you will not die today."

And with that, the little forest mouse scampered up the trapper's net and chewed upon it until its twine became undone. He chewed and chewed until there was a hole so big, even the giant tiger could get free.

"You have been kind to me," said the tiger to the mouse. "You didn't have to save me. I would like to call you my friend."

"You can call me your friend, giant tiger, but only after you do one thing for me."

"You have saved my life. Tell me and I will do it."

"My request is quite simple, tiger-beast. I ask only that you open your belly and let free the two children inside."

With that the giant tiger rolled over on his back, opened his belly, and out came the two astonished children. They all looked around one another and had quite a great laugh, seeing that the situation had indeed changed, and all could live happily side by side.

The two children spent the rest of that day hunting for berries and practicing their new talents for hunting and trapping rabbits, with the help of the giant tiger. But by day's end, they grew weary of the cool forest and longed for the comfort and warmth of their parents' home, however sparse. They took their berries and their game, and tread back the long path to their home by the side of the forest, where they were greeted ever so happily by their worried parents.

"Never, never, will we send you out to the forest alone again!" cried the mother.

But her young daughter spoke: "No, mama, we will go back to the forest again and again, for now we can hunt, and now we can all bring food for our happy family!"

So that's the way it was. And the children went often to see their friends the giant tiger and the little gray forest mouse.

THE END