Sally The Cloud

There was once a cloud named Sally. Sally lived high up in the sky and floated around all day long. She had seen many different things in her life whilst filling many rivers with water aswell as covering many mountains with snow. This, however, was not the life Sally wanted and so she always felt quite sad to watch from above as the world down below went by and she could not join in. She told her friend Sun of her wish one day. 'I would love to live on the ground but the other clouds laugh at me and call me "Dream Cloud Sally." 'Sally,' said a smiling Sun, who brightened up the day whenever she smiled, 'in all the time you have been living in the sky, haven't you learned that you can do anything you put your mind to?' 'I guess it's difficult to believe in yourself when others tell you things are not possible' replied Sally. 'Anything is possible my dear Sally. Go now and live your dream.' said a setting Sun.

Sally floated around for awhile pondering about what Sun had said. Then a storm began to brew. Lightening was flashing out from the other clouds and a strong wind was blowing Sally around. 'That's it!' cried Sally. 'I can't take this anymore!' and she floated down through the storm past the other clouds whom were too busy creating this bad weather to notice. When she reached the ground, Sally came to an old shed in which she took shelter. She had been a cloud a long time and seen and helped create many storms but she never liked them as they frightened her terribly and particularly this storm as it was quite strong indeed. There was an empty spot in the corner of the shed where Sally rested for the night as strong winds and heavy rain battered the old wooden building.

The next morning, Sally awoke to calm. Birds were singing and sunlight was beaming through the windows and the crack between the planks of wood on the broken door. Deciding to explore, Sally floated outside to be greeted by a scene of pure beauty. A river flowed alongside the shed and was as blue as the sky it reflected. Flowers of every colour decorated the area with such a variety of colours it would make a rainbow jealous. Fly's and Bees buzzed past about their business not having much time to take in their surroundings. 'I like it here very much.' Sally said looking toward Sun and smiled then suddenly everywhere became brighter and sunnier as Sun smiled back.

Along the riverbank, Sally spotted two Hedgehogs. She floated over towards them to say hello but before she could do this, one of the Hedgehogs spotted Sally and shouted 'M...M...M...MONSTER!' and they both hurried off. Slowly of course, as they were Hedgehogs after all! Sally floated on and didn't try to follow them. She found a beautiful spot by the river and stayed there awhile. 'Oh I’m not so sure if my being here was such a good idea. Maybe clouds are just not meant to live on the ground.' Suddenly, she heard some noise behind her. It was an angry crowd of animals. 'Get out of here!' 'We don't want monsters living here.’ Sally was too frightened and upset to explain that she was not a monster and quickly floated on back to the shed where she hid. 'Oh dear, I think it's time to leave. I'm not welcome here.' A tear fell from her eye. It was very rare for a cloud to shed a tear.

As she prepared to leave, Sally got a very bad smell. 'What on earth is that dreadful smell?' she thought to herself. 'Hello' said a voice from outside. 'Who is it?' asked Sally. 'My name is Henry; I don't mean you any harm.' Peeping out the window, Sally saw a small skunk waiting outside to be greeted. 'Come on in then Henry.' 'I saw what happened back there by the river.' Henry told Sally. 'For years I have been the one they get angry at and tell to leave because of my smell. They say I have no right to be here.' 'Oh no!' replied Sally 'you poor creature.' 'I have lived here all my life. It's my home.' ‘Of course Henry.’ I understand.' 'What are you anyway? Henry asked. I have never seen anything like you before.' I'm Sally and I’m a cloud. I came from the sky as I no longer wanted to live up there. Although I think I must return as it was a mistake coming here.' 'Heavens no!' cried Henry. 'For so long I have waited for someone like you to come along and now you are here.' Sally smiled as she realised that she had just made a friend on the ground and she needn't go back to the sky. Sally and Henry talked all day and by the end of the night they felt like they had been friends all of their lives. Then, it occurred to Sally, she could not smell Henry anymore. She had gotten to know him and his kind heart far overshadowed his smell. They became good friends and Henry showed Sally around. They had such fun together and even though the other animals around didn't like them, they were happy, because they had each other.

One day as Henry was helping Sally fix up her shed with some old tools they had found there, they heard a loud bang and screaming nearby. 'My goodness, what could be wrong?' asked Henry as he made his way outside. 'Oh Sally come quickly!' Sally too hurried out and gasped at the sight in front of them both, as some of the other animal’s homes were on fire in the wood. 'We must do something Sally.' 'I know what to do. Quickly Henry, get the bucket in the corner of the shed and follow me to the river.' She noticed that there were dark clouds above the fire and lightening was flashing from it. Lightening must have struck a tree in the wood. She hurried over to the river and dipped herself into the water. This was something which she had never done before and was not sure would even work. She soaked up as much water as she could and asked Henry to fill the bucket with water too. 'Come on Henry!' They went towards the fires and when they got there, Sally floated above one fire and released the water as rain which put the fire out. Then she floated back down to the bucket of water Henry had brought, soaked that up too and put the second and final fire out. The animals looked on in amazement and cheered for the two heroes.

'We are so grateful to you both for saving our homes.' said a teary-eyed rabbit. 'Yes, please forgive us for being so unwelcoming to you both it was wrong of us.' said one little hedgehog as many others nodded their heads in agreement. 'Everybody wait!' shouted a fox sniffing the air. 'Notice, there is no longer a smell from Henry.' 'His kindness has far outshone any smell. He came to help us even after we had been so unkind to him and his friend.' 'Please accept our invitation for a celebratory dance tonight.’ ‘We understand if you didn't want to join us but you will be our special guests of course.' ‘We would love to.' replied Sally and Henry together. From then on, Sally lived very happily on the ground with her friend Henry and their many friends around and whenever Sally looked up to Sun, she would say 'I’m living my dream Sun.' and the day would brighten.

The Smiling Tree

Deep in a valley below mountains so tall,
lived a tree that was smiling to any and all.
 It smiled in the rain and smiled in the snow,
smiling at the weather the day would throw.
 The landscape around made this lovely tree smile,
for the beauty alone, living there was worthwhile.
 Pebbled streams and flowers of every array,
littered the valley whereon the butterflies lay.
 This smiling tree brightened  many dull days,
it brought a beacon of light in so many ways.
 Those who shed tears travelled far to see,
then left with a smile like the smiling tree.

 

A LEAF ABOVE THE REST

A leaf had fallen, as I passed one day,

turning my head, I saw where it lay.

Apon a small twig, it rested for now.

Not touching the ground, to the leaf pile it bow.

Balanced on it's perch, clinging to a height,

outwitting it's course, it stayed there so light.

All the other leaves around, fell in due time,

but this little leaf, none of them, did it mime.

The trees were bare now with the odd little nest,

but this little leaf, was still a leaf above the rest.

HEDGEMAN

There once was a man who lived in a hedge. Nobody knows how he came to live in a hedge but he liked his dwelling very much. He would eat wild berries in Summer which were ripe and big, and he would hunt animals in the Winter. The hedge sheltered him from harsh frost in the Winter and kept him shaded from the hot sun in the Summer months and when it rained, the leaves kept the water from coming in. It was an evergreen hedge too, so there was leaves and shelter all year round.
       One day Hedgeman was taking a nap, when he heard something outside of the hedge and woke. "What's out there?" he said to himself, rubbing his eyes. He went out for a look and couldn't see anything so went back inside to try get some more sleep. Again, he lay down but was disturbed by a noise outside. This time it was louder. Hedgeman was getting very cross with the noise and stumbled back out to see what was going on. "Who is making all that racket?" he shouted. He couldn't see anything but as he turned to go back inside he heard something ontop of the hedge. He peeped up and to his surprise, there was a Magpie's nest above with three little Magpie chicks in it. They seemed very hungry and Hedgeman waited awhile but there didn't seem to be any Magpie parents. He decided he could not let them starve, so he would have to take care of them.
        He had to feed the chicks scraps of meat he had left over and go out looking for worms and bugs and was very kind to them indeed. He climbed hills and dug holes and did whatever he could to get some food to feed them. As they grew, they began to fly down and go inside the hedge and keep him company.  They would follow him on walks and when he went looking for their food. They learned how to hunt on these walks and began to fend for themselves. This could not last forever though and when the time was right, they all flew away to start their own lives. Poor Hedgeman was very lonely after taking care of the baby Magpies for quite some time. He would long for them to come back and make the racket he had grown to love.
        The Magpies had not long gone, when one day a mouse scuttled into Hedgeman's hedge. "what are you doing in here?" he asked the mouse. He got no reply of course. The mouse cuddled into Hedgeman and fell fast asleep. This made him tired and he too lay down for a sleep. When he awoke, the mouse was ontop of him. He crawled up Hedgeman's arm and nibbled at his face which tickled him. He laughed so much the mouse fell off. With the Magpies gone, he was very glad of the company. Everyday, the little mouse would come in to see him and he was no longer lonely.
       Soon Spring turned to Summer which before long turned to Autumn and in no time, many years had passed. This particular year it was late October and the weather began to get very very cold. Frost was settling on the ground at nightime and Hedgeman kept warm with a small fire. Snow was coming which meant less food. Winter was fast approaching as the snow began to fall and heavily too. In fact so heavily, that food was scarce. The mouse now lived with him and he brought him everywhere on his shoulder but even the mouse wouldn't brave the cold outside with Hedgeman, who had never seen such a harsh, cold Winter.
      When he went hunting, he could not find anything to hunt. Everything was sheltering from the heavy snow. He was starving and had to go back to his hedge, hungry! "If i don't eat soon i wont survive this Winter" he thought to himself.  As he was sitting one evening trying to keep warm by the fire, he heard a noise outside as did the mouse, looking up from his cosy spot by the fire. He looked out and found three pieces of meat, which were left right outside the hedge. "Where on earth did this come from?" a shocked Hedgeman said to himself. Right away he brought it in and cooked it on the fire and ate it.
     The next day, Hedgeman went hunting again. He found no animals to hunt that day either, so he had to return to his hedge empty handed with an empty stomach. Later that night, he heard something again outside as he was warming by the fire and went outside for a look. It was three more pieces of meat! He could not understand where it was coming from. "Again? I cannot believe my eyes!" he said to himself.Every night this happened. So one night, Hedgeman wanted to figure out where it was coming from. So he sat outside the hedge and waited in the bitter cold night.
     Suddenly he heard lots of flapping and something touching down onto the snow, walking towards him. "Who's there?" he shouted. Just then out of the shadows stepped three Magpies. The very same three magpies he had taken care of many years ago when they were just chicks. They were coming with meat in their beaks. They looked at Hedgeman with kind faces and dropped the meat infront of him, before flying off again. "Thank you!, thank you so much my friends" shouted Hedgeman after them as they flew away. He could not believe they had returned after so many years with food for him. The next day, the snow began to thaw and Spring was returning. There were alot of animals to hunt for himself now. No Winter was ever so bad after that and Hedgeman never saw those Magpies again.

The Whispering Trees.

The leaves were browning on the Autumn trees. I sat beneath them and listened to the sound in the breeze. They whispered softly of the months gone by, the birds that had nested in the branches up high. I heard them talk of the torrent of showers, they had gotten in spring and had lasted for hours. Or the warm bright summer, which lit up the day soon the cold frosty mornings, will keep hustle at bay. Shedding their memories with the leaves that were falling. Sleep would come soon as the winter was calling.

Beauty At The Pond.

In between the rainkissed trees,
I walked along, beneath the ceiling of leaves.

I came to a clearing and noticed a pond,
and of the image there, my heart grew fond.

An angel sat, paddling her feet,
sitting on a log, she had made her seat.

She smiled at the water as she saw her reflection,
for the beauty around her, had drawn her affection.

Her wings were big, her gown was long,
all around, the birds sang a song.

Attracting many creatures with her glowing bright light,
until the sun went away and she flew off at night.

The Butterfly Song

There once was a butterfly with only one wing
though unable to fly, she knew she could sing.

She sang when happy, she sang when sad,
she sang through times when things seemed bad.

Everyone stopped to listen to the voice,
they could not walk on, the beauty gave them no choice.

She sang of the flowers and sang of the bees.
She sang of the leaves in the beautiful trees.

This breath taking song, rang out, through fields far and near
and all came to listen from Foxes to Deer.

 She never stopped singing for she felt she could fly
when she sang from her heart and looked to the sky.

                                                                                                by Paul Broughall