I haven’t updated the project status of my book in almost 6 weeks…not that anyone is counting…
…I’m not going to update you now…so…why create this blog entry??
I don’t really know why. Better yet, I don’t understand why.
This idea just “popped into my head” and I’m responding with “YES! Let’s do this!” Sometimes the best time to do something is when you first think about it, before fear and doubt sneak in and ruin the entire experience.
I am going to share stories I wrote 25+ years ago when I first “decided” to write children’s books. In the following weeks, I may even include fragments of ideas that drifted off into space…never to be heard from again…that is, until now.
Why now? Like I mentioned earlier, I don’t know why. I don’t understand why. All I know is that I recently stumbled across the “story cache” and “the light bulb went off”. I am just thankful my mom thought to save her original copies which I mailed her all those years ago. Thanks mom!
Here’s the background for quite a few of the stories –
At the time, I was working as a swing shift computer operator. A few times a month I would ask the graveyard operator to leave me three words – preferably nouns (things) or adjectives (colors) – and I would write a story on my shift she could read on her shift. After the completion of each story I made several copies; sending them to friends and family. Each post will include a title (if it had one) as well as the three words which inspired it.
WARNING – I am a storyteller, so the stories are wordy and full of description. As a writer, my goal is to “tap into your mind and help you visualize the story in your head “. Thus, the stories may be a lengthy read. Most of them were 4-6, single spaced, type written pages with narrow margins and a small font; so actually, I’m not sure how long each story will take to read. I will attempt to “not edit” the stories. My plan is to simply copy them verbatim while correcting only spelling/punctuation errors. Also, these were meant to be stories for children so they may be kinda corny or preachy. These were written most nights between 9pm and 11:30pm.
Thanks for joining me on this journey of “self re-discovery”.
Off we go….
Pete & Seth the Sloth
One day at the City Zoo, Pete the friendly trainer of the three-toed sloths was sitting under a rather large and shady maple tree enjoying the beautiful afternoon sky whilst partaking of his midday meal. It was a lovely afternoon, not a cloud in any direction the eye could see and the bright sunshine felt warm upon Pete’s rough, mountain-man type complexion. His meal was quite basic – just a bologna sandwich with mayonnaise, a dill pickle, and a bag of Frito Lay Corn Chips, with a Hostess Cupcake for dessert. This was Pete’s normal, every day type of lunch and he was always happy when he could enjoy it outside under the big maple tree as opposed to inside the building at the cafeteria.
Well, one day while Pete was enjoying his lunch he came across and incredible idea. If he enjoyed his lunch outside under the maple tree, then perhaps some of the animals in the zoo might enjoy their lunch outside of their cages. Now, since Pete was a well-trained handler of the 3 toed sloths, he thought he’d first begin with them. So, the next day Pete decided to take a 3 toes sloth from its small cage with him outside under the big maple tree. This way neither the sloth or Pete would be having lunch alone.
The next day arrived and Pete was all excited about trying out his idea, but he wasn’t too sure about how to approach his boss. Pete thought of many different ways and almost threw the entire idea in the trash, but he thought it was important so he just walked head first into his boss’s office and just told him what his idea was.
At first, Pete’s boss wasn’t too thrilled with the idea, but since 3 toed sloths aren’t all that fast, he thought it would be “ok” for Pete to take one out of its cage and sit with Pete under the huge maple tree to accompany Pete on his lunch. So, the boss finally said it was “ok”, but warned Pete not to give the sloth any Fritos or bites of his cupcake.
Pete was so very happy about having a 3 toes sloth with him at lunch he forgot to notice the mud puddle he sat down in under the maple tree. Boy was Pete upset with himself. If he left “right then”, he’d have just enough time to run home and get a clean pair of pants to put on. So, off runs Pete to get a clean pair of jeans. But, who’s going to watch the 3 toes sloth??
Fortunately for Pete, the sloth was more interested in the contents of Pete’s brown bag than it was on running away. So, Seth the Sloth began poking his nose into the bag and pulled out the contents of Pete’s lunch. Pete, being the penny-pincher that he was, always bought the “Economy” size of everything. Thus, his Fritos were just tossed in the bag along with his cupcake. The only item wrapped was his bologna sandwich. Seth, being the determined one, quickly ate the Fritos and the cupcake, but had one heck of a time opening the bologna sandwich.
Never fear,,,Seth finally opened the sandwich and snarfed it right up. Whew, was Seth tired now because his tummy was full of the best food he had ever eaten. Hmm…now all Seth had to do was find a safe place to take a snooze. Being a sloth, Seth decided to climb up into the maple tree which was conveniently located right next to him so he didn’t have to walk very far. Up went Seth into the tree for a short nap…
But, what about Pete?
Upon returning home Pete quickly dashed into his room and looked in his dresser for a pair of clean jeans. Dang, the drawer was empty! Now what? Lucky for Pete he had just returned from visiting another zoo while on vacation and he hadn’t unpacked his small but filled to the brim suitcase. Hmm…but where did Pete put his suitcase? Pete ran frantically around his apartment going room to room until he finally remembered he didn’t bring the suitcase home. He had stuffed it in his locker at work! So, his clean pair of jeans was at the zoo all the time!
Quickly, Pete ran back to the locker room at the zoo, opened his locker, found the suitcase and pulled on a clean pair of jeans. Just then his boss entered the room and asked where the 3 toed sloth was. Poor Pete was horrified. He had forgotten all about the poor sloth and left it all alone in a strange new world.
Pete started thinking about where he had last seen the sloth and began retracing his steps from earlier in the day. His steps led him to the very same mud puddle he managed to sit right down in. Not being an expert on sloth behavior, Pete discovered what he thought might several small sloth tracks leading toward the tree and then stopping. Hmm… could the sloth have climbed into the tree?
Not knowing for sure, Pete searched high and low around the tree for any clue about the whereabouts of the missing sloth. Pete was ready to quit searching when he heard a gosh awful sound. Yup, Seth the sloth had managed to let out a snoring sound the likes of which Pete had never heard…and the sound came directly from the middle of the big maple tree!
So, Pete struggled up the tree and began climbing to the edge of every branch looking for the lost sloth. Being a skilled animal trainer, Pete began making little sounds hoping it might cause Seth to snore. Pete’s efforts were rewarded. After several moments in the tree Pete spotted the sloth hanging from the branch over his head. Pete would have totally missed Set if it weren’t for Seth’s tail falling onto the back of his neck.
Hmm..now that Pete found Seth the sloth, how was he going to get him out of the tree? Remembering what he had packed for lunch and noticing the only remnant of his lunch was the brown paper bag, Pete decided to visit the zoo’s cafeteria and purchase some Fritos and a cupcake to attract the sloth. So, Pete climbs carefully out of the maple tree marking the spot where Seth was quietly asleep. Pete then purchased all that was needed for his “trap” and returned back to the tree to set the “trap”.
Pete set up the food and made a path of Fritos leading out of the tree. Pete even managed to get his suitcase to trap Seth in since he would not be happy upon being trapped. Being a slow sloth, Seth took his sweet time coming down out of the tree and didn’t make too much nose once he was closed up in the suitcase. Why? because Seth just had another meal of the best tasting food he had ever tasted! He simply got comfortable and resumed his nap.
Upon waking up the next morning, Seth was safely inside small cage and Pete was back under the maple tree enjoying his lunch. It seems that Pete’s boss reprimanded Pete for not being more careful with Seth the sloth, but since Seth was happy and no worse for the wear, the boss saw no harm done. Pete was still allowed to take Seth the sloth out of his cage, but never again for lunch.
– The End –
Dan’s View 