Alphie, the Brave Little Field Mouse

It was "Fence Day" in the Green Meadow, and songs of liberty, marching bands, and little field mice dancing on their tails filled the air with great excitement celebrating their freedom from the BIG BLACK CAT. Bobbi Brown's father had built a huge chicken wire fence in his back yard to keep the deer and rabbits from destroying his trees and flowers.The BIG BLACK CAT was furious.   He wasn't able to spend his days hunting for field mice. He had to stay in his OWN backyard and play with Pepper, Bobbi's new little puppy.  Pepper's youthfulness was very annoying.  He kept jumping on the BIG BLACK CAT wanting to wrestle and play. The BIG BLACK CAT was bored with the little puppy.  All he wanted to do was to GET into the green meadow again. Every day the BIG BLACK CAT sat in front of the fence just waiting for his chance.

From time to time, on the other side of the fence, Alphie, the little field mouse would sit teasing the BIG BLACK CAT.  He liked to make silly faces and taunt him by saying "You don't scare me  BIG BLACK CAT,"  and then put his paw through the chicken wire, making the BIG BLACK CAT crazy with his scent. Alfie loved to tease the BIG BLACK CAT, but it didn't stop there.  Alfie was known for his jokes, but unfortunately, not everyone thought he was funny, but more of a liar.

While  the"Fence Day" festivities continued, Alfie slipped away to see how the BIG BLACK CAT  was dealing with all the field mice running around the Green Meadow. Was his mouth watering? Before he got to the fence Alfie noticed that the little puppy was digging a hole under the fence.  He ran to tell the mice patrol. "Help, Help, come quickly.  There is puppy digging a hole under the fence".

But because it was Alfie , the police didn't believe him.  They knew that Alfie liked to play practical jokes, so they ignored him.  Alfie kept exclaiming, " I am not lying, this is not a joke. It is the truth!

"Go away Alfie and enjoy the celebration. We don't believe me." said the field mice patrol.

"But...butttt...it is true!  I really am not lying"
Yah,yah, yah, Alfie,that  is what you said the last time.  The trouble with you Alfie, you believe your own jokes. Go away little feller and leave us alone".   

"Little feller," thought Alfie.  " I am NOT a little feller.  I will show them I am telling the truth."

Alfie left the police station, thinking to himself, " Gee, I didn't think I was lying by telling jokes.  I was just trying to be funny, play a joke, what is wrong with that? Alfie rationalized.

His mind quickly reverted back to the fence problem "What if the dog gets under the fence?    He would  do some serious damage, ruin the celebration and threaten many lives!"

Alfie decided that he had better keep his eye on THE BIG BLACK himself.  By the time he returned, the puppy was still digging a hole, while the BIG BLACK CAT stood by watching and waiting for the hole to fit him through.

 "Oh, no you don't BIG BLACK CAT.  You are NOT going to spoil our Freedom Day!" Because of all the many times Alfie had played jokes, he knew that no one was going to listen to him.  He had to deal with this serious situation himself.  Alfie ran to the back of his house, turned on the water and stretched a long garden hose down to the fence. He started spraying the little puppy and he started to yelp.  The puppy's barking disturbed the major's speech. "Will  someone please quiet that dog! I can't talk with all that noise." complained the city major.

The mice patrol went to find out what the trouble was and when they saw Alfie holding a hose on the puppy and the BIG BLACK CAT  drenched with water, they could not believe that it was Alfie. He had saved the day!


"You were telling the truth, Alfie. We will take over now.."  The mice patrol  filled in the hole with dirt ordered a fence patrol  to  watch the puppy from that day on. In the morning,  Alfie found his name in the headlines of the Green Meadow Gazette.  "Alfie saves the day and keeps freedom ringing."

Alfie was a hero that day.  Every year on, "Freedom day" the mayor of the Green meadows opened the festivities first by honoring, Alfie, the brave little field mouse.

Shelby's Secret

Do you remember Shelby, the little girl who wasn't very kind and was very bossy? Do you also remember how Emma tried to be her friend?  It was only a few weeks ago when Shelby had moved into the neighborhood, and friendships were not going very well for her.  Emma tried hard to be a good friend to her by inviting Shelby to play with her and to swim in her swimming pool with all the other neighborhood kids.  But nothing Emma did could change Shelby's heart.  She just wanted everything to go her way. By the end of the summer, Shelby found herself all alone without any friends. Nobody wanted to play with Shelby.

One Saturday afternoon, Emma thought that she would try one more time to be a friend to Shelby. So Emma went over to Shelby's house and found her crying on her back porch steps. Emma was surprised to see Shelby so upset.  She didn't think anything could make Shelby cry.  But she was wrong.  Emma went over to her and sat down beside her and asked, " Why are you crying Shelby?"  Through her tears and sniffles, Shelby tenderly relied," Emma, I never wanted to move here. I don't like this neighborhood and I thought if I acted badly and had no friends, my parents would move me back to Haggerville.  I had lots of friends there."  Emma surprisingly answered, "You did?  WOW Shelby, you sure fooled me.  I never thought that you were putting on a act, so that you could move back to Haggerville."  

Shelby's secret was out and now Emma knew why she was acting so unkind with all the kids " Well, Shelby, did it work? Is your family moving back to  Haggerville?"  asked Emma inquisitively.  "No, Emma, it didn't work and now I have made a BIG mess of everything for myself.  What am I going to do?"

Emma was very happy to learn that Shelby really wasn't unfriendly, but only making believe to influence her parents, which didn't work. "Shelby, I think we can fix everything.  You just give me a little time and you will see that this neighborhood really does like you, if you just give them a chance."  Emma explained.

 Shelby dried her tears and hugged Emma, " You really do like me, don't you Emma?"  "Yes, I do Shelby. I really do want to be your friend, and I would like to invite you to my pool party next Saturday , if it doesn't rain.   All the kids will be there and we are going to have a surprise birthday party for Ralphie.  Would you like to come?"

Shelby was thrilled to be invited.  From that day on, she no longer tried to make enemies, but made new friends. Shelby's heart had changed.  She went to Ralphie's birthday party and all the neighborhood kids were so surprised to see how kind and friendly Shelby had become. She shared her roller blades and let the kids ride her new bicycle. She became one of Emma's closest friends. Once the neighborhood kids knew about Shelby's secret they all accepted her as one of them.

   

Yodel Learns His lesson

My name is Yodel .  I live with my mother and father in the jungles of Helbula. It is very hot and humid and it rains every day before supper.  In our back yard my father planted  a banana tree and  it was my job to pick the bananas . There was only one problem.  I LOVED bananas and I usually ate more then I picked.  My mother told me that if I ate too many bananas I would get a big belly ache.

My father's birthday was in a week and I wanted to buy him a new "monkey suit".  I thought, if I could pick all the bananas and take them to the marketplace, I could sell them and earn enough money to buy my daddy's present. Without asking or telling  my mother what I was going to do, I took a big grocery cart and started to fill it with bananas from our back yard. As soon as it was full, I started into town. My mind was so set on getting a present for my dad, that it never occurred to me that I was doing anything wrong.  I was very excited and in great anticipation of all the money that I was going to earn for my daddy's birthday present.


On the way to the market I met a lion, "Hey, Yodel where are you going with all those bananas ? I told him my story and asked him if he wanted to buy some bananas. the lion responded saying," You got to be kidding, Yodel. I am a lion and lions don't eat bananas."   I thought it wouldn't hurt to ask. He might know  someone who would buy bananas.
                                                  

I started into town again and on my way a met an giant turtle slowly strolling down the middle of the road. When he saw me he asked,"Hey, Yodel, where are you going with all the bananas?"  Again I told my story.  The turtle was very impressed that I wanted to do such a nice thing for my father, but, he too didn't eat bananas and went on his way.  I was beginning to wonder, who would buy my bananas?

What I didn't know was that my mother had gone, out into our back yard for some bananas for supper and when she saw all the bananas were picked, she thought someone had stolen them.  She called my father at work and he immediately left to come home. What happened next I never expected.


After the giant turtle was on his way, I continued to push the cart towards town.  Just before I was about to reach the marketplace, I saw my dad coming down the road.  "Oh no, "I thought to myself, "He is going to find out that I am going to buy him a birthday present. Where can I hid?"  Off to one side of the road there was a big ditch. As I quickly pulled my cart into the ditch, I tipped the cart over and half the load of bananas felled out.  I tried to picked up the bananas as fast as I could, but, when I looked up, standing over me was my dad.  I was terrified.  I knew I was in big trouble.  How was now I going to keep my secret about his birthday present?

"So you are the one who stole all our bananas in the back yard," his father sternly spoke.  "You pick up all the bananas immediately and head back home."


"But Dad, you don't understand.  I needed to sell the bananas." I said hopefully.  Daddy softened his tone to listen to my explanation. "It is like this daddy.  I wanted to buy you a  new monkey suit for your birthday.  I thought if I picked bananas and sold them in town, I would have the money for your present."  Daddy was very appreciative of my kind gesture to buy him a birthday present, but not this way.


"Yodel, I am very happy that you wanted to buy me a new monkey suit, but you don't have to steal to buy it. Stealing is always wrong.  Why didn't you ask your mother for help?" asked his daddy. 

On his way home, I had a lot to think about.  I realized that it was wrong to steal, even though it was for something good.  That night before I went to bed, daddy came into my room with a big surprise, "Yodel, your mother and I were talking and we both think that you have learned your lesson.  However, what you didn't know was we needed someone to pick the ripe bananas and to take them to the marketplace". Daddy slipped an envelop under my pillow, turned off my light and kissed me good night.

What do you think was in the envelop?

The SURPISE party

The Green Forest was full of activity. All the little animals were excited about Ribbit's surprise birthday party. They did a good job keeping it a secret as they planned for the big day.  Racket, the Raccoon, and Jimmy, the Skunk, were the organizers.Several invitations were sent  throughout the Green Forest, except to Reddy the Fox.  Nobody wanted Reddy to be at the birthday party. He would just ruin everything..


As the invitations secretly spread throughout the Green Forest, Reddy the Fox fiound out that he was not invited to the surprise party and this made him very upset! He just could not understand why he wasn't invited..  Why do you think he wasn't invited?  Do you really think he was upset or just missing an opportunity to catch a rabbit for his dinner?
 
Reddy could not get this out of his mind, so he thought and thought how he might disguise himself.   I know what I will do. I'll make a big rabbit costume and SURPRISE everyone." Amazingly, it was a very good imitation.  The costume  looked just like a big bunny, and nobody would really know the difference.


The day of the party arrived, and all the little animals were very excited as they anticipated the shock on Ribbits face when he opened the door. The plan was for everyone to meet at Jimmy the Skunk's house, and then go over to Ribbit's, to knock on his door. When he answered, they would  say, "Surprise Ribbit, Happy Birthday!"  The balloons, party favors and all the other decorations would be with  them to set up the party. Chipper the Chipmunk had made Ribbit his favorite kind of cake, a carrot cake with  gum drops chocolate bits and is name written on the top.


As the little animals started walking down the path to Ribbit's house, Reddy was hiding behind a tree, dressed in his big bunny suit. He stepped out from behind the tree and said "Hey guys, where are you all going?  I am a new bunny in the Green Forest, can I go with you?"

Racket the Raccoon, spoke  up, "Who are you ? We didn't know that there was a new bunny family in the Green Forest."  Reddy responded saying, "My name is Jack, short for "jack rabbit", and  my family and I moved into the Green Forest a week ago. Where are you going?"  Reddy was lying. He knew where they were going. After Racket told them,  Reddy asked " I would like to join you, if you don't  mind. I don't have many friends yet.  Now, that was the truth. Reddy didn't have many other friends except another fox.. ?"


The little animals all agreed to let  "Jack"  join them. Now, you have to understand that among all the little animals were several of Ribbit"s best friends, and the smell of the all the little bunnies made Reddy's mouth  begin to salivate. He thought to himself, "What a great opportunity to catch a bunny!" Reddy could not keep his mind off this thought.


 Racket and Jimmy noticed that Reddy appeared to be a little more interested in ONLY the little bunnies.Why hadn't Mrs.Owl told them about him?. She was always flying over the Green Forest and keeping a record of any newcomer. Without any warning Reddy ripped off his bunny hood exposing his big sharp teeth.  The bunnies were so scared and started to scream, "It's Reddy, it's Reddy, ran for your life."


Fortunately, Reddy could not get out of the bunny suit in time. He kept tripping over his big feet and trapped himself in his costume.  The bunnies all scattered in every direction, while Racket and Jimmy rallied all the little animals to attack Reddy.  They jumped on him and forced him to the ground. Mrs.Owl, on her regular scheduled flight looked down and saw all the animals holding Reddy to the round.  She quickly flew back to her house, found a rope, brought it back and  dropped it down to the animals. While the animals were holding Reddy down, Racket and Jimmy started to wrap the rope around Reddy's mouth and his body, then tied him to a tree. Racket spoke to Reddy, "Now, you will stay here until after the party and all the bunnies are home. You tried to deceive us. You are not a jack rabbit"
 
 Once Reddy was tied to the tree for the rest of the day, the little animals heaved a sign of relief. The bunnies all  came back and everone gathered to continue on their way to Ribbit's house.  When Ribbit answered the door, he  couldn't believe his eyes. All his forest friends went into the house, decorated the living room with all the balloons, streamers and favors.  It was truly a surprise birthday party that the Green Forest will never forget. I don't think Reddy will forget either!

Who Broke the Eggs?

Early in the morning, when Ribbit the rabbit was heading the strawberry patch, he ran into his friend Racket the racoon . Racket was all out of breath,"Have you heard about Mrs. Grouse's eggs?  Somebody broke her eggs." " How could that happen, Racket?' asked Ribbit. 'Mrs. Grosse is always very careful to protect her eggs." Well, I heard that last night, someone broke into her nest and scared  her half to death. When she flew off to distract the invader from her eggs, he came in and broke every one of them.

 "Mrs Grosse must feel terrible about the lose", said Ribbit. "We have to get down to the bottom of this Perhaps, Chipper, the chipmunk might know something about this." Chipper knew nothing about about  Mrs. Grooses's broken eggs. So the two boys want over to check out Jimmy the skunk.  Ribbet knocked on his door. "Hey, Jimmy are you awake? asked Ribbet. "I am now, with all your noise". answered Jimmy half asleep. Ribbet asked him if he knew how Mrs. Grosse's eggs were broken.  "Don't look at me, my friend ,"said Jimmy the skunk "I have been asleep all night."

Ribbet, Racket, Chipper and Jimmy decided to go to see Mr. Owl.  He was the wise old owl in the green forest. He would know what to do and find out who broke all the eggs. Mr. Owl was very upset when he heard about Mrs. Grosse 's situation."This is very serious. Who would do a thing like that?"said Mr. Owl with determination.  He never wanted to see any of his little forest creature hurt.  Mr.Owl did know what to do. He calledl a meeting of all the forest animals to meet at Mrs Grosses house under the pine tree, exactly at 3:00 pm this afternoon.  

Everyone arrived early, waiting for Mr. Owl. When he arrived the meeting was called to order and he asked  where they were last night?  They all declared that they were home in bed sleeping, but someone had to be lying.  Who do you think was? Well, we will have to find out.

Ribbit spoke up first,"This morning, I noticed when I was with Mrs. Grosse, that there was three black hairs among the broken eggs " Chipper then added,"I hate to say this, but when I was at your house Jimmy, I saw something yellow on your whiskers.""What you have to say about that Jimmy skunk?"asked Mr. Owl  glaringly under his glasses.  "Have you been lying to all of us?" Jimmy hang his head low.  He was ashamed and felt very guilty.  Mr. Owl called Jimmy the stunk to come up in front of all the animals. Jimmy had to confess that he had  lied and asked for forgiveness.  But, that wasn't all!  Mr. wise ole Owl wanted to make sure that Jimmy the skunk would never do a thing like that again , so he took a board paint brush, stuck it into a bucket of white paint and painted a white stripe right down the back of Jimmy the skunk. "Now, said Mr. Owl, we all will be able to keep our eyes on you to make sure you stay out of trouble! "Whenever you see a skunk with a white stripe down the middle of his back, now,you will know why it was put there.