THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, April 11, 1995 TAG: 9504110048
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E4 EDITION: FINAL
SERIES: Tell me a Story
LENGTH: Long : 122 lines
Tell Me a Story is a series of tales, adapted by Amy Friedman and illustrated by Jillian Gilliland, that are suitable for children to read with their parents, friends, or alone.
ONCE UPON A time not long ago, Cassandra and her dog Miracle were playing in the garden. Suddenly, Cassandra heard a strange sound coming from the earth beneath her feet.
``Did you hear that, Miracle?'' she asked. Miracle barked once and turned his head to one side.
Cassandra bent down and pressed her ear to the sun-warmed soil. ``Shhh. Listen,'' she said. She held her breath so she could hear. Miracle held his breath too.
They listened but heard only the wind in the trees.
``I'm sure I heard a voice,'' Cassandra said. ``Let's be very quiet. We'll listen harder.''
Again they pressed their ears to the soil. For a long while they sat, their ears to the ground. The sun rose higher in the sky.
Finally they heard the strange sound again.
``It's crying,'' Cassandra gasped.
Now she heard mumbles and grumbles and moans and groans.
``Hello,'' Cassandra called softly. ``What's wrong?''
Silence answered her.
At last Cassandra stood and began to toss her ball to Miracle. Just as she was about to give up her game and go inside for lunch, she heard the weeping again.
Now she was certain. ``I heard you,'' she called loudly. She looked all around but saw only the blossoming trees full of singing birds. And Miracle, of course.
``Miracle, who's crying?'' Cassandra asked.
Miracle turned his head from side to side.
``Please!'' Cassandra called, ``talk to us. Hello down there!''
And then the voice came, quite clear. ``Not one drop of water in this ground and all our roots are so thirsty!''
``Miracle, did you hear that?''
The dog nodded. Of course he had.
They heard the grumbling once again, and then came loud wails and the saddest shrieks Cassandra had ever heard in all her 13 years.
She bent down again and put her mouth close to the soil. ``What's wrong down there? Miracle and I will help you.''
Suddenly the sobbing stopped and Cassandra heard a sound like a tiny nose being blown. Then she heard the voice again, soft and deep and grumbly, like a voice coming from underwater. ``Ahh,'' it said, ``my tears have watered all the lilies and the daffodils. . . .''
There came a rustle from beneath the ground, and the voice called out, ``But what a problem I have! My tears are all used up, and all the other flowers will die. Oh! Poor violets! Oh, my poor dear tulips!''
The voice stopped and Cassandra heard another sound, like stamping feet. The sounds came from everywhere, and the earth beneath her feet began to roll and tumble, rock and sway.
``We'd better do something,'' Cassandra said to Miracle, and the two ran as fast as they could to the house. They fetched the milk pitcher. Cassandra carried it to the stream behind the house, and there she filled the pitcher to the brim.
She and Miracle dashed back to the garden. They poured the water on the garden. When they ran out of water, they filled the pitcher once again. Back and forth they went, from the stream to the garden, and poured and poured until the earth would drink no more.
``Maybe that will help,'' Cassandra said to Miracle, and feeling satisfied, though very tired, she sat down on the ground beside the garden and waited to hear what she would hear.
``Oh, thank you,'' a tiny voice called.
``Listen, Miracle,'' Cassandra whispered, and just then from the soil popped tiny elves - one, then two, then three. They were dressed in clothes as green as new spring shoots, and on their feet they wore tiny boots made of tulip petals that turned up at the toes. Their eyes were bright and golden as the sun, their skin as brown as warm spring earth. Their hair hung in ringlets, blue as bluebells. They were adorable, Cassandra thought. And so tiny.
Now the elves began to shake themselves, and when they did, tiny droplets of water fell from their hair and their clothes. Little rainbows appeared in the air all around them, and Cassandra stared in amazement.
``Oh,'' she gasped, for the sight was so beautiful, more beautiful than anything she had ever before seen. At last the elves bowed low to her. ``Thank you,'' they said in unison. ``You saved our garden from drought. You are our queen''
``But who are you?'' Cassandra asked. ``I thought this was my mother's garden.''
``We're the garden elves. This garden belongs to all of us, and we are grateful to you,'' the elves said. ``And to your dog too,'' they added. Miracle sighed with pleasure.
``You are our friends forever now,'' the elves said.
Cassandra saw the most amazing thing. As the elves were speaking, the tulips had nosed their way out of the earth. Now they stood, brilliantly red and tall and sturdy. The elves hopped upon the tulip leaves and began to turn cartwheels.
``Without you, dear friends, we would have had a most terrible, difficult, impossible job,'' they called. ``If it weren't for you, we would have had to spend all day and night weeping, watering our flowers with tears. But no matter how sad we made ourselves, we would never have enough tears for our garden.''
Miracle turned his head from side and looked at the elves with a questioning gaze. He did not know what to make of all this.
``Only three elves,'' Cassandra said to Miracle. ``Imagine all the tears they have shed.''
``Oh no, there are more of us,'' the elves giggled, and then they clapped their hands together. ``Hop, hop,'' they called, and from the ground popped up dozens and dozens of elves, all dressed in green with tiny tulip slippers, their blue hair shining brightly in the sun. Dozens of voices called out, ``Hail to the Queen of the Tulips!''
``You'll come back every day, won't you?'' the elves asked. ``If you return, we won't have to cry any more.''
``Of course we'll come back,'' Cassandra said, and with that all the elves bowed low. ``Downward march,'' called their captain, and a moment later every elf had slipped beneath the earth again.
That night, Cassandra told her mother all about the garden elves. Her mother smiled softly and said not a word. Cassandra knew she didn't believe the elves lived in their garden, but that didn't matter to her. What is true, is true. by CNB