Berries
A bedtime story. Once upon a time there were two little boys and two little girls. Their mother had asked them to go down the lane to gather berries, for she was going to bake a pie. The two little boys grabbed the pails from their mother and zipped out of the house in a hurry. But the two little girls politely asked their mother for their pails and calmly filed out of the house. The two little boys crashed into the gate by the field and slammed it behind them. But the two little girls carefully opened the gate and gently closed it shut. The two little boys ran and hollered, scaring the birds out of trees as they left. But the two little girls walked carefully, whistling quietly as they went. The two little boys stomped their way through the creek, splashing their pants and getting their shoes wet. But the two little girls tiptoed across the rocks, being sure to keep their shoes and skirts clean and dry. Soon at last they made their way down the path to the berry bushes. The two little boys scrambled from one bush to another, eating and picking the berries. But the two little girls looked over the bushes and patiently gathered the biggest and best berries. The two little boys fought over their pails and tipped them over in their quarrels. But the two little girls worked together, sharing their work and pails. All too soon they heard the dinner bell ring. It was time to leave and go home. The two little boys looked down in dismay at their nearly empty pails. But the two little girls smiled with joy at their overflowing pails. The two little boys sadly and shamefully walked back down the path, their heads hung low. But the two little girls skipped along the path, excited to return home. The two little boys sloshed through the creek, oblivious to the water than ran deep into their shoes. But the two little girls stopped short. With their buckets so full they could not balance their away across the creek. They began to sniffle and soon cry. "How will we bring our bursting pails to mother" they called out? But the two little boys heard them and turned back. What did it matter if they got wet again? The two little boys walked back across the creek and carried the girls' pails across through the creek. But the two little girls balanced their way across, jumping with delight as hopped across the water. The two little boys stopped at the gate and left the pails on the ground. They walked up to the door with sagging shoulders. But the two little girls called out. "Wait just a minute. If it wasn't for you we'd have no nice berries to bring home to mother." The two little girls grabbed their pails, walked up to the two little boys and dumped half of their berries into the boys empty pails, giggling as they poured. But the two little boys looked down in shocked silence. Then two little boys and two little girls bounded up the stairs and knocked proudly on the door. When their mother opened the door, the two little boys and the two little girls lifted their half-filled pails high in their air and called out together, "it's time for pie!" And their mother was so happy, she hugged and kissed them all, and hardly noticed the stains of berries on the two little boys' mouths and hands.
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AuthorJeremy David Freeman lives in Minnesota with his wife Sarah. They have six kids (Adelynn, Peter, Benjamin, Paul, Mark and Samuel) and together enjoy the simple things of life: gardening, writing, sewing, baking and woodworking. Archives
April 2024
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