Story 66 Written and Illustrated by David Clyde Walters
Author’s note: This story is written in Four Queens Regularized English. You will see some alternative spelling and grammar.
One spring morning, just shortly after the sun came up, Wire Dog was laying in his backyard just starring at the grass between his paws. As he carefully watched, a tiny, green, sliver of grass broke thru the ground and looked around. She noticed that she was not the only one to do so, because here and there other little green blades had also made their way up and into the lite of day. All day long the little blade of grass enjoyed basking in the warm sunlite. It felt warm and wonderful after being hunkered down in the cold ground for such a long, long time. The sunshine filled the blade of grass full of energy and by the end of the day she was a little taller and a little stronger than when the day started.
After the sun went down, the temperature got a little colder and the sky got a little darker. Wire Dog crawled back into his dog house, turned around and settled down for the nite. But the cool air and the darkness didn’t seem to bother the blade of grass one little bit. She was not afraid of the dark or the cold because she had been in both the dark and the cold all winter long. She was, however, pleasantly surprised when the moon and stars appeared and began to shine thru the dark night sky. She had never seen anything so beautiful, and so she starred in wonder as the stars slowly circled overhead, all night until the sun came up again the next morning.
That next day was just as warm and sunny as the first and again the little blade of grass soaked up the sunshine all day long and by the end of that great day, she was once again just a little bit taller and a little stronger than before. When night came she rested from the growing she had done during the day. Again she enjoyed gazing up into the night sky, and tried to number the countless stars overhead. She could not see from where she was on the ground that she was just one blade of grass near the edge of a large lawn. She did not understand that if one of the stars in the sky looked down at her, it would have just as much trouble counting the number of blades in her lawn, let alone all the grass in the fields on the rest of the Earth also.
The next day the sun was shining again and the day after that also. Each day the blade of grass got a little taller and a little larger, but she noticed too that each day the soil below the ground where her roots were planted was getting more dry and crusty. And so it was getting more difficult to get the water she needed to grow. One day, however, not long after that, a dark cloud rolled in and covered the sun from view. Wire Dog remembered the day he stayed out too long and got all wet from a thunderstorm. He had learned his lesson so when the dark cloud appeared, he ran into his cozy little dog house.
The little blade of grass was a bit worried too because the cloud looked kind of scary, and the day got a little darker. Just then she saw a brite flash of light in the sky followed shortly by a loud clap of thunder. Now the little blade of grass was truly fritened, and she cried out, “I don’t like this. What is happening?”
Just then an older blade of grass, that had been around for many seasons and had seen many things come and go, spoke up and said, “Don’t be afraid, that’s just an ordinary rain storm and even though it is dark and noisy, it brings with it plenty of rain, which is just what we need to wet the ground and give us water to drink.”
And sure enough, the old grass was right, because no sooner had he stopped speaking than the rain began to fall. The little blade of grass learned some valuable lessons in a very short time. She learned that long cold winters are always followed by beautiful springs, which means that when things seem cold, dark, and hopeless, better days are always ahead for those who never give up, and never quit trying to push their way thru. She learned that you may not think you are growing or getting any stronger or getting anywhere, but over time you will see the growth if you never quit. She learned that nite is followed by day and day is followed by nite and that both can be beautiful and helpful in their own way.
Night-time provides a change and a rest no matter what kind of day you have had. And each morning the sun comes up again giving you a fresh start to a brand new day. Perhaps the most important lesson of all was the one she learned from the older blade of grass. Sometimes things that are uncomfortable, dark, scary, or difficult, are not nearly as bad as they mite appear at first; and often, if we face them head on and endure them well, they end up helping us grow bigger, stronger, and better. Put it all together and life, even in its simplest form, is pretty remarkable.
Wire Dog Stories 