Shelby's Stories
Once a long time ago, before there were people, the animals could talk. There was a chief who was in charge of keeping the peace among all the animals. One night he was sleeping (snore) and dreaming all kinds of animal dreams, when he heard a noise. (scritchy, scritchy, scratch). He realized he was not dreaming and went to the window and opened it. (Screeeeeeech) He stuck out his head and there was lizard. He arms crossed and his toe tapping. He said, "I can't sleep! The fireflies are blinking on and off, on and off, on and off and I can't get any rest. The chief said, "Lizard, it's the middle of the night! What do you want me to do about it?"
Lizard looked at the chief and said, "Go talk to the fireflies! You're the chief! Do something about it!" "Okay, Lizard, I'll go talk to the fireflies...in the morning! Right now you go home and get some sleep!" The lizard left, but he was not happy.
The next day the chief goes to talk to the fireflies. "Fireflies, do you realize the trouble you are causing? Because you blink all night long, Lizard can't sleep."
The Fireflies replied, "No, we didn't realize we were causing problems, BUT we do it for a reason. We blink all night long because Buffalo puts great big piles of POOP in the middle of the road and we don't want the people to step in the poop. So we blink so that they will see it."
"Oh," says the Chief, "that's a great idea! You just keep on doing what you are doing and I'll take care of Lizard."
The next night, the chief was sleeping when he heard a noise. He went to the window and opened it. He stuck out his head and there was lizard. He arms crossed and his toe tapping. AND this time his tail was twitching.
He said, "I can't sleep! The fireflies are blinking on and off, on and off, on and off and I can't get any rest!"
The chief said, "Lizard, the fireflies are blinking on and off because Buffalo puts great big piles of POOP in the middle of the road and they don't want the people to step in the poop. So they blink so that the people won't step in the POOP! What do you want me to do about it?"
Lizard looked at the chief and said, "Go talk to the Buffalo! You're the chief! Do something about it!"
"Okay, Lizard, I'll go talk to the Buffalo...in the morning! Right now you go home and get some sleep!" The lizard left, but he was not happy.
The next day the chief goes to talk to Buffalo. "Buffalo, do you realize the trouble you are causing? Because you put great big piles of POOP in the middle of the road, the fireflies have to blink all night long, and that's keeping Lizard awake."
Buffalo answered, "No, we didn't realize we were causing problems, BUT we do it for a reason. We put-ahem! MANURE (that's the nice way to say it) in the middle of the road because Rain falls all night long and make big holes. We don't want people to trip and fall in the holes that Rain makes so we fill them with our manure."
"Oh," says the Chief, "that's a great idea! You just keep on doing what you are doing and I'll take care of Lizard!"
The next night, the chief was sleeping when he heard a noise. (scritchy, scritchy, scratch). He went to the window and opened it. (Screeeeeeech). He stuck out his head and there was lizard. He arms crossed and his toe tapping, his tail was twitching AND this time his heart was going pit-a-pat.
He said, "I can't sleep! The Freflies are still blinking on and off, on and off, on and off and I can't get any rest!"
The chief said, "Lizard, the fireflies are blinking on and off because Buffalo puts great big piles of MANURE(that's the nice way to say it) in the middle of the road. They put their manure in holes that Rain makes every night so that the People don't trip and fall in the holes. What do you want me to do about it?"
Lizard looked at the chief and said, "Go talk to the Rain! You're the chief! Do something about it!"
"Okay, Lizard, I'll go talk to the Rain...in the morning! Right now you go home and get some sleep!" The lizard left, but he was not happy.
The next day the chief goes to talk to Rain. "Rain, do you realize the trouble you are causing? Because you fall every night and make big holes, buffalo must put great big piles of manure in the middle of the road so that the People don't trip and fall. Then Fireflies have to blink all night long. And that's keeping Lizard awake."
"No, we didn't realize we were causing problems, BUT we do it for a reason. We rain every night and make holes so that we can make puddles. We are making a home for Mosquito.
"Oh," says the Chief, "that's a great idea! You just keep on doing what you are doing and I'll take care of Lizard!"
The next night, the chief was sleeping (snore) when he heard a noise. (scritchy, scritchy, scratch). He went to the window and opened it. (Screeeeeeech). He stuck out his head and there was Lizard! He arms crossed and his toe tapping, his tail was twitching, his heart was going pit-a-pat AND this time he was quivering all over his body.
He said, "I can't sleep! The Fireflies are STILL blinking on and off, on and off, on and off and I can't get any rest!"
The chief said, "Lizard, you listen and you listen well. The Fireflies are blinking on and off because Buffalo puts great big piles of MANURE in the middle of the road. They put their manure in holes that Rain makes every night so that the People don't trip and fall in the holes. Rain makes holes every night so that there are puddles. And that, my friend, is where Mosquito lives. Think about that Lizard!"
Lizard thought about it. Hmmm. the Fireflies wouldn't be blinking if there was no manure. There would be no manure if Rain didn't make any holes. If Rain didn't make any holes, there would be no puddles. If there were no puddles, THEN there would be no place for mosquito to live. (Guess what mosquitoes eat?)
"Lizard," counseled the chief, "Go home and go to bed! Some things you just have to put up with!"
Lizard went home, but before he went inside he closed his shutters (They are like doors on windows), Then he went inside and pulled down his shade, climbed into bed and pulled the covers over his head. Outside....the Fireflies were blinking on and off, on and off , on and off ...and to this day there are some things you just have to put up with!
NOTE: I change the ending to "Some things you just have to live with." When telling to dominant Spanish speaking audiences because "put up with" is not a familiar phrase.