“OOOhhh…my sole is sore!” said Lefty running slowly to his twin.
“Yeah…it’s my heel that suffers on these long….I mean LOOOOONG runs!” Righty was rubbing his heel with both ends of his laces.
“Why couldn’t we have been ‘walking’ shoes….but NOOOO!!!…
Or….or…bedroom slippers….yeah they’re the ones that have it easy.” Righty was moaning rather loudly now, his tongue flapping up and down.
“And the dirt…and the mud….we have to put up with that stuff too!” Lefty was whining also.
” I’ve got a small cinder stuck in the thirteenth track on my sole…but does she notice…I DON’T THINK SO!”
“And where IS the talc…I can’t even stand myself after one of these runs until I get my talc!”
Lefty and Righty were not happy as anyone could tell.
Then a small sad voice spoke from way back in the closet.
“You two…are…lucky!”
“Wha…huh?” Both of the running shoes turned to look back into the dark corner and saw an old scratched brown shoe with a broken heel.
“I NEVER get out anymore and….sniff… probably never will again.”
“Ah…well…cheer up old soul….ah….well….we can be friends and tell you all about what’s going on if you’d like.”
“Oh….would you….that would be….great. And do you think you could find some brown shoe polish and a cobbler that makes house calls?”
“Ah…not sure we can do anything about that pal.”
Then whispering to each other…”Lefty…I guess things could be a lot worse than they are. We should be happy doing what we were made for and try to do it the best we can instead of complaining!”
“Yeah…I guess you’re right.”
Then the door of the closet opened…and both running shoes smiled and sighed gleefully…”AH…the TALC!”

“OLLIE….now try to stay awake son it’s only early evening!”
“(yawn)…Gee Mom…I wanna take a nap…..(yawn)”
“We’re HOOT owls son and we sleep during the day and hunt and eat and, well, do most everything at night.”
But Ollie was already asleep. His Mom nudged him back awake…”If you didn’t stay up all day chatting with those crows and hawks and all those “other” birds, you’d be able to do your chores and learn how to be a proper Hoot owl. Do I have to get your Father to fly back here and speak to you?”
“Ah….No Mom….I’ll…..be…..fine….ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ….” And Ollie was back fast asleep.
Ollie’s Mom just rolled her huge owl eyes and flew out of the tree to look for food as she did every evening.
Mom and Dad Hoot owl were out almost until sunrise while Ollie slept peacefully in the hollow tree dreaming about his beautiful green valley where he lived. He didn’t understand what all the fuss was about…almost every other animal in the valley slept at night and besides, at night you couldn’t even tell that the valley WAS green!
When Ollie told his Mom and Dad that all of his friends slept at night they said “But they aren’t Owls like us! Get some owl friends Ollie maybe you’ll be able to straighten out your horrid sleeping habits!”

Ollie did have to admit that the sun hurt his eyes quite a bit on really sunny days. He much preferred cloudy days and he also had to confess that he COULD see even tiny objects far away on totally moonless nights. He was sure he really WAS a Hoot owl even though some of his bird friends suggested that he might not be.
Ollie wanted to please his parents and he was proud to be a genuine Hoot owl but did wish that he could sleep at night at least on weekends. The next day Ollie tossed and turned in the nest trying to sleep but the chirping and daytime sounds of the valley were keeping him awake. His Mom put earplugs in Ollie’s ears and also fashioned a blindfold out of some mulberry leaves and that DID help some but Ollie still wanted to be out in the daylight having fun with his non-owl friends.

It took weeks of trying before Ollie could sleep through the afternoon but he would still be the first one up each day and make lots of noises trying to wake his parents to keep himself from feeling lonely.
Eventually, Ollie adjusted to the standard owl sleeping routine just as he became old enough to leave the home tree and strike out on his own.

And also one night he met Olivia, a very pretty Hoot owl from the far end of the green valley who was also striking out on her own. They would stay up all night talking and Ollie would tell Olivia about how the valley looked during the day and about all of his old friends that were awake all day long. But they both agreed that it was better and very natural to live a proper owl life…and so they did!

But occasionally, especially on weekends Ollie and Olivia WOULD stay up all day long!

“When you get ready for a picnic there’s always so much to do!”
“I agree. There’s finding the proper location and there’s making sure that the effort will be worth it for everybody with good food.”
“And don’t forget about the weather. That’s very important. We don’t want the picnic to have to be packed up quickly and everyone scrambles away.”
“Well…anything worth the effort always takes a lot of forethought.”
All agreed.
Just then “Brownie” ran into the group…”I found it the PERFECT picnic spot!”
“Oh great! Show us exactly where it is and we’ll all follow!”
Brownie led the way and then following closely behind him in a long line was the entire ant hill!

When she was born Silvia noticed that the color of her scales was different from those of all of her brothers and sisters. Theirs were golden scales and made them look  like golden rays of sun swimming in the large pond which Silvia knew as “home”. And most of the other older fish inhabiting the pond were various shades of yellow and gold too. Silvia was more like the color of the rocks along the sides of her home and she wished that she were a beautiful golden shade too.

Also Silvia seemed to always get blamed for any trouble that, especially her brothers, would cause. When there was a commotion, except for feeding time of course, it seemed as though every creature in the pond stared at just her!
Some of the frogs were gray and the slugs were grayish but she was a “GOLD…fish” that somehow wasn’t very gold!

Silvia tried to swim in the bright sun rays that gleamed into the pond hoping to capture the sun’s color but it just made her look  more  silvery. Silvia did notice that the other fish were sometimes confused and weren’t sure which “Gold” fish was which and called them by the wrong names. But everyone knew who Silvia was, but that didn’t make Silvia feel special. And anyhow Silvia didn’t need to feel “special” she just wanted to fit in and be one of the school.

At school one day Silvia found out that she and all her family were CARP. And then she found out that not all carp are gold. In fact, Silvia was technically a Hypopthalmichthys Molitrix or Silver Carp. Well, fish, even carp, can’t write or spell so Silvia didn’t much care what she “technically ” was. Then the rest of her school started to tell her how beautiful that her silvery color was and that they wished that they were silver too. Even the Koi started telling her how they wished that they didn’t have “all these spots all over” and admired her flawless silvery complexion.

It was then that Silvia decided that it was better to appreciate who you are, and be the best “YOU” you can be instead of wishing that you were somebody else. Quite often, that someone else, wished that they were you!

On her eighth birthday, Lisa received a beautifully wrapped gift that was delivered by UPS. She wondered which of her relatives had sent her such a large, nicely wrapped package since there was no name or card or any way to identify where it came from or from whom it was sent!
She undid the fancy pink bow and opened the brightly colored birthday wrapping. Inside of the rather large rectangular box was a bright yellow rain slicker with black snaps and clamps that closed it in the front.
She tried it on and it fit perfectly! Whoever sent her this wonderful gift sure knew her exact size. Suddenly she heard a loud rumble of thunder outside and when she went to the window it was raining about as hard as she’d ever seen it rain!
“That’s odd! ” Lisa exclaimed…”It wasn’t raining a few seconds ago…in fact…the sunshine was so bright that I had to close the window curtains!”
Lisa went to the front door and opened it. It sure was raining hard out there. Water was running down the streets and along the gutters into the storm drains.
“This is perfect!” thought Lisa. “I can try out my new Birthday present!”
Lisa stepped outside and as she got to the walkway, suddenly, without warning, the rain abruptly stopped and the bright sun shone without a cloud in the sky! The rain had stopped so fast that her new yellow raincoat hadn’t even gotten wet!
She looked around and the grass was wet, the parked cars were wet, everything was wet except her new raincoat. “What a mystery!” thought Lisa.
When she went back into the house she removed her raincoat and hung it on the hook near the door.
The next day as Lisa got ready for school it started to rain. “Oh Good! Today I can wear my new raincoat to school and show all of my friends.”
She grabbed her lunch and saw the bus coming down the street, windshield wipers going and she thought… “My new raincoat is the same color as the school bus…what fun!”
The bus stopped and its red lights began to flash and Lisa went out of her door to run and get on…and once again, like before on her birthday, the rain abruptly stopped and the sun came out!
As Lisa climbed up the bus steps the driver said…”Hi, Lisa…maybe you won’t need your raincoat after all today!”
“It…always seems to stop raining when I put it on and go outside!”
“Yeah…sometimes I bring my umbrella along to make sure that it won’t rain!” The driver laughed as Lisa made her way to her favorite seat and the bus drove off.
At the end of the school day, it was still bright and sunny outside. Lisa grabbed her raincoat and the teacher Miss Brown said…”You won’t need that raincoat this afternoon Lisa…it’s a beautiful day outside.”
But Lisa decided that it was easier to wear her raincoat than to carry it along with her books. As she put the coat on she heard the rumble of thunder and, looking out through the school windows, she saw it start to rain.
“Oh my Lisa, I guess it IS a good thing that you brought your raincoat. It’s beginning to rain out there!”
“Yes, Miss Brown.” Lisa walked down the hall and as she got outside onto the school steps, just like before, the rain stopped and the sun came out!
As she boarded her bus the driver said…”That raincoat of yours must be magic or something. It makes it stop raining whenever you wear it!”
“Well…actually…if I put it on when I’m inside it starts to rain. Then I go OUTside it stops!”
But the driver wasn’t listening and was closing the door, so Lisa made her way back to her seat, a very puzzled and confused young girl.
When she got home she went to the room where her Daddy was working on the computer.
Lisa was holding her new raincoat and said…”Daddy…Watch!”
She put the raincoat on and waited.
“Very nice….where did you get that pretty yellow raincoat?”
“It came by UPS. It was wrapped as a gift but I don’t know who sent it…but look outside…it wasn’t raining a minute ago was it?”
“No it wasn’t” Her father went to the window…”….and it still isn’t! I guess you don’t need that coat tonight huh?”
Lisa went to the window. Her Daddy was right it WASN’T raining! She took the coat off and put it back on three times, but no rain!
“You must really like that raincoat huh Lisa?”
“Ah…yes Daddy…it’s a pretty yellow, and it REALLY keeps me dry!”
“I’m sure whoever sent it will let us know sooner or later.”
Lisa tried on the coat four more times that night but it never did rain.
Then three days later when she woke up it was raining.
“It’s raining Lisa. You can wear your pretty new raincoat today!”
“Yes, Daddy….I will.” She looked out of her bedroom window and sure enough, it was raining. So after breakfast and after dressing for school she went to the door to wait for the bus and as it came down her street, she put on the coat and before she could open the door, the sun was streaming through the front windows.
“That’s strange…I’m not even outside yet and the rain has stopped.”
“I guess you won’t need your raincoat after all Lisa.” Her father said. So Lisa took off the coat and hung it on the hook by the door and left for school.
Once she got outside it started to pour again. So she ran to the bus and got on. “Crazy weather we’re having lately huh?” the bus driver said.
“Yeah…REAL crazy!”
Lisa thought that she was confused before…but now! “When I wear the coat inside it stops the rain now, but before, it stopped when I wore it outside!”
“What did you say Lisa?” the bus driver asked.
“Oh, nothing…just about the weather.”
Over the next few weeks, the weather seemed quite normal only raining at night when Lisa was asleep. The yellow raincoat stayed on the hook next to her Daddy’s raincoat the whole time. But then on the third Tuesday when Lisa woke up it was raining and thundering and was very windy too.
“You’ll need your raincoat today for sure Lisa!” her father told her.
Lisa slowly took the coat off of the hook and put it on. It was still raining. Then she went to the door and out onto the front steps…still raining. The MAGIC…was gone!
Lisa was relieved. She really wanted a normal raincoat to wear “IN THE RAIN”…and now she finally had one. She skipped up the walk, splashing the wet puddles on the walk with her new coat keeping her warm and dry underneath.
The weather report said that there was a large tropical storm coming through and it would be raining for two or even three more days.
“I have to go to the store Lisa, I’ll be right back!” Her Daddy grabbed his raincoat from the hook next to hers and put it on and as he walked outside…the rain suddenly stopped and the sun came out brightly shining and not a cloud in the sky!
As her Daddy started to head back into the house to put his raincoat back, Lisa quickly grabbed her yellow Birthday present off of the hook and hid it!
When her Daddy came in…”That’s strange! It’s supposed to rain for two more days!”
“Yes, Daddy…VERY strange.” Lisa didn’t want her new raincoat to get anywhere near her Daddy’s coat now… let him have a Magic raincoat…it’s just too confusing for an eight-year-old and NOT any fun at all!!!

“Hi! The keys on my keyboard are helping me give a shout out to you today. Normally I’m not a very popular key because you see I’m the DELETE button.”
“Oh, I do have a few close friends like the space bar (who never says much but is a great listener) and the backspace arrow, who kinda does the same job as me, so we have something in common.”
The most popular keys like E and ENTER never want to chat. I’ve never shared a single word with CTRL…EVER.”
“I can’t actually figure out why I’m so unpopular with almost all of the other keys, after all I give them another chance to be used over again later. But I’m content with my role on the keyboard and actually I believe that I’m one of the most popular keys. Why do I think that you ask? Because my writer Russ makes so many mistakes, he actually uses me more than any other key.”
“I was going to chat longer but I’m an expert about knowing when to delete.”

It was the middle of the night on a tiny farm in Placidville County and Dooley the Rooster was sleeping soundly when suddenly he awoke with a very sore throat. “I hope I’m not getting a cold” he thought to himself but since roosters can’t chew cough drops he just tried to go back to sleep hoping that he would get better before morning. After all, Dooley had his job to do as the official alarm clock of Small Town Farm. He couldn’t imagine what farmer Jones would think if Dooley didn’t crow in the dawn with his loud but scratchy “Cock A Doodle Doo”.

In fact sometimes Dooley was cock a doodle doodaling before Chester the rooster at the next farm would even be awake. Dooley heard that Chester was a bit lazy and though Dooley had never actually met Chester, the hens told Dooley that they had heard Chester wasn’t nearly as good at alarm clocking as Dooley.

But Dooley’s soreness kept getting worse and worse until when Dooley tried to clear his throat…nothing happened! No sound came out of his upturned beak…not even a whisper. “Oh My!” thought Dooley…because the sun was just inches from breaking above the Eastern horizon and his sore throat was as silent as a pile of dirt!

In two minutes the sun peaked its orange round head up over the Eastern fields and Dooley got up on the roof of the henhouse and threw back his head and opened his beak and tried as hard as he could but absolutely NO sound came out! Though Dooley tried and tried just silent air came out of his beak. Dooley attempted to Cock A Doodle Do for nearly an hour until he finally was so tired that he had to lie down on the roof shingles and he quickly fell asleep.

It was almost nine AM when Dooley woke up to the sound of farmer Jones yelling “DOOLEY…DOOLEY…what’s the matter with you rooster? We’ve all overslept because of you and the pigs didn’t get fed and the cows didn’t get milked and Ma Jones didn’t make me breakfast and…and…I’m really upset with you!”

Dooley tried to cackle down to farmer Jones but nothing came out again…but farmer Jones looked up to see Dooley trying to cackle or cluck or whatever roosters say when they aren’t Cock A Doodle Doodling and he said “Oh Dooley…have…you…LOST your voice?”

So Dooley pointed his right wing at his throat and tried again but just quiet air came out! Then off in the distance Dooley heard old Chester from the next farm over…crowing. “Lot of good that old rooster does crowing at 9 AM…But…well…at least Chester CAN crow.”

Dooley felt really sad now and slowly came down from his crowing place on the roof and farmer Jones picked him up and said…”Dooley…I think you have rooster laryngitis…I don’t know how long that lasts but I do have a great idea!”

Well, the farm day went by and then night time came and then all of the animals and farmer and Mrs. Jones went to bed and so did Dooley. About 4 AM Dooley woke up and tried out his Cock A Doodle Doodling voice but he still had rooster laryngitis or whatever farmer Jones called it, but as the sun peaked up over the Eastern fields Dooley remembered farmer Jones’ great idea…grabbed the battered old brass trumpet the farmer had given him and blew a song called ‘Reveille”.. Toot Toot Tooty Toot…and the lights went on in the farmhouse and the cows mooed and the pigs grunted and the hens cackled and the whole farm and EVEN the neighbor’s farm lit up and began their day right on time thanks to Dooley and his big brass trumpet.

Dooley eventually got his Cock A Doodle Doodling voice back but still blew the trumpet on special mornings…and Small Town Farm never woke up late again…EVER!