Muddy Puppy

Once upon a time there lived a little puppy in a little dog house next to a little house that people lived in. The little puppy loved to splash in mud puddles. Whenever his people would take him for a walk, he would look for a puddle to splash in. Splash! Splash! Splash! Was there anything more fun???

            One day as he was sitting in his dog house, a thunderstorm came. The lightning was bright and the thunder was loud and scary, but the little puppy was so excited because a thunderstorm meant MUD PUDDLES!!!!!!!! He wagged his little tail, and he wagged his whole rear end, and he jumped up and down and barked because he was SO EXCITED!!!!!!

            He watched all the rain come down, and he watched it collect into BIG, BEAUTIFUL PUDDLES, and he waited and waited and waited for the rain to stop so that his people would take him for a walk and he could SPLASH in the puddles!!!! But the rain didn’t stop. It rained and rained and rained. The puddles got bigger and bigger, but the little puppy couldn’t splash in them yet! Was this a cruel joke?????

            It rained all morning, and it didn’t stop. It rained all afternoon, and it didn’t stop. The little puppy just sat in his dog house and waited. When could he go out and play in the puddles? It rained all night. By morning, it was still raining. The puddles were bigger than any he had ever seen, and yet he still couldn’t splash in them! He had to wait!

            Finally, one of his people came out of the house with a raincoat on and came to his doghouse.

            “Little puppy, it’s raining so much that we’re going to let you come inside to get out of the rain. You can play inside, little puppy!”

            The little puppy was glad to hear this. His dog house had been boring all day yesterday! He wagged his tail and barked and licked his person’s hand. As he followed her toward the house, they passed by a BIG, BEAUTIFUL, MUDDY, GINORMOUS PUDDLE!!!! The little puppy was soooo excited!!!! He wagged his little tail, and he wagged his whole rear end, and he jumped up and down and barked because he was sooo happy!!! He started running towards it. He ran and he ran and he ran and he jumped as high as he could… and he landed in the mud puddle! SPLASH!!!!!!!!!!!

            It was the biggest splash he had ever made in the biggest mud puddle he had ever seen! He splashed so much he even got some mud on his person! Why wasn’t she as excited about it as he was? No matter. Now he was finally splashing in a wonderful mud puddle!!!

            “Little puppy! You got all muddy! I’m going to have to call you muddy puppy now!”

            Muddy puppy wagged his little tail, and he wagged his whole rear end, and he jumped up and down and barked because he was so happy! When he wouldn’t stop splashing in the puddle, his person picked him up and carried him into the house. She figured it couldn’t hurt to carry such a muddy puppy, since he had already gotten her so muddy already.

            When they got inside, muddy puppy was so excited (he didn’t get to come inside very often) that he squirmed and he wiggled and he wiggled and he squirmed.

            “Muddy puppy! You need to stop wiggling and squirming or I’m going to drop you!”

            But muddy puppy didn’t stop! Instead, he kept wiggling and squirming, and squirming and wiggling, and finally his person dropped him… right onto the new couch!

            He landed on the new couch and got it ALL MUDDY!!! He barked and jumped up and down on the couch.

            “OH NO!!!” his people said. “He got it all muddy!!! Muddy puppy, you need a bath!”

They tried to catch him, but muddy puppy was so excited that he jumped off the couch and onto the floor and got the carpet ALL MUDDY!!!!

“OH NO!!!!” His people tried to catch him, but he thought it was a game and kept running. He ran into the bedroom and jumped right onto the bed! He got it ALL MUDDY!!!! And he got the pillows ALL MUDDY! And he got the quilt ALL MUDDY! And then he jumped onto the chair and got it ALL MUDDY!!!!

“OH NO!!! Muddy puppy, stop!”

But muddy puppy didn’t stop! Instead, he ran down the hallway and got the hallway ALL MUDDY! He ran into the kitchen and got the kitchen ALL MUDDY!!!

“OH NO!!!” Muddy puppy’s people tried to catch him, but since the kitchen floor was all wet and muddy, they slipped and fell down and got ALL MUDDY!!!

Muddy puppy ran into the bathroom and got the bathroom ALL MUDDY!!! His people tried to catch him, but he jumped into the bathtub and got the bathtub ALL MUDDY!!!!

Now his people were smart, so when they saw that he was in the bathroom, they closed the door. And when they saw that he was in the bathtub, they turned on the shower and plugged the tub. The water sprayed all over muddy puppy and got him all wet. Soon the tub was filling with water and it was ALL MUDDY! The people got some shampoo and started scrubbing muddy puppy and washing him ALL CLEAN!!! They emptied the dirty water from the tub and sprayed him down again. It was so much fun!

They took the clean little puppy out of the bathtub and dried him off with a towel until he was ALL DRY! Then the people said,

“Little puppy, we’re going to put you in the puppy playpen so you don’t get all muddy again while we clean the mud out of our house!”

So the little puppy went in the puppy playpen where his people gave him a big bowl full of yummy food! They also gave him a big bowl full of water, but it looked suspiciously like a puddle in a bowl… it didn’t stay in the bowl for long! By the time he was done eating, the rain had stopped and the sun had come out.

“Little puppy, the rain stopped! Do you want to go for a walk outside?”

The little puppy wagged his little tail, and he wagged his whole rear end, and he jumped up and down and barked because he was so excited! He ran to the door and waited for his people to hurry up and put his leash on him. But he was so excited he couldn’t hold still for them to hook it on! When the people finally got the leash on him, he hurried as fast as he could out the door – but then his leash stopped him and he had to wait for his people again.

When they got outside and started walking out of the yard, the little puppy noticed an even bigger, more beautiful puddle than he had seen before! What fun he could have jumping in it! How gloriously muddy he could get! Could life get any better? Only one way to find out… SPLASH!!!!!

Fishy Fishy Fish

Once upon a time there lived a beautiful princess who loved to wear purple and eat fish. Unfortunately, one day the kingdom ran completely out of fish. The markets didn’t have any, the fish sellers didn’t have any, and even the fishermen couldn’t find any. The princess was horrified. What was she going to eat now? How could she go on without her delicious fish?

             She quickly issued a proclamation stating that anyone who could find more fish would be rewarded with a treasure chest full of his choice of items from the royal treasure room, and would have the honor of eating dinner with the princess. With this reward in mind, many throughout the kingdom immediately set out to discover where more fish could be found. 

            At this time, there was living in the country a small boy who also loved fish. When he heard that the country was out of fish, and that the princess was in distress, and about the generous reward to be given to anyone who could find more fish, he determined to try to find some himself. He went outside and began to think of where he might find some fish hiding.

            First he looked underneath a rock in his backyard. No fish. Next he checked the hole his dog had dug underneath the porch. No fish. He looked behind his favorite climbing tree. No fish. Under a log? No fish. Inside a tree stump? No fish. At the top of the small cliff near his house? No fish.

            By now, his mother was calling him in to dinner. As he sat down to eat his fish-less dinner, he suddenly had an idea. He finished eating as quickly as he could, cleaned up his dishes, grabbed his knife and fork and went outside.

            He started walking into the woods with his silverware, calling out loudly, “Here, fishy, fishy, fish! Here, fishy, fishy, fish! Here, fishy, fishy, fish!”

            He walked further into the woods, all the while calling, “Here, fishy, fishy, fish! Here, fishy, fishy, fish! Here, fishy, fishy, fish!”

            He very soon attracted the attention of a rather large bear that decided to come out and see what was going on. As the bear looked on, he saw a small boy, holding a knife and fork, walking through the woods, calling, “Here, fishy, fishy, fish! Here, fishy, fishy, fish!!!”

            “This boy is crazy,” the bear thought to himself. “He’ll never find any fish that way.”

            As the boy continued his relentless fish-calling, the bear became frustrated. “Stop calling out like that! You won’t find any fish that way! I know the only way to find fish around here, and I’m not telling! But you are going about it all wrong!”

            Nevertheless, the boy continued walking, calling out, “Here, fishy, fishy, fish! Here, fishy, fishy, fish! Here, fishy, fishy, fish! HERE, FISHY, FISHY, FISH!!!!”

            “I told you,” the bear called out again, “that’s not the way to find any fish! You are making a fool of yourself!”

            But the boy didn’t stop. He just kept calling out, “Here, fishy, fishy, fish! Here, fishy, fishy, fish! HERE, FISHY, FISHY, FISH!!!”

            Annoyed, the bear stepped out in front of the boy. “I TOLD YOU, YOU CAN’T FIND ANY FISH THAT WAY! I know the only way to find fish around here, and you are doing it wrong! Stop calling ‘here, fishy, fishy, fish’; I’m tired of it!”

            The boy looked up at the bear with a smile on his face, then turned and called out, “Here, fishy, fishy, fish!”

            Turning again, the boy said to the bear, “I bet I can find fish this way. And I bet I can find fish faster than you ever can!”

            Now the bear was sure the boy was crazy. But, just to shut him up, he thought he might go along with the boy’s idea. “Okay, we’ll see. You keep doing that, and I’ll find fish my way, and whoever finds some fish first wins. Agree?”

            “Agree! And I WILL find fish first! Good luck!”

            The boy started calling more hurriedly, “Here, fishy, fishy, fish! Here, fishy, fishy, fish! Here, fishy, fishy, fish! HERE, FISHY, FISHY, FISH!!!!!” The bear, on seeing this, hurried off in the opposite direction until he came to a rabbit hole.

            “Rabbit, can I have some more fish?”

            A rabbit soon came up out of the hole with a half dozen fish for the bear. The bear took them, and hurried back to the spot where he had talked to the boy.

            “I’m back with the fish,” he called. The boy soon came back and saw the fish in the bear’s paws.

            “I guess you’re right,” the boy admitted, “You do know how to find fish better than I do.”

            “Then you’ll stop that ‘fishy, fishy, fish’ racket?”

            “Yeah, I guess so. I’m sorry if I bothered you.”

            “Just so you don’t do it again!” The bear wandered off to eat his fish in peace.

            As soon as the bear was out of sight, the boy made his way to the very same rabbit hole he had followed the bear to earlier.

            “Rabbit, may I please have some more fish?”

            The rabbit soon popped up with several more fish.

“You have much politer manners than that bear does,” he said. “How much fish would you like?”

            “As much as I can carry, please,” the boy answered. “And thank you so very much! This will make the beautiful princess so happy.”

            “Glad to be able to help you,” the rabbit said as he brought up a large bag of fish from his hole and handed it to the boy. “Enjoy!”

            Thanking the rabbit again, the boy took the bag of fish and hurried to the royal palace. The guards, on seeing the fish in the bag, hurriedly admitted the boy into the palace and into the princess’ chambers. She was ecstatic when she saw the large amount of fish in the bag. She immediately ordered that the fish be taken and prepared for dinner, and that the boy be given royal garments to wear as he joined her for dinner.

            The dinner was very good (you can’t go wrong with two dinners in one day!), and the princess was very good company. She and the boy talked and laughed and discussed their favorite varieties of fish. The boy promised to bring her some more fish soon. As soon as they were done eating, the princess escorted the boy into the royal treasure room. She pointed out a good-sized chest in the corner of the room.

            “Fill it as full as you can with whatever you would like,” she told him. “I’ll have my servants deliver it to your house in my very own royal carriage.”

            The boy looked around at all the jewels, necklaces, gold ornaments, and other treasures. He wasn’t sure what to choose. Finally, though, he started putting in some very pretty jewels, then some gold coins, and then he found he was getting the hang of packing up treasure. When the chest was full, he called the princess, who called her servants, who called for a carriage, and the princess and the boy got into the carriage with the treasure chest and rode all the way to the boy’s house. Once there, the servants unloaded the chest, the boy said goodbye to the princess, and the royal carriage returned home. The boy dragged the chest into the house, tied a bow around it, and gave it to his mother for her birthday.

            She liked it.

 

The End