[stylist] children's story

[James Canaday M.A. N6YR]

very cool Lori!
I only found I was wishing for a little more at the end
I agree with Judith, this could have some wonderful illustrations!
I also felt right away that kids would love this story Lori!
jc

Jim Canaday M.A.
Lawrence, KS

At 05:35 PM 1/31/2009, you wrote:
>This is a story I wrote for my grandkids.   I thought I would share it with
>the list.
>Lori
>
>
>THE DRAGON AND THE ANT
>By Lori Stayer
>
>Once upon a time there was a dragon who could see ants.   The rest of his
>family couldn't.   Ants were too small, too far away.   But Simon could.
>
>He'd named himself Simon, by the way.   His 
>mother tried calling him “Scales,”
>  but he didn't think such a name was respectful.
>
>Simon watched ants all the time.   His brother, Snake-Breath, told everyone
>Simon was stupid.   His mother said Simon was just imaginative.   But his
>father was very concerned, thinking Simon was just crazy.
>
>One day Simon bumped into a tree.   Ordinarily, this would pose no problem.
>He would have simply knocked down the tree and kept going.   However, this
>was a redwood, the king of the forest.
>
>That was when Simon's father took him to visit Far-Seeing, the oculist
>Dragon, who determined Simon had a very special 
>sort of vision, and the ants he saw
>were real.
>
>Simon, Far-Seeing determined, was legally blind.   Not that they had laws
>back then.   It simply meant that he could see 
>something, but not everything, and
>not the way his brothers saw.
>
>The idea he was blind shocked Simon.   Surely not!   But his father assured
>him it was true.
>
>One day Simon lay outside his cave with his head down in the dirt.   A tiny
>ant plodded by, paused and looked up.   “I can 
>see you, you know,” it piped in
>a tiny voice.   “My sisters say I'm deranged, but I know you're there.”
>
>“Hello, Deranged,” Simon responded 
>gloomily.   “I'm Simon.   I see you too.
>  What are you doing?”
>
>“Gathering food for winter.   I'm not very good at it.   I can only see the
>pieces too big to pick up.”
>
>“Pretty big, then,” said Simon, who knew the 
>size of the pieces of food ants
>usually carried.
>
>“The Queen Mother says I'm useless,” the ant 
>sighed.   “They tossed me out
>of the family.   I miss my sisters.”
>“My brothers say that about me,” Simon 
>realized.   “I can only see the small
>things.”
>
>“Small things?   Like me?”
>
>“Yeah.   It made me an outcast.   I'm not good for much.”
>
>“Too bad we can't trade visions,” the ant 
>responded.   “But your eyes are
>too big.   I couldn't wear them.”
>
>Simon's depression lifted a shade at the thought of a tiny ant trying to wear
>a dragon's extra large eyes.   “I like you, 
>Deranged.   Why don't we team up?
>   Climb onto my forehead, and sit on the knob on my brow.   Do you see the
>tree in front of me?”
>
>“Of course I do.   That's part of the problem.”
>
>“Let's take a walk.   You warn me when a tree 
>is coming, and I'll lead you to
>the food you CAN carry.”
>
>“It won't work,” the ant muttered, 
>nevertheless climbing onto Simon's scaly
>green knob.   “They still won't let me back 
>in.   And don't call me Deranged!
>  My name is-”   The ant paused.   “Er, 'Ant.'”
>
>Simon frowned.   “That's a silly name.   How would you know if anyone is
>calling you?”
>
>“We all work together,” Ant 
>explained.   “Why would I need a different name?”
>
>
>“Because I said so,” Simon declared.   “And I'm bigger.”
>
>For some reason Ant found this hysterically funny, and was only sorry ants
>couldn't laugh.   “Okay.   I'm ready.   Let's 
>go.   The left.   No, I meant the
>OTHER left!   Don't you know your left from your right?”
>
>Simon thought about it.   “I guess I don't.   What are they?”
>
>Explaining left and right took half an hour, but Simon finally got it, and
>they took off.   With Simon's help, Ant found enough food for lunch, and with
>Ant's help, Simon stopped knocking down trees.
>
>Simon, however, had trouble convincing his family that Ant was helping him,
>because Ant was too small for them to see.   It didn't matter.   They made a
>good partnership, even though Ant's family never did take her back!
>
>
>
>
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