once upon a time – part one
Ryan loves stories. He’s a bright kid, yes but even the brightest 3 year old is unable to comprehend words and sentences that form stories, so that means he loves other people reading him stories. I don’t remember when his parents started reading him bedtime stories, but it’s an almost everyday thing now where he would insist a story with his Milo before drifting off to sleep. Sometimes he would try to squeeze two or more stories from you, but I am usually too smart to fall for that, hah!
You see, I love stories as well. I’m sure my mother told us sisters stories when we were younger, but somehow I don’t remember them. Maybe the memories will pop up later, as they often do.
Like I said, I love stories. I just don’t like telling them. To be precise, I don’t like telling stories to kids. It is not easy (for me) to think of tales that are safe and not scary, punctuated with morals, ethics and good values. Sure, I love to tell stories to my friends and have them tell it to me in return, but I doubt Ryan nor his parents would appreciate stories such as, “My friend was driving along the highway, and suddenly he saw a female with long hair and white dress standing by the side of the road…”
Once or twice a week I’d tell Ryan a bedtime story, usually when his parents are busy, sick or just when I find myself with enough patience and goodwill to wield a tale or two. The conversation goes like this:
“Ah yi, can you tell me a story please?”
“Okay. What story do you want?”
“Uhmm…. I want…. a story about… shark!”
“Okay… shark.. hmmm. Once upon a time….”
(Ryan grabs his Milo, jumps into bed, prepares to suckle from the bottle and waits expectantly)
The last two stories I told him had sharks for leading characters, as per his request. The first one was about Johnny The Shark who lives alone in a nice house in the ocean. Johnny The Shark has many friends — fish, octopus, starfish, seahorse… Johnny The Shark also happens to be a vegetarian. That means he doesn’t eat meat or fish; he only eats fruits and vegetables. That is why he has so many fish friends, because he doesn’t eat them for dinner.
One day, Johnny The Shark decides to visit his parents, who live on the other side of the ocean. He packed a basket filled with fruits and vegetables for his parents, and went on his way. Ding dong! he rang the doorbell. His mother opened the door and was glad to see him! They hugged, and Mama Shark called out to Papa Shark who was upstairs. Papa Shark was also very happy to see his son. Johnny The Shark then presented his gift basket filled with fruits and vegetables to his parents. Mama Shark looked at it and said, “Uhmmm.. but son, we are sharks. We eat meat and fish. We do not eat fruits and vegetables.” Johnny The Shark replied, “Yes mom, but I am a vegetarian! That means I do not eat meat or fish! My best friend is a fish and I do not want to eat him. Instead, I eat apples, oranges, broccoli… they are nutritious and good for me too!” Then Papa Shark got very angry and he said, “No son! We are sharks! We eat meat and fish! We do not eat vegetables! Take this basket away!” Johnny The Shark was very sad but he did not want to make his father angrier. So he took the basket away and hid it in a corner in the kitchen.
The next day, Papa Shark was very sick. He could not get out of bed at all. Mama Shark and Johnny The Shark were very worried. So they called a doctor to see what was wrong with Papa Shark. Doctor Shark came to the house, and he inspected Papa Shark for a while. Then he said, “I know what is wrong with you! You have been eating too much meat, and you do not eat fruits and vegetables at all! That is not good!” Papa Shark weakly replied, “But… we are sharks… we eat meat… we do not eat fruits and vegetables…” “That is true,” Doctor Shark replied, “but it is important to have a balanced diet! You cannot just eat meat all the time! You must eat fruits and vegetables as well!”
Then Johnny The Shark remembered his basket filled with fruits and vegetables. He rushed to the kitchen where he had hidden the basket, and took out an apple. He gave it to his father and said, “Please dad, please just try this… it’s an apple and it’s very good for you!” So Papa Shark took the apple and ate it.
The next day, Papa Shark felt a lot better. He was not as sick as before, and he could get out of his bed without feeling ill! He called Johnny The Shark over and he said, “I am sorry son, for scolding you the other day. Now I understand we must always try something new!” And Mama Shark was very happy, and Johnny The Shark was very happy.
Rather lame, I know. Should Ryan remember this story when he grows up, I hope he wouldn’t think too poorly of his auntie who related such a story with weird nutritional and diet information to him. As for now, he is still a kid so his response was, “Papa Shark so naughty, he didn’t want to eat fruits and vegetable! I eat fruits and vegetables, I am healthy, yah?”
So that worked.
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i’m guessing he has yet to watch ‘Jaws’? heh.
cute story…but we have to be careful on what we say coz kids absorb everything we say or do. try asking him this, you’ll be suprised on his answer.
“3 worms are crawling side by side on a flat ground. the worm on the right stood up and looked on his left and said….there are 2 other worms on my left. then they continued to crawl. after 1 minute the worm on the left stood up and looked on his right and said…..there are 2 other worms on my right. then they continued to crawl again. after another minute the middle worm stood up and looked to his right and left and said…..there are no other worms beside me. why is that?”
this is actually a research made by some professors. a group of professor took 2 months to answer, uni grads took 1 month to answer, secondary school students took 2 weeks and primary school students took less than a week to answer. but a child who is below 5 years took only 5 seconds to answer. try it. the answer is beyond our understanding and does not makes sense for us adults.
my dad used to tell me stories about Dirty Tortoise, who lived under the market. I’m trying to write some stories based on that now. LOL
‘That is why he has so many fish friends, because he doesn’t eat them for dinner. ‘
I must have MILLIONS of fish friends!
You should tell him a story about how bad it is to smoke cigarettes so that he doesn’t start smoking.
9: i think he will only be able to watch it when he grows up
calvin: hah! i asked him that. will post the answer later
eyeris: oO writing kiddy stories eh…
dabs: you should like, plunge into the ocean
i totally agree with dabs. LOLLOLLOL
but your story is so awesome la cibai, can think of something in such a short time. i think if a kid came up to me for a story all i can tell is some emo shit guaranteed to turn the kid depressive. =_=”
Hmmmmm……that sounds fishy but I like it!
LOL@Dabido
chen: heh stories on the fly! w00t!
johnny: are you a shark?
btw dabs, i thought the only reason u are vegetarian is because you are allergic to everything else on earth …
Eh? When did I say anyone else should be a vegetarian. I just said I must have Millions of fish friends …
Come to think of it, I should have cow friends, sheep friends, lots and lots of animal friends.
So, tell him a story to stop him from ever smoking.