365bedtimestories

[365bedtimestories]

March 13. (Text under the read more)

MARCH 13 The Forgotten Toy

THE SUN went down. The sand in Amy's sandbox grew colder and colder. Underneath it, a tiny wheelbarrow no bigger than a little boy's finger shivered and woke up.

"Say!" said the wheelbarrow. "Where am I, anyway?" It scooped into the sand above it. Its tiny wheel turned slowly, slowly. Its wee handles shoved hard. Out of the sand it popped.

"Brrrrr!' shivered the wheelbarrow. "No wonder I'm cold- I'm outdoors! Why, I'm liable to rust!"

That was a terrible thought. The wheelbarrow rolled hastily across the humps of sand to the edge of the box. There it stopped, because the side of the box was too high for it to climb. The wheelbarrow rolled along the side of the box. At the other end, it stumbled over a shovel. "You here, too?" cried the wheel-barrow. "Why did Timmy forget us?"

The shovel yawned. He was a husky shovel and he didn't mind the cold. Besides, he was an old shovel and already rusted. He mumbled, "Timmy got sand in his eye."

"Well, what do you think I've got in mine?" squeaked the wheelbarrow. "Sand in my eyes and rust in my joints!"

"He'll remember us tomorrow." The shovel yawned again. "Go to sleep."

The shivering wheelbarrow noticed that the shovel was buried up to its neck in sand. It looked a great deal warmer that way.

"Well," sighed the wheelbarrow, "I might as well make the best of it." He slowly dug down deeper and deeper, until he was all covered up.

"Ahhhhh," he said, "it is warmer here!" And he fell asleep.

[365bedtimestories]

March 12. (Text under the read more)

MARCH 12 The Sandstorm

"JIMMY!" called Amy. "C'mon over! I have a new sandbox!"

"A new sandbox? Oh, fuf-fuf-fuf!" Timmy laughed. He ran to ask his mother, and to get his shovel and his pail and some tin cups. And oh, yes, his favorite toy of all- a tiny wheelbarrow no bigger than his finger, with a wheel that really turned!

Timmy and Amy had fun. First they built a town. They piled up heaps of sand for the school and church and stores. They built a whole row of houses. Timmy wheeled the sand in his wee wheelbarrow while Ann patted it into place. When the town was finished, they played Papa and Mamma living in one of the houses, and going marketing with the wheelbarrow.

At last they were tired of the town. "Here comes a big storm!" cried Timmy, swooping across the sandbox with his open hand and knocking down a store and house.

"Big, big storm!" Amy shouted, and she swooped, too. Sand flew wildly. Some of it flew into Timmy's eyes.

"Ow!" cried Timmy angrily.

'I'm s-sorry, Timmy," Amy whispered.

Timmy's anger went away like smoke. "Wasn't your fault," he said. "I'll go let Mamma wash it out."

"Will you come over again sometime?" Amy asked hopefully.

"Sure," said Timmy. "Only next time we won't have quite such a big storm!"

[365bedtimestories]

March 11. (Text under the read more)

MARCH 11 It's a Game

SALLY made too many mistakes in spelling. "I can't remember those old words!" she sighed.

One night after supper she was looking over the list of words for next day's spelling test. Her head nodded sleepily.

"F-i-r-s-t, first," she chanted. Then she printed it on a sheet of paper, but she spelled it "f-r-i-s-t," and that's just the way she'd had it in the last test, too. "Oh, dear," said Sally, "Ill never remember it."

"Why, of course you will!" laughed a silvery voice that seemed to come straight out of her pencil. "Look! F-i-r! There's a tree in that word, a little fir tree! And what's this other you've written wrong- C-r-i-s-t-m-a-s? Oh, dear, you must remember that h in Christmas, for it's the chimney Santa Claus comes down! See, doesn't h look like a chimney, with that straight line rising above the little hump of the mantel where the stockings will hang? Yes, indeed, Santa goes hop over the round roof of the C, and whisk down that chimney! And dear, dear, you've spelled tooth with only one o -t-o-t-h; that will never do. Just remember there's a toot in tooth. Toot-toot-toot, like a train whistle!"

Sally blinked, and looked at her pencil, but it was only a pencil. Had she dreamed the silvery voice?

"Maybe I did," said Sally, "but I'll remember what it said anyway. Why, the test tomorrow will be easy! I'll just remember there's a fir tree in first, and a chimney in Christmas, and that every tooth goes toot-toot!"

[365bedtimestories]

March 10. (Text under the read more)

MARCH 10 Susan Takes Charge

SUSAN'S mother had gone downtown and left Susan in charge of the Ling house. Susan loved being in charge, even though there wasn't a great deal for her to take charge of.

"A person in charge of a house shouldn't have pigtails and short dresses." Susan frowned, peering in the mirror. She tried winding her braids around her head and pinning them with her mother's hairpins. There, that looked better- much, much older. And Mother's old housecoat, wrapped around Susan, made her look at least twenty, Susan thought with satisfaction.

She trailed her long skirts downstairs and sat in the living room pretending to serve tea to guests. "Will you have more?" she asked the empty air graciously. "With lemon or cream?"

Oh, it was such fun! That is, until suddenly the doorbell rang. Susan was so lost in her wonderful game that she thought the bell only meant another guest was coming to tea. She swished grandly to the door, and flung it open. "Do, do come in!" she invited.

The woman on the doorstep looked quite surprised. She had a big case of grocery samples, and Susan realized she was a perfectly strange saleslady.

"Are you the lady of the house?" the woman inquired.

Susan wanted to run away. She half turned, and tripped on her long skirt. A braid came loose and flapped against her cheek. Her face was bright red, and she didn't know what to say until- oh, wonderful sight!- she saw her mother coming up the walk.

"There's the lady of the house!" Susan gasped, and fled upstairs. Right at the moment, she thought she never wanted to be in charge of anything again!

[365bedtimestories]

March 9. (Text under the read more)

MARCH 9 Rusty's Trick

DAVID thought his pony Rusty ought to learn some tricks. Surely he ought to be able to learn a simple trick, David thought. Something easy like shaking hands.

David took a nice red apple out to Rusty and held it out of reach while he commanded, "Shake hands, Rusty! Shake hands!" Then he lifted Rusty's hoof to show what he meant, at the same time giving him a nibble of the apple.

Rusty looked very pleased. He didn't care a bit if David wanted to lift his hoof, though it seemed pretty silly. He chewed his bite of apple and nuzzled David to find the rest of it.

"No, sir! You don't get any more of it yet!" said David. "You've got to earn it first. Shake hands, Rusty!"

Again and again, he lifted Rusty's hoof, shook it, and then gave Rusty a nibble of apple. At last he thought Rusty should be able to lift his hoof himself when David told him to.

So when he said "Shake hands!" again, he only held out his hand toward Rusty's hoof.

Rusty was getting tired of all this. He smelled David's pockets, and he nosed David's hand.

"Shake hands!" David ordered sternly.

Rusty had an idea of how to end this nonsense. As David bent over, reaching toward his hoof, Rusty put his nose against the back of David's neck and whooshed a big whistle of air down David's back!

"Hey! Hey! Stop it! You tickle!" David leaped into the air, dropping the scrap of apple he'd been holding behind him. Rusty picked it up and chewed it very, very slowly.

David laughed. "You're not so dumb, are you, Rusty? You knew a trick of your own all the time!"

[365bedtimestories]

March 8. (Text under the read more)

MARCH 8 Polly's First Step

POLLY could stand up, but she hadn't learned to walk.

"Come here, Polly," Mother would say, holding out her arms.

Polly would rock back and forth on her unsteady feet and smile at her, but she wouldn't take a step.

One day Polly was playing with her blocks on the living-room floor when Mother brought in Fluffy's canary cage, freshly cleaned. "Hi, dumpling!" she said to Polly as she hung Fluffy's cage on its stand and went back to the kitchen. Polly dropped her blocks to watch Fluffy. "Hi!' she called to him. "Hi! Hi!"

Mother hadn't fastened Fluffy's door tightly. It swung open. Fluffy looked surprised. He hopped over to it and looked down. There was a bright row of geraniums in the flower stand below him. My, they looked good enough to eat! Fluffy hopped through his open door and flew down to the flowers!

Polly bounced with excitement. Fluffy had never been within reach before. Polly got to her feet, and held on to a chair. Then she reached for another chair and pulled herself over to it. But there weren't enough chairs to reach Fluffy. Polly stood flapping her arms and shouting.

Mother wondered why Polly was so noisy. She came to the kitchen door just in time to see Polly let go of the last chair and take one, two, three steps!

"Why, Polly!" cried Mother. She was so surprised and pleased that she didn't even notice Fluffy in the geraniums. But that didn't matter because just then Fluffy flew back into his cage. He had decided geraniums weren't good to eat after all!

[365bedtimestories]

March 7. (Text under the read more)

MARCH 7 Baby Tom

LITTLE Ann Nolen had nobody to play with; she wandered around the yard, wishing somebody would come out.

Nobody came except Tom and Tiger, the cats. They soon wished they hadn't, for Ann pounced on them happily. "Oh, pussy, pussy! Let's play house!"

Tiger shot out of Ann's arms, but Tom was held all the tighter. However, with Ann scratching under his chin and telling him he was a beautiful baby, he didn't fight to get away. Ann laid him in her doll buggy, and Tom was quite content to stay there. In fact, he was sound asleep when Ann came bustling back.

"Now, pussy, bath time!" Ann sang. Before Tom really got his eyes open, Ann- oh, horror of horrors!- was dabbing his face with a dripping washcloth! Tom hated water! He struggled and scratched and yowled.

"I guess that's enough bath," Ann decided. "Hold still, baby!"

She pulled a bonnet over Tom's ears and tied it under his chin. Around his neck she tied the ribbons of a little kimono.

"Oh, aren't you sweet?" she squealed, holding him up by his front legs. "Now all you need is a pink bow on your tail!"

Tom had had enough. He gave a great spring and shot away. Tiger was watching from a hiding-place near the fence.

"Miow, psst! Miow, miow, miow!" he said. That seemed to mean, "Oh, you great big handsome baby!"

That was too much for Tom. In spite of the flapping clothing he leaped at Tiger!

"Sssssssssst! Meoooooooooow! Psssssst!"

Mamma came running. She caught up Tom. "Poor Tom!" she said. "You can't make a doll-baby out of a pussy-cat, Ann."

Ann nodded. "Tiger laughed at him," she said. "Poor pussy!"

[365bedtimestories]

March 6. (Text under the read more)

MARCH 6 The First Robin

MARY LOU wanted to see the first robin this spring. So did Ted. "I know I'll see him first,' Mary Lou said one morning as she passed by Ted's yard on her way to school, "because I saw an old nest in our maple tree where a robin family lived last year, and they're sure to come back to it "

That didn't seem fair. Ted went around to his back yard to look at the old apple tree, but he didn't see any nest in it. Now Ted was sure Mary Lou would win. He scowled and scowled, thinking about it.

When Mary Lou came home from school, Ted met her. "I saw the first robin!" he shouted. "Yes, I did!"

"Did you, Ted?" Mary Lou asked excitedly. "Oh, isn't that wonderful? Spring must be almost here! Let's look for it, Ted. Is it building a nest in your apple tree?"

Ted didn't feel good at all. He wished he hadn't said he'd seen a robin. Because, to tell the truth, he hadn't!

That night it snowed. It hadn't snowed for so long that Ted was surprised to wake and see a white world again. Before he had breakfast, Mary Lou was at the door. "Hurry, Ted!" she begged. "We've got to find that poor robin. It'll freeze!"

Ted felt worse and worse as he tagged her up and down the snowy yard. Suddenly Mary Lou stopped short and said, "There it is! And it doesn't look a bit cold!"

Ted blinked. There on the kitchen window sill sat a fat saucy robin, pecking at bread crumbs! "You saw it first, Mary Lou!" Ted cried. "You saw the first robin! I didn't really see one yesterday!"

And when he had said it, he felt a glow inside him as rosy warm as the first robin's breast.

[365bedtimestories]

March 5. (Text under the read more)

MARCH 5 The Goldfish House

THE JOHNSON CHILDREN'S Uncle Theo came to visit them in March. He said one day, "What this fine east window needs is some goldfish. How would you like to fix up an aquarium?"

"Oh, yes, let's!" cried Doris and Ted.

They went downtown after school that afternoon. Doris wanted to pick out the goldfish at the pet store the very first thing, but Uncle Theo laughed. "What will they live in? Our pockets? No, first we must buy their glass house. We will look for a big house, one that will hold- oh, maybe three gallons of water. Goldfish need plenty of water and plenty of space to move around. We'll buy an oblong house, instead of a round bowl do you know why?"

"Maybe they get dizzy swimming in circles," Ted guessed.

Uncle Theo laughed again. "No, it isn't that, Ted. Curved glass makes sunshine hotter. It gathers the sun's rays, and on a hot day the water heats and can almost scald the poor goldfish. An oblong tank with a screen of water plants growing against the back is best for them. The plants not only give the fish cool shadows to play in, but help them breathe, too, by making the air in the water fresher. We'll need snails, too!"

"Snails?" puzzled Doris.

"Oh, my, yes, they are the fish's housekeepers! They clean up the tank by eating tiny plants and animals we can't even see in the water, and they wipe off the line of scum on the sides of the tank with their tongues and shells."

Doris said, "My goodness, I never knew there was so much to do, making a home for goldfish. They ought to be pretty happy when they move in!"

[365bedtimestories]

March 4. (Text under the read more)

MARCH 4 Who Was Fooled?

JACK liked to fool people who couldn't tell him from his twin brother, Jerry. One afternoon on the way to school he said to Jerry, "Let's pretend we're each other and fool the teacher!"

"Well, okay," said Jerry, looking a little doubtful. "But the teacher won't like it."

They sat in each other's seats and answered to each other's names. This was the day on which the teacher always gave them new jobs to do around the schoolroom. Last week Jerry had had the job of erasing the blackboards. Everybody liked that job more than any other.

Today the teacher said, "Jack, you may erase the blackboards this week."

Jerry, who was sitting in Jack's seat, grinned and said, "All right, teacher, that'll be fine!"

Jack was so indignant he could hardly keep still. It should have been his turn to erase the blackboards! Jerry had done it all last week, and now he got an extra day to do it, too! Even though Jack could sit in his own seat tomorrow, and be Jack again, and erase the blackboards all the rest of the week, he'd have lost out on this day.

All afternoon Jack frowned and sputtered to himself angrily, and all afternoon Jerry smiled and smiled. When school was out at last, Jack started to leave. Jerry called, "Hey, Jerry!" Jack almost didn't answer; he had had enough of playing he was Jerry. Then Jerry said, "Stay and help me with the boards, will you?"

Jack brightened and grabbed an eraser. As they erased, he whispered, "Let's go back to being ourselves again. I don't think it's such fun fooling people after all!"

[365bedtimestories]

March 3. (Text under the read more)

MARCH 3

Peter Is Six

"I'M SIX today! I'm six! I'm six today!" Peter made a song of the words and sang them the whole morning long.

In the afternoon Peter didn't have time to sing, for he had a birthday party. All his guests brought their favorite toys, for the toys were invited to Peter's party, too!

Sally brought her Cinderella doll; Jack and Jerry brought their tricycle and wagon; Toby brought his new kite. Doris came with her nurse's kit; Ruth had her toy typewriter; and Jane trailed in, late as usual, with a picture book.

Peter decided his rootin' tootin' cowboy should come to the party as his favorite toy, and that gave him an idea. "Let's play Wild West!" he shouted. "We've got a tricycle and a wagon for the wagon-train, and the cowboy for the driver!"

"And Cinderella's a lady passenger going out to live in the Wild West, poor thing," decided Sally.

"And when the Indians attack, and she's hurt, I can fix her up with my nurse's kit!" cried Doris.

"The kite's a signal!" shouted Toby. "When it's flying at the pass, the wagon-train dares to go through. But if you don't see it, you have to run like anything!"

They played the game over and over, taking turns being Indians and cowboys and passengers. When Mrs. Brown called them in to the birthday lunch, they were tired and hungry.

"It's too bad the toys can't eat, too," said Doris. "They earned some birthday cake and ice cream."

"All but my typewriter and Jane's book," said Ruth. "Tell you what after we eat, you may all look at the book, while I type a story about our Wild West game so we'll always remember Peter's party!"

[365bedtimestories]

March 2. (Text under the read more)

MARCH 2

Upside-Down Day

IT WAS a day full of mistakes. First Ellen put her shoes on the wrong feet, then she pulled her dress on back to front. She brought Mamma the comb instead of the brush to fix her curls, and the comb always pulled. She asked for the wrong kind of breakfast food, and then had to eat it up so it wouldn't be wasted.

"Everything's all upsy-downsy, Butch," Ellen sighed as she and the big dog went out to play. Butch wagged his tail and trotted beside her. "Let's play horsey, Butch. You be the horsey. Ooooh, look at Rusty! Rusty goes fast!"

"Ruff! Ruff!" barked Butch, but Ellen had trotted out of the back yard after the Barretts' pony, who was kicking up his heels and frolicking in the wide vacant lots behind his shed.

"Rusty! Rusty!" squealed Ellen, trotting after him, right behind his flying heels. "Nice horsey!"

"Ruff! Ruff!" woofed Butch. He charged across the lots and grabbed Ellen's jacket between his strong teeth. He tugged so hard that Ellen tumbled backward and sat down hard. Rusty's galloping feet whizzed past her head.

Ellen's mamma had heard Butch barking, and she came out to see what the trouble was. "Oh, Ellen!" she cried. "Come back! Come right back to your yard! You're too little to play with Rusty, dear. Butch must be your horsey now."

Ellen scrambled to her feet and trotted back to her yard. She looked back at Rusty and sighed. "Wrong horsey," she said. "Come on, Butch. Let's play horsey. You be the horsey."

[365bedtimestories]

March 1. (Text under the read more)

MARCH 1

Pioneer Schooldays

ONE SUNDAY Bob, Paul, and David stopped at Mrs. Apricot's to say hello, and have a cookie.

"Jeeps, school tomorrow morning," Bob sighed. "I wish every day were Saturday or Sunday."

"Or all months were summer vacation," said David.

Mrs. Apricot said, "When I was little, I went to school in summer and had winter vacation."

"Honest?" cried Paul. "That's a funny way to do it."

"It was really very sensible. You see, the big boys had to work in the summer, so they went to school in the winter. There was a man teacher in the wintertime, and he had to be very stern, too, to keep order among so many big boys. We little children who went to school in the summertime had a lady teacher.

"Our school didn't look like yours. It was a single room, and everybody, whether they were just beginning or were doing fourth or fifth grade work, studied and recited in that one room. At first we didn't even have books to study; children learning to read brought books from home- a Bible, or an almanac, or even a dictionary. One girl had an old reader her mother had brought from the East when they came pioneering. We thought she was the luckiest person we knew to have a book with stories and pictures. At noon we would offer her the best tidbits from our lunch pails for a chance to look at the book."

"Shucks, I'm glad I didn't go to school then," said Bob. "Can you see me studying an almanac?"

"And going to school in summer just when things are getting to be fun!" David shook his head. "Not for me!"

Paul grinned. "Guess we're lucky after all," he decided.

[365bedtimestories]

February 28. (Text under the read more)

FEBRUARY 28 David and Rusty

DAVID didn't want to clean out the pony Rusty's shed, though it was his regular Saturday job. He wanted to go hiking instead.

"I'll just slip off after breakfast and let the old shed wait," David grumbled. "If I'm up on the hill, they won't find me."

He ate his breakfast quickly, and got out of the house. Just as he ducked into the shelter of the trees behind Mrs. Apricot's house, he heard Ruth call, "David! David!"

Let her call, David thought. He scuffed along, muttering, "Shucks, I don't have to work all the time, do I? A guy's got a right to a little fun."

"David!" Ruth called again. Her voice was closer. Ruth had evidently figured he'd head for their favorite spot.

"But there are lots of trees, and she'll never guess which one I'm behind," thought David. "I'll keep still as a woodchuck."

He leaned against a big tree, hardly breathing as he heard footsteps mounting the path, and Ruth murmuring, "Now where is that runaway? Do you suppose he's behind here? Or over here?"

David grinned as he heard her voice going past, and then suddenly he jumped and let out a yell, for a cold moist nose was lovingly nuzzling his neck!

"Rusty!" he squealed.

Ruth turned back. "Oh, there you are! I knew Rusty would find you any place."

"Oh, you did, did you?" David grumbled, but he didn't sound really angry. He put his arm across Rusty's neck and gave the pony a hug. "So I couldn't hide from you, huh? Well, come along then. I'll do your housecleaning, and then we'll both have fun."

[365bedtimestories]

February 27. (Text under the read more)

FEBRUARY 27 Moonlight Music

"PSSST!" hissed Tiger, the cat. "Look at that moonlight, Tom! I'm going outside."

"Me, too," said Tom instantly. The two cats leaped from their warm box in the Nolen basement, and wriggled out of the window above the laundry table.

The snow was cold on their paws, but the moonlight made them want to sing. Tom jumped to the top of the back fence. Tiger hopped behind him.

"Merrrrrrrow!" Tom sang.

"Meeeowowowowowow!" howled Tiger. He had a deep voice, much nicer than Tom's, he thought.

"Merrrryowyowyow!" Tom sang, trying to drown out Tiger. Tom thought Tiger had a very unmusical voice, far too low and hoarse.

"Mieumieumieumieu!" rumbled Tiger.

"Moweeyoweeyowee!" screeched Tom.

A window opened. Mr. Nolen shouted, "Be quiet, will you?" An old shoe sailed out and banged against the fence.

Tom and Tiger got off the fence very quickly. The snow was cold, and the wind whistled through their fur. They pattered to the basement window and crept in.

"Mr. Nolen has no ear for music," said Tiger, thinking that he really didn't blame Mr. Nolen for disliking Tom's voice.

"Yes, it's plain that he's tone-deaf," agreed Tom, thinking that he himself would rather be tone deaf than listen to Tiger.

They snuggled against each other and went to sleep.

[365bedtimestories]

February 26. (Text under the read more)

FEBRUARY 26 Fluffy and the Fairy

THE DREAM FAIRY fitted through the window of the Carter house on a path of milk-white moonlight. She danced along the moonbeam to Fluffy's canary cage, which was covered with a pink cloth.

Fluffy was asleep. His yellow feathers were puffed out and his dark head was tucked under his wing. The Dream Fairy hopped to the rim of the cage, and peeked under the pink cloth. Fluffy opened one eye and saw the Dream Fairy. Then he opened the other eye and cocked his head to look at her with that one, too.

"Hello!" laughed the Dream Fairy in her silvery moonbeam voice. "Aren't you tired of sitting in the dark? I don't think your people are nice to shut you away from the moonlight!"

Fluffy thought about that. He was so ruffled now he looked like a ball of yellow wool.

"It just isn't fair," the Dream Fairy scolded. "Shall I open the door and set you free?"

Free? Free to fly outside the house, far into the world?

Fluffy shook his head. "No," he said firmly. "Timmy would miss me. And Polly. She laughs and claps her hands when I sing."

"That's all very well,' said the Fairy, "but what do you have to laugh and clap about?"

Fluffy said, "Why, they love me! Perhaps out in the world I could find seeds and water, and even a snug nest. But there'd be no Timmy and Polly to love me."

The Dream Fairy smiled. "Wise little Fluffy, to know that love is worth more than freedom! Happy dreams, Fluffy!"

[365bedtimestories]

February 25. (Text under the read more)

FEBRUARY 25 Snow Cream

AMY sat on her back steps, looking at the snow and eating a sandwich. There wasn't as much snow as there'd been yesterday. The snow man she and Doris had made was shrinking thinner and thinner.

"Poor snow man," sighed Amy. Was he hungry? She broke off a piece of sandwich and pressed it into his mouth. It didn't make him look a bit fatter.

Amy didn't like to see the snow going. Maybe she should put some where it wouldn't melt. She got her little tea-set pans and cups and filled them with snow. She buried some underneath the snow man. She buried some in the big drift by the front door. The last two she took in the house and put in the refrigerator.

When Amy's mother came out to the kitchen, she found them there. The snow was already melting into dirty water. Amy's mother laughed. She washed out the little cups and filled them with ice cream she'd made for dinner. Smiling, she went to the door and called, "Amy! What's this you've put in the refrigerator? It looks good enough to eat."

Amy came in. "It's snow, mamma," she said. "I'm saving it." She looked at her cups, and then she looked again. She picked one up, and licked the white filling. Then she began to giggle as she guessed the joke. "Won't either save it!" she chuckled, and she took both little cups back to the porch and ate every bit.