Tall person has written another short story for children (and taller people). I hope you enjoy it!
Bassa the Dog meets the Rainbow King
Once upon a time in a beautiful country called Sakartvelo (the Republic of Georgia) there lived a Caucasian Shepherd dog called Bassa.
Bassa lived on a mountain overlooking the capital, Tbilisi, with a little person called Gigi, a tall person called the tall person and the little person’s mommy who was called De.
Bassa loved to play with Gigi and his best friends – a large iguana called Biggy, a rabbit called Rabbit, a teddy bear called Mike Bear and a parrot called Mr. ‘Crazy’ Parrot.
Bassa, Gigi, Biggy, Rabbit, Mr. ‘Crazy’ Parrot and Mike Bear were very happy because they had lots of adventures and lots of fun. This is the story of one of their adventures.
One morning, Bassa, Gigi, Biggy, Mike Bear and Mr. ‘Crazy’ Parrot were in their bedroom waiting for the rain to stop so they could go outside and play.
They sat by the window and watched the clouds hoping that they would be blown away. They waited and waited and waited and waited and waited.
After a while, Gigi began to get bored and suggested that they play computer games.
‘You play’ said Bassa, ‘I will keep looking out of the window. I think the rain will stop soon and we can go out to play’.
Gigi agreed that Bassa should keep watch whilst he played his favorite racing car computer game.
Bassa pressed her nose against the window and watched the rain drops slide down the glass like little rivers. She began to wonder if the rain would ever stop but after a while the clouds cleared and the sun came out.
Bassa smiled and turned to her friends. ‘The rain is stopping’ she said excitedly, ‘We can go out and play’.
Mike Bear, Gigi, Biggy, Rabbit and Mr. ‘Crazy’ Parrot rushed to the window to see for themselves.
Mr. ‘Crazy’ Parrot got there first because he can fly.
Bassa was right. The rain was stopping and as they were looking a beautiful rainbow appeared in the sky.
‘What are those colors in the sky?’ asked Rabbit.
‘That is a rainbow’ Gigi answered, ‘if we were to find the place where it touches the earth we would find treasure’.
Rabbit became very excited. ‘What type of treasure?’
‘Gold’ replied Gigi.
‘Oh’ said Rabbit, ‘I was hoping that the treasure would be carrots.’
They all laughed.
Gigi jumped up and down excitedly, ‘If we found gold we could buy mommy and the tall person lovely gifts…..and some for us!’
They all agreed that it would be exciting to find treasure and buy gifts for mommy and the tall person and also gifts for themselves.
Gigi had already put his coat on, ‘Come on, let’s find the place where the rainbow touches the earth’, he said impatiently.
Biggy jumped on to Bassa’s back and held on tight and they all followed Gigi outside.
The rainbow was still in the sky but it looked very far away. They tried to see where it touched the earth but houses blocked their view.
‘We have to hurry’, said Bassa, ‘Rainbows disappear after a while and we will never find the treasure’.
Gigi took hold of Mike Bear’s paw and they began to run very fast. Biggy held on very tight to Bassa’s fur and Rabbit hopped as fast as he could. Mr. ‘Crazy’ Parrot flew in front of them, leading the way.
After a while they had passed all the houses and could clearly see where the rainbow touched the earth but it seemed a long way away.
Gigi sighed, ‘How we will reach it before it disappears?’
Mr. ‘Crazy’ Parrot thought for a moment and then smiled.
‘I know,’ he said, ‘I could ask one of my friends to help but it might be dangerous.’
Bassa frowned, ‘What do you mean?’
‘Have you ever flown in the air before?’ asked Mr. ‘Crazy’ Parrot.
They all shook their heads.
‘There is no plane’, said Gigi, ‘How can we fly in the air?’
Mr. ‘Crazy’ Parrot smiled and took a deep breath and let out an ear piercing whistle.
His friends put their hands (and paws) over their ears.
After a few moments Mr. ‘Crazy’ Parrot stopped whistling and looked up at the sky.
His friends looked up too and were amazed to see a giant bird flying towards them!
The bird flew down from the sky and landed next to Mr. ‘Crazy’ Parrot.
It was a giant eagle that was as big as a man!
Mr. ‘Crazy’ Parrot greeted the eagle and introduced his friends.
‘I am very happy to meet you,’ said the eagle, ‘My name is Eric and I am a friend of Mr. ‘Crazy’ Parrot. Tell me where you need to go and I will fly you there’.
Gigi quickly told Eric about the rainbow.
‘Climb on my back’ said Eric.
Gigi, Mike Bear, Rabbit and Biggy climbed on to Eric’s back and held tight to his feathers.
‘You are too heavy to carry on my back Bassa so I will hold you in my talons’ said Eric
When everyone was ready Eric flapped his huge wings and rose into the air carrying Bassa beneath him and climbed higher and higher. Mr. ‘Crazy’ Parrot flew alongside them.
Bassa could feel the wind in her face. She looked down and saw that Tbilisi was far below. The cars looked so small and the people looked as tiny as ants.
Gigi held on tight to Eric’s feathers. He was very excited but Rabbit looked very scared. His eyes were tightly shut!
Eric flapped his wings and they moved quickly through the sky towards the rainbow.
‘Hold on’ shouted Eric as he flew into the dazzling colors of the rainbow. Gigi shouted with delight as his face and his clothes were covered in brilliant colors.
Eric flew downwards, along the rainbow arc as he followed it down to the earth.
It was not long before they reached the end and Eric gently placed Bassa on the ground, releasing her from his giant talons, and then touched down to allow Gigi and Rabbit and Biggy and Mike Bear to climb down from his back.
‘Thank you’ said Gigi, a little overwhelmed by the amazing experience.
Eric smiled and bowed and said goodbye and they all waved as he flew back into the sky.
Poor Rabbit was shaking. ‘Would you mind if we walked home?’ he asked, ‘I don’t like flying’.
Gigi patted his friend’s shoulder, ‘Don’t worry, we will find the gold and then walk home’.
Rabbit looked very relieved.
‘Quick’ called Bassa to her friends, ‘Look over there’.
They all looked to where Bassa was pointing and saw a man digging where the rainbow touched the earth. The man was wearing a coat of rainbow colors and he wore a gold crown on his head.
They all walked over to the man and introduced themselves.
The man nodded in greeting but carried on digging.
‘I am sorry’ he said, ‘but I must finish digging this hole and bury the treasure before the rainbow disappears’.
They watched patiently and after a little while the man stopped digging and picked up a pot that was filled to the top with gold coins.
‘I am the Rainbow King’ said the man, ‘Whenever a rainbow touches the earth I bury a pot of gold’.
‘Why do you do that?’ asked Gigi.
The Rainbow King smiled. ‘It is a gift for the fairy people. They give me magic colors for my rainbows. Without their magic my rainbows would be black and white and people would be sad when they looked at the sky’.
‘Do you need any help?’ asked Bassa, ‘I am very good at digging holes.’
‘Yes please’, said the Rainbow King, ‘The rainbow will disappear soon and I must bury the treasure’.
Bassa jumped into the hole and dug as fast as she could.
In no time at all the hole was finished and she climbed out.
‘Thank you’, said the Rainbow King, ‘because you have helped me I will give you and your friends a gift’.
The Rainbow King picked two gold coins from the pot and gave them to Bassa.
‘Thank you very much’ said Bassa, ‘we will use these coins to buy gifts for Mommy and the tall person.’
‘And for us’ added Gigi, excitedly.
The Rainbow King smiled and put the pot of gold into the hole.
Bassa quickly filled the hole with earth until the pot was completely covered.
She had just finished filling the hole when the rainbow started to disappear. As the rainbow faded so did the Rainbow King.
‘Goodbye’, he said, ‘thank you for helping me’.
In a few moments, the Rainbow King and the rainbow disappeared!
Bassa looked at the gold coins in her paw and smiled at her friends.
‘That was a great adventure’, she said, ‘let’s walk back to Tbilisi and go to the shops and buy lovely gifts for mommy and the tall person’.
‘And for us’ added Gigi excitedly.
They all agreed that it had been an excellent adventure and Rabbit breathed a sigh of relief and said to his friends that he was very happy that they would be walking back and not flying.
His friends could not stop themselves laughing and he laughed too.
They did buy lovely gifts for Gigi’s mommy and the tall person and they all received hugs.
Oh, I almost forgot. They also bought lovely gifts for themselves!
The End
Copyright © 2011 Michael Day
Note: Temporary illustrations
P.S. If you want to read or re-read the ‘Bassa saves Christmas’ story you can find it here:
https://bassasblog.wordpress.com/2011/09/29/bassa-saves-christmas/
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