A Grandpa's Notebook Part 9

'From someone in back, 'I'm willing to believe her. I'll say, yes, she can.'

'The Elves chant, 'She can. She can. Oh, yes, oh, yes, she can. The Princess can bake bread and rolls. Oh, joy, oh joy! The lovely Princess can bake bread and rolls. Beautiful bread and rolls. We are saved.'

'They dance. Round and round they go. Holding up colored cloths they form first a line, and then a circle, then many smaller circles, and circles inside of circles. They dance and they dance and they laugh and they sing.

'The ancient Elf leans heavily on his cane. He looks very worn and tired.

'Please,' he says. 'Our baker is very, very old, just as I am, and now he is also very sick. He is too weak to bake any longer or to tell us how to do the baking ourselves. So we have neither bread nor rolls. Please bake some bread and rolls. Then, lovely Princess, teach us how to bake. In that way you will save us from hunger.'

'The ancient Elf points to the big black oven.

'We have a good oven, but we don't know how to prepare it for baking. Show us how to heat the oven for baking. When we are no longer hungry, we will help you. We will have the strength to guide you to the cove, and to help you to get to your gallant ship. Then you will depart across the stormy seas to the King and Queen, who are your father and mother who love you and miss you very much.' *** The Little Old Man stops talking. He pulls his big red checkered handkerchief out of his pocket and wipes away a tear.

'Well, boys and girls and mothers and fathers,' he says, 'you can imagine what happens after that. The Princess shows the Elves how to prepare the oven, and she has them bring flour and water and yeast and salt. She shows them how to mix and knead the dough.

'After the dough has risen, the Princess shows the Elves how to roll it out and shape it into loaves and rolls. Everyone is busy. The Elves place the loaves and rolls on baking trays and pans. They lift the trays and pans over their heads and form a line from where they made the dough to the oven's door.

'The Princess stands beside the oven as the Elves follow her instructions and slide the trays and pans inside. The oven is enormous, and there is room for all the trays and pans.

'We sit in a half-circle in front of the oven, waiting. Soon, the cavern fills with the aroma of baking bread. Everyone, the Princess, all the Elves, and you and I, breathe in the warm soft fragrance that always comes from well-prepared bread and rolls baking in an oven.

'When the Princess thinks enough time has pa.s.sed, she says, 'It is time to take the trays and pans from the oven.'

'The Princess opens the oven door. A gasp and a shout rise from the Elves standing on their toes and stretching to see. Before them are dozens of loaves of bread and hundreds of rolls, all baked to a glorious golden brown. It is a beautiful sight.

'Using long-handled scoops, the Elves draw the bread and rolls from the oven and set them aside to cool. While the bread and rolls are cooling, the Princess tells the Elves again how the dough should be prepared, and how the oven made ready for baking.

'When the Princess is satisfied that her instructions are understood, she says, 'Now, as all good people do, let us eat bread together.'

'We all stand silently, looking at the bread. The ancient Elf rises from where he sits and, leaning on his cane, walks slowly to where the bread is cooling. He places his hand on a loaf and looks at it for a long time, speaking very softly.

'He pinches off a piece of bread from the loaf and from that piece pinches off another. Leaning on his cane, he walks slowly to where the Princess stands, watching him, and gives to her the pinch of bread.

'We were in need,' he says, 'and you helped us. By helping those in need you have shown us that you, too, deserve to be helped.'

'You and I nod in understanding. The meaning behind the words of Omar the Oak and Cyril the Spider are now clear.

'The ancient Elf points to a tunnel opening in the cavern's wall. 'From here the tunnel has many branches, and many have turns that lead deeper and deeper into the enchanted, tangled forest. By yourselves, you would have lost your way. We will guide you through the tunnel to the cove where your ship waits.'

'The Princess and the ancient Elf silently eat the bread they hold in their hands.

'The other Elves crowd around and thank us for showing them how to bake bread and rolls. They wish us well on our journey home.

'We wave good-bye, and with ten stalwart Elves carrying lighted torches to lead the way, we walk along the tunnel. After many turns into branch tunnels and an hour of climbing ladders and stairways we are out again into daylight. We see the cove. A lively offsh.o.r.e breeze is blowing.

'The Elves drag a boat from among nearby reeds. We take seats in the boat and our escorts row us out to our ship. We climb aboard, and wave farewell.

'I turn away and shout to my crew, 'Hoist the sails.'

'The sails rise, catch the offsh.o.r.e breeze and fill out. Our gallant ship turns gently and moves gracefully out of the cove. We are on our way home.' *** The Little Old Man slowly stands. He is stooped, and leans on his cane with both hands. He looks tired and a little sad.

'That is the end of the story,' he says. 'I recall that the voyage across the sea was stormy, but we did reach the other sh.o.r.e safely. The Princess was happy to be back with her mother and father, whom she loved and who loved her and they had indeed missed each other very much.

'For many years afterward the Princess enjoyed baking bread and rolls for her father and mother and for friends who came to visit. In time, she married, and baked for her family. Every day, before dinner, she and her children carried baskets of bread and rolls and other foods from the castle and gave them to her people. The people all loved the Princess as much as she loved them.' *** The Little Old Man slowly straightens and waves his cane at us. We all stand.

'Good-bye, good-bye,' he says. 'The sun is low in the sky. It is time for you to return to your campsites. I will see you all again another time, and we'll all go on another voyage across stormy seas to strange lands and strange people, and even stranger Things. Good-bye, good-bye. I wish you well.'

The Little Old Man turns and, leaning heavily on his cane, goes into his tiny hut and closes the door. The story of the Princess's escape from a land of enchantment has ended. *** We hike back to our campsite. It is late evening when we arrive. We have a quick supper and slip into our sleeping bags.

'This was really a good vacation,' I say to Suzanne. 'Tomorrow morning we'll sail back to our home at Three Palms. I'm glad we're going home, because next week we start school.

Suzanne is sound asleep. *** And so these stories of Suzanne and Roger at Three Palms are finished. We stand and stretch. A gull swoops in from the sea, lands, and pecks about among strands of seaweed that had washed on to the sh.o.r.e. It is late afternoon.

Leaving the beach we head for our homes. At the top of a low rise we stop to look back. There, against the background of blue ocean and darkening sky the fronds of our three palms wave gently in a soft and gentle breeze.

PART FOUR

REACH FOR THE STARS, GRANDPA!.

Grandparents, and older adults generally, are excellent sources for stories and activities that fascinate children. Plotting, writing and then rehashing such stories can be as much fun for grandma and grandpa, as for the grandkids who hear or read them. In years to come, the young grandchildren of today will read to their own grandchildren the stories that their grandparents wrote for them. The process enhances a family's sense of continuity and cohesion, especially in circ.u.mstances where the family is dispersed.

Reviewing how a story came to be may refresh memories of childhood to the generation in the middle as well to the elders and, in time, to the young as they mature. Here is a model with which to experiment. Except for some moderate editing for continuity, the dialogue immediately following is pretty much as it happened.

(Grandma said) 'Mike, answer the phone. I'm busy.'

(Grandpa grumbled) 'It's probably for you.'

'Well, then, take the message.'

(Mumble, mumble) 'h.e.l.lo.'

'Hi, Grandpa!'

'Yo, ho, ho! Looka what I got, and it isn't even my birthday! My too-faraway grandchild! How goes...?'

'I want another story, Grandpa.'

'Huh? What's this 'another' story bit all of a sudden?'

'A s.p.a.ce story, Grandpa, write me a s.p.a.ce story.'

's.p.a.ce? What do I know about s.p.a.ce? Where in s.p.a.ce?'

'Far out.'

'How far? s.p.a.ce is humungous.'

'Tell me about it. I watch TV cartoons too.'

'Well then, as one expert to another, this calls for a telephone story conference.'

The next ten minutes consisted of an in-depth give-and-take during which grandchild enlightened me about our Sun and its family of planets. Together, we counted off and named the planets from Mercury on out, guessed at the number of moons...o...b..ting each, and which of the outer planets had rings 'that look like flattened hula hoops.' It wasn't long before I was frantically leafing through the encyclopedia I hauled out to the dining room table as we talked. After all, to this (then) six- year old, I was 'grandpa', and grandpa, to a six-year old, knows, doesn't he? Finally, I succ.u.mbed to Grandchild's demands.

'OK. I'll write a story, but first I got questions. Holler Mom to the extension phone. Tell her to bring notepaper and a pencil.'

'Hi, Dad, what's happenin'.'

'Don't ask me, ask my grandchild; she gave me the job. But I wasn't born yesterday, ol' gramps is switching this around to a family project, so are you ready, I hope. OK? Write this down and call me back with the answers. I need a boy character and a girl character. Give them names. Next, where do they live? Just 'in s.p.a.ce' ain't enough. Where in s.p.a.ce? On the moon? On Mars along with that double-jointed six- wheeler we sent up a few years ago there to sniff around in potholes and climb over rocks? Where?

'Maybe the characters live on one of the Asteroids? How about one of Jupiter's dozen or so moons? How about putting them on a pebble or a grain of sand that whirls along somewhere in an outer ring of Saturn? Or you folks have a family story conference and make up your own answers. OK?'

An anguished moan 'Oh, no!' from the other end of the line. Grandchild phoned back later.

'The girl's name is Stobey and she is a s.p.a.ce worm, and the boy is s.l.u.tter and he's a slime.'

'Oh, my! Stobey the s.p.a.ce Worm and s.l.u.tter the Slime. That's a fine pair of characters you're giving me to work with. What else did you come up with?'

'Mom says for you to use your own imagination and not to bother her.'

'Hmmm, I'm being abandoned in deep s.p.a.ce. OK, how about Stobey and s.l.u.tter in a story about a s.p.a.ce bagel?'

'C'mon, you're kiddin'; but it's your problem, Gramps! Carry on!'

And that led to the story about': A Bagel? In s.p.a.ce?

Stobey the s.p.a.ce Worm is a girl, and she and her friend s.l.u.tter the Slime, a boy, live on farms next to each other. The farms are on Planet Mars.

One morning, after breakfast, Stobey runs to s.l.u.tter's house and they race each other to their s.p.a.ceships. Stobey's s.p.a.ceship is squishy and is named Cream Cheese; s.l.u.tter's s.p.a.ceship is as slimy as he and has the well-deserved name Lox.

s.p.a.ceship Lox is named after a kind of smoked fish that was taken along by the first expedition of colonists to Planet Mars from Planet Earth. It's a real slippery fish, even after it's smoked.

Stobey climbs aboard Cream Cheese and s.l.u.tter slides into Lox. They take off and head for a landing strip on the slope of a mountain on Phobos, one of Planet Mars' moons.

They land their s.p.a.ceships on Phobos and explore the mountaintop. They come to a wide, deep hole near the center of the peak. Next to the wide, deep hole they see a sign. On the sign is printed 'The name of this mountain is 'Bagel.'

'Just imagine,' Stobey laughs. 'We flew to the moon on Cream Cheese and Lox, and where did we land? On a bagel!'

It begins to rain. The rainwater on Phobos is white. The reason the milk is white is that on the moons of Mars it always rains milk-real milk. There is a legend in the Planet Mars community that the milk-rain on Phobos really comes from the Cow That Jumped Over the Moon.

Stobey and s.l.u.tter take drinking cups from their lunch boxes and hold them up. The cups fill with milk.

'Hm,' says s.l.u.tter. 'Here we are, with Cream Cheese and Lox on Bagel, having cups of milk.'

Stobey and s.l.u.tter look at each other and giggle. The giggles turn to laughs. My, how they laugh. They explore Bagel Mountain for a while, then walk back to their s.p.a.ceships. They say good-bye to each other, climb aboard, and switch on the ship's motors. The motors roar and the ships are ready to take off.

Slimy Lox gets off fine but goopy soft Cream Cheese sticks to the Bagel and is in trouble. Stobey presses real hard on the engine pedal. After a real hard try Cream Cheese smears along the surface, finally gets unstuck and squirts into s.p.a.ce.

'Why was it so hard for Cream Cheese to get off the Bagel?' Stobey wonders.

She doesn't know, of course, that bagels all across our solar system have always had a mysterious and powerful attraction for cream cheese. For instance, on Planet Earth the single most important question throughout history has been, 'Of what possible use can a bagel be, without cream cheese?'

The two s.p.a.ceships head for home.

(The same story can be written using hamburger and catsup on a bun with soda pop or any popular, traditional or restaurant combination. Try it with your grandchild's favorite snack.) That started a series, the first of which was: Stobey and s.l.u.tter Fly to Super-Rock Playground Stobey's and s.l.u.tter's families have moved to the Outer Region of the Solar System and built homes on Jupiter's moon Callisto. Earthlings were overrunning Mars.

One morning Stobey calls s.l.u.tter on her s.p.a.ce visi-phone.

's.l.u.tter,' says Stobey, 'let's get together.'

'Right,' s.l.u.tter answers. 'Where's a good place to meet?'

'If we leave now in our new s.p.a.ceships, Coconut and Banana,' says Stobey, 'we'll reach the s.p.a.ce lanes' junction near the gate to Super-Rock Playground on Moon Ganymede. Will you meet me there?'

'Yes,' s.l.u.tter says. 'I'll leave now in Banana and meet you where the s.p.a.ce lanes join. I'll be there in an hour, Stobey. See you.'

They switch off, dash for their s.p.a.ceships and launch. Coconut and Banana are fast, but the distance each must fly is so great that it will take at least an hour to reach the junction.

Super-Rock is the children's playground in the outer region of our solar system, which includes all the planets and s.p.a.ce colonies beyond the Asteroids. The playground has roller coasters, a merry-go-round, tunnels to explore, music bands, and many rides for children. It's really cool. Since it's such a special and favorite park, Super-Rock gets lots of visitors.

As Stobey and s.l.u.tter approach Super-Rock Playground, the s.p.a.ce lanes leading into it become crowded with other s.p.a.ceships and s.p.a.ce buggies. There are big bus line s.p.a.ceships, each loaded with hundreds of pa.s.sengers, private s.p.a.ceships with families, and lots of single-seat s.p.a.ce buggies like Coconut and Banana. There are also hot rod s.p.a.ce buggies that switch at high speed from one lane to another, driven by boys and girls who sport fancy haircuts, twisty earrings, and leather jackets.

Stobey and s.l.u.tter handle their single-seaters carefully to keep from having an accident. The junction to which they are headed is complicated. Hundreds of s.p.a.cers are in coming in from the right and underneath to join up with hundreds of others from the left and overhead. Everyone is careful. That is, almost everyone. Stobey switches on her s.p.a.ce radio.

'Stobey calling s.l.u.tter,' she says into her microphone. 'Come in, s.l.u.tter.'

s.l.u.tter is waiting for the call.

's.l.u.tter here,' he replies. 'Where are you, Stobey?'

'I'm in the holding pattern at the junction,' Stobey says, 'and I'm flashing my green and yellow lights. Can you spot me?'

'Not yet. I've got my greens and yellows on, too,' s.l.u.tter answers. 'Let's watch for each other.'

A moment later, Stobey says, 'I see you in my finder; you're still some distance behind me. I'll cut out and line up ahead of you. When you catch up we'll head for the parking block. Let's park next to each other. OK?'

'That's fine. Let's do that.'

Without warning, Stobey feels a slam on the rear of her s.p.a.ce-buggy. She looks in her rear-view mirror. It's a hot rodder and he's b.u.mping the nose of his buggy against the back of hers.

's.l.u.tter,' Stobey shouts. 'I'm having a problem with a hot rodder. He's b.u.mping my tail. If he doesn't stop he'll damage my buggy.'

'I'm speeding up and closing,' s.l.u.tter replies. 'I'll check him out.'