Once Upon A Playhouse
2010 Playhouses!

This was getting nowhere fast!!! For days and days Mike and his trusty hunting companion Candy, had been trudging through the forest looking desperately for something to hunt, or at least to test their marksmanship on. But there was nothing . . . and to top it off, it was raining!

Candy thought maybe all the wild animals were scared away from them because they were wearing bright orange hats, vests, pants, boots, gloves and socks. All that bright orange made her eyes water, and it was kind of itchy too!

But Mike said, “Well Candy, all hunters wear bright orange and besides, the animals should be used to it by now. If it will make you feel better, we’ll think of a different way to hunt.”

Candy thought hunting from a camouflaged blind would help and not scare the animals away.

Suddenly Mike had an idea! What if they made their hunting cabin a camouflaged cabin. That way they could hunt from inside the cabin by watching through the windows. Since the cabin was camouflaged on the outside, the animals wouldn’t be frightened away because they wouldn’t be able to see it! Plus, Mike and Candy could wear whatever they wanted to inside the cabin!

Candy was very happy and could hardly wait to get out of that itchy orange outfit and start scratching!

Madison and Zachary had always talked bout having a place in the world all to themselves, a place where they could think about life, solve all the worlds’ problems and concentrate on how to realize all their wishes and dreams.

One day they heard their Dad, Mike, talking with someone important about a vacant lot just a short distance down the street. It would make a good parking lot, but it needed to be cleaned up first, especially the fenced-in area adjacent to it.

Madison and Zachary knew where the lot was so the next day they rode their bicycles over to it. Dad was right, the lot was a mess and the fenced-in area had vines growing that almost covered the fence completely. They found a place where the fence was broken and went inside. The fence was higher than they were and the whole area was full of garbage and old sticks and branches and lots of dying plants.

Madison and Zachary thought, “If Dad helps clean up the vacant lot, why can’t we clean up all this stuff inside the fence and make it pretty – then, just maybe, this could be their “place in the world.”

So they explained their plan to their Dad. Much to their surprise and delight, Dad thought it was a great idea! He even suggested leaving the vines to grow on the fence – of course, they would have to dig out all of the dead vines and take really good care of the live ones so they would grow bigger and thicker. He said they should let him know when the space was all cleaned up because then he had another idea which he would surprise them with.

So Madison and Zachary threw all the dead vines and plants away. They watered and fertilized all those that were still alive and cleaned up the whole space.

Dad was very pleased to see it looking so well and the plants looking so vibrant and healthy, and he told them his idea.

He said he would like to build them their own little house, and since the fenced-in area now looked almost like a garden, they could call it a garden cottage, and this could be their “place in the world”. The cottage would have doors and windows and a railing on the front porch and a very nice chimney on the roof. They could plant sunflowers on each side of the cottage and maybe even get their own cat!

How exciting! Madison and Zachary couldn’t believe their ears!

So Dad built the cottage and they got their cat and felt very comfortable in their new home away from home. They decided their new garden, which was now growing and growing with beautiful plants and vines, needed a name. They called it the “Garden of Wishes and Dreams.”

Once upon a time there were ten short young boys and they were all named Tom. They lived in a mountain forest in a little house which they had built themselves. One day during a rainstorm a tree branch broke, fell on their roof and ruined it. “What to do without a roof in this rain?” they thought. Suddenly, a deep, booming voice said to them, “I can fix your roof in a jiffy and make your house all warm in a spiffy.” And in a wink and a whistle, the roof was fixed!

As it turned out, the voice came from a tremendous giant who was so tall all the boys standing on each others shoulders wouldn’t ever reach his chin! He had covered their house with his thick canvas coat! Indeed the house was warm and spiffy and the boys were very, very grateful.

One of the Toms told the other Toms that the giant was called a Fingal who lived in a cave high up on the mountainside. One of the Tom’s forest friends, a raven, had told him that another storm sometime ago had flooded the Fingal’s cave and washed away all the Fingal’s belongings and his favorite carpentry tools as well. Ever since, the Fingal has been wondering in the forest and up and down the mountain looking for another cave to live in.

Being carpenters themselves, the ten short boys thought, almost at the same moment. “Let’s build the Fingal a cottage right here in the forest!” It would be a lot of work, especially in making the cottage high enough for the Fingal and a door big enough for him to fit through.

So after the rainstorm the ten short boys set to work, and in a very short time, the cottage was completed – almost in a wink and a whistle!

The giant Fingal was so happy with his new home he gave all the short boys a ride on his shoulders, all the way up and down the mountain.

The Fingal and the ten short boys named Tom were very happy with their new friendship! They all giggled a lot too!

Holy Cow!!! Bells and sirens were going off everywhere! Ethan knew the sounds were coming from the firehouse. So he grabbed his dad and they ran as quickly as they could to the firehouse. “Woo-woo”, Ethan hollered as they ran. He wanted to sound just like the sirens.

When they got there, they looked for Ethan’s friend, Fireman Timmy, and he told them the bells and sires rang because someone or something needed to be rescued. Fireman Timmy said Kitty was in trouble and trapped up in a tree!

So Ethan and Dad helped Fireman Timmy grab a ladder and they all ran to the tree where Kitty was trapped.

“Meow, meow”, howled Kitty when she saw them coming. Fireman Timmy put the ladder against the tree, climbed up and rescued kitty! Hooray! Hooray! For Fireman Timmy!

Ethan and Kitty gave each other a very large hug.

On their way back, Fireman Timmy invited Ethan and Dad and Kitty to tour the firehouse because it was brand new! It had a wide drive in door, bead board wainscoting and a loft. Ethan thought the firemen would get to sleep there.

The firehouse also had lots of kid’s fireman costumes and hats!

“Oh Boy,” thought Ethan, “What an exciting day!”