Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Hurrah Caan

Hurrah Caan


Summer was beautiful, so many flowers. There were berries on the bushes. There were seeds in the grasses. Life was easy and Jacob was getting fat.
Jacob would get up when the sun peeked into his home behind the stove. Then he would go outside to find something to eat.
It was a hot day. Jacob could see huge black clouds above the trees.  
Kerry flew into the garden and landed on the big tree. This tree has a hole i it. Kerry looked into the hole, and he looked at Jacob. “Will you be hiding in this hole?” he asked.
Why would I hide in that hole, Jacob asked.
See the storm coming, Kerry said pointing to the big black clouds with his wing.
The cats are hiding under the house. The people are wrapping their houses in shutters. The birds are flying away from the storm or finding places to hide.
Jacob sniffed the air. He smelled something different. He smelled salt in the air. He smelled water in the air. He heard different sounds. The animals were quietly scurrying around, finding food and safe places to hide. The humans were banging on their homes and calling loudly to each other. Their voices were different. Something was different.
Jacob looked to Kerry. “What are you going to do?” he said.
Kerry said that he has a spot in the pigeon coop at the port. He came to check on what Jacob would do. He was looking for some seeds too.
Jacob said that he could stay in his little home behind the stove.
Kerry said that there would be a lot of wind and rain, and the water may come right into the house and fill his little home.
Jacob had never heard of such a thing.
Jacob looked up the tree. The hole was in the thickest branches. He decided to climb the tree and see what it was like.
When he got up to the hole, he noticed that there was a small opening that went a few centimeters into the tree, then a bigger space opened out.
It looked like something had lived there before because there was a small nest in the bottom of the hole.
Jacob stuck his head out of the hole. “Kerry, there is a nest in this hole.”
Kerry replied, “That is where I hatched. I lived there with my family until I had to fly away to live on my own. When my parents moved into the coop at the port near me, I thought that this hole would be a safe hiding place for you in the storms.
Jacob turned and went back into the hole. He stuck his head out again. He had a big smile on his face. Jacob sang a little song:
Here I am in a tree,
Oh, how safe I will be.
I’m so happy you thought of me.
We are friends, I can see.


Jacob thought of his friend Petey. He wondered what Petey was doing to get ready for the storm.
He ran down the tree, and over to Petey’s tree. He could hear Petey runny through the branches, jumping from one to the next. It was like he was flying in the trees.
Jacob sat on the ground and squeaked until Petey saw him. Petey jumped from branch to branch until he landed on the ground beside Jacob.
“What’s up Jacob?”
“Do you know that there is a storm coming?”
“Sure, that’s why I am gathering nuts. I will have lots of nuts. We can share them. ‘
‘I will be in the other tree. There is an old pigeon nest that Kerry was hatched in. I will stay there.”
“I can help you move food there if you would like," said Petey.
“So can I,” said Kerry.
Together the three friends collected berries and seeds. Jacob went to his home behind the stove and found some soft rags. He hauled them out to the yard, and Kerry flew them up into the tree.
Petey gnawed off a thick branch from the fir tree that covered the doorway perfectly.
This looked  like a wonderful place to stay high and dry. He would be safe from the storm.
It had been a very busy day. Kerry flew back to his coop. Petey crawled away into his den. Jacob climbed into his new tree house. It was time to rest.


Jacob dreamed that a big Osprey was flying overhead. He was afraid of the Osprey. She was carrying wet seaweed in her talons. Water was dripping from the seaweed.
Jacob said, “ Who are you?”
The Osprey said, ”I am Hurrah Caan.” She turned and flew towards the harbor.
Jacob woke up and went to the entrance this hole. He heard the roaring wind.
“Hooooo-raaaah-caaaan.”
He stuck his nose between the branches covering the sky, protecting him inside.
Immediately he was soaking wet. His fur was wet, his ears were full of water, his whiskers dripped water like a leaky faucet.
Jacob looked up into the sky. The sky was black. Branches had fallen to the ground. He could not see Petey’s tree. He could see no stars, he could see clouds swirling overhead. He could see bolts of lightning shooting across the sky.
He tried to climb onto the branch outside of the hole. The wind was so strong that it blew him right back into the hole.
He crawled safely back into the hole. He thought about his friends and family.
He started to sing a song.
Oh, I am sitting here all alone,
Safely hiding in this tree.
I would  prefer to be at home,
With friends surrounding me.


He closed his eyes. He listened to the wind. He listened to the breath of the earth, he listened to his own breath. He heard the music of the storm. He heard the music in himself. He felt safe.
Jacob suddenly was falling. He was falling out of another dream. In this dream, he was floating on the ocean.


He heard nothing. There was no roaring wind, there was no rolling thunder. everything was quite. He stuck his nose out of the hole. There were broken branches everywhere. It was a good thing that he was small, he could fit between the branches.
He climbed down the tree, and ran over to Petey’s tree. He could see Petey climbing out of his den. Petey was safe too, ‘
Together they walked around Maggie’s garden. Many bushes were uprooted. Many flowers had blown away. They looked up into the sky. There was a circle of beautiful stars overhead. There were dark black clouds circling around.
“The stars look like they are an eye in the center of those black clouds.“
“I dreamed that the wind is called Hurrah Caan.“
“Look you can see the moon inside that eye.“


The wind started to blow again. The trees were bending over again, the leaves were flying again. Petey scurried to his den. Jacob raced to his tree house. he pulled the branches over the door, and hunkered down to wait out the storm.
He had seen what Hurrah Caan could do. He knew that he and Petey were safe. He fell asleep again. He was flying. He wasn’t on Kerry’s back. Hurrah Caan was carrying Jacob in her talons. She was looking for her nest. She flew to the beach. There were many fish lying on the shore. Hurrah Caan dropped Jacob and picked up a big fish. Then she flew away to her nest.
Jacob woke up. He was wet. The nest was wet. The wind had blown the branches from the door, and the wind had driven the rain into the tree house. Jacob climbed out.
The sky was blue. the birds were singing. they were flying from here to there. Petey was perched on the branch outside his hole, eating some nuts.
Jacob looked around and thought that everything was just like normal. Then he looked into Maggie’s Garden. It looked like a monster had been throwing plants everywhere.
Daddy and Maggie were standing beside the garden talking. Daddy picked up some of the Maggigolds and cradling them gently placed them back into the dirt, patting them to make sure that they would be Ok
Jacob went to his home behind the stove. There was mud blocking the hole in the wall. Jacob moved the dirt away and waded into his home behind the stove It was wet there too. He went out into the kitchen. Daddy, Mommy, and Maggie were having some hot chocolate and speaking quietly.
“We were really lucky in this storm. It blew over quickly and there wasn’t any major damage. We had a little flooding, and the garden is messed up.
Let's get together and clean up the yard and fix the garden.
And that is what they did.
Jacob went out to the Garden. He looked up when he heard Kerry coo. “Kerry. you are safe. I am so happy.” said Jacob.
“I am happy that you and Petey are safe too. “
“Wasn't that an exciting storm?”
“It sure, now lets get together and help clean up Petey's den, the tree house and your home behind the stove. “
And that is what they did.


1 comment:

  1. Great storytelling, Barbara! Thank you, such great pictures with it too. I like your style and in a peculiar way I've got a feeling that we've shared a membership at Project Avalon once upon a time, around 2010. I could be wrong. My path has gone a bit similar, in that people began to tell me that I could be writer and that I should write more. That's how I began to be a writer too. Mainly articles and journals in my site www.orandasite.wordpress.com but also by making small steps in preparation for my first book, called "The seeds of Eve's apple". Anyway, I feel inspired by what you do and share an interest in stories for children. I read them on Sound Cloud! Good luck with what you do!

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