Outward Bound

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An entry for a children's short story contest. Enjoy!

On a warm Spring day, a cool wind was blowing, and it was about the beginning of May

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On a warm Spring day, a cool wind was blowing, and it was about the beginning of May. Benny walked outside of their large house and saw his Mother from behind the big brown fence underneath a big oak tree, humming a' going.

"Mother," asked Benny as his Mother stood up in the garden, hoping not to bother. "How are things made?"

"I cannot answer that," she said. "Or how the night fades."

"Why?" asked the small, furry dog. "Why can't you tell me how things are made?" Mother Dog smiled and knelt down, touching his wet, cold nose.

"Because nobody knows, not even the dancing grass blade."

"What if I went out to see?" Benny asked, filled with excitement. "Would I then, even our great oak tree?"

Mother, with a light in her eye, grabbed his cheek and said this:

"Perhaps, but even then, you may only find out about a few―not even how the wind may sigh."

So it was that Benny went out to find out how things were made. He ran over hill and under hill and through the caves until the sun began to fade.

Behind the trees, it now roamed, shining its rays on whatever it wished to have shown. He thought of home, and gently it began to come into his mind, but on he went, determined to step out and roam.

He came upon a stream, glittering white with the last drops of sunlight.

He wondered and thought, "This must be how jewels are made," as he looked down at the moving, sparkling spots as if a great treasure lay beneath in great pots.

So it was that he found out how jewels were made. And on he went, as the daylight began to ever more fade.

He drew upon rocks, great boulders, where atop sat a large, red fox. He looked into its eyes and wondered and thought, "This must be how stars are made," as the afternoon light settled within the amber, reflecting from the water and into the fox's pupils.

So it was that he found out how stars were made, in the eyes of animals, so it had portrayed. The fox watched him as he went, curiosity making his eyes shimmer, and across the rock, his tail bent.

Benny sneaked across a grassy yard, where a tall tree stood near a cornfield in a barnyard. He looked up high at it and wondered and thought, "This must be how hellos are made," as he studied its long arms of branches, stretched far in welcome and making in the wind swaying dances.

And so it was that he found out how hellos were made, by the outstretched arms of great trees that were all around him. And soon the sun was farther down the sky, and daylight became more of a shade.

But he wasn't too afraid. He felt the grass tickle his fur and his nose, and heard the whistle of wind in his perked up ears and froze. He heard it rustle and gently hiss through the tall reeds of grass, slow and then growing fast.

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