Story Hour
GORDIE AND THE PILGRIMS
Written by Gene B. Williams
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Hundreds of years ago, there were no cars or planes and trains (or even bicycles). Most people walked from one place to another – or just stayed where they were. To carry heavy things on land, they used animals. Even a strong horse can’t carry much, and it has to be fed. Boats were used whenever possible. So, some brave people got on these boats and went out into the ocean. Most of them disappeared. Some found America. Books often talk about them as being Pilgrims. What the books don’t usually talk about is that sometimes the Pilgrims had a little help – and this help didn’t wear feathers! Please remember that when you read this story, Grandpa Gordie has a very deep and grumbly voice.
GORDIE AND THE PILGRIMS
Written by Gene B. Williams
Nicker was very happy – but also very nervous. Grandpa Gordie would be coming for Thanksgiving. Danny wasn’t quite so sure if he should be happy to meet Grandpa Gordie again, or to be downright scared. Grandpa Gordie was … well, he was quite large and very grumbly. Even Simon seemed to be cautious around Grandpa Gordie, and Simon … well, as you know, Simon would bite holes into the sides of mountains when he was on patrol to chase bad creatures. As much as Danny loved Thanksgiving, and Nicker, he wasn’t so sure about spending it around a sea dragon the size of a building, with teeth the size of cars.
Danny remembered the last time Grandpa Gordie had come for a visit. Nicker hid behind Danny. They learned something that day.
It was true that Simon could bite holes in mountains. It was true that Gordie had taught Simon. It was true that no bad creature stood a chance against Simon – and it was true that even the baddest bad creature was just a gnat to Gordie. All true. But also true was that this huge, ferocious creature called Gordie – Nicker’s grandfather – liked to tell stories of when Simon was just a boy and did silly things. Simon would get embarrassed and turn red … well, as red as a sea dragon can. Then Gordie would laugh, and Nicker would laugh, and Danny would laugh.
You see, he wasn’t ferocious at all! (At least he wasn’t unless you are a bad creature.) In fact, he was great fun and full of stories.
Gordie was coming for Thanksgiving. Danny wondered what sea dragons could know about Thanksgiving. He tried to show how smart he was by telling Nicker about how the Pilgrims came to America and met the Indians and tried to survive and .… Well, he got a few things mixed up. Gordie and Simon stood near – as best as sea dragons can stand – and listened with big smiles. Nicker also smiled.
Finally, Danny asked why they were smiling.
Nicker said, “Grandpa knows all about this. He was there. If it weren’t for Grandpa, you might not even have a Thanksgiving.”
The next few minutes were confusing. Danny had never really thought about it. Nicker started school the same time Danny did. He even had the same birthday. He figured that Nicker was his same age. Of course Simon was older. Of course Gordie was older than that.
But … Danny knew that the Pilgrims came to America hundreds of years ago!
Danny got brave and asked, “How old ARE you?”
Gordie smiled again and said, “Nevermind.” That meant to not ask. “I was just a young boy then, not much older than Nicker is now. Back then when maps were made of the oceans, they drew silly pictures of us. You see, people didn’t know much. They thought they did, but they didn’t. They built boats made of leaky wood and sailed off where they couldn’t see anything but water. They got lost.”
He sighed.
“Of course, they blamed us. They didn’t even do the drawings very well.” He raised himself up, then up more, and up again. “Do I look anything like a turtle?”
Danny whispered to Nicker, “Not much like a tortoise, either.”
Nicker answered with a quiet laugh, “Even though they have the same name.”
“AHEM,” Gordie said in a voice that rattled the walls. The two boys became very quiet. “As I was saying ….” He paused a moment. His voice became gentle again. “My father was teaching me about the oceans when humans began to leave the land in those boats. They didn’t know much back then. There were bad creatures. My father, his father, and his father made sure they didn’t get TOO bad. Now and then they would eat a ship. Usually those first humans simply got lost.
“They weren’t bad creatures, so when we could we would help them. On a few old maps you will see sea dragons who are actually smiling. Maybe that smiling scared a few who drew the maps.”
Danny could imagine what those people imagined. He remembered the first time he saw Simon smile. He also remembered the first time he saw Grandpa Gordie smile. Whew! Looking up at teeth that could bite holes in mountains, and a grumbly voice that made your chest shake … well, it wasn’t hard for Danny to imagine what the Pilgrims imagined what they imagined. Imagine that!
“My father was teaching me, as I said. He knew all the oceans, and knew all the lands. Sometimes he would help steer these humans to one land, sometimes to another. Others in the Sea Patrol did the same. One boat, we helped steer toward the land you call America. They were going the wrong way and would have ended up on a place that would have ruined that boat. So, we bumped it with our heads on their boat, my father and me, to get them to a better place.”
Nicker leaned closer to Danny and said, “See? I told you my Grandpa knew about the Pilgrims.”
“You were really there?” Danny asked.
“Of course,” said Grandpa Gordie. “How do you think the Pilgrims got to the shore safely. Why, I even had my own boy … just as Nicker has a boy. You.”
Danny had never thought about it quite that way.
Grandpa Gordie continued, “He was my friend, as you are Nicker’s friend. His name was Samuel. He and I had so much fun together. Sometimes his friend Little Bear would come and all three of us would go places. They learned from each other, I learned from them, and they learned from me. They were a bit afraid of my father and grandfather, though.”
Danny wanted to say, “Like me,” but he didn’t.
Just then Simon, Nicker’s father, came in. He listened for a while and said, “Did you tell them about how you brought the Pilgrims to shore?”
“Of course I did,” said Grandpa Gordie.
“Did you tell them the whole story?”
Gordie grumbled a bit and said, “I told them the important parts.”
Simon grinned. “So … you told them how what really happened is that you got excited seeing these humans and bumped your nose into the side of their ship so hard that it almost sank? And you told them about the little human boy, Samuel, who fell overboard and had to be rescued? And did you tell them ….”
Grandpa Gordie almost growled, “That’s about enough, Simon!”
But Simon remembered when Gordie would tell embarrassing stories about when Simon was young. He was having a great time embarrassing Gordie. He told the two boys about how Grandpa Gordie got caught in a snare. About the time he got a pumpkin stuck on his nose. Then there was when Gordie tangled with a skunk. (There aren’t many skunks in the ocean and Gordie had never seen one. He didn’t know that they spray stinky stuff.)
With each story, the boys laughed more, and Gordie grumbled more.
Soon, though, the two boys crawled into Gordie’s lap – or what sea dragons have for a lap – and gave him a big hug. “This is going to be the best Thanksgiving ever!” they said.
My Pets Contest
This is Stella. Stella is the dog who owns our good friends Kyle and Beth. (Stella says that they behave – most of the time.) With winter coming on, Stella was feeling a bit chilly so she told Kyle, “Fetch” and being a good human, he got her a blanket. “Good human!” she said.
Lassie Sarreal lives in the Philippines with Rose Camama. As you can see, she is still very young. Lassie has a nice garden for play. She has two sisters – Ara Sarreal and Polka Sarreal. Rose wanted to give them a last name, and Sarreal is her own (human) father’s last name. So now there is a whole flock of dogs (if three is a flock) named after Rose’s (human) father.
(Photos courtesy of Deborah and Steph Bolton)
Bella Big Ears is from Darwen, England where she lives with, and is loved by, Steph. One of her favorite things in the world is a blue blanket with paw prints on it. What a great place to get warm and snuggly. Whether in America like Stella, or in England like Bella, a cozy blanket – and a cozy owner – is often a pet’s favorite place to be. For Bella, though, she also loves to press her nose against the window to watch people who walk by. Then Mom (Deborah) has to clean the window from the “dog snot.” Bella loves carrots and strawberries, and watching animal shows on TV.
Rusty McFluffer McDuff (also called RustySpoiledCatSupreme, said fast all in one breath) comes from Michigan where she owns a very special person – Nicker’s artist, Marci. “Rusty just showed up one morning, a real mess and in need of a brushing. Obviously she had been traveling some distance. She was also starving. I fed her and brushed her but did nothing more to encourage her to stay. Over the next week, I asked around but no one was missing a cat. I even ran an ad in the local paper. Rusty decided to move in. She has been here since.”
Pure Comfort is one of Marci’s favorites – one of mine, too. As you know, Marci is a nature artist. She doesn’t draw JUST sea dragons. If you’d like her to draw or paint your pet, have your parents contact Marci
What kinds of pets do you have (or that have you)? At my house there are four dogs, a cat, a giant tortoise and a whole family of sea dragons. We’d sure love to see YOUR pets! Send your photos or drawings to Nicker.
My Pets
Nicker Stories
18521 E. Queen Creek Rd.
Suite 105, #603
Queen Creek, AZ 85142
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