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Saturday, May 23, 2009

The Dump Chronicles Day Eight

The Creature dropped his hands and turned around in disgust. He saw that the skinny red man behind the voice was about the same height as himself, very red and had four arms. The two lower arms dangled past his knees. The skinny red man had snow speckles on his face, which made him look funny to the creature.

“Wipe that wish off your face,” the creature said to the skinny red man.

“What are you talking about?” the skinny, red man snapped.

“Wish, wish- that wish on your face and in your hair” Cappy said.


“Wish”, the skinny red man barked back at him,” you mean this?” He wiped the snow from his face and began to laugh.

“Yes” said the Creature.

“You sure are bossy-- especially for someone who’s a stranger, said the skinny red man.”

Friday, May 15, 2009

The Dump Chronicles Day Seven

Everywhere he looked the creature saw mounds and peaks and small hills of snow sculptures that glistened in front of his eyes as the sun slowly rose. “It must have wished during the night”, he thought, referring to the snow. He heard noises, smelled something strong and felt all sorts of things against his person. Birds were flying above him, squawking loudly.

“What kind of a dump is this, anyway?” he questioned, annoyed. He sensed something very familiar about this place, yet he could not recognize anything in particular. The sun was hot, melting the snow, revealing bright pieces of blue and green glass, papers with faded photographs, tinsel clinging to plastic trees, a large, wrinkled, shiny can without a lid, a Tonka Truck, a torn bathrobe, a checkered table cloth still in its original package, a large stuffed pony minus the tail, a child’s left foot sneaker, a wooden picnic basket, and many other things.


“Hey, you don’t belong here...” a voice said from behind the Creature.

“I belong wherever I am,” the creature answered without thinking as he tried to remove his hat. As he touched his hat, his collar changed colors again, this time from white to a shimmering rainbow of colors. He blended in with his new environment. He shook his head, he wiggled his body; the hat moved when he moved and stopped when he stopped. The hat was now a part of him. Once again, he heard a voice.
“What are you doing with that trash can lid on your head? You look silly, you look like...”

Monday, May 11, 2009




The Dump Chronicles Day Six



When he awoke, the creature was alone, his head hurt and he was weary. “I feel like I’ve been asleep for a long while”, he said out loud. By now, Gramma Brown would be wondering where he was. She would be unhappy that he missed his lessons and his chores. Who would be there to help his Gramma gather food? He knew he had to find his way home soon. Slowly he stood up on his hind legs and moved along the shaft until he came to a cavern where a brilliant light from above bounced off the walls, almost blinding him. He looked straight up at the light.

“If I climb up, maybe I’ll reach the hole where I fell in and I can find my way back to Glory” he muttered aloud. The creature started to climb. The walls of the cavern were crumbly in spots so he had to move slowly. It seemed like he had climbed for a long time. He started to worry that he would not reach the hat. But just when he thought he could go no further, he reached the top and pushed his head up, hitting the light above him. Nothing happened. Holding on to the cavern walls, he pushed his head once more, only this time tasting dirt as he thrust his head through the light.

Squinting, he looked up and could see that what he thought was a light, had been a large, shiny, wrinkled hat now stuck to his head. He touched the hat, his eyes widening as his collar changed from black to white. “Grampa”, he called out, “What’s happening? Where am I?” he asked aloud as he looked around, pulling the rest of his body out of the hole. But there was no answer.

Thursday, May 7, 2009

The Dump Chronicles Day Five

Suddenly, lightening struck a nearby tree, creating a loud boom and igniting the wood. Frightened, he jumped away from the tree. He could smell burning wood and see smoke billowing everywhere. The creature searched frantically for a way to escape the raging fire that was rapidly enveloping the forest.

Looking down he saw the opening to a mine shaft. Shaking, he climbed in, falling into darkness. As he was falling he thought he heard the voice of his Grampa Brown calling after him, as he would often do, “Remember, you belong wherever you are”. Then, with a big thud, the creature hit the bottom of the shaft and passed out.

Monday, May 4, 2009

The Dump Chronicles Day Four


Quite early one Sunday morning stories circulated in the village about Grampa who had been gone for several days. Maybe, the village creatures said, he was captured, had gotten himself in trouble or was burnt up during the great fire. Probably, some people thought, Grampa Brown was stolen by the forest devil. After many years had passed, the stories got to be legends. Grampa remained missing and the creature began to wonder just what had happened to his “Grampa Brown”. So this particular morning, he set off on his own to find his Grampa Brown. Before he left on his adventure he told his Gramma he would return with something special. “You be careful child and remember your Grampa” Gramma said tenderly. “I will, Gramma”, said the creature and off he went.

The creature did not know where to look for his Grampa so he started walking straight from the Village Glory to the Forest Green. Surely, he thought, he would find his Grampa. With these thoughts in mind, he searched everywhere along the path hoping for a clue that would lead him to Grampa Brown. It wasn’t long before he found a cave and crawled in but no Grampa. Climbing out, he noticed some pinon nuts on the ground so he helped himself to a meal. Next, he found a camp site with a large, black bag. He tore the bag apart rummaging through crumpled white tissues, nibbling on pieces of crusted bread. For hours he wandered in the Forest Green, peeping under trees, behind rocks, and calling out “Grampa, Grampa” but to no avail. Finally, feeling full of goodies, the creature stopped near a very old Juniper tree. He leaned against the tree and closed his sleepy eyes for a nap.