Storytelling:Secrets of Spring Part 1, The First Winter

Occasionally Noelle and I tell stories together. As a way to remember them, I am going to begin recording them here.

One spring morning a little bird sang on a branch and a little bunny hopped in the grass below.

"What are you doing little bunny?" asked the bird

"I am hunting for Easter eggs that I have seen the two legged children collecting! They look so beautiful"

"Ah yes, Easter" said the bird "the colorful Spring celebration. Little bunny, do you know the secret Spring reveals to us?"

"You mean like the surprises in the eggs?" asked the bunny

"Yes, kind of like that. The egg reminds us of new life. New life is all around us now. Would you like to hear the story of the First Winter little bunny?"

"Oh yes please!"

And the bunny settled into a nice patch of clover to listen to the bird sing him a story.

"In the Beginning Time life was new and fresh. The earth was beautiful and green, just as it is now. Flowers, bees, butterflies, flowing water and warm sun washed over the land.

In time the sun became warmer and many of the trees and plants began producing fruit and seeds. All the animals and even two leggeds ate the abundant and delicious plants and lived happily.

Then one day the air changed. It became crisper and cooler. The sun still shone but not for as long. The plants dropped all of their fruit, which the animals collected and saved away since there was much too much to eat at once. Leaves turned lively colors of red gold and orange. It seemed a celebration and the people were happy with the beauty that surrounded them.

But then something strange began to happen. All the leaves dropped from the trees and the plants wilted and died into the ground. No more fruit or nuts or seeds were made. Even the green grass turned brown and lay down quiet. The sun disappeared for longer and longer stretches of time and the air grew colder and colder…

The animals did not understand what was happening. Why was their beautiful home fading away? Why was everything dying? They became sad and scared and retreated into caves and underground to escape the cold.

One night their fear turned to wonder as something magical shone through the dark sky. We're the stars falling?

White covered all, a canvas washed clean.

The animals ate the food they had saved and continued to wait. They still did not understand but the white blanket had brought Hope that all was not lost.

One day the air became a bit warmer. The white began to pull back, revealing new green beneath. Delicate flowers graced stems and the animals left their nests and dens to stretch in the warmth. Life began again.

And this is the Promise of Spring, little bunny-- the return of life and abundance and warmth. The promise that the cold dying back and washing clean of winter will always yield a re-newed life."

"Yes I think I feel it," said the little bunny and hopped away into the spring grass feeling newer and lighter and filled with promise.