Tale # 21 --Stacy's Story

"Okay, that's enough games," Ben said. "It's story time."

"I want to play some more," Charles said.

"But I don't," Ben answered. "I'm the birthday boy and I say it's story time."

"Oh, all right," Charles said. "Have it your way."

The children sat down in a circle -- Ben, his sister Carol, Stacy, her twin sister Tracy, Jeanne, her brother Charles, and Dorian, Ben's next-door neighbour. Dancing Bear sat down too. "This is just as much fun as playing games," she said to Charles. "You'll see."

"Who wants to go first?" Ben asked.

"I do," Stacy said. "I love balloons, so I wrote a story about balloons."

"Let's hear it," Ben said. "I can hardly wait."

"Okay," Stacy said. "This story is called Penny and her Flying Balloons."



Once upon a time, there was a girl named Penny. She loved balloons. One day, she had a great idea.

"If I can find enough balloons and fill them with helium," she thought to herself, "I could go up, up, up, and visit the moon."

She broke open her piggy bank and collected all her money. She went to all the stores in town, looking for balloons. She got 400 balloons and filled them with helium. She tied them together and made a harness of string. She put the harness on and flew up, up, up and away.

As she rose higher, the air got cold. The balloons started to pop. Pop! Pop! Pop! She started to sink closer to the ground. The wind blew her all the way to the North Pole. By this time most of the balloons had popped and she landed softly in the snow.

Some elves came along with a dog sled. "Who are you and what are you doing here?" they asked.

"My name is Penny," she said. "I was going to the moon, but I ended up here instead."

The elves took her to Santa Claus' house. He gave her some hot chocolate and a warm fur coat. Then he took her home in his sled.

"Where have you been?" her parents asked. "We were worried about you!"

"I tried to go to the moon," Penny said. "But I ended up at the North Pole instead."

"What an imagination!" her parents said. "You should be a writer."

"I want to be an astronaut," Penny said. "When I retire, I'll write about my adventures."