Grandpa's Grandson Kyle Bowes started a story on his blog recently. He invited family and friends to add to the story as it progressed. There were three basic rules. Each sentence added had to start with the last letter of the previous sentence and one could add only one sentence at a time and could not add another sentence until at least two sentences were written by others after their last sentence.
The following is that story as it progressed with spacing between each added sentence. However I, MELVIN ZWICK could not resist finishing the story before the alleged time was up. Its a problem I, MELVIN ZWICK, have. My fingers cannot stop wiggling on the keyboard of Grandpa's laptop. Fortunately words seem to be continually formed in that manner.
The first sentence was written by Kyle.
I did not divulge my ending to Kyle's blog. My ending is added after the line between the section where there is spacing between sentences and no space between sentences.
KYLE’S FACEBOOK STORY
Destiny in search of his Destiny
As written by The Bowes family and friends and an ending by MELVIN ZWICK
written between 12-5-13 to 12-8-13
Once upon a time in a far away land, a wee lad named
Destiny (aptly nicknamed "Tiny" by his friends) set off on a grand
quest.
Tiny, from the day his active brain cells were capable
of logic thought, felt his task in life was to fulfill his given name of
Destiny.
Yes indeed, even though Destiny was a wee lad, he was
highly intelligent, and had very unique abilities that were no doubt given to
him for a very special purpose.
Eventually, after very few miles had passed, Tiny came
to the conclusion that he must replenish his small bag of food (for he could
only carry so much baggage on his journey, and though he was small, he had an
astonishing appetite.)
Escaping hunger was futile for Tiny, but he possessed
the uncanny ability to sense delicious blueberries from a distance of four
furlongs.
Sadly, though his tummy was full and his pockets were
stuffed of fresh, delicious blueberries, the sight, smell, feel and taste of
the blueberries made his heart sick for home, as he remembered just how much
his older brother loved blueberries
Staring off into the middle distance, Tiny was
suddenly struck by the hard-hitting reality that every warm and happy memory of
his life was bound by a common thread . . . that tiny blue ball of sunshine,
the blueberry!
"Yuck!" Tiny exclaimed, suddenly coming to
his senses, shaking his head, and moving on, for he knew that blueberries were
about as palatable as poison.
Nothing took his mind off of his older brothers as he
moved through the blueberries oblivious to the dangerous blue faced bloggers
residing in the patch.
Having filled his tummy with blueberries (even tho
they were only as palatable as poison), Tiny decided it was time to solve the
first riddle of his quest: Why did his parents give him a name that was so
often given to girls?
Hustling now to press on in his most epic journey, and
already feeling somewhat fatigued after traveling a full four furlongs, he was
still quite unaware of the danger that lurked all around him.
Keeping his bruised head together Destiny whirled
around and made a face he had been taught how to make by his big brother at his
attacker than rambled on away from the dangerous blue faced bloggers he
calculated in his brilliant mind that four furlongs amounts to a half a mile
which to Tiny was a great distance for such a small fellow.
S)uddenly, (M)ost unexpectedly, his jumbled array of
mish-matched thoughts (why he had a girl's name, why he suddenly had more than
one big brother, why he was carrying a pocketful of blueberries when he hated
them, etc.) were cut short by a stunning thump to the head as the blue-faced
blogger's club found it's mark.
Keeping his bruised head together, Destiny whirled
around and made one of the mean faces, which his big brothers had taught him,
at the blue-faced blogger calculating as did, in his very active brilliant mind
that four furlongs amounts to a half mile, which he realized was a long
distance for such a tiny fellow.to travel.
Liberated was our little friend Tiny has he knocked
over the aforementioned creature and sat on him and patted him on the cheek
saying "You ugly thing, go home to your mama and leave me alone or I might
just..." (the gurgling in Tiny's stomach-full of blueberries was enough to
finish his sentence and widen the eyes of the blue-faced blogger in horror.)
Racing against time, he stood immediately to his feet
,and with a valiant cry, Tiny ran off into the forest and courageously vaulted
into the highest tree he could find, to hide from the evil blue-faced blogger
who was in hot pursuit of the innocent dwarf, the blogger who had injured him
but also whom he had horrified with his brilliant wits.
Surprised by, but recognizing that his increased
stamina and mental brilliance to out run, out wit, and vault into the highest
tree came from God's most perfect provision, a tummy full of blueberries, he caught
his breath and watched his pursuers from high above the dense forest.
Then our hero remembered from his extensive reading
that 13 dwarves and a hobbit had been in much the same fix (up a tree with an
enemy below), so he looked up to the sky in search of a giant eagle to carry
him away.
Yearning for freedom Tiny noted a black spot in the
pale blue sky, but as it came closer he realized it was an ominous sign, a big
dark black vulture hoping to feed on him.
Thinking quickly, Tiny pulled out a rope from his bag,
tied it around the tree, and swung effortlessly to a neighboring tree, because
it's foliage was much more dense and likely to protect him from the vulture.
Even though Tiny had been taught diligently by his
parents in his wee years that the Almighty God created him with a very special
purpose for his life; and that he should always trust in Him and not fear as He
would always protect him and provide all that he needed to accomplish the good
deeds He had for him, the extreme predicament he was in began to weigh heavily
on his mind.
Dreaming of safety, longing for the continuation of
his quest,he swung from that tree to the next and the next until he had escaped
the forest, thus free from the perils of the vulture and the blue-faced
blogger.
Now safely out of the woods, Tiny faced a long and
wide valley surrounded by high snowy capped mountains, which would take him
days to walk across.... but wait...... Tiny looked and saw a beautiful white
stallion, which could carry him farther and faster across this giant valley, if
only he could tame this wild creature.
Eyeing the magnificent white stallion with caution,
Tiny, with his ever observing mind, realized this great creature was in need of
nourishment, so he reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of tasty
blueberries and offered them to the waiting lips of the very appreciative
animal who pranced with boundless energy.
After Tiny offered this weary -- yet magnificent--
animal these delicious blueberries, he noticed that not only did it revive the
beautiful horse's spirits, but that it also changed the color of the horse to a
dark blue (as blue as the blueberries)..... how could this happen???
Now astride his slightly less magnificent--and much
more odd--steed, Tiny set off for the snow-capped peaks far ahead, feeling
strangely certain that his quest lay among the chilly stone edifices.
Sounds of singing suddenly came to Tiny's ears as he
bounced along on his newly named horse Azule.
Excited to see who it was that was singing, he gave
Azule a good "giddy-up", and as he rounded a bend, he thought he
might have heard angels on high, sweetly singling o'er the plains . . . or was
it the mountains echoing in reply?
You think we are angels?" a high-pitched voice
suddenly asked from behind Tiny with a curious chuckle, and suddenly the
singing stopped as a hundred beady eyes looked up at their new visitor and his
blue horse . . . and also a West Highland White Terrier (that's a mouthful) who
had joined Tiny somewhere along the way.
Yikes," a very surprised Tiny yelped as he looked
around and found a large collection of very angry looking Blue-Faced Bloggers
which had surrounded him, his prancing blue horse and his West Highland White
Terrier who was barking in a machine gun pace which did not seem to affect the
enemy.
"You hush now," Tiny comforted the West
Highland White Terrier as he eyed the Blue-Faced Bloggers, many of whom
appeared to be suffering terribly from assorted finger and wrist ailments.
Some time of awkward silence elapsed as the creatures
looked each other over, after which time Tiny came to the conclusion that these
Blue-Faced creatures were not all that intimidating anymore, and were actually
quite pitiful, with small, round bodies and tiny arms and legs that looked more
like different shaped twigs compared to the size of their bodies, and a large
round head that sat simply on top of the rather small body.
Sadly, it seems they all had wrist and finger ailments
from picking too many blueberries. Little Tiny remembered that he knew how to
make a potion of various leaves and vines that would cure their ailments.
"You guys again," Tiny groaned, for he had
been quite sure that he had left the creeps behind.
"Dear, oh dear…everyone and everything I have
come in contact with (except for his brilliant White West Highland Terrier) has
become blue," thought Tiny, (as he was suddenly reminded with horror of a
girl in a movie he once saw who had to be rolled out and squeezed like a
blueberry) "…have I also turned blue and in need of juicing as well?"
Despite his twinge of pity on the creatures Tiny
desired never to deal with them ever again, so after he wrote down the potion
ingredients on a leaf with some coals of wood, he simply nudged Azule who
jumped right over them and galloped off into the distance(with the terrier in
tow, of course.)
Examining the potion ingredients, the blue faced
bloggers were not grateful. Rather, they thought Tiny was trying to poison them
so they took off after him in hot pursuit.
Ten thousand of them, to be exact!
Tiny whipped out a laptop computer from his saddlebag
and, laughing at the blue-faced bloggers' impending doom, pressed the
"delete" button.
Now on the move again, Tiny patted the neck of his
beautiful blue steed, glanced down at his little white dog (who he had named
Sophie) and wondered what sort of adventures still lay in store for them.
Meanwhile one Blue-Faced Blogger having tried the
special potion realized it was healing and fereling obliged chased after Tiny
catching up with him in a beautiful meadow and said, "Hey human that is
small for you I will guide us on your adventure if it pleases you so."
"Okay, you can come along--but if you cause any
more trouble, I will delete you to my "recycle file" just like the
rest of your friends," Tiny finished ominously, nodding at his laptop.
"Pretty good terms, those are," the blogger
replied, "but you must also allow me to bring along my sheep."
"Please join my quest, with all the animals you
like," Tiny replied graciously.
"Perhaps I would allow you to bring your sheep
along," Tiny replied, "but I am not familiar with sheep other than
those of a lovely lady in Mossyrock, Washington by the name of Lydia."
"You really mean it?" The blue-faced blogger
asked incredulously, his blue eyes wide and hopeful, and Tiny suddenly knew he
would regret his gracious offer.
Remembering that his quest must be completed on time,
Tiny decided he better construct a one-horse-open-sleigh for his new friends to
travel with him in.
Nothing could stop such a persistent lad... that is,
until he found that he was stuck in an unavoidable predicament: there was no
snow for his sleigh!
Many minutes later Tiny was on the blue colored
stallion which was pulling an Indian travois, built from memory of a
description in a story his Grandfather had read to him when he was much
smaller, on which was mounted the Blue-Faced Blogger, only four of his 55 sheep
and Sophie as they headed to the white covered mountains.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tiny pulled his fully loaded
travois to a halt next to the largest strawberry field he had ever seen in his
very short life. The strawberries were massive.
His blue stallion now named
Azule immediately entered the field and started to satisfy their gnawing
hunger.
In his quest of satisfying his
bottomless hunger he did not notice his guide the Blue-Faced Blogger had left
the travois and was slinking toward a nearby hill.
Once he reached the top of the
hill he shouted at the top of his small lungs, "Great Uncle Strawberry, I
your long lost nephew Grazzelfern brought you a human. I know he is small but he should make a tasty
meal along with the sheep we brought."
Tiny jumped around to see where
the shout came from an instant before he was pounced upon by a large dark red
strawberry shaped figure.
Tiny felt his arms tied behind
his back as he was thrust upon the travois with the sheep. Sophie scampered into a thick overhang of
strawberry leaves.
Grazzelfern shouted down from
the hill, "Remember Great Uncle Strawberry to send the reward to me. It would not be to our berry code of ethics
to forget the reward.
Tiny was taken a short
distance to a clearing that had three straw structures.
The strawberry character
shouted out, "Gather around family, we will get even once again with the
humans for eating our relatives as a desert by eating one of their off
springs."
Tiny noted, as he laid bound on
the ground in front of a straw hut, that several very large strawberry
characters were preparing a fire under a very large flat kettle. He also noted that they all seemed to
continually scratch themselves. It
appeared to the brilliant scientific mind of Tiny that the seeds on the surface
of their bodies were causing a tremendous itching to the strawberries.
A plan started to germinate in Tiny's
brilliant mind.
He called over to Great Uncle
Strawberry and said, "I notice Oh Great Uncle Strawberry that you seem to
be continually scratching."
To that Great Uncle Strawberry
glared at Tiny and told him to shut up.
But Tiny persisted and said,
“Great Uncle Strawberry I have a solution to your itching problem.”
Great Uncle Strawberry still
glared but seemed a little interested.
He Replied, “How could you, a small insignificant human, know how to
solve our itching problem?”
Tiny replied, “Oh Great Uncle
Strawberry it is simple. I come from a
human family that has many sisters who are great bakers. Many times I have seen them bake a blanket
that cause the itching seeds to be removed from strawberry bodies.” Now Great Uncle Strawberry was interested
and asked, “Little human of insignificants can you bake one of these blankets?”
“Oh yes, but you would have to
supply all the things I need to bake the blanket and turn me loose so I could
do the mixing and baking.”
“Ha Ha now I know you are
lying insignificant human. You are just
trying to escape.”
“Oh no Great Uncle Strawberry
you can keep a rope tied to my leg while I bake the blanket so that I can not
escape.
To that the Great Strawberry
ordered Tiny to be freed and have his ankle tied to a long rope which was tied
to another big Strawberry.
Tiny gave Great Uncle
Strawberry a list of ingredients needed for the blanket.
Great Uncle Strawberry gave the
list to a couple of strawberries and ordered them to immediately gather the
stuff on the list.
Tiny noted that the fire and
the large kettle would be just great for baking the blanket and asked Great
Uncle Strawberry to drain the water out of it. He than told Great Uncle
Strawberry to build a rock hut around the kettle. The order was given. Within a few hours the
ingredients were collected and a nice rock hut was built around the kettle. Tiny explained to Great Uncle Strawberry that
the hut would make a great oven for baking the blanket.
Tiny mixed the ingredients in
the kettle and stoked up the fire till the rocks were glowing.
Shortly Tiny instructed Great
Uncle Strawberry to remove the rocks as the blanket was now baked. The strawberries used gloves of strawberry
leaves to shield their hands from the hot rocks.
The rocks were removed and
there in the very large flat kettle was a warm beautifully baked shortcake.
Tiny instructed Great Uncle
Strawberry and his family to jump on to the blanket which they did.
Tiny poured some sheep milk on
the Strawberries and that dabbed on some freshly made up sheep whipped cream on
top of the strawberries.
And there you have it. Strawberry shortcake on which Tiny, Azule and
Sophie feasted on.
Oh by the way, Destiny also
known as Tiny now knew his destiny and that is to tell all mankind never to
trust a blueberry and always enjoy strawberry shortcake.
THE END
