Gabriela's Mission - II

     "You're driving too slowly," said the shark when he spat them out.  "Now go home now and stop driving so slowly!"
     They reached home and they were late, because they had driven so slowly but at least they were in one piece.
      When they told their parents, they were most understanding.
      "Was that old shark after you again?  Well, he should be, you were holding up the road!  And going in the wrong direction.  However did you find your way home?  Oh, never mind.  Go to bed," they said after family prayer and scripture study at one home.

THAT'S ALL CHILDREN, till next time on the blackberet

La Mision De Gabriela - II

     "Estas manejando demasiado despacio," dijo el tiburon cuando les escupio.  "Ahora volver a casa y dejar de conducir tan despacio!"
     Llegaron a casa y se habian retrasado debido a que habia conducido tan lento, pero al menos eran en una sola pieza.
      Cuando le dijeron a sus padres, que eran la mayoria de la comprension.
     "Eso fue despues de tiburon otra viz?  Bueno, el debe ser, que mantenian en la carretera!  Y va en la direccion equivocada.  Oh, no importa.   Ir a la cama," dijo que despues de la oracion familiar y estudio de las Escrituras en una casa.

ESO ES TODO LOS NINOS, hasta la proxima viz en el blackberet

Gabriela's Mission

     Once upon a time there were four fish who lived in the Mediterranean Sea.  Their names were Carmela, Gabriela, Pedro and David.  They had a double-date.  They went to a shoal of fish for a party, but it wasn't a good party, so they left and went to a diner instead.
     Pedro held Gabriela's hand and David held Carmela's hand.  They ordered algae milkshakes.  They talked about their mothers and fathers wanting them to be home on time.  Finally, they decided to go.
     However, they took a wrong turning and ended up getting swallowed by a shark.  Oh, no!

MORE NEXT TIME ON theblackberet

La Mision De Gabriela

     Habia una vez habia cuatro peces que vivian en el mar Mediteraneo.  Sus nombres eran Carmela, Gabriela, Pedro y David.  Tenian una cita doble.  Fueron a un banco de peces para una fiesta, pero no fue una buena fiesta, por lo que dejo y se fue a un restaurante en su lugar. 
     Pedro tomo la mano de Gabriela, y David tomo la mano de Carmela.  Ordenaron a los batidos de algas.
      Hablaron de sus madres y sus padres que desean que estar en casa a tiempo.  Finalmente, decidieron ir.
     Sin embargo, tomo un camino equivocado y termino siendo tragado por un tiburon.  Oh, no!

MAS PROXIMA VEZ EN el blackberet

Portrait of a Girl by Okano 2011

Long Live The Pebbles - Part Four - Conclusion

     "Oh, if only they'd stop talking about me," bewailed Charmaine one day when she could stand it no more.  She didn't say anything mean about Charles.  That wouldn't have been the right thing to do.
     If Charles had stopped spreading rumours and been sorry for what he'd done, he would have been a good pebble again, but he didn't.  He then started rumours about other kind pebbles.
     Charmaine just kept being kind and good and singing her song and gradually the rumours went away.  The wind sang his song, and the pebbles listened, in a pebbley sort of way. 
     Charles wasn't too popular for a while and went away to a dark place in the middle of the lake.
     Everyone loved Charmaine again and the story ended happily with everyone singing in harmony as the lake lapped onto the shore.

THE END

Turkey

     I am very sorry to hear about the earthquake in Turkey.  Here is a painting I did in my teens of Turkey.

Herbie Planet

     My art professor at college was called Herbie Planet (that wasn't his real name).  He was sometimes seen on campus wearing an anti-radiation suit and handing out peace flyers.
     One day one of the students in the class completed a project.  It was a wind installation.  Herbie had us dance through this moving sculpture.  I shall remember this as one of my happiest days at college.
     Happy days, Herbie!

Long Live The Pebbles - Part Three

     You see, Charles the Pebble was insane.  He thought that he could do anything he wanted.  That's insanity.  There are consequences to what you do.  But he didn't think about that.

TO BE CONTINUED

Long Live The Pebbles - Part Two

     "Just keep doing the right thing, making beautiful music with the waves like God wants you to.  Eventually all the pebbles will be in agreement that you are a good pebble, just like you think they will, because you'll help them listen to the wind," said the kindly wind.

TO BE CONTINUED

Long Live The Pebbles

     Once upon a time there was a pebbley beach on a lakeshore.  The pebbles were there to make music together with the waves, lapping on the shore.
     One day Charles the Pebble started a rumour.  The other pebbles all heard it.  It was about one of the other pebbles, Charmaine Pebble.  Charmaine was shocked but took no notice.  It will all blow over, she said to herself.  But all the other pebbles believed it, except those who were listening to the wind.

TO BE CONTINUED

Thought For The Day

     Recently I had the privilege of hearing two of my sons play in a high school jazz band at an awards ceremony, one of them playing a solo.  It made the pain of childbirth all worth it!

Higgledy-Piggledy Me by Joanne Morris Okano

I come from a culturally
Higgledy-piggledy family.
I think that must be
Because I like to be
With people of different cultures
That God made me
This way, you see.

The Street Person Who Became An Artist by Joanne Morris Okano

     There was a street person who lived from day to day not knowing what life would bring.  It was a struggle just to get his meals.  Life had  dealt him some hard blows and he hurt too much to know what to do with his time other than sit at the side of the road and beg.  No one believed in him it seemed and no, even he himself didn't believe in him, not that that made any difference it seemed, life just went on around him.  People with important looking errands rushed by him all day long.  Sometimes someone kind would stop for a chat and those who could donated him a dollar.  But what he liked best were the turkey dinners at Christmas and Thanksgiving when he would go the the soup kitchen with the other street people and line up to get a meal.  He enjoyed the meals so much.  He talked to his friends and enjoyed the kindness and joy he felt at feeling loved.

  Now, there is an English game I like to play called "Pass The Parcel".  It is played at children's parties.  The mother buys several small gifts and some wrapping paper and wraps the gifts up in layers in one big parcel before the party.  The children pass the parcel around the circle to music and the mother stops the music occasionally.  Whoever is holding the parcel at the moment the music stops gets to open a layer of the parcel and receive a gift!  When the music resumes playing, the parcel is passed on to the next person and so on.

     I used to think that "Pass The Parcel" is not much like life, but now that I have lived longer and I see the unexpected blessings that life brings, I think that "Pass The Parcel" is actually, on the contrary, quite like life.

     Back to the story, someone kind had donated money for apartments to be built for the homeless.  The apartments were finished and the homelss moved in, including this man we have been discussing.  He couldn't believe how wonderful his life was all of a sudden.   It was like "Pass The Parcel".

     "I'd better have a real job," he decided.  He had always admired the art in the window of the art gallery on the corner and so he decided he would become an artist.  He felt so excited. 
     "I will believe in myself and I will be good at art and people will buy my art," he said to himself with wonder.
    
     And can you guess what happened?  It was like a prayer and God heard his prayer and He made it come true.  And the man lived happily ever after.

THE END

The Mountain In The Desert by Joanne Morris Okano

     Dedicated to the people of Segovia, Spain and to my daughter

     Once upon a time, there was a town in Spain where people lived in the desert, in a city on a mountain.  The people were all very friendly and went for walks every evening in the warmer weather, where they greeted their friends and neighbours.  In the winter, it was very cold and the people stayed home.
   
     One winter's night, in a home above a dance school, a little girl was playing with her toys after supper when she found two loose floorboards.  She thereupon decided to write to the fairies.  Now what, you may ask, does finding two loose floorboards have to do with writing to fairies?  Why, everything!  The fairies must live under the floorboards, she said to herself, and I will write to them and make my living by writing fairy stories.

     Now, people in this town ate a lot of pork.  In fact, you would see cartloads of pigs going through town.  If you went to a restaurant, they would serve you pork.  And if you asked for a combination plate, they would serve you three kinds of pork.

     But the little girl's family had no food in the house one day.  No pork, no nothing.  Oh, no.  Her father was a carpenter, but there was a recession on and nobody was buying furniture.  So she scribbled a hasty letter to the fairies on a scrap of cardboard.

Dear Friends,
     My family and I are poor and can afford no food.  Would you please be kind enough to send us some?
     Love,
     Your friend, the little girl who lives in the house

     She pushed the folded-up cardboard note into the gap in the floor, replaced the floorboards and waited.  To her surprise, there came a rapping at the inside of the floor.  What could that be?  she thought.  Surely they have not replied so soon.
     What she found was a note written on paper that seemed to be made out of cobwebs.

Dear One,
     Here are the things you need!  Enjoy!
     Love,
     The fairies that live under the floorboards

     Well, you can imagine the joy in the house when she received the news.  She called to her mother and father to come look.  They read the gossamer note and together all three looked to see what was in the opening.
     Out jumped an eggplant with arms and legs and danced about the room.  It did a fandango, reaching its arms up in the air, making flourishing movements with its hands and stamping.  The family held up their hands in amazement.
     Then followed a bag of flour, an onion, and three pork chops.  They swirled about the room doing a flamenco zambra.  The flour danced out a riddle with the rhythm of its feet, and the onion and the pork chops danced out the answer.
     A lettuce and three radishes, an assortment of mushrooms, some olives and a tomato came after.  The lettuce glided along the floor with its train of leaves trailing after, and complex rhythms of staccato stamping followed as it danced tientos.  The other groceries stood around and clapped counter-rhythms.  What a wonder!
     "Mother, make the supper!"  requested the man, quickly stoking up the stove to cook it with and hardly believing his good fortune.
     "I can hardly believe this," laughed the woman as she put on her apron and set to work preparing the food.
     "I can believe this," said the little girl and set the table for supper.

     The second night, the fairies had more - more juicy, delicious dinner ingredients.  This time, salt pork jumped out of the hole, along with artichokes, spinach, oranges and chickpeas, green beans and a green pepper who danced happy sevillanas in twos.  Again the family rejoiced.   They ate like kings!
     The third night, pork meat balls came out and danced a jota.  The male meat ball twirled the female meat ball around.  They held up their arms and played castanets while they did jumps and touched their heels and then their toes to the ground.
     Next came potatoes and eggs, fantastic salad greens, olives and anchovies.  All danced a circle around the family, in a Catalan sardana.  The mother quickly gathered them up and made a meal out of them.

     Night after night, during the recession, the food jumped up out of the hole in the floorboards and soon the daughter had an idea.
     "Why don't we try and sell some of the beautiful food for money?"
     "Yes," said her mother, "but where would we sell it?"
     "We could set up a stall inside my carpenter's shop," suggested her father.

     She presented this idea to the fairies, and this is the reply she received.

Dear One,
     We would like to help you but we're only little.  Perhaps we can help you start a farm, for that amount of groceries would be very hard for us to produce.
      Your friends,
     The fairies

      The houses on the mountain were built very close together several hundred years ago.
      "Well, there's no room to grow much at the back of the house.  There's no space," said the man.  "But some people in the town have window boxes.. and we could start a farm.  Yes, I think that would work."
      The little girl clapped her hands cheerfully and spun around.
      First they had to haul the earth and manure, the seeds and several garden tools.  (The fairies faithfully supplied these.)  They grew herbs in the window boxes and they started a farm outside of town.  It was hard work but they did it.
      The father even went to the Alcazar, the castle on top of the mountain, to get special permission to have water from the aqueduct, which brought water to the desert town.
      The family dug irrigation ditches and tilled the earth, mixing in compost and manure.  It was very hot work.  They planted all kinds of seeds.
      The fairies gave them pigs and chickens.  (Spaniards love eggs.  They are crazy about them.)
      The family weeded assiduously, and the plants grew.  They fed the chickens scraps and fed the pigs a mixture of grains and beans.
      Soon it was time to begin harvesting the produce.
      In the mornings the mother gave her daughter lessons.  In the afternoons the little girl sold vegetables and fruit, three kinds of pork, eggs, flour and cornmeal and sat on her perch and scribbled stories between customers.  (Then she took a siesta.)

      Meanwhile, the recession ended and her father decided to become a farmer permanently, because, as he said to his family, "The world needs more farmers".  The family had the fairies up for dinner every night.  The girl finished writing her fairy story collection after many rewrites and sent it to a very busy publisher, snowed under with mail, who published it.

THE END

The Society Of Harpsichord Builders - Part Three

      People chatted and the highland dancers came in.  Somy passed around hors d'oeuvres, (Note:  these are appetizers) and while the piper was taking a few minutes well-earned rest, Somy sat down at the harpsichord and began picking out the right hand part of Loch Lomond, (a favourite of mine) all the while humming along to himself.  The Baron sat beside him and played along for fun in a sort of duet.
     Then Somy stood on the seat, cleared his throat and said, "No more alcohol, folks!  I don't believe in it and neither does Jesus!"
     "He used to," said the guests.
     "Well, he doesn't now, I think" said Somy hesitantly and sat down.  He played Hopscotch on the floor and then it was the end of the evening.  Grandma and Grandpa helped clean up and they all went to bed, Somy being left with a slice of toast and marmalade under his bed from the Baron in case he got snackish, he said, said the Baron.
     Next day, the Baron and Somy went outside to play golf on the grounds.  They came in, had lunch and continued reading stories about some of Somy's ancestors.  (I imagine the Baron would have a fabulous library of rare volumes says the author.) Somy nodded off.
     King Somerled, Somy's ancestor, stood in the sky over the Baron's castle.  The King led little Somerled across the sky back to Canada.  They talked about the golf game he'd just had.
     Somy awoke in his own bed after his night of slumbers.  He said his prayers, washed and did his homework with his brothers.  They had a blissful day together as a family telling them about his adventure, he says!
     "I want to be together as a family forever.  Can we get sealed together as a family in the Temple?"  asked Somy joyfully.
     They went to the Temple and were sealed together as a family and lived happily ever after and you can too children, if you tell your parents about this story.

THE END

The Society Of Harpsichord Builders - Part Two

     Next, a huge tidal wave pulled him under as his bedcovers swam over his head.  He battled his way out.
     "I'm out of control, teacher!"  said Somy when he remembered this in school.  She soothed him with a pat on the head.  His canoe got back in control as the waves calmed, he said.  He did his sums and paid attention for the rest of the day.  Later that night, he got back into the dream.  He was sick.  His dreams came true, and he had to call Mum.
     "All that water going down my throat in the dream did it," he said.  He wiped his face dry on a towel and went back to bed.  "Mummy, Daddy, tuck me in," he cried.  They did and he went back to sleep.  And back to the dream.   He and his canoe washed up on the beach in Scotland, on the Isle of Skye.   He was happy and so sang in his head the word "Hallelujah" and was pleasantly surprised to hear that he was joined in the background to his solo by a Heavenly choir singing the Hallelujah Chorus.  With difficulty, he climbed up to the top of the cliff where he went to visit the Baron.
     Rat-a-tat-tat.  He knocked on the door with great ease.
     The Baron was a little surprised to see a small boy on his doorstep.  Somy was even more surprised.
     "You're not my ancestor," said Somy gruffly until he recovered his cool and said, "Who are you?"
     "I'm Lord Macdonald and I live here now," said the Baron.
     "Hello Lord Macdonald, I'm a Macdonald too.  May I come in, please," said Somerled politely.
     The Baron explained that that night he would be having an 'at home' for his family and friends and that there was work to do to get ready, but if he would like to come to that, he would tell Somy about his ancestors later, since that was what Somy said he wanted to learn about.  Somy's Grandfather and Grandmother came to the door and helped Somy wash a big stack of dishes in the kitchen and do other chores around the place.  They scrubbed the floors, oceans of them.  Somy had to stand on a chair to wash the dishes as he was not tall enough to reach the sink, you know.  The Baron cleaned the silverware, of course, with Hungarian Gypsy music playing in the background.  (I believe in equality, so I liked the idea of the Baron doing the silverware.  The Baron is a nice person and would do it anyway as he doesn't like leaving all the work to everyone else, he says.)  They worked all day and when night came they were bustling along still.  Everyone was taken off guard when the first guest arrived at the door.  They politely answered and the guests politely came in.

TO BE CONTINUED

The Society Of Harpsichord Builders by Joanne Morris Okano

     To Shoshana, Brigham, Paul and Somerset

     (Author's Note:  My son Somerset was born on a summer's evening, just as the sun was setting.  That's how he got his name.  I wanted to write a story about him, so I changed his name to Somerled in the story and wrote about him going to Scotland to the Isle of Skye.  The reason I picked the Isle of Skye as his destination was because I wanted to go back to Scotland and buy the castle on the Isle of Skye, where King Somerled once lived...)
     Somerled Macdonald was a little dreamy someone.  He was always dreaming away in school.  One day, the teacher caught him dreaming and asked him what he was dreaming about.  (I used to stare out of the window a lot in school, says the author. I was so starry-eyed about my future, that daydreaming took up most of my time, some days.  That got me up to university though, so don't you give up! )
     "I was dreaming about my ancestors," said Somerled.
     We had Family Home Evening a lot in those days and Somerled was just taking a day out of his school day to think about it.  With moist eyes he reminisced.
     "I love Family Home Evening," he said.  "You get to do what you want.  One night we went on an adventure to Scotland in our heads.  We followed the readings of our ancestor Reginald to Scotland and then over to Canada in a boat with a flea, his pet flea," he said politely.  "He was scratching all the way."
     The teacher was wise and didn't ask any more, but got on with the lesson.
     When he'd finished home room time, Somerled went home.  He joined arm in arm with his sister Kathy, slung his books over his back (they were in a backpack, he wasn't just holding them loosely in his hand) and connected with the Saviour in his head.
     "Is there anything I've forgotten?  Oh, yes, milk!  We'll buy milk and then we'll go home.  Then Mother will be ready for Family Home Evening.  I like it when she makes tarts, but milk pudding will be even better.  I wonder what she'll make tonight?  I like milk on my cereal.  I like wheat porridge."
     Kathy said, "Wheat porridge is my best, too."  
     Family Home Evening is when you have fun.  I remember one night when my uncle used to live in Kerrisdale, or was it somewhere else?  Oh well, we'll say Kerrisdale.  We went round there one night and had a meal and had a jolly time playing tiddly winks.  That was a kind of Family Home Evening.  We build harpsichords on our Family Home Evenings sometimes, although we do other things too.  Mother calls us the Society Of Harpsichord Builders because we're so good at it.  We want to be a family, but Somerled won't pay his tithing, although we all do.  So one night we had him teach a gospel oriented lesson on tithing so he'd understand why he should pay it.  Before the lesson we all paid our tithing, but he said it's his pocket money and he's not paying it.  Now he says he'll pay it.  That's good, because that way we can be sealed in the Temple.  He needs to pay his way too.
     My name is Mary and I'm his fourth sister.  Now you know he has four sisters, I'll tell you their names:  Kathy, me Mary, and Elizabeth and Flora, of course.  Every family needs a Flora.  They're all grown up now.  And then there's the boys:  Somy, Reginald or Regie as we call him for short, and Godfrey.  They all play the harpsichord like Mozart, except Somy.  He's just learning.  We all love him and he's learning just as fast as he can.  He can play Loch Lomond now.  On one finger.  He's not the Osmonds either.  He's very shy and doesn't sing or play any other musical instruments.  He dances though.  On one foot.  Hopscotch!
I'm fat and shy, and he's thin and shy.
     I'm having a baby that's why.  I got married last year and my husband said, "Let's go right ahead and get started."
     We were building the harpsichord one night (we all live in the same house because of lack of room in our own places which are non-existent) when Father saw an important mention in the newspaper:  "Castle on the Isle of Skye up for sale."  Well, we said, wouldn't we like to buy that.
     "I have some pennies," said Somy, racing for his piggy bank.
     Father said, "No dear, we'll stay here," and folded over the newspaper.  So we carried on building the harpsichord.  (Author's Note:  When I was in my twenties I was a bit of a fan of Early Music.  The Vancouver Early Music Society issued a very good magazine which featured among other things, an advertisement for kits you could buy to build your own harpsichord.  I thought this sounded like the ultimate pastime and wanted to do it myself and that is the reason for this story, in part.)
     "I want to visit Scotland, the land of my ancestors," said Somerled.  "But I can't afford it.  Only got 50 cents or less. Not even the price of a postage stamp.   And that won't get me as far as Granville Island, let alone the Isle of Skye."  So he dreamed about it a little bit.  He dreamed about it quite a little bit.
     In the dream he built a canoe out of paper.  Next he embarked in his canoe and soon met with an octopus.
     "Wow!  That was frightening!"  said Somy, when the teacher asked him why he looked so frightened all of a sudden at school.  Back at home, in his dreams, this happened right about the time he got tangled up in his bedsheet.  The octopus gripped Somy in its tentacles.  He bit it and it loosened its suckers, and he got away safely.

TO BE CONTINUED

Song Of The Geraniums by Joanne Okano

In the winter we wilt
But now we're bright.
Love us and take us inside if you will,
But we're better outside
Where the sunlight can touch us!

The Twelve Pixies - Part Fifty by Joanne Morris Okano

     Mr. Pixie starred in a show on Drury Lane called "Mr. Pixie And His Talking Lion".  No longer did Papa have to brush out swimming pools. 
     And the twelve pixies were all happy with their short-enough wives.
                                                                                  THE END

Jesus' "Parable Of The Ten Virgins"

     Jesus told a story, or parable, comparing the kingdom of heaven to ten virgins who took their lamps to meet the bridegroom at a wedding. 
     Five of them were wise, and five were foolish.  These were oil lamps they used.  The five foolish virgins took their lamps, but took no oil for them.  But the wise ones took oil with their lamps.
     When the bridegroom took a long time, and all the virgins fell asleep.  At midnight, there was a cry that the bridegroom was coming and that they should go out to meet him.  Then all those virgins arose and trimmed the wick on their lamps. 
     The foolish ones said to the wise, Give us some of your oil, as our lamps have gone out.
     The wise ones answered, No:  incase there isn't enough oil for us and you.  Instead go and buy some more oil.
     And while they went to buy more, the bridegroom arrived, and those who were ready went into the wedding with him, and the door was shut.
     Afterwards the five foolish virgins arrived and said, Lord, open the door and let us in.
     But he said, Truly, I don't know you.
     Jesus finished his parable by saying that we should watch because we don't know the day or the hour when Jesus will come.

The Twelve Pixies - Part Forty-Nine by Joanne Morris Okano

     Madagascar married Bebe, and his brothers married her cousins, after a long courtship.  The dragons liked each other's company so much, they decided not to go back to guarding castles, but instead started an artists' colony.  The poor lady who had no money coming in for herself and her children, found a job as a writer of stories for a ladies' magazine.

TO BE CONTINUED

The Twelve Pixies - Part Forty-Eight by Joanne Morris Okano

     Madagascar was so mesmerized he didn't realize he lived in town!  Winton politely pointed this fact out to him, and Madagascar muttered, "Oh, yes.  Fancy that."
     "I have eleven cousins," said Bebe, "all in different parts of the kingdom.  All with fierce dragons guarding their castles.  They're trapped and can't get out."
     The pixies, of course, decoyed all the dragons away to a dragons' picnic (sort of like a teddy bears' picnic).  Once all the dragons were gone, the pixies rescued all the cousins of Bebe.

TO BE CONTINUED

The Twelve Pixies - Part Forty-Seven by Joanne Morris Okano

     "I'll come and visit you when I'm in town," he said.
     "That would be fine," she said.

TO BE CONTINUED

The Twelve Pixies - Part Forty-Six by Joanne Morris Okano

     Suddenly a young woman named Bebe came driving by on the road at the edge of the meadow.  She slowed down, looking unsure.  She stopped.  One of her tires had gone caput.
     She called up to the pixies.
     "Can you help me, please?  I'm stranded.  My tire needs changing and I don't know how to do such a thing."
      "Certainly, Madam," said Madagascar, and set to work.  The other pixies all stood around and told him what to do, or what they thought he should do.  Soon the work was finished.  Bebe thanked the handsome Madagascar.
     "I just live around the corner," she smiled.  He noticed she was short.

TO BE CONTINUED   

The Twelve Pixies - Part Forty-Five by J.M.Okano

     The pixies were just about to jump over the wishing stream when they heard crying.  Some children were crying because they had nothing to eat.
     "We are poor and we have no father and our mother has no job, so can you please help us?"  said the poor children.
     "Of course," said Onton and he led all the pixies back to the smallholding where his family lived.  There they had a yard wherein lived two turkeys.  "Could we spare one of the turkeys for a poor hungry family, Mother?" he asked her.
     "Yes," she said right away.  And they took the turkey and some brussel sprouts and potatoes and some cranberries and buns and went to the poor people's hut in the field where the wishing stream was and left the food with them.  Oh, how happy they were!

TO BE CONTINUED

The Twelve Pixies - Part Forty-Four by Joanne Morris Okano

     The pixie juniors ran down to the wishing stream to make their getaway, but alas!  there was a fire in the field.
     "Help me, please!"  cried the wishing stream fairy, in haste.
     They all picked up buckets and filled them with water from the stream.  They threw the water at the base of the fire and the fire went out.

TO BE CONTINUED

Jesus' "Parable Of The Sheep And The Goats"

     Jesus told a parable about what would happen when he would come in his glory and separate those who had helped others, the sheep, from those who had not, the goats. 
     He will say to those who have helped others, the sheep, on his right hand,
     "Come, you blessed ones of my Heavenly Father, inherit the kingdom which has been prepared for you:  because I was hungry and you fed me;  I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink;  I was a stranger and you took me in;  I had no clothes and you clothed me;  I was sick and you visited me;  I was in prison and you came to see me."
     The righteous will reply, "Lord, when did we do these things to thee?"
      And Jesus will reply, "Truly, as much as you did these things for one of the least of my brothers, you have done this for me."
     He will then say to those who did not help others, the goats, on his left hand,
     "Go away from me, you cursed ones, into everlasting fire, made for the devil and his angels:  because I was hungry and you did not feed me;  I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink;  I was a stranger and you did not take me in;  sick and in prison and you did not visit me."
     They will also answer him," Lord, when did we see you like this and not look after you?"
     And he will answer them, "Truly, as much as you did not do this for one of the least of my brothers, you did not do it to me."
     And they will go to be punished forever: but the righteous will have eternal life.

The Twelve Pixies - Part Forty-Three by Joanne Morris Okano

     The pixies in that family were all boys and all served missions for the Church.  When they returned home though, they were down because they couldn't find wives who were short enough.
     They went to see the wise old horse who had helped them at the beginning of the story.  He knew all kinds of things.
     "Go to a hilltown and you may find wives who are short enough there," he said.
     The pixies looked at him enquiringly, for they did not know why he said that.
     He continued:  "People who live in mountainous areas, like Japan and Switzerland, tend to be short, whereas people who live on flat land, like the Netherlands, tend to be taller, or so I'm told".

TO BE CONTINUED