Many thanks to all who submitted a story, caption or comment for our first submission event. Enjoy!
Ole Rab and the Miraculous Carrot Trees
Ole Rab’s farm is near the home of Paul Bunyan– and a lot of other heroes too. But Ole Rab was the famousest. Why, he tunneled into every garden in the Territory and made all the fences fall over. And he jumped the moon to rescue Sluefoot Sue when Pecos Bill’s horse bucked her off. And … well, there’s lots o’ stories. My favorite is the Tale of the Miraculous Carrot Trees.
It was a hard time. Everybody was hungry, Ole Rab too, but it was his grandkids that got him, with their little thin bellies and their big sad eyes.
So he started thinkin’. Now when Ole Rab starts thinkin’, look out! He thinks BIG, and he thinks fancy, and he thinks wa-a-a-ay out yonder. Just stand back when you see Ole Rab lookin’ thoughtful.
One night lights flashed and machinery screeched from his house. The next day he brought us all little bags o’ seeds.
“Dig a little hole,” he told us, “and throw in a couple o’ seeds. Then spit in it – nothin’ like rabbit spit to make things grow. Then cover it and water it.”
So we did, and the next day – the very next day! – we found trees head-high to a elephant. The day after that, there were carrots on ’em!
Now carrots want to grow in the ground. Ole Rab was countin’ on that. Those carrots did not like it at all that they were way up in the air, and they strained with all their might toward the ground.
They got BIGGER. And HEAVIER. Real fast, too. We had to brace the trunks and branches so they wouldn’t crack. Finally it took Paul Bunyan to chop ’em up.
Then we had carrot stew, carrot cake, carrot bread, carrot pudding till we nearly popped – we were set for the next ten years!
Now no carrot will stay crisp that long, and a frozen carrot is a soggy, limp excuse for a vegetable. So Ole Rab had to come up with a way to keep them fresh …
But that’s another story.
BIO: Barbara Posey
I am a former child, and a pseudo-grownup; I love to write and draw and make things. I am retired from a so-called career in which I wrote some, drew some, and played a lot with computers, and now I get to write and draw and make what I choose to. Did I say I’m a girl (does it matter)?
I really enjoyed the story, very imaginative and creative.
She is a great story-teller!
Hahahaha! I love this. Way to go Barbara!
When Barbara starts thinking fancy and way out yonder, something wonderful is bound to come out of it. Nice story, Barb–love it!