Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Tiberius and the Black Crow Swamp, Part III
Part III
TroMatGar swung his mighty branches at Tiberus. He wanted to grab the knight to punish him for trying to steal from him.
“When I catch you I will throw you into the pit of stinky ooze!” he roared. “I will turn you into a knight pie and eat you up! I will stomp on you so hard you’ll sink into the mud!”
“You’ll have to catch me first!” Shouted Tiberius. He ducked when the giant tree reached for him and jumped over his roots when the tree tried to trip him. Tiberius’ sword was gone, but he was still the best knight in the world and knight need to be fast and smart as well as good fighters.
TroMatGar was getting angrier that he could not catch the little knight. He stomped all over the swamp trying to grab him.
Tiberius was getting tired. He thought that this was all a mistake so he tried to talk to TroMatGar.
“Why do you have gold? Trees don’t need gold.”
“It’s not my gold”, said TroMatGar, “It is the black crows’ gold. They bring it to me to keep safe. They love their gold.”
Something did not seem right about that. Tiberius tried to think about why the crows needed gold. But while he was thinking, something bad happened.
“Ah-ha!” said TroMatGar. He stretched out his long branches and grabbed Tiberius! Tiberius tried to break free, but the tree branches were too strong and he was too tired. TroMatGar pulled Tiberius up close to him.
“Now, I have you!” He laughed with glee. Now I will have to decide what to do with you so that you won’t steal my crow’s gold!”
Then Tiberius remembered something. “But crows don’t like gold.” He told TroMatGar. TroMatGar stopped.
“What do you mean? Of course the love gold! That’s why they fill me up with it. That’s why I must protect it”
“no,” said Tiberius, “Crows like shiny things. That’s why they took my sword, because it was shiny. Is it hard to carry all that gold?”
“Yes.” TroMatGar replied. “It makes me heavy and hard to move, but I didn’t want to hurt the crows feelings.”
“Why don’t you empty out the gold and see what happens?”
TroMatGar listened to Tiberius. Finally, he leaned over and all the gold coins that were inside of him spilled out. There were millions of them. So shiny.
“Now the crows won’t want to be with me.” He said.
But just then a crow came and landed on TroMatGar. Then another, and another. Soon all the crows were back on his branches, happily cawing as loud as they could. They didn’t care about the gold.
TroMatGar was thrilled. He set down Tiberius. “This is wonderful!” He said as he dance around the swamp. “I am so light without all those heavy coins in me, I feel great. You are a good person, Tiberius. I thank you for your kindness. You may take all the gold you want.”
Tiberius smiled. “I do not want your gold. Tell the crows to give them to people when they are sick or hungry. I only want my sword and some of your black, black mud to paint a picture for my horse.”
TroMatGar found Tiberius’ sword and together they scooped up plenty of mud for the painting. Finally Tiberius was ready to go home. TroMatGar waved goodbye to him.
“You come back whenever you need something” TroMatGar said as he jumped up and down. “You are a friend to me.”
Tiberius smiled. He was brave and strong, but most of all he liked friends. That is why he needed to get home and paint a picture of the night sky for his best friend in the whole world.
Tiberius worked all day and night on the picture for Pine at last he hung it in his stable and waited for Pine to see it. When Pine saw the new picture he jumped for joy. It made him so happy. Seeing his friend happy made Tiberius happy too. It was a long hard journey, but it was worth it.
TroMatGar swung his mighty branches at Tiberus. He wanted to grab the knight to punish him for trying to steal from him.
“When I catch you I will throw you into the pit of stinky ooze!” he roared. “I will turn you into a knight pie and eat you up! I will stomp on you so hard you’ll sink into the mud!”
“You’ll have to catch me first!” Shouted Tiberius. He ducked when the giant tree reached for him and jumped over his roots when the tree tried to trip him. Tiberius’ sword was gone, but he was still the best knight in the world and knight need to be fast and smart as well as good fighters.
TroMatGar was getting angrier that he could not catch the little knight. He stomped all over the swamp trying to grab him.
Tiberius was getting tired. He thought that this was all a mistake so he tried to talk to TroMatGar.
“Why do you have gold? Trees don’t need gold.”
“It’s not my gold”, said TroMatGar, “It is the black crows’ gold. They bring it to me to keep safe. They love their gold.”
Something did not seem right about that. Tiberius tried to think about why the crows needed gold. But while he was thinking, something bad happened.
“Ah-ha!” said TroMatGar. He stretched out his long branches and grabbed Tiberius! Tiberius tried to break free, but the tree branches were too strong and he was too tired. TroMatGar pulled Tiberius up close to him.
“Now, I have you!” He laughed with glee. Now I will have to decide what to do with you so that you won’t steal my crow’s gold!”
Then Tiberius remembered something. “But crows don’t like gold.” He told TroMatGar. TroMatGar stopped.
“What do you mean? Of course the love gold! That’s why they fill me up with it. That’s why I must protect it”
“no,” said Tiberius, “Crows like shiny things. That’s why they took my sword, because it was shiny. Is it hard to carry all that gold?”
“Yes.” TroMatGar replied. “It makes me heavy and hard to move, but I didn’t want to hurt the crows feelings.”
“Why don’t you empty out the gold and see what happens?”
TroMatGar listened to Tiberius. Finally, he leaned over and all the gold coins that were inside of him spilled out. There were millions of them. So shiny.
“Now the crows won’t want to be with me.” He said.
But just then a crow came and landed on TroMatGar. Then another, and another. Soon all the crows were back on his branches, happily cawing as loud as they could. They didn’t care about the gold.
TroMatGar was thrilled. He set down Tiberius. “This is wonderful!” He said as he dance around the swamp. “I am so light without all those heavy coins in me, I feel great. You are a good person, Tiberius. I thank you for your kindness. You may take all the gold you want.”
Tiberius smiled. “I do not want your gold. Tell the crows to give them to people when they are sick or hungry. I only want my sword and some of your black, black mud to paint a picture for my horse.”
TroMatGar found Tiberius’ sword and together they scooped up plenty of mud for the painting. Finally Tiberius was ready to go home. TroMatGar waved goodbye to him.
“You come back whenever you need something” TroMatGar said as he jumped up and down. “You are a friend to me.”
Tiberius smiled. He was brave and strong, but most of all he liked friends. That is why he needed to get home and paint a picture of the night sky for his best friend in the whole world.
Tiberius worked all day and night on the picture for Pine at last he hung it in his stable and waited for Pine to see it. When Pine saw the new picture he jumped for joy. It made him so happy. Seeing his friend happy made Tiberius happy too. It was a long hard journey, but it was worth it.
Tiberius and the Black Crow Swamp, Part II
Part II
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Tiberius and the Map Knight fought all day with their swords clanging against each other. The Map Knight had a sword and a shield, which made it very hard for Tiberius to fight him. Even worse, the Map Knight had lots of maps that showed him places to hide. Every time Tiberius started to win the fight, the Map Knight would hide somewhere and rest. Tiberius could hear the Map knight laughing when Tiberius tried to find him, but Tiberius never could.
Tiberius was getting very tired and was afraid he would lose the fight. He didn’t mind losing a fight, but then he wouldn’t be able to find the black paint to that he wanted to finish Pine’s surprise painting. Tiberius knew he had to find that paint, so he had to beat the Map Knight. Then Tiberius got an idea.
Tiberius knew the Map Knight must love maps a lot. Tiberius took out some of his painting supplies and painted a map. It was a silly map that didn’t go anywhere, but the Map Knight would want to have it if he saw it. Then, Tiberius took some peanut butter he had left over from the peanut butter and jelly sandwich he was eating earlier and covered the map with sticky, gooey peanut butter. He stuck the sticky map to the ground and hid in the bushes to wait for the Map Knight.
Finally, the Map Knight left his hiding spot. He looked for Tiberius, but couldn’t find him. Then he saw the map on the ground. Sure enough, the Map Knight loved maps and when he saw that map he just had to look at it. He reached down to grab it.
“Hey!”, he shouted, “I’m stuck!”
The Map Knight was now stuck to the map, which was stuck the ground. The gooey, sticky peanut butter was like strong glue and the Map Knight could not get out, no matter how hard he tried.
“Help! Help!” he cried. Finally, Tiberius walked out of the bushes.
“You tricked me.” The Map Knight said.
“I’m sorry.” Tiberius said. “You seem like a nice knight. Why did you want to fight me?”
“Because all I ever do is help people with maps. I’m a knight and knights need to fight, don’t they?”
“Not at all,” said Tiberius. “Knight are supposed to help people however they can. You help people by telling them where they need to go without getting lost. That is a very noble thing.”
The Map Knight smiled. No one had ever told him that what he was doing was noble. Tiberius helped the Map Knight get unstuck from the peanut butter. Then he asked the Map Knight how to get to the Black Crow Swamp.
“Getting there is easy.” Said the Map Knight. “All you have to do is follow the black crows. All the black crows live there on a giant, old tree named TroMatGar. That’s why they call it Black Crow Swamp. But getting back is hard, so here is a map that will lead you out of the Black Crow Swamp.”
Tiberius thanked the Map Knight and then looked at the sky. He saw two crows flying away. He started to walk the direction they flew. It took a long time to get to Black Crow Swamp. There was a desert with very hot sand, a forest with angry bees and a jungle with monkeys that kept him up all night with their noise. There was even a storm that blew so hard he had to stick his sword in the ground and hang on so that he wouldn’t be blown away. But finally he made it to Black Crow Swamp, where all the crows lived.
In the middle of the swamp, he found the tree called TroMatGar. It was a huge tree with big black branches and purple leaves. Thousand of crows sat on the branches and made a lot of noise with their “Caw! Caw!” all the time.
Tiberius looked down. There on the ground was the blackest mud he had ever seen. It would be perfect to make the color of the night sky for his painting that he was going to give to Pine. Tiberius imagined Pine looking at the picture and how happy it would make his horse. Tiberius scooped up some mud to take back with him.
Then there was a rumbling sound. All the crows in the tree called TroMatGar suddenly flew away. TroMatGar then opened his eyes and looked at Tiberius.
“Ho-ho!” He roared, “Trying to steal from me are you!”
TroMatGar reached out a giant branch to catch Tiberius. Tiberius pulled out his sword and pointed shouted to TroMatGar.
“I need this mud. Please let me have some to paint a picture!”
“No!” Snarled TroMatGar. “Because if I let you have my mud, then the next thing you will want is my gold!”
Tiberius was confused. “What gold?”, he asked. But before he could get an answer the crows swooped down and took his sword away from him! Now Tiberius had no sword and an angry tree to fight.
TroMatGar looked at Tiberius and smiled. “Now, you’ll never beat me!”
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Tiberius and the Map Knight fought all day with their swords clanging against each other. The Map Knight had a sword and a shield, which made it very hard for Tiberius to fight him. Even worse, the Map Knight had lots of maps that showed him places to hide. Every time Tiberius started to win the fight, the Map Knight would hide somewhere and rest. Tiberius could hear the Map knight laughing when Tiberius tried to find him, but Tiberius never could.
Tiberius was getting very tired and was afraid he would lose the fight. He didn’t mind losing a fight, but then he wouldn’t be able to find the black paint to that he wanted to finish Pine’s surprise painting. Tiberius knew he had to find that paint, so he had to beat the Map Knight. Then Tiberius got an idea.
Tiberius knew the Map Knight must love maps a lot. Tiberius took out some of his painting supplies and painted a map. It was a silly map that didn’t go anywhere, but the Map Knight would want to have it if he saw it. Then, Tiberius took some peanut butter he had left over from the peanut butter and jelly sandwich he was eating earlier and covered the map with sticky, gooey peanut butter. He stuck the sticky map to the ground and hid in the bushes to wait for the Map Knight.
Finally, the Map Knight left his hiding spot. He looked for Tiberius, but couldn’t find him. Then he saw the map on the ground. Sure enough, the Map Knight loved maps and when he saw that map he just had to look at it. He reached down to grab it.
“Hey!”, he shouted, “I’m stuck!”
The Map Knight was now stuck to the map, which was stuck the ground. The gooey, sticky peanut butter was like strong glue and the Map Knight could not get out, no matter how hard he tried.
“Help! Help!” he cried. Finally, Tiberius walked out of the bushes.
“You tricked me.” The Map Knight said.
“I’m sorry.” Tiberius said. “You seem like a nice knight. Why did you want to fight me?”
“Because all I ever do is help people with maps. I’m a knight and knights need to fight, don’t they?”
“Not at all,” said Tiberius. “Knight are supposed to help people however they can. You help people by telling them where they need to go without getting lost. That is a very noble thing.”
The Map Knight smiled. No one had ever told him that what he was doing was noble. Tiberius helped the Map Knight get unstuck from the peanut butter. Then he asked the Map Knight how to get to the Black Crow Swamp.
“Getting there is easy.” Said the Map Knight. “All you have to do is follow the black crows. All the black crows live there on a giant, old tree named TroMatGar. That’s why they call it Black Crow Swamp. But getting back is hard, so here is a map that will lead you out of the Black Crow Swamp.”
Tiberius thanked the Map Knight and then looked at the sky. He saw two crows flying away. He started to walk the direction they flew. It took a long time to get to Black Crow Swamp. There was a desert with very hot sand, a forest with angry bees and a jungle with monkeys that kept him up all night with their noise. There was even a storm that blew so hard he had to stick his sword in the ground and hang on so that he wouldn’t be blown away. But finally he made it to Black Crow Swamp, where all the crows lived.
In the middle of the swamp, he found the tree called TroMatGar. It was a huge tree with big black branches and purple leaves. Thousand of crows sat on the branches and made a lot of noise with their “Caw! Caw!” all the time.
Tiberius looked down. There on the ground was the blackest mud he had ever seen. It would be perfect to make the color of the night sky for his painting that he was going to give to Pine. Tiberius imagined Pine looking at the picture and how happy it would make his horse. Tiberius scooped up some mud to take back with him.
Then there was a rumbling sound. All the crows in the tree called TroMatGar suddenly flew away. TroMatGar then opened his eyes and looked at Tiberius.
“Ho-ho!” He roared, “Trying to steal from me are you!”
TroMatGar reached out a giant branch to catch Tiberius. Tiberius pulled out his sword and pointed shouted to TroMatGar.
“I need this mud. Please let me have some to paint a picture!”
“No!” Snarled TroMatGar. “Because if I let you have my mud, then the next thing you will want is my gold!”
Tiberius was confused. “What gold?”, he asked. But before he could get an answer the crows swooped down and took his sword away from him! Now Tiberius had no sword and an angry tree to fight.
TroMatGar looked at Tiberius and smiled. “Now, you’ll never beat me!”
Friday, November 28, 2008
Tiberius and the Black Crow Swamp
Tiberius and the Black Crow Swamp
Part I
Tiberius was painting a picture in his castle. He wanted surprise his horse Pine with a new picture of a starry sky in his stable. Tiberius loved his horse and would do anything for him.
Tiberius had all the things he needed to paint laid out in front of him. He had a piece of paper to paint on, a brush, a glass of water to clean the brush and of course, the paints. But then Tiberius stopped and looked at his paint collection closely. Something was missing. He had his yellow for the stars, white for the moon and purple for the comet shooting across the sky, but he was missing the color black.
Tiberius looked everywhere for his black paint tube, but he could not find it. Maybe he had used it all up painting another picture, he thought. Maybe it rolled into a crack in the floor and was gone. Either way, he had no black paint to paint his surprise picture for Pine. He felt sad. He needed to find some more paint.
Tiberius went to his friend the Blue/Green dragon. The Blue-green dragon was sitting in the shade, counting the leaves on the tree.
“Blue-green Dragon, I need to ask you a question.”
“Oh, bother.” The blue-green dragon said. “Now I’ve lost count of the leaves. Oh well, how can I help you Brave Tiberius.”
Tiberius told him of the missing black paint. The Blue green Dragon listened to Tiberius and thought about his problem for a long time. So long, that Tiberius made himself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and ate it up with a glass of water to wash it down. When Tiberius came back, the dragon had an answer.
“If you want the best black paint in all the world, I know where you need to go.” The dragon told him.
“Where is that?” Tiberius asked.
“The Black Crow Swamp.” The Blue Green Dragon said. “That is where the mud is the blackest of black. If you can get there and grab some of this black, black mud, then you will have the best paint in the world and Pine will have the best picture of the sky in the world.
Tiberius had never heard of the Black Crow Swamp and he had heard of a lot of places before.
“Is it dangerous?” He asked the dragon.
“Very” the dragon replied, “No one likes to go there and if they do, they run away from it as fast as they can.”
“I’m not afraid of anything.” Tiberius said. He pulled out his sword and swished it around to show how brave he was. “Where is this swamp?”
“I don’t know” the dragon said. “But the map knight might know. He lives in the middle of the town of Salty Hat.
Tiberius thought that the name ‘Salty hat’ was a silly name for a town. But he needed to find the Map Knight, so he had to go to Salty Hat.
Tiberius thanked the Blue Green Dragon, who went back to counting his leaves. Tiberius had to walk to Salty Hat because if Pine knew what he was doing, it would ruin the surprise.
Tiberius walked for a long, long time. Over mountains, through forests and around lakes. He fought a troll once on a bridge and beat him by cutting the bridge in half and letting the troll fall into the water below. The troll was angry and wet, but Tiberius had to keep going. Finally he got to the town of Salty Hat.
When Tiberius got to Salty hat, it was the strangest place he had ever visited. Everyone wore hats. Big hats on little people. Little, tiny hats on big people. There were hats on dogs and hats on birds. Some people even wore hats on their hats. “What a silly place.” Tiberius thought to himself.
Then he saw a sign that said “The is the house of the Map Knight.” Tiberius knocked on the door. Bang, bang, bang, he knocked. The door opened and there was the Map knight. He had maps all over his armor and a map was on his shield. He held a big swornd and wore a shiny helmet.
“Who seeks the Map knight? Who?” Shouted the Map Knight.
“I do, Tiberius the brave. “ Tiberius said. “I need your help to find the Black Crow Swamp.”
The Map Knight laughed and said. “The only way you can get my help is if you fight me first!”
The two knights looked at each other. Tiberius pulled out his sword and said.
“Okay, I will fight you”
To be Continued...
© 2008
Part I
Tiberius was painting a picture in his castle. He wanted surprise his horse Pine with a new picture of a starry sky in his stable. Tiberius loved his horse and would do anything for him.
Tiberius had all the things he needed to paint laid out in front of him. He had a piece of paper to paint on, a brush, a glass of water to clean the brush and of course, the paints. But then Tiberius stopped and looked at his paint collection closely. Something was missing. He had his yellow for the stars, white for the moon and purple for the comet shooting across the sky, but he was missing the color black.
Tiberius looked everywhere for his black paint tube, but he could not find it. Maybe he had used it all up painting another picture, he thought. Maybe it rolled into a crack in the floor and was gone. Either way, he had no black paint to paint his surprise picture for Pine. He felt sad. He needed to find some more paint.
Tiberius went to his friend the Blue/Green dragon. The Blue-green dragon was sitting in the shade, counting the leaves on the tree.
“Blue-green Dragon, I need to ask you a question.”
“Oh, bother.” The blue-green dragon said. “Now I’ve lost count of the leaves. Oh well, how can I help you Brave Tiberius.”
Tiberius told him of the missing black paint. The Blue green Dragon listened to Tiberius and thought about his problem for a long time. So long, that Tiberius made himself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and ate it up with a glass of water to wash it down. When Tiberius came back, the dragon had an answer.
“If you want the best black paint in all the world, I know where you need to go.” The dragon told him.
“Where is that?” Tiberius asked.
“The Black Crow Swamp.” The Blue Green Dragon said. “That is where the mud is the blackest of black. If you can get there and grab some of this black, black mud, then you will have the best paint in the world and Pine will have the best picture of the sky in the world.
Tiberius had never heard of the Black Crow Swamp and he had heard of a lot of places before.
“Is it dangerous?” He asked the dragon.
“Very” the dragon replied, “No one likes to go there and if they do, they run away from it as fast as they can.”
“I’m not afraid of anything.” Tiberius said. He pulled out his sword and swished it around to show how brave he was. “Where is this swamp?”
“I don’t know” the dragon said. “But the map knight might know. He lives in the middle of the town of Salty Hat.
Tiberius thought that the name ‘Salty hat’ was a silly name for a town. But he needed to find the Map Knight, so he had to go to Salty Hat.
Tiberius thanked the Blue Green Dragon, who went back to counting his leaves. Tiberius had to walk to Salty Hat because if Pine knew what he was doing, it would ruin the surprise.
Tiberius walked for a long, long time. Over mountains, through forests and around lakes. He fought a troll once on a bridge and beat him by cutting the bridge in half and letting the troll fall into the water below. The troll was angry and wet, but Tiberius had to keep going. Finally he got to the town of Salty Hat.
When Tiberius got to Salty hat, it was the strangest place he had ever visited. Everyone wore hats. Big hats on little people. Little, tiny hats on big people. There were hats on dogs and hats on birds. Some people even wore hats on their hats. “What a silly place.” Tiberius thought to himself.
Then he saw a sign that said “The is the house of the Map Knight.” Tiberius knocked on the door. Bang, bang, bang, he knocked. The door opened and there was the Map knight. He had maps all over his armor and a map was on his shield. He held a big swornd and wore a shiny helmet.
“Who seeks the Map knight? Who?” Shouted the Map Knight.
“I do, Tiberius the brave. “ Tiberius said. “I need your help to find the Black Crow Swamp.”
The Map Knight laughed and said. “The only way you can get my help is if you fight me first!”
The two knights looked at each other. Tiberius pulled out his sword and said.
“Okay, I will fight you”
To be Continued...
© 2008
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