Introduction:

Hi,

Glad you decided to drop by my blog. I enjoy story telling and making up stories. Therefore, I decided to start this blog to share some of my stories with anyone who may be interested. If you enjoy what you read here, please tell others about it. I promise to never post a story here which you would be ashamed to read to your children (or be ashamed if someone caught you reading it).



Blessings,

C. Bowman

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Sam’s Bear Story

Sometimes a writer just gets stuck. He can’t find the fire, the energy, the “light” that guided him before. So he sits. And waits, fiddles around here and there, does nothing notable or worthwhile while he constantly feels a sense of frustration and wasting of time. The pressure seems to build inside him and he mentally starts grasping at floating bits of random thoughts trying to build a story or at least an idea of some sort.  Sort of like the bored and unsuccessful fisherman who begins to shake his line to watch the cork move, hoping that he’ll entice a passing fish to take a try at whatever lifeless bait is hanging there on the end of his lazily dangling line.
That was Sam’s situation this slightly too warm evening as he sat by the small campfire out on the edge of Double Branches Road along the north side of the Okefenokee Swamp. He slowly tapped his small writing pad on his crossed leg and nibbled blankly on his pencil. Two or three bats were staying busy swooping down and then up into the night sky above the fire as they stayed steadily busy zeroing in on passing mosquitoes and other small and too slow flying insects. Out in the nearby cypress pond, the sound of some small critter rummaging around in the edge of the water came and went. “Probably a ‘coon,” he thought.
Gradually Sam’s eyes began to grow heavy as his unsuccessful attempt to come up with a story idea for his next newspaper column went steadily downhill. He still had a couple more days before he had to get his story turned in for the local weekly newspaper. Still, he hated to be running so late in coming up with an idea. “Usually I have a whole list of ideas floatin’ round in my head… but not now,” he sighed to himself.   
Sam’s distracted and frustrated thinking, as well as the natural calming and sleep inducing effect of a good meal eaten out under the stars all probably led to Sam not realizing that the previous coming and going of the  little critter over around the cypress pond had stopped. In fact, all the little night noises of one kind and another had ceased. But Sam was too engrossed in his mentally draining attempt to think his way into a story idea to notice.
 Sam sat leaning back against a conveniently located stump. He was staring carelessly towards the cypress pond, itself partially hidden over behind about fifty yards of broom straw grasses and occasionally poking up little trees of one kind or another. From his seat, Sam could see the upper parts of the darkened trees across the tops of the grasses. The grasses themselves, beginning just a few short yards away, formed a kind of wavy darkened brown wall with yellowish tips moving softly in the evening breeze. Sam’s eyes slowly seemed to focus on a darker spot in the brownish grasses. A large darkened spot… with a longish nose protruding from the center of it with a couple of white tipped teeth showing just below it…
Suddenly, Sam’s previous boredom was gone! His stomach tightened up unbelievably tight! His mouth went completely and immediately dry with his tongue suddenly stuck to the roof of his mouth. His breath slowly and forcefully blew through the rounded hole of his mouth as he tried to slowly scoot up the side of the stump. A bear!!   His hand now tightly gripped his pencil. He threateningly held it out in front of him as if it was an Indian war club. His notepad in the other hand now a war shield. His knees, the drumming of the village war drum. A bear! His mind raced, his eyes burned from the campfire’s smoke which now seemed to have become the bear’s ally.
And then, he was gone! Sam, now standing on top of the stump… his war chariot, war club at the ready, waited for what he was sure would be a flanking attack by the swamp creature. His burning eyes swung here and there, searching frantically for the threat. The sweat, unnoticed before, made its presence known as it ran down both sides of his face and head.  He quickly jabbed a left finger up to his ear to wipe out the sweat…the better to hear his secretive stalker! Then his right hand went up to do the same… and he howled a cry of pain as he feel sideways off his stump while turning his head to stare with a mixture of fear and anger at the offending pencil which had just launched its secret attack against the side of his head! It bore its bloodied tip as proof of its treachery.
He landed on the ground with a solid whump! His breath left him, his lungs now turned traitor as well. Wildly he tried to scrabble up, sucking for breath, swinging his head this way and that for the threat he feared was closing on him quickly! Nothing. No bear. Nothing. He turned a complete circle, now recovering his breath and beginning to calm down, he realized that… at least for now… he was still alive and not being attacked. Then he heard it….off in the distance… the sound of loud splashing of water as the bear now ran for its life out across the shallow cypress pond, seeking to escape the man it had accidently stumbled upon as it followed the scent of the roasted corn from Sam’s supper.
And Sam? After some time to recover his emotions and tend to his “battle” wound… he settled down to write a fictitious story…based on proven fact, he later said while enjoying a cup of coffee around the stove at the Tebeauville General store. The story? It was about a grizzled battle scarred old swamper and Indian fighter who courageously fought off an attack by, not one but two, bears as they sought to enter his cabin out along the edge of the great Okefenokee Swamp.
                                                                                     The End
Tebeauville no longer exists today. It has been replaced by the modern town of Waycross, Georgia. The swamp is still there and still has black bears around its edges and plenty of raccoons as well. Double Branches Road is there as well… if you know how to find it. cb
   

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Sally Starfish Makes a Friend

This is one of several stories for children you can find in  my eBook "Lucas the Squirrel and Friends" available online in the Kindle store at Amazon. cb


Sally had been feeling very down and sad lately. As a result of this she had been hanging around her family’s home in Rock Village near the East End for almost a whole week without going out into the neighborhood.  The reason for all of this sadness was that her best friend, Willy Crab had traveled to Jekyll to live with his family over there. And since Sally was a very shy starfish, she felt that she would never have another friend the rest of her life. She was so sad and lonely.
Sally’s mom had been encouraging her to go out and greet whatever neighbors she might encounter around the neighborhood. Mom Starfish knew that Sally was a sweet young girl and if she just tried, she would soon have another good friend. After some serious coaxing Sally gave in and agreed to go hang out at Rock Top Park where the other younger sea creatures usually hung out. So out the door she went and up to the park she climbed.
It wasn’t long before a few of the neighborhood Crab family kids came by and said hello as they passed on their way to some adventure or other. Sally thought, ”That is what crabs always seem to be up to…adventure. While we starfish just sit around and wait on life.” She sighed deeply and drifted over to sit in the dark shade of one of the few seaweed clumps that anchored themselves around the top edge of Rock Top Park.
It was while she was sitting there hoping that someone friendly would drift by that she heard a wee tiny voice crying out for help! Then she saw that a fishing line was angled down behind were she was sitting and seemed to be passing right down behind Rock Village. As she was watching and wondering what was going on she realized that the fishing line was moving as if the fisherman up on the pier was pulling it in. Then she suddenly saw, down deeper towards the bottom, the end of the fishing line with its sinkers and hooks and bright little red balls coming towards her… and tangled up in the line was a small little bright red starfish!
Almost without thinking Sally reached a tentacle out and snaring the fishing line she pulled it into the seaweed clump beside her! As the hooks came up they lodged firmly in the seaweed. Quickly she scooted down to help the little red starfish untangle himself. Just in time as he came unwound, the fisherman gave a mighty tug on the line and up it shot towards the surface! And just as quickly, Sally grabbed a red tentacle and quickly scooted into the safety of the seaweed clump with the now rescued starfish.
“Thanks a lot!” he said as she released his tentacle and they settled into the safety of the clump. “You’re welcome,” she said. “So…, who are you?” she hesitantly asked. “I’m Lil’ Red Starfish of the Far East End Starfish family,” he said. “But, my friends just call me Lil’ Red for short.” “Hi,” she said, ”I’m Sally Starfish of Rock Village. We live just near here,” she said. “Well, I sure appreciate you helping me get away from that fishing line, Sally. He about had me! I was just scooting by looking to see who I could meet to hang out with today and that old line just came right up beside me and the next thing I knew I was tangled up in it real good! Boy, I was scared!” “Well, I didn’t have much time to think about it,” she said. ”I just knew you needed help fast and the first thing I thought of was trying to snag the line so you could get free.”
With that start to their conversation, Lil Red and Sally wound up talking for so long in the shade of the seaweed clump that Sally’s dad finally came to the park and called for her to come home for supper.  Lil Red and Sally agreed that the next morning they would meet back at the park and continue their discussion. When  Sally returned home, her mom knew immediately that she was no longer without a friend from the happy little tune Sally was singing as she began to help her set the table.
After the family sat down to eat Mom asked, “So… Sally, how was the park today?” “Well I may not be an adventurous crab, but I had an adventure today she began…” And for the rest of mealtime she told her parents of her new friend Lil Red and the story of the tangled line. 
                                                                            The End