BIRTHDAY PRESENTS

One sunny day Lizzie and Randy were visiting Bevy, Billy and Baby Annie. They were all sitting under a willow tree, babysitting Baby Annie and talking. Bevy said "I am so happy Shay found Baby Annie for us the other day. All of us were really worried."

"Yes," said Billy. "Shay has helped us out a lot. When our lodge was damaged, Shay's imagination talked to the moon and to the wind. And when a big tree fell over the hole where we were hiding, she dug us out. Now when Baby Annie was lost, she found her for us."

"I think we should do something special for Shay," continued Bevy. "How about if we all give her Imagination Birthday presents?" All thought that was a good idea and Lizzie went over to Shay's place to invite her over.

2

Billy began by saying "my imagination present for Shay is a big water slide, so high it reaches to the clouds. Shay is inviting all her school friends and beaver friends to join her for the fun ride. A little white cloud is coming down to pick them all up and take them to the top of the slide in the clouds. All the people are amazed to see a water slide that reaches all the way up to the clouds."

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Bevy told them her imagination present for Shay was a gigantic swing that starts from way up high and swings from one side of the sky to the other side. All of the birds flying in the air have to get out of her way quickly because she is going really fast. And when she gets to the very top on each side, she reaches out and touches a star. She can't take her beaver friends on the swing with her because it is too scary for them. But she does take them on a very low swing just above the ground.

4

Randy told everybody his imagination present for Shay was a big cloud house. A cloud house is like a tree house, only instead of being on a tree, it is on a cloud. A little white cloud was the elevator that brought all her friends up to visit her in the cloud house. Her friends brought along snacks to eat and even stayed for a sleep-over. All the people looked up and couldn't believe they were seeing a cloud house.

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Lizzie told them her imagination present for Shay was a big birthday party at Beaver Flower Gardens. All her friends are invited and they all bring her lots of birthday presents. When they are finished eating the birthday cake, they all play fun games in the garden. When the birthday party is over, they all fly home on a magic carpet.

Baby Annie said "I don't know a story but my 'magination present for Shay is lots of hugs and kisses."

Shay was very impressed by all the Imagination Birthday presents. "These are the best imagination presents I ever had," said Shay. "Thank you very, very much." That day Shay went home and in her sleep she dreamed of all the fun things she did in the beaver's imaginations.

The End

Author Erwin Schalm

www.storiespoems.net

BABY ANNIE

After Billy and Bevy were married for a while, they had a cute little baby beaver. They were very excited. Her name was Annie.

Mama and Papa Beaver were very proud to be grandparents. Lizzie and Randy were proud to be aunt and uncle. Baby Annie was very active, exploring the river and the river bank around their lodge. One day Bevy and Billy were busy doing repairs inside their lodge. After a while Bevy went out to check on Annie. She rushed back inside and called out "Billy, I can't see Baby Annie anywhere. We better start looking for her."

Both went our and began looking everywhere for Annie. The whole neighbourhood of beavers joined in the search for Baby Annie. Lizzie said to the others "Why don't we use our imaginations to help us, like Shay always does?"

"Good idea," the other beavers replied. Shay is the girl that is their good friend.

2

One beaver said "in my imagination I see Baby Annie floating down the river on a log. She is enjoying herself now but she is getting close to a really big water fall and if she goes over the fall, we will never see her again."

"Let's not exaggerate" said Papa Beaver. "There is no water fall down river."

Another beaver said "I think she was abducted by green forest creatures that can fly who want her for their own baby because she is so cute. These green forest creatures are not mean, but they live very far from here in a deep forest. Baby Annie will get lost in the forest and she will never be able to find her way home again from there."

"We never heard of green forest creatures that can fly and live in a deep forest," said Mama Beaver. "I know you are all trying to help, but some of your imaginations might be a bit far fetched. And if you are using your imaginations, why not imagine something nice."

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Lizzie said "because Baby Annie is so cute, I think a beautiful princess came on a flying carpet and took Baby Annie away to her castle in Beaver Flower Gardens. That is a place with the most beautiful trees and flowers and Baby Annie will be able to play there with all her animal friends. There will be a big swimming pool for them to play in and they will have all the best toys in the world. And Baby Annie will be able to visit her parents every day using a magic flying carpet and all the beavers will be very proud of her."

"I like your imagination," said Randy. "And when she grows up she will marry a prince and they will live happily ever after in Beaver Flower Gardens."

Mama Beaver said "I don't think all our imaginations are helping us to find Baby Annie. Maybe we better call on Shay." Shay is the girl who is a good friend of all the beavers.

Lizzie went over to Shay and told her about the troubles they were having. Shay went back with her and talked to all the beavers. "Have you looked in all the beaver lodges?" Shay asked.

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"Yes we have", said Papa Beaver. "We have checked out every lodge in our neighbourhood."

Shay told them to all spread out and have another look. "I want you to look into every hole in the ground and into every hollow at the base of trees. Also look behind all bushes and in tall grass. She may have gotten injured and is unable to walk." The beavers all spread out and started looking again.

Shay's imagination told her that all babies like to play and that all babies are very inquisitive. Just maybe Baby Annie explored homes that are not beaver homes and maybe she is visiting raccoons or muskrat that live in the area. She checked out a raccoon den first and was told they had not seen Baby Annie. Next she went over to the home of a muskrat family and knocked on the door. Mama Muskrat came to the door and asked "are you looking for Baby Annie? She is such a delightful child and she has been visiting with us."

"I know you enjoy her visit," said Shay, "but everybody is looking for her and I must take her home now." Shay took Baby Annie back to her home and Mommy and Daddy were very happy to see their baby again. After hugging and kissing Baby Annie, they hugged and thanked Shay for finding her. After that incident they kept a very close eye on Baby Annie.

The End

Author Erwin Schalm

www.storiespoems.net

BILLY'S WEDDING

One evening the beaver family was sitting around the dinner table when Lizzie began to snicker. "What's the matter?" Asked Mama Beaver.

"Oh, nothing," said Lizzie.

"Come on now, I know you want to tell us something," insisted Mama Beaver.

Lizzie cleared her throat. "Billy has a girlfriend," she blurted out. Billy blushed and nudged her with his forehead.

"What is her name," asked Randy.

I think her name is Bevy, said Lizzie "I think she lives near the tall birch tree."

"Nothing to be embarrassed about," said Papa Beaver. "You are old enough to start noticing girls."

2

As time went by, Billy spent more and more time with Bevy. They tried to keep it a secret by meeting in tall grass where nobody could see them. The day came when Billy and Bevy started to talk about getting married. Lizzie was concerned about where they would live. Billy had not given it much thought. "As long as I am with you, I don't care where we live," said Billy. But Lizzie wanted a nice lodge. Nothing too big, but big enough for them and maybe three or four kits they might have sometime in the future.

3

Both Bevy's parents and Billy's parents were excited about the idea of them getting married. Building a lodge for them was now foremost on their minds. Billy and Bevy spent a lot of time looking for a suitable site for their lodge. At last they found the perfect spot along the river bank with a nice view of the pond. What they loved most about the site was the many red-winged blackbirds making their home around the pond. "Imagine relaxing along the river bank and listening to the beautiful songs of all the red-winged blackbirds," Bevy said.

"I know," said Billy. "We will see not only red-winged blackbirds but also a lot of other birds. Even big birds like swans and blue herons."

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Everybody was excited about building the lodge for Bevy and Billy. "You picked the perfect site for a lodge," Billy's dad told them. "There are enough trees nearby to build the lodge."

Construction had started. The industrious beavers were really busy felling trees and hauling branches to the site. Billy and Bevy discovered a hole in the ground along the river bank. Billy talked Bevy into joining him in the shallow cave for a bit of necking. Nobody could see them there. Just then the other beavers were ready to fell another tree. "This tree is leaning already and all we need to do is sever a few roots," said Papa Beaver.

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It didn't take long and the tree was ready to fall. "Timber!" yelled Papa Beaver, as he watched the tree go down.

"Oh no," shrieked Bevy. "The tree has fallen smack across our cave and sealed us in." They cried out for help.

"What were you doing in this hole?" asked Mama Beaver.

"Sorry about that," said Billy. "We just wanted to see how deep the hole is." But the other beavers all knew better. They knew Billy and Bevy had climbed in there to do some hugging and kissing.

"We are in big trouble," said Papa Beaver. "We can't chew the log because there is wire mesh around it and we can't dig you out because there are big rocks in the ground. What will we do?"

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Some beavers had ideas, but none were too practical.

"We have to think of something because how long can they go without food and water," Randy observed. Randy swam over to the beaver Search and Rescue squad and asked them for help. They came quickly, but after studying the situation, even they had no solution.

"We don't have a shovel and even if we did, we would not know how to use it," they said.

"There is only one thing we can do," volunteered Lizzie. "I will call on Shay to help us out." Shay is the girl who had helped them out before and the beavers were her friends. Lizzie ran to Shay's house as fast as she could. Luckily Shay was outside in the garden. After Lizzie explained the situation, Shay grabbed a shovel and crow bar and followed Lizzie.

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It was hard work but Shay managed to remove the rocks and dig a whole big enough for Bevy and Billy to crawl out. It was a big relief for all of them. They all hugged each other but they were especially grateful to Shay for having rescued them. "We will never forget what you did for us," they all said. Papa Beaver had a stern talk with Billy and told him to stay out of holes while they are felling trees. Of course, no one really believed it would be the last time Billy got in trouble.

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When the lodge was finished, all were very excited. Billy and Bevy were very proud of their new home. They could not wait to get married. The day of the wedding came and it was a big affair with many guests showing up. Shay was the guest of honour. The beavers had prepared a special place for her along the river bank, lined with twigs and grass, where she could sit and watch the ceremony. Shay called it her beaver throne and she would sit there often in days to come and watch the activities of the beavers.

The End

Author Erwin Schalm

www.storiespoems.net