The baby grand rolled and rolled on its smooth brass wheels--but the terrain was very hard on it. After many days of rolling and rolling, she finally reached an outlook that gave a vista of the ocean, and was so tired and out of tune that she just decided to live the rest of her days right there: on a beautiful mountain that looked over the Pacific Ocean and the Oregon coastline--majestic!
The next day, after the piano had rested from her long and arduous travels, she woke up to find a man wandering down along the beach. She called to the man in an Am (which sounded very out of tune). Hearing this, the man cringed a bit and made haste up to where the piano was.
"Are you lost baby grand?" the man asked.
"No, I have come here to live. Right here" she replied.
"This seems like a strange place for a piano... what about your family?"
"The other three pianos--my mother concert grand, my father grand and my brother upright--they live back in the mountains. I have come down here to live where the mountains meet the ocean, where I can live grounded in the breeze--where my music can soar out over the waves to faraway lands--and where I can watch the sun set every night and sleep to the changing tide" the piano said.
"How beautiful!" the man replied. "I actually happen to tune pianos now and then--would you like me to tune you?"
"Yes please!" the piano exclaimed. "I am so out of tune, and I can't stand to hear myself sound anything but the best!"
The man raised the lid and worked meticulously, tuning each note perfectly, then going over them a second to assure accuracy.
"Would you mind if I played a bit?" the man asked.
"Not at all" the piano replied. "That is what I was created for: to be a vessel for music to be heard by all."
The man proceeded to play Claire de Lune--which happened to be one of the young piano's favorite pieces.
"I love this piece" the piano said. "It reminds me of the moon--my glowing friend that watches over me at night."
The man stopped playing for a minute. "Young piano, how will you live here? The wind and the rain can be strong sometimes, and it wouldn't be good for your beautiful wood, or your strings."
"Well, I guess I didn't think about that" the piano replied.
"Well, I also happen to do a bit of carpentry now and then" the man said. "If you like, I could make a house around you, with windows all around and above, so you could still see the landscape and the moon. And the windows would open, to let your music out over the ocean. All I would ask in return is to be able to stop by and play music for an hour each day."
"That would be wonderful! And I would love to be played, for otherwise my talents--to bring music to people--will go unused" the piano replied.
So the man worked every day for a month to build an aesthetically and acoustically beautiful house around the piano--something that would be as beautiful as the piano. And there was much rejoicing--for the piano had both shelter from the elements, and had a new friend to keep her flowing and beaming with music.
And they lived a long time, sharing in what was beautiful about each other, and watched the moon in its elliptical path many a night. In fact, to this day you can still hear this piano out on the Oregon coast--you can still hear her magical notes sound out across the ocean. If you are out there on a beach, and listen very carefully, you can hear her beautiful melodies intertwined with the surf and the changing tide. And when you see the moon, you can know that wherever you are--at that very moment--she is looking in the same direction: towards that beautiful reflection of the Sun.
I once met a little bug named ally—ally was an allybug And a good one at that! She would squirm her way here and fly her way there With little wings that she keeps neatly tucked under her shell. She loved to fly up to people’s ears And whisper secrets of love And crawl across the room Picking up what people would drop She liked to call them peopledroppings. One day she met a polleybug, Who liked to tuck himself into a ball And roll around and around and around Until he had to stop to catch his breath (he almost ran out!) One day, on his daily roll He rolled into her And blushed For he had never run into anything before Especially such a beautiful bug So he apologized for his clumsiness And then he tripped over 3 of his fourteen legs And fell backwards on his shell. She thought he was cute. So they started going about their daily bugbusiness together He was always amazed to see her fly Because he knew nothing of wings And he wondered how she always had time To pickup after everyone She was equally amazed to see him Roll and roll and roll and roll Knowing that she would be far to dizzy If she ever attempted such things They would help each other out Using each other’s advantages. She would pick up what someone had dropped And he would take it and speedily Roll it to a garbage can—careful not to fall in For what is worse to a bug than to Fall into a dirty garbage can But one day, after she handed him Some peopledroppings to take to the trash He thought he would impress this Beautiful allybug by rolling faster Than ever before And so he rolled with every ounce Of polleybug might he had! And in doing so he forgot to stop And rolled right into the garbage can! Yes, right into the dirty and smelly Garbage can—a fate worse than death! But somehow he was not afraid Because he had his beautiful allybug And he thought “what more can a polleybug ask for?” And so when he did not return The allybug figured that Mr. Polley Was probably into his usual trouble (because he did get in trouble sometimes when he would try to impress other bugs especially) And she found him In his smelly mess He was really embarrassed now Because now he was a smelly bug And what kind of allybug in her right mind Would like a smelly polleybug? But she didn’t really care about that For she knew what was under his smelly shell It even made her laugh To see her silly polleybug In the garbage can In fact she laughed so hard That she slipped and Fell in the garbage can too! And now they were both smelly bugs But they didn’t care Because they had each other And wondering how they might get out Of this smelly place She thought that she might fly out And go get help But what other bug would want to Go into a smelly garbage can? And knowing her strength And having confidence in her The polleybug asked her To grab onto him Like she would grab onto Peopledroppings And to fly She thought this was ridiculous! For she had never carried something as Big as a polleybug before! Surely she was not strong enough!! But the polleybug knew better He helped her to see that she could Do anything she wanted to If she tried with all her strength And all her concentration Even though she knew she could not do it And that she would just prove how weak She really was—she decided to humor him To show him that she knew better than he did about her limitations! So she grabbed onto his shell And tried to fly But only got a little way off the ground Before she had to stop And she was happy Because she had been right: She was not strong enough to carry him But the polleybug did not believe her one bit He had seen her fly and work for hours on end In her daily tidying of peoplethings And he asked her to try it again Except this time to close her little eyes And try with all her strength and concentration She thought the idea was silly Because she had already failed before But she loved the polleybug so much That she would try anything that He thought was a good idea Because she knew he was a smart polleybug. So she held onto his shell once again And closed her eyes And started to fly. And she thought it was strange Because he did not feel so heavy now And she tried with all her strength And flew for a good bit And a good bit more But she started to doubt herself With this newfound strength Thinking that it must be a dream That there had to be a loophole And so she eased him back down. She opened her eyes to apologize Because she was sorry that she Could not do what he thought she could As she was apologizing, She started getting frustrated Because Mr. Polleybug Would only smile at her This made her so mad! How could he just smile and laugh When she had failed miserably! So she asked him why he was smiling. And he asked her to look around. And she did. And she didn’t see smelly things around her anymore She had flown all the way out of the garbage can And a long ways past it! She could not believe that she had Carried him so far! But she did! And as she thought about her silly limitations, and her wonderful polley bug, all she could do was fall happily into a pool of giggles. And so they lived a wonderful life Because they helped each other And made a wonderful team With her allybug strength And his polleybug confidence They would carry each other Always.
