Once
upon a time in Mother Goose Land, Mother Goose sat on a rock and contemplated
the state of affairs in her land. Things were not going well at all. The Pied
Piper was taking all the children to Mary's School and not giving them a chance
to go to the new community school at Banbury Cross. True, some of the children
were a little different, but what child wasn't unique? Jack & Jill might be a
bit compulsive about running up & down that hill, but they really were good
kids. And maybe Miss Muffet was prone to hysterics at times. Humpty Dumpty had
fallen off the wall so many times that it was no longer possible to sit him
upright anymore, so they'd had to get him that adaptive chair.... Still, they
needed to be out in the real world. It wasn't right that the Pied Piper had so
much influence over the parents. What could she do?
Suddenly, an idea occurred to her. Why not get some of the older inhabitants to
help her? There was Little Bo Peep, who was way too old to be chasing sheep all
the time and the Old Woman Who Lived In A Shoe, whose kids were all grown now.
They would be the people to first enlist for help. Make them earn their keep,
she would! She called a meeting that afternoon and soon her emissaries were
thoroughly won over to her side.
Bo
was to travel to Banbury Cross to get some parents to talk to the parents of the
kids at Mary's school. The Old Woman, (who preferred to be called Ellen) was to
furnish them with a place to stay and help them follow the rules in Mother Goose
Land. After all, what good would they be able to accomplish if they were all
locked up in the dungeon? Really, if you stopped to think about it, it really
was a practical plan. They saw the Pied Piper for what he was. If it wasn't for
the music, he'd be one fat zero, but it was rumored that the pipe had some
magical properties. Well, by golly, Mama Goose had some tricks of her own!
Nothing like a good fight to get the old blood apumpin'!
Soon,
Bo arrived with about 10 people. They "seemed" orderly enough. But Bo did have a
penchant for honing in on some strange characters. The Old Woman from the Shoe,
er, I mean Ellen, welcomed them all, whipped two of them before she remembered
they weren't her children, and sent them to bed. The old shoe fairly rocked with
all the goings on inside. Ellen stood outside and shook her head.
"What
have you gotten us into Mother Goose? These people are going to be a handful!"
Mother Goose simply smiled and nearly tripped over an irate Jack-Be-Nimble.
"Who
were all those people? They caused such a commotion that I missed three jumps.
Look at the seat of these new pants! Singed already!"
"Hold
on there, Jack! You'll learn to love them." Mother Goose told him.
The
next morning, the new folks were up bright and early, setting up meetings,
organizing support groups, hanging trainings signs on trees and store fronts.
All
the inhabitants of Mother Goose Land were abuzz with questions. By the end of
the week, nearly half of the kids from Mary's school were thinking about
switching to the community school!
Ellen's house was noisier with the Parent Mentors than it had been when all of
her children were home. She finally went to Mother Goose with her problem.
"You
know," Ellen began, "I just got used to having a few things of my own and some
privacy now that all the kids are gone, but let me tell you, those Parent
Mentors are eating me out of house and home. Plus, they're completely redoing my
house. They're putting in a ramp and insisting that I install an elevator to get
to the top of the shoe! We've got to go see the King. Let him spend some of that
money he counts all the time."
So...
Ma Goose, Ellen and Bo pay a visit to the King...
The
King is in his counting house counting all his money when the trio arrives.
Mother Goose proceeds to tell him about all that has been going on.
"So
that's where my fiddlers have been! You know, I can't remember the last time
they've all been here at once. Although, they've come up with some interesting
solos."
"Think how favorably this will set with your subjects," Bo pipes up. "Couldn't
you please spare a few coins so we can feed them and supply them with some
technical assistance?"
"Hmm," the King ponders. "On one condition. I know how you women are. You'll be
out there spending all my money and I won't know what's going on at all until
you need more money. Old Woman, you are to supervise them from the castle and
report to me and they can have the shoe to live in."
The
trio huddle together for a few minutes and graciously accept the King's offer.
About then, the Queen arrives.
"What
are you up to John? Counting your money again, I see."
Mother Goose, Bo and Ellen curtsy properly and the King begins to tell the Queen
about their new venture.
"What
a wonderful idea!" the Queen declares, "How much have you given them, John?"
"That
pile of gold in the corner," he replies.
"That
little pittance?!! Double it and I'll match that amount from my half of the
room, plus you can have Mary to help you. She just hangs around here planting
flowers and no sooner do they sprout than that lamb of hers eats them. It will
do her good to get out once in a while."
"But
Jane," the King cries. "What will I do if I don't have my money to count? You
know, it's all I have to do since you made me give up poker with the Knights of
the Round Table!"
"Well, go out there and make some appearances and help some! Get Jack-Be Nimble
to help too. Isn't he supposed to be doing something other than jumping over
candlesticks anyway?"
So,
life goes on in the land. Mary fits in quite nicely with the program and Ellen,
although technically an employee of the King, spends more time with her friends
(both old and new) than she does at the castle. She dutifully appears to report
to him every Friday when she picks up her paycheck. He grumbles, but only for
something to do since they keep asking for more and more money, which leaves him
with less to do & the Queen won't relent and let him play poker with the
Knights.
Pretty soon it becomes apparent that more Parent Mentors will be needed. The
idea has caught on like wildfire. Mother Goose spends more and more time making
speeches and lobbying at the surrounding villages. So twenty new Parent Mentors
are hired and everyone in the land is happy. All except the Pied Piper, who
leaves Mother Goose Land to see if he can get a job on the Bullwinkle show.
Things continue to get better for families and soon, ten new Mentors are hired,
with four more to begin the following fall. Jack has almost kicked the candle
habit, he's so busy. The King keeps doing his best to make things better. Mary,
Bo, Ellen and a host of others keep busy supervising the Parent Mentors.
Jack & Jill no longer spend all their time running up and down the hill, Little Boy Blue is head trumpet player in the school band, the Black Sheep is playing the lead in the High School play and Peter Piper has also learned how to pick tomatoes and green beans.
© Pat Linkhorn, 2001