Kali 1 - (A Children’s Story Based On An Old Family Pet)

Deep in a forest of emerald green; in a little, ivy covered, stone cottage that had once belonged to an old but very powerful wizard, lived a dog named Kali; a border collie with a shiny coat of black and white; two bright copper coloured eyes, a big kind heart and a very magical, blue collar covered in shining stars and moons.

She hadn’t always lived in the forest but, as a puppy, had lived in the kennel of a normal suburban house in a little town with a family and all the things that normal dogs have.

But, when she had gotten to be a big dog, for some reason, her owners didn’t seem to love her or want her anymore and the father of the family took her into the forest and let her go.

She might not have survived but, fortunately, she found her way by chance to the wizard's old abandoned cottage and made lots of friends in the forest too, like Minerva, a very old and wise barn owl who lived in a tall oak-tree near the house but had once belonged to the Wizard and Loki, a little brown, longed eared rabbit who had a burrow at the forest’s edge and they were always having the most amazing and magical adventures together.

Like the time, for example, when Kali first got her starry blue magic collar.

She was rummaging through some things in the cottage that had been left by the wizard, looking for something to play with, when she found a very odd looking stick.

“A stick”, thought Kali, excitedly, remembering how her owners used to throw sticks for her to fetch, “Ohh, if only I had someone, a human, to throw it for me”.

But then, all of a sudden, and to Kali’s absolute astonishment, the stick leapt up, all by itself, and threw itself across the room.

“Bow-wow!”, thought Kali, running over and sniffing curiously at the stick which was now lying on the wooden cottage floor, “I’ve never seen a stick do that before. Not on its own”.

However, then Kali remembered her friend Minerva, the wise old owl.

“She’s very knowledgeable about all kinds of things”, thought Kali, “I’m sure she’ll know what it is”.

And so, taking the stick in her mouth, Kali rushed out of the house to show it to Minerva.

But then, just as Kali was approaching the oak tree where Minerva lived, up popped her friend Loki, the brown rabbit with its long floppy ears and twitchy nose, out of a little hole in the ground and, as always, he was hungry and looking for something to eat.

In fact, he was so hungry that his little furry stomach kept making a loud gurgling sound.

“What’s that?”, asked the Rabbit when he saw the stick in Kali’s mouth, hopping all round to get a good look at it, “Is it something to eat?”.

Kali shook her head.

“No, no, it’s a stick”, she said, “And not an ordinary stick either. Ordinary sticks get thrown by people but this stick jumps up and throws itself. That’s why I’m taking it to show Minerva”.

“Oh”, said Loki, disappointedly, “I was hoping that it was food. I could really do with something tasty right now, like a big carrot or some lettuce”.

But, just then, startling the little rabbit so much that it leapt up into the air, there was a loud bang; a bright blue flash of light and a puff of purple smoke and, all of a sudden, right in front of them both, appeared a large juicy, orange carrot and a perfectly round head of crisp, green lettuce.

“Woo-ee!”, shouted Loki, happily, seeing the vegetables appear out of nowhere, “Where did they come from? I’ve never seen a carrot or a lettuce grow that fast before”.

But Kali wasn’t sure that the carrot or the lettuce had grown at all.

“I think that it must be this peculiar stick”, said Kali, “I do hope that Minerva knows what it is”.

And, saying that, Kali, followed by her friend Loki who was now struggling to carry both a large carrot and a head of lettuce in his little brown paws, continued towards the old oak tree where Minerva lived.

Unfortunately, just as they were nearing the foot of the tree, a rather mean but very sly, old fox who had been skulking about nearby and had heard Kali talking about the stick and seen the carrot and the lettuce appear in a blue flash and puff of smoke, leapt out and grabbed hold of Loki by his hind paws.

“Help!”, cried the rabbit, panic stricken, struggling to free himself from the fox's grasp.

Turning round and seeing her friend in distress, Kali growled at the fox, bearing her teeth, “Let my friend go”, she barked, angrily.

“Not till you give me that stick you’ve got in your mouth”, said the mean fox, “Give me that stick or I’ll eat your rabbit friend up for my lunch”.

Kali didn’t want to give the fox the stick but she couldn’t bear anything so terrible happening to her friend Loki and so she let go of the stick that was in her mouth, dropping it at the fox’s feet.

And the moment that she did so, the wicked but wily fox grabbed hold of the stick and, laughing, waved it about shouting, “Ha! What a fool you are and what a very clever fox am I. Now I’ve got your special stick and, with it, I’ll make you both turn into…um…cabbages…yes, that’s what. Cabbages!”.

And, as the fox pointed the stick towards Kali and Loki, both trembled with fear because neither wanted to be turned into a vegetable.

But then, suddenly, like a streak of feathered lightning, swooping down from her perch in the old oak tree came Minerva, the wise old owl and, reaching out with her taloned feet, she snatched away the stick from the fox’s grasp and then, coming to land beside Kali, she pointed the stick at the fox, hooting, “If anyone deserves to be turned into a cabbage then it is you, you bushy tailed bandit”.

Terrified, the mean fox ran off hurriedly, squealing and yelping, into the forest.

Then Kali and Loki who were very relieved to see Minerva thanked her for saving them and the old owl explained that the stick which Kali had found was a wizard’s wand.

“Ah! I remember when the old Wizard used to cast his spells and, high above the forest, the evening sky would be lit with brightly coloured fireworks”, said the owl, reminiscing, “A very good thing in the right hands or the right paws but I dread to think what that mean old fox would have done with it”.

But now Kali looked troubled.

“If it’s that dangerous then perhaps I should bury it. Like a bone”, she said.

“Oh no”, said Minerva, “It’s wizard's rules, I’m afraid; finders keepers. The wand has found you and it gets to keep you. However, with your kind heart, I am sure that you will use the wand wisely and do no wrong”.

Then, waving the wand, Minerva made a bright collar appear around Kali’s neck that was as blue as the evening sky and covered in golden stars and silver moons and, hanging from the collar by a short golden chain, was the magic wand.

“There”, said Minerva, “Now you really do look like a first class canine wizard”.