Once Upon A Birthday (Inspired by my Birthday, October 4th)

Once upon a time, a long time ago, a little girl made a very long list of things she wanted for her birthday.

The list was so long that it went all the way down to her feet.

Her parents looked at the list with dismay.

‘Ten tiny trumpeters,
nine nimble gnomes,
eight elegant elephants,
seven shining stars,
six singing sealions,
five fragrant flowers,
four flapping flags,
three friendly frogs,
two tumbling tigers
and a big, red balloon’, it said.

“We can get you some of those things”, her parents said,”Like Five fragrant flowers and four flapping flags but I don’t know where we’ll get eight elephants or where one finds a nimble gnome”.

To tell the truth, the girl’s parents were very poor and weren’t even sure if they could afford to buy even flapping flags and fragrant flowers.

But they loved their daughter very much and so, rolling up her big long birthday list, they said they would do their best to get as many of the items on the list as they could.

And, in the days leading up to her birthday, both her parents scoured all of the shops in town trying to find what she wanted but, in the end, though they managed to get hold of some flags
and flowers, a stuffed tiger and a not very nimble
garden gnome; they couldn't find or afford any of the other things on her list and felt quite depressed.

But then, overhearing their predicament, an old man approached them who said he was a toymaker and he held a small shiny box in his hand.

“I think I have a present that your daughter might like”, said the old man, handing them the box, “But you must promise not to open it until you get home”.

So, taking the box, the mother and father thanked the old man and, when they arrived home, they said to their daughter, “I’m sorry we haven’t been able to find all the things that you wanted but we got you some flags and some flowers, a toy tiger and a garden gnome and we met a man who makes toys and he gave us this shiny box and he says there’s a marvellous gift inside”.

At first, the little girl was quite disappointed but she thanked her parents for the flags and the flowers, the toy tiger and the garden gnome and the effort they had made to find them, however, when she opened the box and peered inside, a big smile spread across her face.

“What is it?”, the mother and father asked, “What’s inside the box?”.

And what do you suppose it was in that amazing box?

Well, the little girl put the box down upon the floor and, all of a sudden, the girl’s parents heard the sound of tiny trumpets tooting and then saw Ten Tiny Trumpeters march out of the box and they were quickly followed by Nine Nimble Gnomes, laughing and leaping about nimbly and then they saw Eight Elegant Elephants dancing on their toes like ballerina’s and twirling and then Seven Shining Stars popped out, flashing so brightly that the mother and father had to cover their eyes, then Six Singing Sealions singing happy birthday and they were carrying Five Fragrant Flowers and Four Flapping Flags that they handed to the stunned parents and then Three Friendly Frogs jumped out, hopping about, waving their webbed hands and croaking and they were so friendly that one jumped into the little girls arms, then Two Tumbling Tigers with blazing orange fur and black stripes somersaulted from the box and began doing acrobatic tricks all around the room and, last of all but not least, up out of the box floated A Big Red Balloon; the biggest and reddest balloon you could ever think of and it wasn’t just an ordinary balloon, it was a hot air balloon for flying through the sky.

And then, suddenly, the little girl and her parents were all in the wicker basket of that hot air balloon, sailing among the clouds and, piloting the balloon was the old man who had given the little girl’s parents the magical box.

“Is this the kind of big red balloon you were thinking of?”, the toymaker asked the little girl with a big grin.

The little girl nodded and then, putting her arms round her mother and father and hugging them tightly, said, “Oh, thank you. This is the best birthday ever”.