A story for a sick little boy

Once upon a time there was a little boy who lived in a small village at the bottom of a tall mountain. This little boy was friends with everyone in the village and he would visit his friends each day. First he would stop by the stables to say hello to the horses, the stableboy, and the cats who patrolled the stables. Then he would make his way through the village with his smiling face and greet each person he would see. He said hello to the miller who ground the wheat into flour for his Mama. He said hello to the Baker who created the special muffins he had on Sunday mornings. He said hello to Father at the church and he had a cheery hello for the ladies as they worked on the flower beds. 

He made his way to visit the cows, sheep, goats, and farmers that lived outside the village. All the farmers had dogs that the boy loved. And the dogs loved the boy. They would race through the fields and then stop and watch him when he had to leave. 

One day the boy decided that he would climb a little higher up the mountain so he could look over the whole village at once. So he climbed, and he climbed, and he climbed and he climbed. Then he turned and looked. 

He could see his house from here! He could see the miller and the baker, and the church, and the cows, the sheep, the goats, and the farmer's houses from here! What a lovely view. He enjoyed the picture for a while and then he saw the sun was getting low in the sky so he started to climb down. 

The sun dropped faster than he could climb and it began to get very chilly. As he walked across the farms he wished he had his woolies and he thought that summer must be coming to an end. Soon he would be warm and safe at home.

The walk home seemed so much longer than the walk up the mountain had been and he was very happy to see his home with the warm lights in the window. The wind had picked up as the sun went down and he felt like it blew him the rest of the way home! 

He opened the door and closed it behind him quickly. The warmth of the fire called to him and he quickly took off his boots and made his way to the special chair that sat beside it. As he sat down he sneezed, then he sneezed again. His mother came through the kitchen to bring supper to the table and she quickly came over to the boy. She saw that his nose was red. She saw that his cheeks were red, not the lovely glowing red of good health, but the too bright red of a little boy who'd gotten a chill. She placed her hand on his forehead and said, "Oh little one! What have you been up to?" 

He was very happy when she cuddled him up and got him into a warm bath. She helped him into his woolies and tucked him into bed with a yummy mug of medicine tea.

He didn't feel well. His ear ached. His head ached. He was tired and very cranky. His mother sat down by the bed with her knitting and he fell asleep to her lullaby. 

The next day was the same. But his mama knew what to do. She told quiet stories when the little boy felt cross and she fed him special broth and kept him warm and cozy. He slept and slept all through the day and through the night. When he woke up he felt better and he heard a knock on the door. 

It was the miller and he'd brought a loaf of bread for the boy. He patted the boy on the head and told him that he hoped he felt better soon. As he was leaving the Baker came in and he had brought some of his best molasses muffins JUST for the boy. He kissed the top of the boy's head and told him to rest up because there would be blueberry pancakes at church this week! The baker left with a happy good bye because he could see that the boy was getting better. 

Next came the stableboy. He had carved a little wooden horse and a small cat for the boy. He gave them to the boy and told him that the horses and the cats were missing him. They all hoped to see him soon.

The boys were playing with the horse and cat toys when the boy's mama came in with his medicine tea and she shooed the stableboy out with a warm smile. Mama told the stableboy that the boy might be able to visit tomorrow, but only if he got some sleep.

The boy took a nice nap and felt EVEN BETTER when he woke up. He could hear voices in the living room and when he called for mama she didn't come alone. ALL the ladies of the church came in too. They had brought the boy a plant to sit by his bed. The plant smelled good......it was lavender! The Priest had come with them and he gave the boy a happy smile and a special blessing.

That evening the farmers all came with their dogs to visit the boy. The dogs sat politely and wagged their tails as they watched the boy. They looked as if they hoped the boy would jump up and go running with them. He couldn't, of course, because he needed to stay in bed until tomorrow.

That night he lay in bed with his tummy full of good broth, fresh bread, molasses muffins and medicine tea feeling very happy that he had so many friends and thinking of the sweet fields he would visit tomorrow if his mama said he could get up. With one last sleepy yawn, as his mama sang him a gentle lullaby, he decided that he would put his woolies on as soon as he woke up and visit all his friends.