By Sarah Hankel
For 100 years, Father Sage kept his eye on the Earth from afar, circling the planet on Comet Campanile. Father Sage held a most honorable position for any elf. He was the Keeper of the Clock.
But a century spent floating around in space is a long time. And although he loved watching over tick and tock of the clock, making sure the sun rose and set and the moon and stars followed, and seasons changed, his tour of duty was coming to a close. It was the law of nature that the Keeper of the Clock would change every 100 years and not a moment longer. Soon Queen Terra would visit him on Campanile to introduce a group of fairies to him, and it would be his job to pick one to become the new Keeper of the Clock.
It was up to Father Sage to set the terms to make his decision. Father Sage had come up with three riddles and the one fairy who best answered all his questions would take over night and day, spring, summer, fall and winter.
On the day after tomorrow, Queen Terra finally arrived followed by five young fairies flitting about. It was their first trip into outerspace. As each landed, Queen Terra introduced them to their mentor.
"Salutations Senor Sage," Queen Terra said. (She called him senor because she is from South America.) "I have brought you several job seekers desiring to be the next Clock Watcher."
"It's Keeper of the Clock, Terra, not Clock Watcher," Father Sage corrected her.
"Whatever," Terra said, and got on with the introductions.
"This is Imani the Djinn," Terra said. "She is from the deepest rain forests of Africa."
"Are there any snakes here?" the little brown-berry with green leaves asked.
Father Sage assured here there were no snakes. "On Comet Campanile you are completely alone," he told her and the others.
Next in line were Hops, the Irish leprechaun, and Petri, a pooka from Russia. The two had become fast friends on the flight over and seemed to be having a difficult time sitting still and paying attention.
"Dear Father Sage," Hops began. "You have been up here for quite some time. Petri here tells me that his country has found all sorts of wonderful uses for potatoes. Things we Irish haven't even thought of. Won't you be glad to get back and try some of these new ideas?"
Father Sage just nodded.
Queen Terra continued. "This is Doolitte. She is a pixie from Great Britain."
Doolittle was busying herself by shaking her tiny wings. "Hmm! Stardust!" was all she said.
"And last but not least, Father Sage, this is...ay carumba...how do you say your name?" Terra asked. The Icelandic elf removed his hat and bowed deeply. When he arose, he introduced himself and explained, "I am Bijan. The 'j' is silent."
"Ah yes," Queen Terra said. "Well, Father Sage, there you are. Do what you will, but remember, a new Clock Wa...er...Keeper of the Clock will need to be named in 24 hours." With that, Queen Terra, waved goodbye and flew out of sight.
"Gather 'round, young ones, gather 'round and listen well," Father Sage began. "The duties of the Keeper of the Clock are not easy. It is not a job for just any fairy. You must be observant and patient, orderly and punctual, honest and self-confident."
"The fairy best suited for this job will successfully answer three questions," Father Sage explained.
"Your first task is to find the brightest star in the sky." In a flash, Hops and Petri flew into the air to set about their search giggling, pushing and shoving as they headed due west. "Oh, look at that one," Petri said tugging Hops to the left.
"No, no. That one is much brighter," Hops said pointing to the right.
Disgusted by their childish play, Father Sage ignored the pair as they flew away. "Well, they won't likely be back. So that leaves you three," he said to Imani, Doolittle and Bijan.
"You've had a long flight and the time to sleep draws near. Prepare yourselves for rest," Father Sage told them.
Once the three fairies had changed into pajamas and had a bite to eat, they joined Father Sage once again to bid good night. "Now, without forgetting, your first assignment, your second test is to wake me when the cock crows on Earth. That is the signal of a new day."
Doolittle pouted. "But I'm tired. Couldn't someone else do it?" she whined.
"The next Keeper of the Clock will wake me when the cock crows on Earth," Father Sage repeated as he handed out pillows and blankets. Unfolding his own bedding in a shallow crater, Father Sage settled down. While Doolittle found a spot far away and Imani simply ignored her blanket and pillow in an effort to stay awake, Bijan laid down next to Father Sage.
Imani tried her hardest to keep her eyes open and even harder to keep her ears tuned for a "cock-a-doodle-doo." But all that trying made her even more tired and she soon drifted off to sleep.
Bijan on the other hand was busy doing his best to pester Father Sage. Every few moments he'd nudge the old man, sometimes even pinch him. Neither one of them got any sleep, but Father Sage said nothing.
When the sun finally showed its face on Comet Campanile, Father Sage yawned, stretched and prodded the young fairies to awake.
Doolittle crabbed and griped and rolled over telling Father Sage to leave her alone. "I don't wanna be the Keeper of any old Clock anyway," she said and fell back to sleep.
Imani was startled with Father Sage awoke her. Frustrated by her failure, she handed back the pillow and blanket and declared that she was going home.
Of course, Bijan was already awake and moving about silently, just the 'j' in his name.
"Well, I guess that leaves just you," Father Sage said to Bijan. "But there is one more test to pass. Tell me, what makes you think you are right for this job?"
"Like the 'j' in my name, I like silence," Bijan said. "And if I am the only one on Comet Campanile all will be quiet."
"Very good," Father Sage said. "But, now tell me, why were you shoving and pinching me all night long?"
"You asked us to wake you whenever the cock crows on Earth. The cock crows at many different times and new days are always beginning," Bijan explained.
"Right you are," Father Sage said. "But have you found the brightest star?"
"I did not need to search," Bijan said, "for the brightest star resides in myself and it's sparkle is equal to that of ever other star in the universe."
"Ah, young Bijan, you are very clever, observant and patient, orderly and punctual, honest and very confident," Father Sage told him. "Indeed you will make a fine Keeper of the Clock. Congratulations!"
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Chauncey and the Snake Charmer
By Sarah Hankel
Everybody loves Chauncey. All the teachers in kindergarten and the first grade teachers, plus Principal Sally.
Even the Sunday school teacher, he babysiter, the mail carrier ... everybody. They call her Chauncey the Charmer.
Everybody loves Chauncey, except me. I call her Chauncey the Snake. She's sneaky and she even sounds like snake when she talks because she lisps so her 's's sound as though her tongue gets caught in her teeth.
My mom says it's not very nice of me to call her Chauncey the Snake, but she doesn't see how creepy Chauncey is.
When grown-ups are around, she smiles so big her eyes curve up and almost close, except they're too beady â?? just like a snake's. She shakes hands and always says "pleathe" and "thank you."
But when grown-ups aren't around, Chauncey the Charmer turns into a snake. She won't ask to play with the toy youâ??re playing with â?? she just grabs it. And if you try and get it back, she squenches up her beady eyes and hisses at you.
I tried to tell my mom why I got so mad at her, but Chauncey interrupted and lisped, "I'm thorry Mithuth Cath. I thimply wanted to play with Thimon."
That's when I got "a talking to."
"Be nice, Simon Cass," my mom told me. "Chauncey is so charming. You could learn some manners from her."
At school, I caught Chauncey cheating. She was trying to read over my shoulder during the spelling test. So I raised my hand and told Miss Cramden.
Chauncey said, "I'm afraid, Mith Cramden, that Thimon ith mithtaken. I was thimply trying to reach my pencthil. It fell on the floor."
Miss Cramden frowned at me, bent down to pick up the pencil and gave it to Chauncey. Then she turned around to go back to her desk so she didn't see when Chauncey the Snake stuck her tongue out at me.
One day at recess, I was playing in the sandbox when all of a sudden, an arm reached up from underneath my sand castle and it went crashing into a big pile. Chauncey the Snake was on the other end of the arm.
Just as I was about to yell for the teacher on recess duty, I stopped and decided to ask Chauncey why she was so mean. "Chauncey, how come youâ??re such a snake?" I asked.
Sitting on the edge of the sandbox, swaying back and forth, Chauncey spat back, "Cauthe you're thuch a rat. Youâ??re a tattle-tale rat." She bared her fangs and then slipped away.
I thought about what she said all afternoon. Then when school let out, I found Chauncey in line to go down the slide, so I waited. When she came swooping down I was at the bottom.
"Tell ya what," I said to her. "I'll quit ratting on you if you quit being such a snake to me."
She thought about it for a moment and must have decided that she couldn't stay out of trouble forever. "Okay," she said and shrugged. Then she wound her way back around to the end of the slide line.
I guess that makes me a snake charmer.
