Coyotes, June 13

Our time at the river was filled with risky play - everyone pushed their boundaries of what they comfortable with, at first, while staying within our established boundaries of safe river play. Ask your Coyote what was hard for them at the river - even though it was fun!

We made story stones and told a long, twisting story...which Lucy has turned into a novella! Thank you Lucy! The pictures of the story stones are below, and here is the story to go with it!

"PART ONE

Once Upon a Time, in a land far away, called Icemania, stood a crystal castle in which resided the King, Ice, and the Queen, Cream. A hero called Icey also lived in the kingdom of Icemania. Icey spent every evening of every day melting and cooling his scoop of luscious pink ice cream hair to a satisfying shape. After he was done, he was always careful to stay out of the sun. But even though he sounds like a stuck-up blob of frozen strawberry iced cream, he was really an outgoing kind of flavour. (At least he didn’t taste like pizza).

And on that so very hot day, as he was lounging in the shade to preserve his soft serve swirl, Icey drank from his silver goblet filled with heavy cream. And as Icey lay there, taking small sips from his drink, his wandering gaze caught on a bright red toadstool. It was sheltered under a star-shaped spruce tree, and Icey couldn’t help but finish his cream hastily to go and look at it. But as he came closer, a loud bark from a shaggy dog startled him.

Icey looked around and saw the hound with its dark mangy coat. It was bounding out from the surrounding trees. And as it ran toward him, Icey jumped out of the way. But just then – for now it was right upon him – it ate the mushroom. Icey gasped. But not because of what the dog had just done, yet because right where the mushroom had been there was now a bright red apple in its place.

The dog ran off, and he picked up the apple and it sparkled in his shaking hands as if it were magic. But there was no magic allowed in Icemania. And so Icey hugged the fruit tight as he dutifully trudged along the path to the crystal castle.

When he arrived, he found that his hair was dripping on the clear stone floors. But the guards let him in to see the King and Queen, anyway.

Icey took his place in front of the two great crystal thrones on which seated Ice and Cream.

“My King and Queen,” he said, rolling the apple onto the floor so they could see it. It glimmered in the bright light of the crystal chandelier. “I found–” But before he could finish, the apple suddenly grew into another toadstool. And the King and Queen just about fell off their seats. And Icey took a step back.

“The land of Icemania is a very mountainous country,” began Ice, the King. “So I think you should take this mushroom and hide it in the high cliffs, and deep ravines.”

Icey nodded, and immediately took up the fungus and was out of the castle when the Kind added, “And while you’re out there do some chin-ups, will you?”

He called back a word of agreement, and the heavy wide crystal doors swung shut.

PART TWO

Behind the clouds and tall mountain peaks hid the sun, shading the quiet valley. Icey stood by two lone trees, which had a heavy log tied to each of them.

He jumped and caught the branch. But his hands slipped, and he fell down to the grass. He tried again, and again, and the valley grew cooler and quieter.

He had hidden the magical mushroom in the mountains and then had spent a good amount of the day fixing his hair, before heading down into the valley to complete the rest of the King’s orders. Though it wasn’t proving as easy as he had thought. Especially because he didn’t know how many chin-ups to do?

But while Icey was struggling to pull his chin up to the branch, a stick snapped and a bush rustled. He dropped to the ground and turned all around. A pair of eyes seemed to be watching from the deep shadows of the bushy recesses. The valley now felt cooler, and quieter than before.

The shrubbery shook, and Icey began to tremble fearfully. And out from the leaves… jumped…. The Wild Witch of The Cliffs!! She was said to have built her house on the edge of a high cliff, so she could drop rocks on ice cream people down below.

Her brow was furrowed, and she had a bright red face along with a bright red expression. Then she began to laugh, and cackle, at just how bad Icey was at pull-ups. Soon she was gasping, out of breath. And soon her guffawing diminished.

Icey now, was shaking so much he nearly fell over. His pink hairdo tipped to one side, as he took tiny steps away from the Witch. His throat was dry, and he couldn’t speak.

“Now,” said the Witch in her most raspy and ragged voice, “my little pretty” – here she was addressing Icey – “I may be evil, but I will warn you to box your ears until the following ends.”

Icey stopped moving and stared at her dreadfully puzzled. Then the Witch started to sort of whistle very loudly. And Icey immediately covered his ears. From the sky, amidst the clouds, flew down a yellow school bus. Icey saw now that the driver of the bus was a duck with a feathery mohawk. And that all the seats on the bus were occupied with bright red suitcases.

The school bus landed roughly on the grass and came to a stop. The Witch, – who now seemed satisfied that the bus had come when she had called – went up to the folding doors and knocked on them before then screaming at them. The duck at the wheel pressed a button with

their wing and the doors opened squeakily. The Witch stumbled inside, carefully chose a suitcase, and unzipped it. Inside it held gallons of ice cream. The Witch took a cone from a compartment at the top of the suitcase and scooped herself a blob of strawberry pink sorbet.

She made her way out of the bus and stood before Icey eating her ice cream. Icey felt inclined to touch his pink strawberry hair, as he watched the Witch eat.

When she was done, she threw the cone into the bushes.

PART THREE

Back at the castle, everyone but the King and Queen were peacefully going about the rest of their day. Ice and Cream sat nervously on their crystal thrones, waiting for Icey to return.

“When do you think he’ll be back?” said the King, suddenly.

“Soon,” spoke the Queen. Before adding, “Enough.”

“Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes,” mumbled the King. “Soon enough.”

And very instantaneously, the whole castle began to shake. The King and Queen jumped to their feet before a rumble sent them falling backward. They both landed uncomfortably on their thrones, just as the trembling ceased.

The great wide crystal doors swung themselves ajar, and The Wild Witch of The Cliffs stepped inside. Beside her stood a funny-looking bird with a feathery mohawk. And right outside the castle was a yellow school bus.

“What is that doing here?” questioned the King, loudly.

“What is she doing here!” declared the Queen, even louder.

The Witch came up to them, pulled out a pink silken rope, and tied them together. Then all of the guards were upon her. With the servants trailing after. So she hypnotized them and stuffed them all into the bus. The duck started the engine. And everyone – including the Witch – flew back to the mountains.

PART FOUR

When the Witch and her bus landed back in the valley, she turned to the duck and yelled, “I told you to land on the cliff!!!! Not back here?? You bewilderingly-idiodic-numbskull-tomtug!”

And so the duck flew the bus full of guards and servants to the top of the cliffs. One by

one, the Witch took an ice cream person out and threw them off the mountainside that led down to a lake. When all the hard work was finished, they floated down back into the valley, again.

The Witch was now so tired, and beaten, that she lay down on the grass.

“Soon,” she said, to the duck – who was sitting beside her. “We will go back to the castle, and defeat the King and Queen, so I can finally take over Icemania!”

And here she closed her eyes and began to daydream... In her dream, the Witch was gorging herself on ice cream, as she sat on a crystal throne, on a crystal balcony, on the highest and mightiest tower of the crystal castle. When suddenly, her daydream turned into a daymare. And it started raining so heavily that the Witch woke from her sleep with a start.

“Oh my!” she exclaimed, and realized that it wasn’t just raining in her dream. But it was also pouring gallons of water right then in that very valley. Dark gray rain clouds blocked out the sky, and from the ground bloomed thousands of yellow and pink flowers. Bright red mushrooms then grew, as well.

The Witch screamed as the rain pummeled her. Then she saw a whole army of archers approaching with bows and arrows. Her expression turned to fear and shock. But before she could do anything more, the archers released their bowstrings and let their arrows fly toward her. The Witch shrieked the loudest she had ever before, just as the arrows transformed into pieces of broccoli. Then fuchsia butterflies appeared and caught the heads of broccoli before they hit her. The insects then let go of the broccoli and let them hit the soaking ground. Then a giant herd of sheep rushed in to eat up all of the vegetables and grass. Now the Witch was utterly flabbergasted.

When suddenly a ring of pink flowers bloomed around her, and then a toadstool sprouted from right under her feet. The Witch was pushed into the air. Screaming, she lay on her back with her hands gripping the cap of the mushroom. When it stopped growing almost as suddenly as it had begun. The Witch was panting as she sat up, looking out from the top of the mushroom. She was about eleven feet up, and everything up there smelled like earthy fungi.

Then the rain stopped, right as a giant rainbow arced across the valley. The sun came out, and the flowers dotting the ground glowed in the light. Everything was peaceful and beautiful. The sheep were ranging, and the Witch even composed herself enough to stop to enjoy it.

And then, the Witch saw a wave splashing into the valley. The water carved into the ground, as it swerved between the sheep and mushrooms. Water splashed up against the banks of the newfound river. And fish were now seen swimming with the swift-moving current.

Then, appearing in a curve over the river, there was a bright red suspension bridge

Coming across the bridge was Poppy from the Convenience store. She was practicing spoon-bending. But when the one in her hands didn’t bend quite right, and she broke it. She threw it into the sky towards the sun.

Meanwhile, the sun was just chilling with their sunny’s on, – their sunglasses, – when the coiled spoon came flying through the air. And hit them in the face. But instead of getting angry, the sun just dropped a baby down on the unsuspecting valley.

A skull, who had been hiding under a toadstool, leaped out from the shade and caught the baby swaddled in blue.

The skull then left the lovingly chaotic valley and carried the baby (don’t ask how) to its owner. When the skull came to a house with a thatched hay roof and a Gazebo, it found it's very surprised owner waiting inside.

“What is this?” they asked, staring disdainfully at the baby. The skull put the baby on the wooden floor of the bungalow.

“A child, just like you always wanted!” the Skull said. “You do want a baby, don’t you?”

But unfortunately, they did indeed not want the baby. They frowned and went outside.

The Skull picked up the baby and brought it outside with them.

When the Skull found their owner sitting in the sun, they placed the baby in their lap before settling down beside them.

The owner of the skull looked down at the baby. But this time, a smile crossed their face.

PART FIVE

Years later, the baby grew into a young girl named Mika. Who had been raised by a skull and a loving person. And when the girl had come of age, the Skull and their owner had gotten out the box of knives, and let the girl choose one she fancied. From that day on, they trained her with the knives. Mika learnt to throw knives, carve with knives, fight with knives, and even swallow knives. Little did anyone know that one day Mika would go a tad bit too far.

On a sunny Spring afternoon, a truly golden afternoon at that, a Ferris Wheel stood in the sun turning a little faster than leisurely. An anxious Mother waited below for her children to get off. All the while trying not to look, for the ride made her sick just watching.

And on that same day, Mika came strolling in from the West. She held a knife in one hand. And when she came up to the base of the Ferris Wheel, Mika decided to jump up to the top and cut off the head of the person riding in that seat. Everyone gasped. Then Mika jumped down, only to find Hafsah waiting there. Hafsah took Mika by the arm, and they walked

through the park, Hafsah’s sandals slid on and off her feet as the ropes tried to hold them together.

Hafsah showed Mika the error of her ways. And very soon they became good friends. They even stayed up till midnight one night and rafted down the Bow River. Something only true friends would do.

But that night things didn’t go to plan. Because it suddenly began raining.

“Mika,” said Hafsah, harshly. “Did you forget to check the weather forecast?” “What!” exclaimed Mika, almost offended. “I. Would. Never!”

“Then why is it raining on us?” “It’s not raining, Hafsah, it’s–it’s, it’s flowering!?”

Both girls looked up and saw that it was raining flowers on them. Then suddenly their raft caught on fire.

“Mika!!!” screamed Hafsah, “I thought I told you to STOP lighting fires everywhere?! We already ate all the marshmallows, anyway!”

“I didn’t do it!” Mika yelled in reply. “Well, at least, not this time…” she added sheepishly.

But now Hafsah’s attention was directed elsewhere. Because now she was looking at an orange boat. An orange boat that was approaching them swiftly, and menacingly.

Hafsah yelped, as she grabbed Mika and pulled her into the water. They both deftly swam onto shore. And hid under a pine tree covered in leaves.

But then, the girls both laughed out loud. For as the orange boat docked on the sand, and a couple stepped out of it. Mika and Hafsah saw that they had ice cream! And were only there to share it with them. The End…"