Princess Bare Foot and The Tales From Togetherland
by
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It was Oskar the Hooded Crow's habit to explore the inner reaches of Togetherland, he could drift over the tree tops with ease, swoop down, land and make a racket with his squawking, which was most useful, that always bought out the local residents of these unexplored areas. It was on one such day, fairly bright with the odd cloud drifting by, that Oskar spied some trees in blossom, he loved a peck of blossom, a real treat on the tongue. Well he swooped down and circled to find a suitable spot to rest, which he did, right atop of one of those trees in full blossom. Soon he was perched there, though almost feeling like he had landed where he should not have been. It was a strange feeling, so he decided to let out a few loud squawks, just to let the locals know he is around. 'Squawk! Squawk! Squawk!' he shouted, then he listened, so he shouted again, 'Squawk! Squawk! Squawk!' this time he was shocked, a rather deep voice responded from somewhere, 'Oh good gracious, do be quite, what an awful sound.' Oskar was shocked and most indignant at the voice and the words, so he let out two loud squawks, 'SQUAWK! SQUAWK!', two is more authoritative, lets others know you mean business. However the voice returned, saying, 'I thought I said be quite, do you not know this is peaceful area, we do not disturb others peace here, so pack it up, or find another place to be a nuisance.' Oskar was almost knocked off his perch with shocked embarrassment, he had never meant to cause a problem, so he quickly replied to whoever the voice belonged to. 'I do apologize, I was unaware of the nature of the place, merely letting people know I was around.' There was a pause then the voice replied, 'Well you certainly did that! Do you have a sore throat or something?' Oskar did not quickly pick up on the comment about his voice and replied, 'My name is Oskar, who are are you? And where are you I cannot see you?' The voice gave a murmur, then replied, 'I am Mr. Morello, and you are sitting on me, I am a Cherry tree.' Oskar gave a leap in the air out of shock, the voice quickly responded, 'It is alright you may sit there, just watch your claws, and no beak sharpening please.' Oskar returned to his chosen perch on a branch of Mr. Morello, making sure his claws were not digging in. 'Thank you.' he replied as he settled down. Mr. Morello then asked him what his business was in these parts. Oskar was just about to reply saying he was going to have a nibble of the blossom, when he held back because it was Mr. Morello's blossom, so he said, 'I was admiring your blossom.' Suddenly all the other blossom trees surrounding Mr. Morello started laughing loudly, Oskar felt very nervous. Then Mr. Morello replied, 'Are you sure you never came for a bite to eat?' Well Oskar was lost for words, was that not the truth, he had come to nibble on the blossom. He hung his head and shook it, one thing he could not do was lie, so he shamefully admitted, 'I, I, well yes I thought about pecking some of your blossom, did not know it was your head. I, I am sorry.' All the other blossom tree's gave a very loud sigh of 'AHHH!', and Mr. Morello told Oskar, 'You are a very honest bird, I like you. May I suggest you leave my blossom but return in say, three weeks, then I will let you eat till you burst on my big cherries my friend.' Oskar was surprised at Mr. Morello's invitation and spluttered out several 'Thank you, thank you thank you.' expressions which caused Mr. Morello to laugh as he replied, 'Come back in three weeks my friend, three weeks.' Oskar tapped his right foot on the branch in a friendly way then took to flight shouting back, 'Thank you Mr. Morello.'
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About the Book
Princess Bare Foot and The Tales from Togetherland came about through a chance meeting of John Townsend with Nimsi Micaelo. That chance meeting revealed Nimsi’s ideas for a book for children. She had the title already in her head, Princess Bare Foot. From their repeated conversations and exchanges of ideas, with John turning Nimsi’s ideas into short stories along with his own ideas, Princess Bare Foot and The Tales from Togetherland was born. The flow of ideas from Nimsi and John has continued resulting in a second book, even into a third book. The book holds fast to childhood—innocent, dreamlike, and happy.
About the Author
Sometimes a writer travels down a road that leads in a direction that even the author is unsure. He has written children’s fantasy before, As Thick as Two Planks of Wood (also science fiction), The Chairman, The Early Years, and The God Clock. Now he writes in a new direction, exploring the dreams of childhood, the simple reality that is based on love—not complex nor wrapped up in evil plans, but as a child may think. John was presented with Nimsi’s idea and wrote Princess Bare Foot and The Tales from Togetherland. With Nimsi’s imagination, it has been a great experience writing the book.