Mommy, Story!

I have gotten into the habit of telling Elio a story before he goes to sleep. I started it as a way to get him to lie still after we finished reading our nighttime books, but it has now become an expected part of the routine, and he has become very crafty about requesting “More story, Mommy! More story!” I’ve even found that when he wakes up in the night with a bad dream, I can sort of redirect him back to sleep and happier thoughts by launching into a story. It’s rather amazing to see his tear-streaked, scared face transform to closed eyes and smooth contentment after just a moment of “…and then Elio took his special tools back to the carousel…”

Most of the stories are, not surprisingly, all about a little boy named Elio who lives with his mommy and daddy in Brooklyn. Sometimes Mommy and Daddy get to be in the story, but usually just as vehicles who transport him to all his adventures. Often he requests that a special friend be part of the story, too. Lately, that has been Miel, whom he just saw in Shelter Island. But often it is Linden or Theo. The best stories involve Elio saving the day.

The story that I think Elio likes best is this one:

Once upon a time, there was a little boy named Elio [he sometimes interjects here to correct me: “Big boy!”] who lived with his mommy and daddy in Brooklyn. One day, Elio called his friend Miel and asked if she wanted to meet at the carousel. She said yes. So Elio rode his scooter to the park, and when Miel and Elio saw each other, they jumped up and clapped—they were very, very happy to see each other. But when they got to the carousel, the carousel wasn’t working, and all the children were very sad.

Elio went up to the man who runs the carousel and said, “Excuse me sir, why isn’t the carousel working?”

And the man said, “It won’t start. I left my special tools at home, and without my tools I can’t fix the carousel.”

Elio said, “What kind of special tools do you have?”

“Well, I have a special green screwdriver and an orange and yellow hammer and a green wrench. Those usually do the trick,” said the man.

“I have a green screwdriver!” said Elio. “And an orange and yellow hammer and a green wrench! I’m going to go home and get them and maybe they will work!”

And he hopped on his scooter and rode home as fast as he could and got his tools. When he returned to the carousel, Elio showed the man his tools, and the man said, “These look just like my tools at home--I just think these might work. Come, let’s give them a try!”

So Elio and the man climbed up on the carousel and they tightened some screws with the green screwdriver, and they hammered down some loose nails with the hammer, and they tightened some bolts with the wrench. Then the man threw a switch, and slowly the carousel started turning around and around, and the horsies started going up and down, and the children who were still waiting in line shouted, “Hooray for Elio! Hip hip hooray!”

And the man said, “We did it! Thank you so much for getting your tools. Now all the kids can ride the carousel.”

Elio and Miel climbed onto their favorite purple and orange horses, and so did all the other kids. And the man started up the carousel and it started going around and around and up and down. And then it started going faster and faster, and Elio and Miel’s horsies started climbing up, up, up in the air, through the clouds and past a rainbow. And they flew all the way up to the moon in the sky.

Elio was very happy to see the moon, and the moon said to Elio, “Elio, how nice of you to come visit me! You know that I hear you every night when you say ‘night-night’ to me, don’t you?”

And Elio said, “I’m happy to see you, Moon. I love you very much.”

“And I love you, Elio. Come visit me again soon.”

“I will,” said Elio. “Night-night!”

Elio and Miel turned their horsies around and started going down, down, down again, through the clouds, and landed lightly back on the carousel. It was the best carousel ride ever.

Granted, it’s no Raymond Carver or Alice Munro, but it puts a smile on his face before he drifts off to sleep. And that’s a fine sight.