Return of the Sad Man

Hello friends of FabulousFables.com. It has been a while since I posted here. What’s up with that? you wonder. Did I have writer’s block? No. I don’t get writer’s block. I am filled with stories and poems that flow out my fingers when I touch my keyboard.

I apologize for my absence. Unfortunately, I had a tragedy in my life when my wife died a couple of years ago. In my grief, I just couldn’t write here.

Jacque Madrid, my late wife, was most responsible for this website. She loved the stories and encouraged me to share them. Without her there would be no FabulousFables.com. She named the website. She was my muse.

When a loved one dies, we grieve. My loss was immense. Immeasurable. It crushed my will to write. Especially here.

Eventually I had to embrace that pain of my loss. I had to allow myself the sadness. I let the gloom envelope me, and I wallowed in it when I felt I should. Then I returned to the light.

Allowing myself to hurt helps me heal. By healing, I don’t mean I forget Jacque. No, she lives forever in my heart and memory. The pain and sadness has not gone away.

But by accepting the loss, I grow. I am a better human being. You see, I learned love is the most powerful force in the universe.

Life dramatically changed for me in an instant. I learned how precious life is. I learned to show my loved ones that I appreciate them. Each day could be the last day we have them here on earth.

Why share this with you? Maybe it will help you if you are grieving. Maybe not. You must grieve in your own way, and don’t let anyone tell you that you aren’t grieving correctly. I am merely sharing my experience with you and why I have been remiss in my responsibility to the website.

So in honor of that magnificent woman Jacque, I am back to fulfill her vision. I have come through the fire and am renewed. Enjoy The Chuckwalla, my latest story. I think Jacque would have loved Wally and Chucky Chuckwalla.

I hope you love them too.

David Madrid

Contact: David Madrid

FabulousFables.com is going nonprofit

That’s right my faithful readers, FabulousFables.com has begun the process to become a literary nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization. It is our hope that this will help us to survive and to continue to offer you new and exciting fables, stories, poems and art.

We would like to add audio to the literature so that it can be used to help learn reading. Yes reading. We believe — some say incorrectly — that people still want to read. We offer original stories, and we also offer poetry, some original, some not. In addition to audio, we would like to get schools and children’s organizations involved in drawing and writing for the website.

This is all a long-held vision of David Madrid, creator of FabulousFables.com. We will keep you informed.

Truly yours,

David Madrid

The Dreamcatcher: Where nightmares go to hide

The Dreamcatcher is a short horror story about a Native American artifact with supernatural attributes. FabulousFables.com has taken art of the dreamcatcher from that story and has created a T-shirt and sweatshirt to sell in an effort to keep the website alive and free. Please consider buying a shirt and helping us out.

In addition, 25 percent of profit from each shirt goes to our favorite charity: Doctors Without Borders. When FabulousFables.com was created, the vision was having a website that not only promoted literacy, but a website that helped make the world a better place in other ways.

Please enjoy the stories on this website, and help us continue offering you these stories. Go to Teespring and purchase a shirt please.

Thank you

David Madrid

The Spider and the Fly

By Mary Howitt

“Will you walk into my parlor?” said the Spider to the Fly,
“‘Tis the prettiest little parlor that ever you did spy;
The way into my parlor is up a winding stair,
And I have many curious things to show you when you are there.”
“Oh no, no,” said the Fly, “to ask me is in vain;
For who goes up your winding stair can ne’er come down again.”

“I’m sure you must be weary, dear, with soaring up so high;
Will you rest upon my little bed?” said the Spider to the Fly.
“There are pretty curtains drawn around, the sheets are fine and thin;
And if you like to rest awhile, I’ll snugly tuck you in!”
“Oh no, no,” said the little Fly, “for I’ve often heard it said
They never, never wake again, who sleep upon your bed!”

Said the cunning Spider to the Fly, “Dear friend, what can I do
To prove that warm affection I’ve always felt for you?
I have within my pantry, good store of all that’s nice;
I’m sure you’re very welcome – will you please take a slice?”
“Oh no, no,” said the little Fly, “kind sir, that cannot be,
I’ve heard what’s in your pantry, and I do not wish to see!”

“Sweet creature,” said the Spider, “you’re witty and you’re wise;
How handsome are your gauzy wings, how brilliant are your eyes!
I have a little looking-glass upon my parlor shelf;
If you step in one moment, dear, you shall behold yourself.”
“I thank you, gentle sir,” she said, “for what you’re pleased to say;
And bidding good morning now, I’ll call another day.”

The Spider turned him round about, and went into his den,
For well he knew the silly Fly would soon come back again;
So he wove a subtle web in a little corner sly,
And set his table ready to dine upon the Fly.
then he came out to his door again, and merrily did sing,
“Come hither, hither, pretty Fly, with the pearl and silver wing;
Your robes are green and purple, there’s a crest upon your head;
Your eyes are like the diamond bright, but mine are as dull as lead.”

Alas, alas! how very soon this silly little Fly,
Hearing his wily, flattering words, came slowly flitting by;
With buzzing wings she hung aloft, then near and nearer drew, –
Thinking only of her brilliant eyes, and green and purple hue;
Thinking only of her crested head – poor foolish thing! At last,
Up jumped the cunning Spider, and fiercely held her fast.
He dragged her up his winding stair, into his dismal den
Within his little parlor – but she ne’er came out again!

And now, dear little children, who may this story read,
To idle, silly, flattering words, I pray you ne’er heed;
Unto an evil counsellor close heart, and ear, and eye,
And take a lesson from this tale of the Spider and the Fly.

Mary Howitt, (1799–1888) published The Spider and the Fly in 1829. It is a cautionary tale about the use of flattery and charm to mask evil and unsavory intentions. Although written so long ago, the poem is as relevant today as the day it was written. That is why I have included the poem here in FabulousFables.com. The poem’s lesson is timeless.

David Madrid

Contact: David Madrid

A Midnight’s Yule Dream Christmas Card

Once upon a Christmas slumber, as we slept amid some thunder,

Thunder though, it wasn’t at all, it was a green, red and white UFO come to call.

Up we went into the sky, Jacque and nobody else but I.

We shot up high and flew over each of your homes,

And wished you a Merry Christmas, you probably thought we were a drone.

 

It was then that we saw Santa Claus fly by, with four polar bears and a reindeer at his side.

Ho! Ho! Ho! St. Nick laughed as he shot through the sky. He looked to be a right jolly guy.

On Hector, Go Ralph, Run Mookie, Fly Sam, he prodded the polar bears and they ran and they ran.

Then our UFO took us up by the moon, whose face was all funny as if he had eaten a prune.

 

Finally, our craft flew under a star, the biggest, the brightest, ever seen from near or afar.

A monitor lit up and we saw such a scene, a baby in a manger, oh what a dream!

Angels sang Peace on Earth, and Goodwill to all women and men, wishes we extend to you all our very dear friends.

The baby represents all that is pure; He left us the gift of gold in the form of a simple rule:

“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you.”

That’s what Jesus taught us; it is true.

 

Christmas time, Oh Christmas time,

When dreams of sugar plums dance in our heads, when children sleep all snug in their beds,

When dreams of UFOs are a delight, when cities are lit up with Christmas lights.

We wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays too. Whatever you celebrate, it’s OK with us two.

Lots of love from David and Jacque Madrid; You may think this dream merely a fib.

But Christmas season is a magical time, and I’ve got a picture to go with my rhymes.

 

NOTE: A special thanks to artist Vincent Rogers, who drew the Santa and polar bear sleigh for the story “Rufus the Snot-Nosed Reindeer: The Reckoning.”

Read the first of the two-story series: “Rufus the Snot-Nosed Reindeer.”

That’s Football

Image

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So much fun from a sphere-shaped ball.

Was it really called a pigskin?

Yes, but there’s nothing the matter

With the old pig bladder

That history called a football.

A well-thrown pass

And a field of grass

Beats all the games kids play.

I’m the quarterback. No it’s me.

What fun it is to argue with thee.

I throw the ball; you catch it and run;

He tackles you. You fall on your bum.

There is no clock to kill the time.

Just get the ball across the line.

Touchdown!

Really, no other game will do;

We play unhampered by an officiating crew.

Oh yes, such fun

It is to run,

To kick the ball, and catch it too,

To play the game with a friend such as you.

That’s when football is at its best.

When play is so fun we forget to rest.

That’s football.

By David Madrid

Contact: David Madrid

Green Eggs and Ham and a Tortilla Too

Green Eggs and Ham and a Tortilla Too new

 

Green Eggs and Ham and Tortilla Too

I tried to impress the little guys

By making hippo porridge with some wormy fries.

They weren’t impressed, they told me so;

Therefore I cooked some pigeon toes.

“Nope,” they said. “They look so bland.”

So I cooked them aardvark pasta mixed with sand.

They turned their noses at the thought of that.

So I offered some amoeba cheesecake soaked in fat.

“No. No. No.” They insisted to me;

“You don’t understand what it is that we need.”

So I whipped up a batch of green eggs and ham;

I added a burnt tortilla and held the spam.

“How about this?” I asked, my spirits high.

I got a look that would chill Capt. Bligh.

“You’re going to eat that?” asked the oldest one.

“Yes,” I said. “It should be quite fun.”

So I ate green eggs and ham and a tortilla too,

“Yuck!” said the boys, finally impressed at the things I can do.

By David Madrid with apologies

To Dr. Seuss

Contact: David Madrid

The Peninsula of Toys

The Peninsula of Toys

peninsula of toys

The peninsula of toys
Moves piece by piece
Down the hall.
A four-armed alien wrestler
Is joined by Spider Man and triceratops.
They reach out from the wall
Growing as the peninsula of toys.
The playthings of
Four little boys.
Toys cluster and grow
They move about.
A basketball bounces
A semi loses its trailer
T. rex skeleton chews a black clip-on tie
Yellow baseball bat wishes for a ball
In the end, they join
They grow
They move about
They creep out from the wall
They form the peninsula of toys
Made of the things of little boys.

David Madrid

Contact: David Madrid

Aesop

Who was Aesop?

It depends which story you believe, but one version is that he was a deformed, stuttering Greek slave in the 6th century B.C. who was granted the gift of crafting fables by the goddess Isis.

The magic of Isis transformed Aesop into the legendary fabulist whose stories live on because of their timeless lessons.

Aesop’s fables have been told and retold throughout history. You can find different versions of the same story among different cultures.

In the end, according to one version, Aesop was thrown off a cliff by the people of Delphi, who then suffered pestilence and famine. Whether true or not, I like to imagine that Isis used her powers to curse those who dared kill the legendary storyteller.

David Madrid, president of FabulousFables.com, is a storyteller who also writes fables. While impossible to compete with Aesop, the greatest fabulist of all time, this website offers fables that we hope teach lessons that both children and adults will recognize and consider.

FabulousFables.com will occasionally offer you its version of Aesop’s fables.

We love the fable, and we thank Aesop for showing us the way.

365px-Aesop_woodcut_Spain_1489[1]

A woodcut from La vida del Ysopet con sus fabulas historiadas (Spain, 1489) depicting a hunchbacked Aesop surrounded by events from the stories in Planudes’ version of his life.

Woodcut image from Wikipedia

David Madrid

Contact: David Madrid