Copyright 2003, Moon Seun

(narration manuscript)

 

It was just another lovely lazy morning.

The sun woke up and stretched its beams. Chirping birds sang, “Rise and shine!” as shimmering leaves sparkled in the hazy morning light.

Familiar footsteps echoed in the distance, thumping and stomping as they drew nearer: STOMP! STOMP! STOMP!

A broad shadow ambled over a well-worn path, leading to fence with a sign that read “HENRY’S GARDIN” - a little picketed garden belonging to a monster named Henry.

Henry was BIG… thick as a bear, but gentle as a breeze - a sturdy, simple creature who loved flowers.

 

His large hand unlatched the rickety old gate, and Henry entered the garden with a loud THUMP!

Towering among the bustling flowers, Henry stooped low to pluck a bright yellow daisy.

SNNNIIIIIFFFFFFFF! Raising the flower to his nose, Henry savored the smell with great pleasure.

“Ahhhhhhh!” Henry exhaled, then took another sniff - a great, big WHIFF through cavernous nostrils. SNNNIIIIIFFFFFFFF!

“Ahhhhhhh!”

A gleaming smile dawned across the monster’s broad face. “Happy!” Henry beamed, gazing about… first to his left… then to his right… up to the sky and down at…

…a dark, fat circle that came wheeling into the garden? Henry stared in amazement as the circle lazily wandered in and flopped over at his feet.

 

“What in the world is THIS?” he wondered. In all his life, Henry had never seen a tire.

Lifting it in his great big hand, Henry peered through the tire as if it were a telescope. Looking here and there, turning it this way and that, he saw a round sky… round mountains… and a round world.

 

Henry was fascinated with his find! He squeezed it, bounced it, and shook it like a rattle.

“Huh, heavy!” he thought as he weighed the tire in one hand against the daisy in the other. “So much HEAVIER than a flower… must smell so much BETTER than a flower!”

With great anticipation, Henry flared his nostrils wide, taking in a hearty whiff of…

…the most horrible thing that he had ever smelled! “BLECCH!!!” Henry jerked his head away from the tire, trying to shake the awful odor out of his nose.

 

“What a terribly smelly thing this is!” he exclaimed. With a flick of his hand, Henry dumped that awful, stinky, smelly circle to the ground… just like that!

At that very moment, a rolling shadow slipped along the fence. Curious, he turned and saw… WHOOOOOOOSH!!! …another dark fat circle speeding by on the other side of the garden.

“More?” Henry wondered.

Slowly… a low rumble began to build like a brewing storm, growing louder and louder. It shook the ground beneath Henry’s feet.

WHOOSH! BAM! CRACK!!! - a herd of tires thundered into the garden! Henry gasped in horror as they smashed everything in their path.

 

CRACK! BAM! WHOOSH!!! Heavy black tires continued to pour in, flattening flowers and scattering petals in their tracks. Henry hunched low, cradled the daisy with both of his hands.

CRASH! BANG! CRACK! SNAP! A shower of tires rained down upon Henry and all around his garden.

A swirling darkness engulfed Henry. He lost all notion of time. Henry no longer felt the crushing tires nor heard the thunderous rumbling.

The dust settled. Henry stood up.

He saw the flattened, shattered fences of his little garden. He saw the open fields, scarred with tire tracks and strewn with broken flowers. As far as Henry could see, there was not a living thing. Unless…

 

Henry looked down at his clasped hands. Hopeful, he opened them at once.

“GRRROOOAAAAARRRRRR!” Henry let out a monstrous wail. There was the broken flower, crushed in his very own hands.

Upset and confused at what he had done, Henry staggered across the ruined land. He walked and walked until he came upon a group of buildings, pushing up to the sky like a row of giant jagged teeth.

 

Henry found himself in the middle of a strange landscape – a ghost town filled with barren brick walls, hard narrow streets and rolling tires.

Lost and alone, with no place to go, Henry slumped against the corner of a building, closed his eyes and fell asleep.

Henry’s eyes opened to glimmering sunlight. A hazy glow came into focus, casting brilliant rays over rolling fields. There, too, was his garden. Gentle breezes carried the sweet smell of flowers. Mesmerized, Henry leaned in and… BANG!!!

 

A large tire slammed into Henry’s droopy head - rudely awakening him from his dream. Henry looked down… and saw that ugly fat round circle again! He leapt to his feet and angrily wrenched it over his head.

 

With a ferocious roar, Henry shook that miserable tire BACK AND FORTH and BACK and FORTH and… stopped.

Peering through the tire, Henry saw a bright beam of light, cutting across the sky far beyond the mountainous buildings.

Dazzled by the brilliant ray, Henry’s grip on the tire softened. It struck the ground with a dull THUMP as he stepped to follow the beam, forgetting that maddening tire.

Henry eagerly marched onward, hopping and skipping in a breathless rush. THUMP! STOMP! THUMP! STOMP!

Among the buildings… THUMP! STOMP! THUMP! STOMP!

Then to an alley… THUMP! STOMP! THUMP! STOP! Henry halted.

 

There, in a pool of light, a lean patch of flowers had sprouted through cracks in the cemented ground! Henry leapt with joy. Watching the flowers sway in silence, he could not imagine anything more beautiful.

Henry picked one.

SNIFFFFF! Oh, how monster Henry missed this smell – a fresh, sweet smell… just as he remembered!

Just then… BUM! BANG! WHOMP! Three more of those dark, fat, smelly circles came bouncing down the street. Henry glared at them, mindful of the terrible event that happened in his garden.

He stared down at the fragile flower in his large hand. Henry thought hard, not wanting to crush a flower ever again.

He concentrated, rubbing his knitted brow up and down and UP… to the top of his head. Then… a magic thought!

 

With the gentlest care, Henry balanced the flower upon the crown of his nice, broad head. A happy smile curled Henry’s lips, pushing his cheeks all the way up to his beaming eyes.

“Ahhhhhhh!”

 

Henry thumped off into the city with the flower riding high, safe from clumsy hands and fat round circles. STOMP! STOMP! STOMP!

The morning sun burst in, warming the buildings.

As Henry walked among shafts of light, more cracks broke loose within the pavement. All around, new life was awakening.

It is just another beautiful day. Birds are chirping, flowers are blooming. And look… far down the road… here comes Henry!