CHAPTER 13 — MOUNT ENJOYING

“Welcome to Mount Enjoying,” said Choosy Chicken, and she nodded toward the gently sloping mountain before them and made a grand sweep of her wing. “And all you have to do. . .,” she began.
“Is make enjoying choices!” chorused Tammy and Tommy in unison, completing her thought.
The twins laughed together and Choosy Chicken cackled with them.
“That should be easy enough,” said Tommy.
“Actually, a lot of people find this mountain quite difficult,” Choosy Chicken said seriously, “especially some grown-ups. They get wrapped up in all their little problems and they forget how to relax and enjoy life.
“Well, I like to play baseball, draw, and go to the movies,” said Tommy. “Are those enjoying choices?”
“Oh, yes, indeed,” answered Choosy.
“And I like to listen to music and play with my friends,” chimed in Tammy.
“Those are all good examples, too,” said Choosy Chicken, nodding solemnly, then she added, “but enjoying choices aren’t only actions. You can also make some really important enjoying choices with words, like saying, “Please,’ and ‘Thank you,’ and giving compliments to others.
At that point she motioned to her right and the children saw a small sign that said, OK ENJOYING IS PLAYING, LIKING, LOVING, AND BEING FRIENDLY.
“But isn’t loving a caring choice?” asked Tammy with a scowl on her face. “I mean, sometimes when Grandma’s arthritis is acting up, or I know she’s worried about money, I give her a big hug — just to show her I care.”
“That’s right,” clucked Choosy. “In that case, your hug would be a caring choice — you even said that word. But suppose your Grandma wasn’t worried about anything, and you just walked up to her and gave her a great big hug anyway, to show her that you love her. . .”
“Then that’d be an enjoying choice!” exclaimed Tammy.
“Exactly,” said Choosy.
“You know,” Tammy continued thoughtfully, turning toward her brother, “Grandma’s always hugging us, and patting us on the arm and stuff like that. Maybe we ought to do the same for her more often — I mean, not just when she’s feeling bad or something.”
“Yeah,” Tommy agreed slowly. “She’d like that — and so would we.”
Choosy Chicken smiled. “I see you two are beginning to realize that choices are never one-sided. Well, are you ready to start?”
“I’m ready,” answered the twins at the same time.
“Race you to the top of that first rise,” Tommy called, challenging Tammy.
“You’re on!” answered Tammy as she began to run.
The children and Red dashed madly to the top of the rise, where they stopped and gasped in astonishment. Ahead of them, bathed in the golden warmth of the sun, the entire slope was covered with a fragrant carpet of wildflowers — daisies, buttercups, violets, and dozens of others in a riot of color.
“Oh,” sighed Tammy, smiling, “how beautiful.”
“Yes,” said Tommy, “and the air smells so good, too.”
They set off, slowly at first, then filled with excitement, they ran, they skipped, and they rolled in the sweet smelling grass and flowers. Giggling, they held buttercups under each other’s chins, they tickled each other with plumes of grass, and they played tag and fetch with Red.
“This mountain is fun,” cried Tommy.
“Gosh, yes, I love it!” Tammy agreed”
“And it’s fun being here with you,” Tommy said.
“Oh, right,” said Tammy.
Before the twins knew it, they reached the top of the mountain. A sparkling stream tumbled noisily down the hill beside them, and they kicked off their shoes and socks to wade in the beautiful blue water.
“Better try this, Red,” Tommy hollered. “The water feels wonderful.”
“But co-o-o-old,” shivered Tammy, laughing.
When Choosy Chicken finally caught up with the twins, huffing and puffing, they ran up to her and gave her a big hug.
“We just want you to know we think you’re a wonderful friend,” said Tommy, and his voice had a sincere ring to it.
“Oh, my,” fluttered the huge bird, at once pleased and embarrassed. “That gives me a really good feeling.”
“Well, it’s true,” declared Tammy. “You’ve been so nice to us, we decided to let you know how we feel.”
“Oh, my, my, my, my, my.” Choosy Chicken lifted her wings to hide her blushing face, but the twins gently teased and tickled her, and sprinkled her with the sparkling cold water until they all began to laugh.
After Tammy and Tommy put their shoes and socks on, they all started down the mountain. A few steps along the way Choosy Chicken pointed out another small sign that was nestled in a bed of bright red tulips. It said, OD ENJOYING IS HURTING OTHERS’ FEELINGS OR TEASING TOO MUCH.
“Oh, teasing. I know how to do that,” said Tommy. He turned to his sister and began to chant in a sing-song voice, “You better stop eating so much, or you’ll get fat.”
“Oh, yeah? Well, if you don’t stop reading all those comic books, your brain’s going to rot,” Tammy replied with a giggle.
“Oh, my, yes,” fluttered Choosy Chicken nervously. “You certainly do know how to make OD enjoying choices. I think it might be better if we just thought about OD enjoying choices rather than demonstrating any more of them out loud.”
The twins continued walking as the path wound gently down the mountainside. Soon they could see that the E-shaped formation they’d noticed from the foot of the mountain was the shadowy mouth of an enormous cave.
“Wow!” exclaimed Tommy, but in a soft voice, pointing his finger, “look at that.”
“Yeah!” answered Tammy, rubbing her hands together nervously.
Suddenly the ground shook and there was a thunderous roar. Out of the cave came a monstrous green dragon, belching flames and thick black smoke. The twins screamed and ducked quickly behind a rock.
“Oh, dear,” came a muffled voice. “Oh, dear. Oh dear. Oh dear me."
Puzzled, the twins stood up and cautiously approached the cave. A chubby little man, fatter by far than Patrolman Rodman, a neighborhood police officer, but with same round face, bright eyes, and thinning hair, was frantically examining the dragon’s head, which the astonished twins could now see was made out of papier-mache’.
“Thank goodness it wasn’t damaged by the flames. It’s a very delicate mechanism, you know. Well, what did you kids think? Pretty scary, huh?” The man slapped his thigh and began to laugh. “You should have seen the looks on your faces! I really had you going there, didn’t I?”
“You mean, this was all just a — a practical joke?” Tommy demanded angrily.
“Sure. And a pretty good one too, if you ask me. I’ve spent a long time perfecting it,” answered the little man.
“Why, you — you!” Tammy sputtered. “Don’t you know that practical jokes aren’t funny? They’re stupid! And dangerous! You might have burned us with that thing — or hurt yourself!”
The round little man sighed in resignation and picked up the huge dragon’s head. “That’s the trouble with young people nowadays,” he grumbled, shuffling back into the dark recesses of the cave. “No appreciation of all the hard work that goes into a good practical joke.”
As soon as the last echo of his voice died away, Red crawled out from under the bush where he had been hiding, and gave a loud bark.
“Atta boy, Red. You tell him,” Tommy said with a chuckle. He looked serious for a moment, then he smiled and said, “Enjoying choices are fun.”
“Most of them are,” Tammy said, correcting him. “But practical jokes and teasing aren’t.” she announced, firmly.

Chapter 13 — THE BIG IDEA

For Chapter 13 the Big Idea is: Enjoying choices are the things we say or do that express our positive feelings.

“The world would be a better place if we all made more OK enjoying choices.” That’s how the discussion of this Big Idea begins in the User’s Guide. As Tammy and Tommy climbed Mount Enjoying they realized that saying Please and Thank You, smiling, “smelling the roses,” and complimenting others are enjoying choices.

Think about this idea and how you can use it to make your life better.

To order the print form of In the Land of Choice, and the second novel in the series, The Magic of Choice, use the ORDER LINK below.

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