Three men had been friends for most of their lives, from elementary school through college. They had even been working at the same firm since graduation. In their late twenties, they decided to go on vacation together to a remote tropical resort. Their names were Dave, Jimmy, and Roland. On the third morning of their vacation, they decided to go jogging on the beach. As the three friends ran along the edge of the surf, Ji...

If I had one wishI'd be a fishI'd swim the seaand make a splishIf I had one otherI'd make a brotherWe'd splish aroundWith one anotherIf a third would comeI'd make a mumTo make us smileWhen we were glumIf a fourth were hadI'd make a dadTo keep us safeFrom all that's badThen out we'd set, and swim all fourSkimming above the ocean floorFrom coast to kelp to shell to shoreAnd skip and play forevermore  

I got told off today. Not unusual at all, really. The little person who told me off has not long turned two, and already she is quite the character. I made the observation to one of my colleagues that she ought to be a teacher when she's older, as she's quite bossy. I really do enjoy the company of this child. I like all the children I teach, of course, but she and I have this rapport going, I'm her person. She's a real c...

‘What a view.’ Felix never imagined that thought would ever cross his mind while looking down from a Ferris Wheel, probably because he had always kept his eyes shut. Earlier, the yin and yang of excitement and trepidation had pulled at him when he and his dad arrived at the summer carnival. Like any boy, he loved the atmosphere, essentially a kid’s version of Nirvana: the lights, the sideshows, the games, the rides, the j...

I had perched myself on the child-sized chair in the family play area, conveniently, this was also right underneath the heat pump. It was icy cold that morning. Two girls were with me, and we were consuming pretend cups of tea and having a good ol gossip sesh. R comes in and asks to join in. The more the merrier, so she proceeds to brew some tea and put some baking in the oven. "Hey Laura," R says to me. "Yes," I answer. ...

A wang-wang-pede rose from 'neath the seaAnd sclobbered towards the beachOn seven and twenty tenticlawsWith a retching craw-craw screechHe flared his squinty nostrilsThen snapped his clack-clack beakHis tenticlaws grabbed man and childAnd he slapped his glob-glob cheeksSoldiers came with their woof-woof gunsFired shots to schlump him deadBut they should have shot his flub-flub gutNot his hardy thick-boned headBescreeching...

Masterful Tony rode a masterful ponyThrough the streets of the small village fayreIt neighed and it brayedAnd clip-cloppity swayedWithout worry, nor hurry, nor care.Then old Mrs Bunyons, grabbed her sack of onionsAnd threw it on Tony's young backThe pony cried and it triedto maintain its fair strideBut collapsed down to earth with a smack.Said Masterful Tony, “You stupid old crony”Your sack is too weighty and fullSo with...

I was sitting inside at a table with a few children, and we were doing puzzles. It was so hot that we, the teachers, had made the executive decision to bring the kids inside and just chill out. We had Netflix for kids on the TV and some of the children were sitting on the mat and watching. Three of them, actually, had fallen asleep, all in the same position, all facing the same direction, funnily enough. Some of the other...

Wherever they are found, and wherever they have traveled, Kender evoke a common adage amongst those who have encountered them. The most dangerous thing in the world is a bored Kender. I must beg to differ in this tale. For those who don’t know Kender, they are a race of Halflings/Hobbits known for an overwhelming sense of curiosity. So great is their curiosity that they are fearless even in the most dire of circumstances....

Here’s yet another fond memory from the bygone days of PnP role-playing. This tale centers around one of my players creating a new character. Everyone playing the game had many characters. We just picked out characters from our portfolio according to whim every time we sat down at our custom-built plywood and 2x4 gaming table. Everyone wanted a wide variety of options, so we often rolled up new characters whenever we were...

There were some grand moments in my old PnP role-playing days that I will think fondly of until my dying day. This is one of them. My gaming world was one of my own creation, put together in the fashion of Frankenstein’s monster from numerous sources. It was quite the “Monty Haul” campaign, which means that loot was abundant. I balanced this by giving the monsters and other beings in the world access to the same hauls of...

You find so many people are bruisingBut you, you are mostly amusingI like the way you love.You do it like a foxglove.I like the way you dance.You do it like a stance.You find so many people are runnyBut you, you are mostly funnyI love the way your hair flows,Spreading your style everywhere.You're like a style fountain.Enough zazz for a whole mountain.You find so many people are loveableBut you, you are most lovableYou're...

I was sitting at the messy play table, with some freshly made playdough. I had the kids helping me roll it out and add colour to it. I had the usual mini rolling pins and cookie cutters out that my helpers were using. "My Nana is picking me up today," T said excitedly. "I'm going to stay at their farm.""My mummy is picking me up today," C replied. The two besties happily chatted between themselves for a bit, talking about...

I was watching, amused, as two girls had a tiff over one of the activity boards. One of the girls stood up and made to walk away. The other girl said something I couldn't make out. The girl who was standing turned around, put her hands on her hips and declared loud and proud, "Don't care, grumpy bear!" then she stormed off in dramatic four-year-old fashion. That's a great line. I'm using that in any future tiffs or argume...

Coming from within the kids' bathroom I heard the unmistakable sounds of children laughing, a pause, some low sounds that I could not quite make out from where I was, then the loud sound of laughter once more. Walking across the classroom, the low sounds became clearer, as a picture was painted as to what the children were doing in the bathroom when they were supposed to be getting changed after having some fun summer wat...