|
The tall mountain peaks poked out
through the mist-filled valley below. "I wonder what is below all that
mist. All I’ve ever seen are the tops of the mountains," Gruffy said.
"I know what’s down there! There’s
nothing but monsters, bubbling pools of acid mud, and dead trees,"
answered Curly.
"How do you know that?" Scratchy
asked.
"He doesn’t. He’s just guessing,"
Stubby replied.
"I’m not guessing. Look at the
mountaintops. They are green, rich with pines, birch, and aspen. Suddenly
the mist begins and it always stays there, in the same place. Surely
nothing green grows below it," Gruffy said.
"Why don’t we go and find out,"
Scratchy suggested.
"We’re mountain goats. We live in
the mountaintops, not in the valleys. I’m not going," Curly said.
"Me neither," said Stubby.
"Well, Gruffy and I will go then,"
Scratchy said. The four goats stood at the edge of the cliff, gazing down
into the mist. "Well go down the path. I’ve never been past the pine tree
that was struck by lightning. It’s time to find out where that path will
take us."
"I’ll go with you. You two stay up
here and we’ll come back in a few days and let you know what we’ve found,"
Gruffy said.
Scratchy and Gruffy trotted down the
path. Stubby and Curly stood watching until the other goats had
disappeared into the mist. Stubby gulped, "What if they don’t ever come
back?"
Curly shook his head. He didn’t know
the answer. His tummy began to rumble. "I’m hungry. I saw a bush of wild
raspberries growing around the corner and up the hill. Let’s go." He
trotted off in the opposite direction. Stubby was worried about the other
goats, but the raspberries did sound delicious, so off he went, following
Curly.
"I can’t see a thing," Gruffy
whispered. "We’re right in the middle of the mist. Be careful not to step
in the acid mud, in case there really is some down here."
"I can hardly see my hooves, never
mind anything else," Scratchy replied. "I do see a lot of dead trees
though. What if there is nothing but dead trees and what if there are
monsters down here?"
"Don’t be ridiculous. The trees
aren’t covered with leaves because we’re so high up on the mountain. Soon
they’ll have leaves. Curly was just saying that about the monsters to
scare us," Gruffy said, but looked around cautiously as they trotted down
the path.
"I hear a noise," Gruffy said. "I
smell something too, but it smells rather nice, like fruit."
"The mist seems to be thinning out.
Look! I can see trees, and they aren’t dead ones. At least Curly was wrong
about that!" Scratchy nervously giggled.
"Wow! Look at that!" Gruffy said.
"The mist has cleared up. I can see the whole valley. It’s beautiful!
There are fruit orchards over there," he said, pointing with his horns. "I
can smell apples, peaches, and pears."
Scratchy ran over and stood beside
him. "Wow!" He started to sniff. "I smell cheese. I smell roasted
chickens. I smell spices and herbs and best of all I smell chocolate
cakes."
"You’re right. Let’s go all the way
down, but watch out for acid mud. I’m not sure about that yet," Gruffy
cautioned. They ran down the path, passing streams filled with fish,
vineyards covered with plump, purple grapes, and fields of golden corn.
They saw horses, cows, and sheep grazing on the grasses. When they reached
the bottom, they stopped. "Should we head into the village or go right
over to the apple orchards?"
"Let’s go into the village. I want
some of that chocolate cake. It smells delicious," Scratchy smiled.
They trotted towards town. "Look at
the buildings. There’s a bakery. Mmmm, I can smell bread, and hot rolls,
and pastries. Maybe that’s where we’ll find the cakes," Gruffy said.
The two goats ran over to the
windows and peeked inside. "There it is. There’s a chocolate cake. Oh my,
there are cherry tarts too, and apricot buns filled with cream cheese. I
must have some," Scratchy said. He ran into the bakery and started eating
the cakes.
"Hey! You goats get out of here. No
animals are allowed in my bakery," shouted the baker. He picked up a broom
and started to hit them on their backsides. "Out of here!"
Gruffy and Scratchy ran outside. "I
didn’t even get to try the apricot buns," Scratchy whined. His face was
covered with chocolate icing.
"We’ll have to find food somewhere
else. Look, there’s a grocer shop. I see ears of corn, celery stalks and a
few delicious looking red peppers," Gruffy said. The two goats ran over to
the grocers and started gobbling down the corn on the cob.
"Hey! You goats get out of here. No
animals are allowed in my grocer shop," shouted the grocer. He picked up a
broom and started to hit them on their backsides. "Out of here!"
Gruffy and Scratchy ran out the door
and down the street. "Well, that wasn’t very nice. I didn’t get to have a
red pepper," Scratchy pouted.
"I’m sure we’ll find something else
to eat," Gruffy assured him. They went into the butcher shop, the
fishmongers, and even into a restaurant, but were chased out with broom
each time. "Out of here!"
"I don’t think I like it down here
in the village. Let’s go into the orchards and have some apples," Gruffy
suggested. Scratchy followed him into the grove of apple trees. "Look at
them all! They’re red and juicy and sweet. Here, have one," he said,
pulling a few off the branch. The two goats gobbled them down. Scratchy
was about to get another when he heard, "Hey! You goats get out of here!
No animals are allowed in my orchard!" The farmer picked up a broom and
hit the goats on the backside with it. "Out of here!"
"I think we’ll starve if we stay
down here. Let’s go back up to the top of the mountains and see Curly and
Stubby," Scratchy said.
The two goats clambored up the path
to the top of the mountains. They burst through the mist and ran around
the corner. They saw Curly and Stubby nibbling on some fresh raspberries.
"Your back!" shouted Stubby. "What did you see down there? Was the
monsters, and acid mud, and dead trees?"
Scratchy looked at Gruffy. "Yes,
that’s what is down there. Lots of monsters! We’d better stay up here in
the mountaintops and enjoy eating wild raspberries, pinecones, juniper
berries and leaves. It’s much safer here."
"I’m glad I didn’t go," Curly said.
Gruffy winked at Scratchy and the
four mountain goats spent the rest of the day nibbling on the wild
raspberries. |
