16. Good people help each other!

Author’s Note: There is a massive problem of childhood obesity in our society and its consequences will inevitably be serious and far-reaching. I feel very sorry for these children whose lack of self-esteem and poorer quality of life is quite apparent; but what can be done? This story is an attempt to help such children. If you wish to use it, I’d suggest that you get everything else set up first – a healthy food regime, healthy snacks, and some kind of suitable exercise program. I’d suggest also that the child in the story is not identical with your child, but that it would be easy for your child to identify with the character in the story (i.e. Be subtle and don’t make it too ‘full on’!)  Please feel free to contact me at any stage if you are using this story; the subject is such a huge and painful one that any learning we can share will be invaluable!

 

Good people help each other!

Henry was friendly with many children, but most them lived quite far away; in fact, this was a very happy arrangement, because he never knew which of his friends might suddenly arrive and how long they might stay.

One such friend was Bertie.  At first, they had not got on very well at all, as Bertie kept on talking about ‘video games’.  How well Henry remembered the expression on Bertie’s face when he had asked: “what are video games?”  Bertie had looked totally astonished, and had looked so funny that Henry and Ho-Ho had been helpless with laughter.

But Bertie really wanted to be friends with Henry and Ho-Ho and quickly dropped the subject of video games; instead he talked about history and about ancient peoples and of all the battles, wars and the various tragedies that had befallen them.  He also had a wonderful ability to describe how people had lived in ancient times and how they had managed to survive.  Bertie also knew about the earth, about volcanoes, earthquakes, tornadoes….. in fact, there was very little that Bertie did not know about, and he could make anything interesting anyway!

“You must be the most popular boy in your class!”  said Henry one day.  There was a silence for a while, and Henry was sure that a little tear appeared in Bertie’s eye.

“You looked sad when I said that” said Henry, “you do have lots and lots of friends don’t you?”  he asked.

Bertie thought for a while: “they call me ‘fatty’, or sometimes ‘porky’.  The children at school are not as nice as you, Henry.  They tease me because I am…… fat!”

Oddly enough, Henry had hardly noticed that Bertie was fat, because he was such good company and always seemed to be happy.  Now he noticed, and realised how awful it must be to be teased by your school friends.

“Would you like to be thinner?”  Asked Henry.

“Yes” said Bertie thought fully, “but I really don’t know how.  I am hungry a lot of the time, but I don’t seem to eat a lot more than the other children….. maybe you and Ho-Ho can help?”

Henry felt very proud; this wonderful boy who seemed to know so much about so many things had a problem that he and Ho-Ho might fix!  But how?

“What do you think Ho-Ho?”  Asked Henry.

Ho-Ho thought for a little while: “elephants don’t really get fat” said Ho-Ho, “even birds don’t get fat” he added thoughtfully, “and they eat more than any other creature!”

This seemed rather puzzling to the boys, but Ho-Ho explained that birds really did eat more than other animals, but because they only ate “natural” foods such as fruit and nuts and insects, and because they had to fly around all day burning off energy, they never got fat!

“Well I’m certainly not going to start eating insects!”  Said Bertie, and as Henry and Ho-Ho burst into peels of laughter, he added: “and I certainly don’t think I will be able to learn to fly!”  And all three friends laughed together.

“But some animals are very fat,” said Henry, “such as pigs!”

Bertie looked very thoughtful: “in fact, wild pigs which are called ‘boars’ are very thin.  They are also quite fierce and can run very quickly.  It is only the pigs on the farm which are fat; these are fed on special fattening foods, and don’t have to run around in the forest looking for things to eat!”

“Well that’s it!”  said Henry, “We just have to find out about natural foods!”

Ho-Ho looked rather sheepish: “Does that mean I’ll have to stop eating ice cream?”

If you have ever seen an elephant looking sheepish, you will understand why Henry and Bertie were helpless with laughter.

 

So the plan was agreed; they were to go to the market and find out about natural foods.  The two boys helped Ho-Ho on with his roller-skates, clambered onto his back and made themselves comfortable for the long journey.  Henry had remembered a wonderful outdoor market in a small village which would be perfect to find out about these natural foods.

 

The market was buzzing with people, noises of music, laughter and people shouting about what they were trying to sell.  There was even a roundabout for the children.  Henry and Bertie made several enquiries as to where they might be able to find some “natural foods” and eventually found themselves at a very quiet stall which they seemed to have all to themselves!  The owner of the stall was an old lady called Ruth, and her “assistant” was her grand-daughter called Kate.  The three friends were soon talking to Ruth and Kate and developed an instant liking for them.  Kate was a little older than Henry and Bertie, but was full of energy and enthusiasm and so keen to talk with the three friends.  Ruth seemed to know everything about natural foods, about where they came from and how good they were for your health.  It was such a shame that there didn’t seem to be many people buying from their stall.

“Why aren’t you busier here?”  asked Henry.

“I’ve no idea,” said Ruth, “the foods that I sell are so good for your health and energy, you would think that people would be queuing up to buy them!”

The three friends were very enthusiastic about all their discoveries about these natural foods, and would dearly have loved to help Ruth and Kate with their business; indeed, they would have bought a lot of natural foods for themselves, but they had no money with them.  They decided to explore the market, and what fun it all was!  Lots of people seem to know Henry from previous adventures there, but everyone was so friendly and nice.  It struck the friends as totally sad that they weren’t more interested in these natural foods.

“I’m starving hungry” said Bertie, “can you smell all those wonderful food smells”.  And Henry and Ho-Ho could certainly smell lots of wonderful smells that made them feel hungry too, but they had no money to buy anything.

“That’s it,” said Bertie finally, “if only Ruth and Kate had some nice smells of food coming from their stall, people would queue up to buy from them!”

At last the three friends had an idea that might help their new friends!  They rushed back to the stall to share their ideas with Ruth and Kate.  At first they were greeted with silence.  Then Ruth pointed out that healthy foods don’t usually smell very nice – they usually smell of nothing!  Kate looked thoughtful:

“Granny, you used to make a beautiful soup that smelt wonderful, and I’m sure you said that it was full of goodness and healthy ingredients!” Ruth thought for a moment; she was very proud of her healthy soup recipe and it certainly did smell quite amazing.

Slowly the plan emerged; they would bring a giant pan from their home, and make the soup right there and then!  Ruth knew the names of the healthy ingredients that would make it smell nice and the beautiful aroma might well attract some people to buy from their stall.  The problem was that Ruth could not leave the stall, and there were lots of ingredients which needed to be brought from their home which was over a mile away.  Fortunately there were two bikes available and it was agreed that Kate and Bertie would ride to their home and bring the pan and all the ingredients back with them.  Henry was not allowed to ride a bike because of a previous misadventure with a squirrel and an old pair of pyjamas, so it was left to Bertie and Ruth.

 

Bringing all the ingredients from home took several journeys, and at the end of it Bertie was hot and exhausted.  But even before the final ingredients were put into the pan, there were several people around the stall, attracted by the smell.  Ruth had an audience now and was in full cry explaining about the value of natural foods and how the soup she had made was full of natural goodness.  And of course, people attract crowds, and the numbers grew and grew.  When the soup was finally cooked, so many people wanted to try it!  Ruth ladled out a cup of soup for the people at the front and as they tasted it, she explained about all the wonderful ingredients which had gone into its making.  They drank it slowly, savouring every mouthful and although they wanted more, there was not enough for second helpings – everyone wanted to try the fabulous soup.  Not only that, but while they were waiting for their taste of the soup, they spent money on the other things for sale at the stall. The sales that day were the best they had ever had!

The afternoon passed quickly and Ruth and Kate were delighted at the amount of money that they had taken.

“Could I please try some soup?”  asked Bertie very politely, controlling the fact that he was extremely hungry. Ruth was shocked:

“My poor child,” she said giving him a hug, “you have saved our business; you can have anything you want!”

The soup that Bertie enjoyed that day was the most wonderful food he had ever tasted in his entire life.  He drank it slowly and was aware of what wonderful power this natural food had for him.  Perhaps it was because he was really very, very hungry as well and that he had done a lot of hard work on the bike helping to rescue the business.  Ruth gave him lots of advice afterwards, about how to drink healthy drinks with meals, about the power you get from fruit and vegetables; she also gave him loads and loads of free natural foods – and Henry and Ho-Ho too of course.

 

On the way back home on Ho-Ho’s back, Bertie felt absolutely wonderful.  He had discovered natural foods which he realised were power foods that would make him stronger and fitter and slimmer.  Kate had been so grateful, she had kissed him on the cheek and made him feel even more special.  Today he had been a hero for the first time, but he was to be a hero many, many more times in the future.  Over the next few years, Bertie would become one of the most popular children the school had ever known, would do well at sports and in his tests, but he knew it all began with the amazing adventure with Henry and Ho-Ho.