Author’s Note: this story was designed to help a particular child with bed-wetting and I’ve left the text unchanged. Should you wish to try this story to help your own child with this problem, it would help, I’m sure to alter the details about “Nick” – the central character in the story – to fit the character of your own child. You may, of course, just read it as a “normal” bed-time story as it is!
A problem with water
There were several reasons why Henry did not enjoy the visits of his little cousin Nick. Perhaps the very worst thing was that he had to give up his own bedroom and sleep in the spare room which he didn’t like at all. The reason given was that Henry’s room was closest to the bathroom. Also Nick was a very sporty boy, very good at pretty well any sports, especially swimming and tennis, and he was always full of energy and wanting to do things… it took a lot of energy from Henry to keep him happy.
Still, there it was; Nick was staying with Henry for a few days and there was nothing to be done. How nice it would be to introduced Nick to Ho-Ho and have an adventure together; one of their adventures would certainly keep Nick occupied and happy, but could Henry really trust him?
Finally Henry could stand it no more:
“Can you keep a secret?” He asked Nick looking very serious, “and I don’t mean just any old secret, but a very, very special secret?”
Nick looked interested, but slightly superior:
“I’m in the Scouts, and we are taught lots of secret things, like how to tie secret knots and light fires without matches, so I can certainly keep any secrets you might have Henry!”
“Very well,” said Henry, suitably impressed, “I have a very special friend called Ho-Ho the elephant who lives in a tree. When he falls down from the tree in a morning he becomes very big and sometimes wears roller-skates and we go off together having adventures and solving lots of problems.”
Nick stared in amazement and disbelief: “If that were true, that would be a wonderful secret which I would certainly keep!”
“Come on, I’ll show you” said Henry picking up the jug of orange juice and three glasses.
They were soon sitting underneath the damson tree sipping their orange juice and waiting in silence.
“There’s no elephant!” Said Nick.
“There is too” said Henry, “and he lives in this tree… I bet he is just a bit scared because he doesn’t know you and he doesn’t know it is all right to come down… Ho-Ho… Ho-Ho!” Henry called out.
They waited in silence. Nothing happened. Nick smirked to himself, and, feeling a little nervous, took a small piece of flannel from his pocket and began to sniff it.
Henry was not at all worried; he had learned from his friendship with Ho-Ho that things just happen when they are ready and that there is no need to become angry or try to rush things. Once he had told Ho-Ho how he wished he was grown up so that he could ride a big bike. “When I was little, I thought I would never grow to be big” Ho-Ho had replied, looking very glum. Henry began to laugh at the very thought of this huge elephant worried about being small; Ho-Ho joined in as he too could see the funny side of that particular worry! After that, Henry knew that certain things just took their time and there was no need to rush and worry about things that would happen naturally.
Suddenly there was a ‘plop’ and a small pink creature almost covered by the grass began to grow into a huge smiling elephant that made a child feel happy just by looking at him.
Nick’s eyes opened wide in astonishment.
“Ho-Ho, this is my cousin Nick” he said, pointing to Nick, “and this” he said waving his hand at Ho-Ho, is my very special friend Ho-Ho the elephant.” Ho-Ho bowed and looks so funny that the two cousins began to laugh and Henry noticed what a nice laugh Nick had and wondered why Nick didn’t laugh more often.
“What do we do now?” Said Nick, looking happy but impatient.
“We just wait,” said Henry, “things will happen when they are ready.”
Nick waited for a little while and then started sniffing again at the piece of flannel. Henry and Ho-Ho gazed at him with great curiosity; Nick seemed too grown-up and clever to need a thing like that! After a while, Nick smiled in embarrassment and put the piece of flannel back in his pocket.
Then there was another ‘plop’ and a small balloon on a box-lid landed on the grass.
“What is that?” Exclaimed Nick.
“MMM,” mused Henry, “this is my Uncle Dennis’s Magic balloon.”
Nick, of course, wanted to know everything about the balloon, but Henry just put his finger to his lips, hoping that Nick would just wait and see and trust. They sat in silence. Henry was trying to remember how things had worked out last time.
“We all sit around the lid,” he finally said, “and close our eyes and don’t say anything – nothing at all whatsoever.” He looked at Nick who finally nodded in agreement.
They closed their eyes; at first nothing happened. Then they noticed a strange sound, like air gusting into a tyre. Then there was a strange feeling of dizziness and floating.
“I will count to three; then we can all open our eyes together,” said Henry feeling very grown-up, “one… two… three!”
Nick could not believe his eyes and even Henry and Ho-Ho were amazed, though they had seen this several times before. They were floating high up in the air. The small balloon had become enormous and the three of them were sitting on the lid of the box. They could still see their house, the garden and the damson tree, but they were rapidly becoming very small and disappearing into the distance.
“What’s happening?… where are we going?” Cried Nick, with fear in his voice, reaching into his pocket.
“We don’t really know” said Henry beginning to relax and enjoy the beautiful floating feelings, “but it will all work out… you just wait and see.”
Henry found it very difficult to speak as he felt so wonderful in the balloon. His mind was full of nice pictures and feelings – nice feelings of being able to trust the Magic balloon and where it would take them. He didn’t have to worry about Nick now… Ho-Ho would take care of that… and sure enough, Henry could hear Ho-Ho’s voice, sleepily explaining about the balloon… how the balloon had a mind of its own, but it was really your own mind taking you where you really needed to go, even though you didn’t know yourself where you needed to go… and how you were in the balloon and part of the balloon and you could become really sensitive to how the balloon felt about things and what was good and right for the balloon and who you really were and learning things that you already knew but didn’t know that you knew which were truly wonderful.
Henry looked across at Nick and noticed how much more peaceful he appeared; his face had become smoother and calmer and he looked happier in himself.
The balloon was beginning its descent and underneath there was pure blue water, the bluest blue they had ever seen.
“I don’t think I will need this for much longer” said Nick sleepily, taking the flannel out of his pocket. The three friends smiled together……
Soon the balloon was nestling into the soft sand of the most beautiful beach that Nick had ever seen; it was the beach of Harmony Island, and although Henry and Ho-Ho had been there before, they were stunned by the beauty of everything they saw.
Before they could even step out of the balloon, they were surrounded by a group of small children who were clapping and waving; it was almost as if the friends had been expected!
Henry introduced Nick to the children. As usual, it was Naomi, the little girl who did most of the talking. Apparently the mice had never come back after Henry and Ho-Ho had introduced mustard seed to the island, and indeed the people were very happy and grateful for what had happened.
“I wonder why the balloon brought us here this time?” Thought Henry, “there is always a good reason for things happening the way they do!”
There on the sandy beach a group of small children and a large elephant sat in silence for a while just enjoying each other’s company.
“I wonder why we have been brought here by the balloon.” Said Henry, “we just love to come and visit you here on your beautiful island, but there is usually another reason for the balloon to bring us here…… do you have any problems?”
There were a few moments of silence, and then Naomi spoke out:
“We do have a problem, but even you and your magic elephant cannot solve this one” she said with a sad smile.
She explained that her name was Naomi because she was called after a beautiful flower called the Naomi flower which only lived in 1 Special Place on the island. This was on a small plateau, very high up and inaccessible. Only the fittest and thinnest of the children could climb up to the plateau, squeezing between the rocks and crevices. But high up on this plateau there had been no rain for many months and the beautiful Naomi flower was dying. Elsewhere on the island there was plenty of water, but to take water up to the Naomi flower was impossible!
“So unless you can make it rain on the Naomi flower, you cannot help with this problem Henry!” Naomi concluded. All the children looked very sad as Naomi recounted the story, and Henry and Ho-Ho and Nick realised just how important the Naomi flower was to the children.
They thought in silence for a while, then Henry suddenly started:
“I’ve got it!” He said, leaping up excitedly. He then re-told the story of how Ho-Ho had saved Mr Scroggins’ farm from the fire by carrying water in his trunk. “That’s the answer,” he concluded, “Ho-Ho can carry the water up the mountain in his trunk!”
The children looked from Henry to the enormous elephant and back again at Henry, then back again to Ho-Ho and back again to Henry and all began to laugh….. the very idea of that enormous elephant climbing up that difficult mountain path was beyond belief! Even Henry was forced to admit, that for once, Ho-Ho was not the answer!
“There must be another way” he said quietly, thinking out loud. Nick’s forehead was wrinkled in thought. He felt so much more powerful after the balloon journey, so much stronger and more confident, that he felt optimistic about finding an answer.
“What are you thinking, Nick?” Asked Henry.
“I was thinking that if children had trunks like Ho-Ho, we could easily get the water up the mountain!” The children all laughed at the very idea of children having trunks instead of noses.
“But we do have mouths!” Added Nick. The children all looked at Nick with great interest. “If we take buckets of water as near as possible to the plateau, then fill up our mouths and climbed the last bit, we can empty our mouths full of water onto the Naomi plants….. How much water will they need, Naomi?”
Naomi looked amazed: “I think just two or three full buckets of water would do it….. that’s a lot of children’s mouths, but there are eight of us who can make the climb, and with Henry and Nick, that would make 10 of us….. it might take us half a day, and it would be exhausting, but it might well work!”
Her eyes shone with excitement and the children rapidly began their preparations.
With great difficulty three buckets of water were taken up the mountain as high as they could manage. Then one at a time each of the 10 children who could make the climb filled their mouths with water. Nick felt thrilled that his ideas had been accepted by the children; this was even better than his adventures in the Scouts.
The climb was incredibly difficult and at first even Nick found it impossible to hold the water in his mouth while climbing hard and wriggling through the narrow places. Each time, however, he improved; it seemed that his mouth could hold more water by holding it in a certain way, and he managed to keep his lips tightly together with practice. When he had started he had been the worst of all the children, but he was so desperate to help that he was finally the very best; it seemed that his mouth had even increased in size, as he learned how to seal his lips tightly shut so that no water was spilt. He learned how to relax his body for the climb so that the tension in his mouth didn’t spill the water and how to keep his mind comfortable even though the climb was so hard and so hot. He was desperate for his plan to work and made more journeys and carried more water than anyone else.
Finally the job was done. The flowers had their roots watered and were already starting to look better. The children sat round the flowers, hot and exhausted but very happy and contented. Nick looked from the happy children to the beautiful Naomi Flowers he had helped to save and he knew that he would treasure that moment for the rest of his life.
As the balloon floated away from the island Nick felt truly wonderful.
“I really don’t need my flannel any more” he said, “Do you and Ho-Ho want it?”
“What do you think Ho-Ho?” Asked Henry.
Ho-Ho thought for a moment: “if Nick doesn’t need the flannel, then it can still be good for him to keep to remind him of all the things that he has done.”
“Yes, that’s right,” thought Nick, and began to dream with the movements of the balloon, with pictures and feelings friendships a sense of belonging and feeling wonderful about himself as a person. Ho-Ho was talking in his simple elephant-talk, telling stories about the miller and his windmill, and how the wind turned the sails of the windmill, grinding the wheat, and how the miller and the windmill were so much like the balloon and its passengers, but even in his sleep the miller knew what the windmill was doing. But Nick felt that much of him was still on the island, still there on the sand when Naomi gave him the Naomi flower to take away with him and blushing, kissed him on the cheek. He held the Naomi flower and knew that this had been no dream, but that what he had learnt this day would be always with him and he could never feel so lonely and frightened ever again. Henry dreamed his own dreams, but knew that something very important had happened to Nick, that his problem was somehow no longer there and from now on they would be very, very good friends indeed.
In fact they had many more adventures together in the future, but somehow Nick never needed to take over Henry’s bedroom any more …..