Listen and read-along with this special story by, MaryLou Manzik.

Dark clouds came to visit an already gray sky. Stowa stood silently at her window and waited for the storm. Instead of rain, to her surprise, words fell out of the sky. 

Stowa ran outside with a bucket and collected all the words it could hold. When she was done, her bucket was very heavy. 

Stowa looked up and saw the last storm cloud passing.

With a rousing grumble the cloud asked Stowa,

“What are you going to do with the words in your bucket?” 

“I’m going to share them,” Stowa replied. 

As the cloud rose higher, gathering the last of its strength, it rumbled, “Choose the words you share carefully. Words matter and can sometimes do magic.”  

Stowa went inside and spread the words on the floor. 

Some words had sharp edges and thorns. 

Stowa thought these could hurt someone. She carefully took them to the waste bin, dropped them in and put the lid on tight. 

Some words were soft and smooth. Stowa thought these could make someone happy. She held these close to her heart, then placed them in a basket. 

Other words were colorful. Stowa thought these could make someone smile. She put them in the basket too. 

When Stowa’s basket was full, she looked inside. The backside of each word was shiny like a mirror. She saw a reflection of herself in each word.

Stowa took her basket of words and went outside. She hoped that she would see magic. 

The sky was a faded blue and a watercolor rainbow hung where the clouds had been. As Stowa walked, she gave one word from her basket to each person she passed and asked them to share it. 

Each person shared the word with another person. Stowa’s words were shared over and over again. 

Each time her words were shared, warm smiles and halos of happiness appeared.   

Magic! thought Stowa. 

The End

About the Author

MaryLou has a background in speech and language therapy, copyediting and proofreading. She is retired from a career in insurance risk assessment and writes children’s stories and poems, which are often inspired by her curious and imaginative grandchildren.