ONCE upon a time, a very long time ago, there was a little boy named Derek. Derek lived with his mother in a small cottage at the edge of the deep woods. But Derek was getting to be a big boy, he went to preschool now.

One day while Derek was at preschool, his teacher gave him a piece of paper and told him to be sure that he gave it to his Mommy.

Of course, Derek wanted to know what it was, so his teacher told him that there was going to be a big firecracker show and that everybody could come to see it.

Derek was very excited, he liked firecrackers.

When his grand daddy came to pick him up, Derek asked, "Can we go to see the firecrackers, Granddaddy?"

Granddaddy just smiled and said, "You will have to talk to Mommy about that." Granddaddy always said that about anything that was 'portant or exciting. So Derek knew that this would really be fun.

When they got home, Derek's mommy was in the kitchen, so he went running into the kitchen shouting, "Can we, Mommy? Can we?"

"Can we what, Derek?" Mommy asked.

"Can we see the firecrackers, Mommy?"

"What firecrackers, Derek?" asked Mommy.

Then Derek remembered that he was s'posed to show Mommy the paper that his teacher had given him. So he ran back into the front room and got the paper from his book bag. Then he took it into the kitchen and gave it to Mommy. He jumped up and down asking, "Can we? Can we?" while Mommy looked at the paper.

Mommy read the paper and said, "OK, Derek, that might be fun. We can go if it doesn't rain."

"Why can't we go if it rains, Mommy?"

"Because the paper says that if it rains, that the fireworks show will be canceled," Mommy said.

"It won't rain, Mommy!" Derek said as he ran into the front room. "Granddaddy! Mommy said that we can see the firecrackers!" Derek said when he saw Granddaddy.

"That is nice, Derek," Granddaddy said and went back to the book that he was reading.

Derek was so excited that he could hardly wait. Every day he asked both Mommy and Granddaddy if it was time yet. Finally the day came when Mommy said, "The fireworks will be tomorrow, Derek, if it doesn't rain."

"It is not raining, now, Mommy," Derek said.

"No, Derek, it is not raining now. But it might rain tomorrow. But maybe it won't."

That night, Derek had a hard time getting to sleep, he was so excited.

The next day when Derek woke up, it was very cloudy outside. Derek looked at all of the dark clouds and thought, "Oh no! It is going to rain. I hope that it doesn't."

That afternoon, about the time that Granddaddy came to pick Derek up from preschool, it started to rain. By the time that they got home, it was raining really hard. They had to run from the car to the house, but they still got pretty wet.

Mommy laughed at them when they came into the house and said that they wouldn't need a shower tonight, they already had one.

Derek looked at Mommy and asked, "Mommy, are they going to have the firecrackers tonight?"

"I don't think so, Derek. Not unless it stops raining pretty soon."

So Derek looked at Granddaddy and asked, "Granddaddy, are they going to have the firecrackers tonight?" Maybe Granddaddy would give him a different answer, one that he would like better.

But Granddaddy just looked at him and said, "What did Mommy just say, Derek?"

Derek hung his head and said, "She said no."

"Then I guess that the answer is no," Granddaddy said. Grown-ups always stuck together. Spider fingers! It just wasn't right. He had so wanted to see the firecrackers.

It didn't stop raining. It was still raining hard when he went to bed and there were big puddles and the ditches were full of water.

Derek didn't have school the next day, and when he got up the sun was shinning and most of the puddles had dried up.

After he had his breakfast, he got his magic stick and went outside. Did I tell you that Derek had a magic stick? He had found it at the edge of the deep woods one day. It was a very magical thing and could become anything that Derek wanted it to be, a space ship, a sword, a walking cane or even a telescope or a horse. Anything that he wanted it to be. Sometimes it was just a stick.

Derek sat down on the steps and said, "It is not fair, it is just not fair!" He had so wanted to see the firecrackers.

Just then a small voice said, "What is not fair, Derek?"

Derek looked and saw that the little brown mouse that lived in the bushes beside the steps was looking at him.

"There was s'posed to be firecrackers last night. But it rained and we couldn't see them. An' I had waited forever an' forever to see them."

"Squeak!" said the little brown mouse. "You are right. That is just not fair."

"Whooo is not fair?"

Derek looked up and saw the old owl sitting on the limb of the tree that grew in Derek's front yard. He thought that Owl looked silly sitting up there wearing sunglasses.

"Squeak! Derek was s'posed to go see the firecrackers last night, an' he had waited forever an' forever to see them. Then it rained and he couldn't go!"

The little bunny rabbit that sometimes came to visit Derek hopped up just then. "I heard that and I agree, it is not fair. So what are we going to do about it?"

"I know!" shouted a grey squirrel from another branch of the tree. "We can make some firecrackers!"

"Squeak! That is a good idea!" said the mouse. "Do you know how to make firecrackers, Squirrel?"

"Not me," said the squirrel, "but maybe Bunny Rabbit knows."

"I don't know either," said the bunny rabbit. "Do you know how to make firecrackers, Owl?"

"Whoo. I am sorry, but I do not. Our making firecrackers is a good idea if we knew how to go about it. Unfortunately, none of us knows that art." Owl always talked like that, he was very smart. "Perhaps Derek knows."

"I don't know how to make firecrackers," said Derek. "But I bet that the library has a book that will tell you how to do it."

"Can you get that book for us, Derek?" asked the bunny.

"No. Mommy won't let me go to the library by myself, an' when she takes me she won't let me look at those kind of books. Even if she would let me go, I wouldn't know which book to get. I can't read yet."

"Well, I know how to read," said Owl. "The only trouble is that they won't let me into the library, Derek is the only one here that they will let in. And even if I could get in, I am not strong enough to carry such a book out. Let me think."

Everyone was quiet while Owl thought. They all knew that he was smart and did not want to disturb his smartness.

Owl thought and thought while everyone else was quiet, then all of a sudden he said, "Whoo! I have it. Wait here just a moment." And he flew away.

None of them had any idea what Owl was up to, and it was actually more like a moment and a half before he came back. And when he did come back, he s'prized them all 'cause he was riding on Griffin's shoulders. Griffin was Derek's dog, but you already knew that, didn't you.

"Griffin is going to get the book?" asked Derek. "But they won't let him in the library either, an' besides, he don't know how to read either."

"Whoo. But Griffin is strong, and he can carry the book. Why don't you go play and leave it all up to us."

Derek felt a lot better now that his friends were going to make some firecrackers. So he went into the front yard, just in case some mean old giant came by this way. It was lucky that he did, because he had no sooner got into his front yard when an evil giant did come by. He wanted to tear Derek's house down and steal all of Derek's food.

Derek was lucky that he had his magic stick with him. It turned into a shinning, magic sword. Derek said, "Stop Giant, I won't let you tear down my house!"

"Ho! Ho! Ho! And how are you going to stop me Little Boy?" asked the evil giant.

"I'll fight you with my sword!" said Derek.

"Ho! Ho! Ho! Then I will have to bop you on the head with my club!" said the bad old giant.

They fought for a long time. During the middle of the fight, Mommy looked out the window and called Granddaddy over to see. "Quite an imagination on that boy," said Granddaddy.

After a long time, the mean old giant realized that Derek was too strong for him and he ran away. Derek was afraid that he might come back, so he made his magic stick turn into a helicopter so that he could fly around and keep a watch for him.

Then Mommy called him in for supper. After supper, it was time for his bath and then it was bed time.

After Derek had gone to bed, and even after Mommy and Granddaddy had gone to bed, Griffin and Owl and Little Brown Mouse set out for the library. Little Brown Mouse was riding on Griffin's back while Owl flew on ahead to make sure that the way was clear.

When they reached the library, Little Brown Mouse jumped off of Griffin's back and ran around the library, looking for a way in. Griffin and Owl waited at the door.

Soon, Little Brown Mouse found a hole that was just big enough for him. He crawled inside and went to the door. Then he climbed up the door and unlocked it. Griffin and Owl came inside.

"Shall we turn on the light?" asked Griffin.

"Whoo! No. The people might see it and chase us out. Besides, we won't need it, I see very good in the dark," said Owl.

Owl soon found the book and Griffin carried it outside in his mouth. Then they closed the library door and Little Brown Mouse locked it again. Then Little Brown Mouse came back out through his secret hole and climbed back up on Griffin's back.

For the next few days, Owl and Little Brown Mouse, and Bunny Rabbit and Grey Squirrel made firecrackers. Even Griffin helped to make the firecrackers, but mostly Griffin kept watch to make sure that nobody bothered them.

A few days later, Derek was outside with his piece of magic string. You knew that Derek had a magic string, didn't you? It was almost as magical as his stick and could do all sorts of things. Today it had turned into a lasso and Derek was using it to lasso clouds and pull them down. Then he let them go because they were afraid to be so close to the ground.

That was when Grey squirrel called to him from the tree branch. "Derek, tonight, right after supper, come out on the steps. We have the firecrackers all ready."

That night Derek ate his supper real fast. When he finished, he asked Mommy if he could go out on the steps.

Mommy said, "But it is almost time for your bath, Derek."

"I know," said Derek. "But I only want to go out on the steps for a minute."

Mommy said, "All right, but just for a minute.

Derek went out and sat on the steps. Griffin sat on one side of him and Bunny Rabbit sat on the other side. Little Brown Mouse sat on Derek's knee while Owl and Grey Squirrel sat in the tree.

Then the firecrackers started. There were some that went POP! POP! POP! with bright flashes of light. There were rockets that went WHOOSH! as they went up into the air then went BOOM! and bright, colored lights went out in all directions. There were pinwheels that went WHIRR! as they spun around with colored fire going out every which way. There were roman candles that went POOF! POOF! as they shot balls of colored fire into the air. Then came the big last one. A really big rocket went up into the air with a mighty big WHOOOOSH! then went KERBOOM! Bright colored lights flew out and made letters in the sky, each one a different color. They spelled out D E R E K.

Derek went back inside and told Mommy and Granddaddy all about it. Mommy looked at Granddaddy and said, "You are right. He does have a very good imagination." Whatever that was.

Then it was time for Derek's bath and time to go night-night. Derek was very happy, he had seen the firecrackers at last.

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© 1999 Charles H. Grooms