CHILDREN ARE ANIMALS TOO

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CHILDREN ARE ANIMALS TOO
A COLLECTION OF CHILDREN STORIES FROM A BOY WHO NEVER GREW UP

MARCIALITO'S FIRST DATE

By Dr. Fran Detower & Francisco Garabitos

When Marcialito was 13 years old he lived in the Dominican Republic and it was common to send children to the small town's market.

Most of the time they went to buy fresh spices such as onions, garlic, pepper and fresh vegetables to help prepare their daily food.

Although there were seven other children in Marcialito's house, somehow he ended up going to store most of the time. While some of his brothers preferred to play rather than go to the market, He often volunteered for the task.

"Why do you like to go to the store all the time?" asked his mother.

"Nothing mom, I just like to help you, that's all", he said.

But his mother knew there was something more, something like a girl; and her name was Amada, a shy looking 14 years old princess that helped as clerk in his uncle's store.

Every time that Marcialito went to buy something, they touched hands while exchanging the money for the merchandise.

They talked through their eyes and stared at each other in secret. She always smiled at him and that kept him happy to comeback any time. He never really told her but he was in secret love with her. Going to the market was not a burden for him, it made his day.

Every night at 6:00 P.M., her uncle would send her back to the house with some groceries. Then his wife would have prepared super already and bring it to his store.

Amada would stay alone in the house taking care of the baby until 9:00 P.M. when they close the store.

After memorizing the daily routine of going back and forth, Amada and Marcialito arranged to see each other in the back of the house for one special evening.

Marcialito was very excited. He put on his best shirt and when the time came, he went around the back alleys protected by the early darkness.

Soon he was standing outside of the kitchen window where Amada waited for him.

But they could only hold and caress each others hands, for the window was too high and made of venetian blinds across from side to side.

They kissed each others hands and Amada said;

"Go quickly, for my uncle is closing early tonight."

"Oh Amada mia, all what I want in the world is to give you a kiss, but these windows can not be open and there is too many people passing by in front of the house." said Marcialito.

"Promise me that only one kiss, and I will let you come through the back door, then you shall leave." she said.

"I promise it ," replied Marcialito, and quickly went around the back of the house.
The house was built into a steep hill and the back door was about four feet high without ascending stairs.

Marcialito grasped with his hands on the cement floor and struggled for several minutes to lift his body until she came and helped him by pulling one of his legs up.

When he managed to stand up, he opened his arms to hug her but then realized that his shirts and pants were smeared with mold and dirt.

"Oh no, look at my new clothes, it is a mess," he said.

And Amada replied, "then you cannot hold me, for then my clothes will be dirty and my uncle will find out."

They smiled, shook their shoulders and held each others hands locking their eyes into a deep and friendly stare.

"Do you know what love is?", She asked.

"I don't know much, but I know I love you". he said. "And if you give me a kiss tonight, then tell everybody and I would be your boyfriend"

Wait a minute, said Amada, "I am only 11 years old; My mother is not going to let me be any body's girlfriend!."

"Then let's just kiss and have "amores escondidos" keeping secret love as friends", concluded Marcialito and she agreed by nodding.

Then they closed their eyes, and moved slowly toward each other in anxious expectation of their first kiss.

A sudden turn of the key on the front door sounded across the house like a fire alarm, and all eyes were open, all hands went loose and without saying a word, Marcialito jumped out through the back door.

He came tumbling down and crashed over a wooden fence around the chicken house. The birds created an immediate commotion which called the attention of the neighbor's dog.

Uncle Pedro usually inspected the side alleys of the house with his powerful lantern before closing all doors and windows of the house. Then he heard the alarmed barking of the neighbor's dog and noticed the awakened chickens.

"Who is there?" he said, in a loud voice while searching with the lantern from the house.

"No one is there," said Amada. "Those chickens get like that every time that the Ms. Rivera's dog gets loose."

But Uncle Pedro wanted to make sure that his farm animals were secured and carefully started to descend the steep backyard.

Marcialito grabbed the opportunity and sneaked under the fence, but fell in the mud of the pig stile. He quickly crawled out and disappeared into the darkness of the nearby woods.

Stopping by a clearing, he considered that the main danger was over but quickly realized that he has always been afraid of the dark.

After a quick look around, he notices many unrecognizable shapes; he walked very carefully, trying hard not to get scared, but stumbled with something big, something with big horns which moved and made a sound, "mooooo."

He jumped back in panic and when the monster cow got up, he started to run in the opposite direction.

Running for more than twenty minutes he reached the upper side of the paved road. He smiled as he discovered that he just made a "u" turn at the other side of the mountain, and ended up in front of Amada's house.

He started to descend on the rocky terrain but an avalanche of rocks fell behind him. A car had to make a sudden stop as he fell on the street amidst the fallen rocks.

The screeching sound of the tires alerted the neighbors and when they saw the driver out of the car, they came running to see what had happened. Poor Marcialito was shaken up, but suffered no harm except for a small cut on his forehead.

Uncle Pedro was one of the neighbors. He quickly recognized the boy as the son of Don Francisco and took him across the street to his house.

He sat the boy in the living room and said to Amada, "please bring a glass of water to calm the boy down."

The girl came running with a glass and a pitcher of water and Marcialito drank almost two glasses of the precious liquid. Somehow, he has ran more than a mile to get from the back door to the front of the same house.

When her Uncle Pedro went to the bathroom to get a bandage, Amada took the opportunity to ask Marcialito,

"what happened to you?"

He shrugged his shoulders and replied; "Nothing, I just went a long way to get back here."

She smiled, looked around and gave him a big hug and a fast dry lip kiss. Then they looked around again and started to giggle around.

When Uncle Pedro came with the bandage he asked, "what are you kids laughing about?"

They looked at each other, smiled and responded together, "nothing!". . .

Then uncle Pedro put a bandage on his forehead and padded him on the back while saying;

"I think you should go home now and wait until you grow up some more before going out to play hide and seek in the dark wood"

Marcialito went home thinking that somehow uncle Pedro knew what he was running about... and after that night he never forgot his first date.

MARCIALITO FIGHTING WITH A TREE

By Dr. Frank Detower & Francisco Garabitos

The last weekend of the month was a very special occasion for Marcialito. It was the time when he and his cousins went to the uncle Francisco's farm. In addition to feeding the animals, eating oranges and running wild in the field, they have a very unusual game; They called "a Tree fight".

On Saturday, Marcialito and his brother Carlos were the first to arrive at the farm. Immediately they ran and climbed over the orange tree to eat their favorite fruits.

Few minutes later, Marcialito and Carlos came down and as they wrestles on the grass they saw a beetle rolling up a ball of dirt and Marcialito jumped several times trying to step on it.

"Did you squash the bug" asked Carlos.

No, I wasn't going to kill it, I only wanted to play with the poor thing but the smart little bugger got away!." Said Marcialito.

Then the boys faced up to a small tree for the first fight of the day; They attack it, jumped on it, tear off its leaves, broke away its branches and bend over it trunk till it almost came off the ground.

"What in heavens are you doing boys" Yelled his uncle, "leave that tree alone and get over here at once"

Although this particular tree survived the savage attacks and managed to sprout new branches, most of the others lost the unfortunate match.

The children were surprise to see that many men, a tractor and a truck were going to the nearby mountain.

"what are they doing over there?" asked Marcialito to his uncle.

and he said; Oh boys, few weeks ago that face of the mountain just slide down from the top, and avalanche of water, dirt and dead plants came all over the road because of the 'erosion' of the soil"

The erosion? asked Marcialito, "What is the erosion"

You see son -He continued; during heavy rains, water runs freely over the ground. As it falls, it tears up bits of the soil, or dirt and then carries them away. Sometimes, a large amount of dirt and water can run down a long way!.

Can we go with you to see the mud? Said Carlos.

"Listen boys; you can not go there, it is dangerous. Said the uncle, "I have to take this men to the work site. In the meanwhile, seat and wait in those rocking chairs until I come back and.., stay away from those trees... you heard?"

"Yes uncle" Answered the boys

Few minutes after the truck was gone, Marcialito and Carlos were back in the back of the house again looking for another small tree to beat.

The boys were astonished when they saw that every thing around them was of gigantic proportion. They quickly realized that they were almost as small as field ant.

The earth shake under them as they heard the sound of a giant thunder. It was like a shot from a cannon.

The ground was dried and recently plowed to plant a new crop. Few seeds were starting to sprout but they seemed to need water.

They boys moved behind a piece of a rock as they saw several ants, a beetle and few other bugs running through the open field. The beetle stopped and said to them;

"Hey you!.. where are you going?

Surprised but understanding the talk of the bug, Marcialito said" We don't know, we are not from around here!"

And the beetle said; "Oh yes you are, you are the field boys that tried to step on me this morning!; Anyway, you have to run into the tree for it is going to rain now!"

And he continued his hurried march away from the open field.

Few seconds later a frightening light accompanied the cannon fire of the thunder and the first droplets of water landed on the field.

Carlos yelled, started to run and Marcialito followed him as a rain drop fell next to them. It sounded like a bomb; when it hit the ground, it made a big and wide hole right there.

Then the drop bounced up taking some pieces of soil with it and burst in the air, throwing water and dirt all over them.

As they ran, the bit of dirt scattered by the drop were not able to sink back into the earth. Instead, they mixed with the water to create mud.

Falling raindrops blasting at the ground increased and the water started moving. The bits of the soil and other debris continued to flow, and Carlos and Marcialito were washed away with it.

There was an exposed root from a branch less and leafless tree and the boys grabbed unto it. But the water continued to pour over them until a drop fell right over their tiny bodies. It made them bounce off away from the wooden root unto the open terrain.

As they ran every which way to avoid the water bombs, they heard a familiar voice;

"Hey you, the field boys.. Over here!"

It was the beetle calling them from underneath a small plant. They ran over quickly and said;

"Boy, are we glad to see you, thanks bug"

But the beetle started to walk and said;" Follow me, for it is dangerous war going on here, and you may not survive unless we reach the safety of a tree."

They continued together under the green foliage, protected by the leaves until they reach the trunk of a very strong tree.

They were all kind of small insect and bugs crawling over there. It was a safe bunker, a giant fortress in this water war.

Leaning against one side of the tree, Marcialito asked the beetle; "Do all this other bugs have to run to a tree every time it rains, don't they have a safe house"

This is our safe house", said another bug, and the beetle went on to explain to them the importance of the tree;

" you see, these trees were given to us by our great mother Earth, who in the beginning of time created all of, including you.

The trees clean and produce the air we need to breath, they also protect us from the sun and from the cold. But their biggest battle is fought against rain water to prevent 'erosion'.

Erosion? said Marcialito.

Yes, against erosion", continued the beetle; " When erosions occurs, there is a great lost of life in the forest, but the plants save us.

They break away the direct path of the rain by stopping the bombs drops of water. The leaves and the branches of the trees serve as outer shield to keep the attacks of raindrops from falling straight against the open ground.

Carlos interrupted and said: wait a minute, you said attacks? who is attacking you?

And the bug said: Well, the rain lords; they ride in the chariots of cloud armed with lightning, thunder volts and water bombs.

But when the water bombs hit the leaves, they break away. The water then slide through the branches of the tree or drip harmlessly into the ground.

Now you can see, how a tree, help to change the very destructive blasting power of water into a blessed gift, which is then used by our mother earth to create nutrients; which help to feed the great variety of plants; and the plants feed the animals and the animals help to feed even you"

Then some animals started to climb high unto the tree and other ran away, for there was a giant chicken coming.

Run for your life! said as centipede, " I know those chickens, they eat all kind of bugs!"

The chicken ate two other bugs and noticing the farmer boys, it came right a t them.

Crying for help, Marcialito jumped off as someone grabbed his arm .

Marcialito, Marcialito, wake up! said Carlos standing next to the rocking chair, " Look, the other boys are coming".

As the other kid descended from the station wagon, they celebrated the reunion and Marcialito almost forgot his dream.

When the boys started to plan games for the rest of the day, Carlos said; "Let's go and find some trees to beat".

Then Marcialito opposed the idea and said; No, I think is better if the four of us make a race to see who is the first to catch that chicken!"

Yeah, let get it!" they said and went after a rooster who was pecking worms and bugs in the open field.

Later that day, uncle Francisco was serving dinner and Marcialito would not eat the pieces of fried chicken; What is the matter with you?., you always like chicken!

Yes, I like chicken, but how would you feel if you were to be eaten up by a chicken? he said.

And all of them were amazed when Marcialito told them about the dream and how to stop the erosion..

Uncle Francisco told the boys that from now on they will plant more trees to help mother nature and Marcialito promised that he would never fight a tree again.

MARCIALITO ESCAPES FROM SCHOOL

By Dr. Fran Detower & Francisco Garabitos

It was a sunny Friday in Santo Domingo and the children were playing in the school yard during the mid-day recess. Marcialito and two of his friends were sitting by the side gate, bored.

They wanted to do something exciting. Something that would cheer them up but not one of them knew what.

They tried picking on the smaller children, wrestling with a tree, drawing ugly faces on the walls, calling each others weird names and even peeping out tongues to strangers but nothing seems to excite them.

Suddenly the sky got cloudy, a cold breeze came from the east, tiny drops of water started to descend over them and their faces brightened up.

"It's going to rain," they shouted, and while the other children started heading toward the assembly area, they started to rain-dance.

"Wait a minute! " said Marcialito, " I have an idea that would make all of us very happy ."

"I know it said his friend Pedro, " We can take a butt naked shower under the rain."

"Exactly! " confirmed Marcialito, "not only can we take a shower but at the same time we cut half the day and escape from school."

"One little problem," said Andres, "What are we going to do with our clothes so it doesn't get wet?"

"No problem!" said Marcialito, "We can take it off, put it inside the book bags and hide them under the garbage dump just outside the school".

"Then when the rain stops," continued Pedro, "we can put on our clothes and go home like the rest of the kids, but while they are dry and sticky, we will be wet , clean and with no homework!"

"Yeaahhaeeeii!" they exclaimed, and quickly proceed to take their clothes off and hide it under the garbage dump just outside the school.

The rain continued to pour over them for few minutes which felt like hours of refreshing tropical blessing that quenches dryness and boredom. They danced, jumped and ran wild amidst the thunders and distant lightning.

They recognized a group of six or seven other "butt naked" boys running by and decided to join them in a race-parade around the neighborhood.

Meanwhile, since it was a Friday before the Independence day, the Principal decided to conduct a fire drill and early dismissal of the entire school as soon as the rain stopped.

Although the children knew that the Caribbean weather might change from heavy rain to scorching sun in a matter of minutes, they did not seem to realize how far from school they were.

As always, the rain came to a sudden stop and while the children ran back over the wet road in the direction to the school, the sun started to shine upon them. The side walk began to dry quickly and out of nowhere, people started to go about their business.

Weary and exhausted, they reached the front of the school just in time join for the early dismissal of the other 497 classmates, fully dressed, staring, mocking, and most laughing at them.

Indeed, to rain-dance butt naked was one of the most exciting things that children did in those days, but this one turned out to be the most embarrassing moment they had ever experienced.

Intending to hide their nakedness from a thousand eyes, they took their book bags and jumped behind the garbage trailers. But it was wet and mushy back in there.

While they were trying to put on their clothes, it got smeared with rotten food and other spoils. They came out of the dump, dirty, smelly and scared, but the day did not end right there.

The Principal came, took them inside, sent a letter to their parents and gave them an extra homework;

2 pages of Math

2 pages of Science

10 pages of the Bible Reading Series.

In addition, they were expected to go to the early Sunday mass to pray and confess to the father what they did.

Even though the boys of Santo Domingo continued to dance butt naked on the streets, since that day Marcialito never cut school or ran naked under the rain again.

Marcialito:

Children Are People And Animals Too

Less than one hundred years ago, Marcialito the boy who never grew up, was born in a farm as big as the zoo. He believed that animals were people and that children were animal too.

His first and best friends were Pony the horse, Burro the donkey, Vaca the cow, Puerco the pig, Chivo the goat, Gato the cat, Perro the dog and one hundred chickens named "Pollitos" running here, there and everywhere... (WORK IN PROGRESS)

http://www.spraguephoto.com/stock/images/Cambodia/km05-60%20Children%20-%20General%20Cambodia%20Boy%20with%20his%20animals.jpg

The Marcialito's collection of children stories includes 12 titles....Stay tuned

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