In Tumble's World

By P. M. Kearns

According to the American Justice Department in 2011, 1 in every 3 kids will be bullied.

Here's some soul-soothing support from author, P. M. Kearns, to help students and families survive the life-threatening stress caused by bullying.

IN TUMBLE'S WORLD© was released in October 2011 (National Anti-Bullying Month) as an environmentally friendly e-book.

An orphan boy and his beloved hidden star...a blitzkrieg of bullies...and the wise Old Raven who debunks the bully mystique...IN TUMBLE'S WORLD© is the unforgettable wilderness story from Frog Hollow about protecting our Earth and one another.

IN TUMBLE’S WORLD stirs the longing to protect one another and our Earth.
A diamond among the rough, the Old Raven delivers a transformational value proposition: the homegrown art of Bully Prevention.

Will Tumble ever find his beloved star? Does a “creeky” old bird* really have the wherewithal to debunk the bully mystique? Does this story FIT in everyone’s woods?!

The staggering numbers of 1-in-3 say that it does!

* He’s from the Teaneck Creek area.

• Language: English
• Publisher: P. M. Kearns
• Release date: Oct 26, 2011
• ISBN: 9781466094000

P. M. Kearns

P. M. KEARNS is an artist, poet, author, motivational speaker, writer of stories for the popular Chicken Soup for the Soul series of books, columnist, guest lecturer, and creator of instructional programs for reducing stress and increasing productivity. Her background as an award-winning corporate communications professional is in strategic internal/external communications for major national/multinational health care and consumer goods companies. A long-term ‘round the clock intensive caregiver, Patty wrote a burnout prevention book, LESSONS IN THE DIVINE FOR CAREGIVERS, (iUniverse.com), translating the tough issues with ease. She also created Removing Negative Thoughts© CDs and programs for dissolving stress. For 22 years she helped prevent birth defects as a March of Dimes volunteer and spokesperson. She spearheaded a volunteers committee for Project Cable TV: The Social Conscience for the Prevention of Schoolplace Violence. As a member of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC), she served on IABC Judging Committees for “Kids Communicate” and “Silver Quill Awards.” Patty’s articles appear on J&J’s Caregiver Initiative website at www.StrengthForCaring.com and at www.DiscoverNursing.com. Her columns have been featured in GARDEN STATE WOMAN Magazine and FAMILIES OF LOVED ONES Magazine www.familiesoflovedones.com. She was honored with a Caregiver of The Year Award 2007 by www.caregiving.com. See also www.caregiving.com Blog/Talk/Radio. -"The Caregiver Compassion Quotient: What’s Your C.Q.?”

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

WISDOM FROM THE MILKY WAY

THERE LIVED TO THE WEST A SMALL PERSON NAMED TUMBLE who made it his habit each evening to speak with a certain star. How he had met her no one can be sure. It seemed as though they had always been friends. Tumble had named her Lovely, for she was.

One night when the Milky Way was visible, Lovely was pouring a cup of the sweetest milk and stardust for them to snack upon. Tumble began telling her as he always told her, of his dream to travel unknown lands.

Yes, she would say. "It is a beautiful dream. We each have wildernesses in our hearts. These new frontiers wild and sweet take us beyond ourselves far and free, or as close and near as the limitless heart of someone we love. You are feeling the call of the wilderness, places of open-sky discovery and innocent play. We must protect their beauty.

"You will go out one day into the great wide world to begin your adventures. That world needs you, so ask yourself: ‘How can I make it a better place?’

When you are ready is exactly when you shall go. Your eyes will be wide with the wonders that are everywhere. You already are all that you need to be. You and you alone are the most highly qualified person for the job! Then she would add, You’ll always know how to be your best because, as you grow, you’ll see how much you are becoming your Self!

Lovely was very wise, because she was a star and could see everything.

She would stay with Tumble long into the night recounting tales of tall, silent pine forests far away where sunlight plays among the trees in late afternoon. She’d describe the sweet-smelling pine needles that form the padded ground, cool and soft underfoot. Then a sadness would come over her, for she could never play there beneath the sun. All good stars know they must sleep by day in order to be refreshed and bright for their evening chores.

Tumble would listen through these delicate moments. How painful it must be for Lovely to bear this burden of her occupation. Of course, after a while, a faint smile would brighten her face. She’d begin to speak again, maybe of the distant ocean, or of the darknesses inside of caves. She’d drift on about the fragrant flower carpets in the lost valleys of mountains, always noting reassuringly that the moon does send forth its light to find them and give them ease.

Tumble was a good listener because everything she said fascinated him. Lovely painted with words, and he wanted to visit each painting. Sometimes she’d interrupt her travelogue to tell him more about himself. This pleased him immensely, as it does all of us.

Good thoughts are like flowers in a garden. Choose to plant within yourself the seeds of your own tomorrows. Keep your heart ever childlike and your thoughts open toward all. You will make many friends. Listen patiently to them, she added. Listen closely.

Whenever you don’t understand something, always ask, she admonished softly, whispering something about ‘opening new doors,’ a peculiar phrase to Tumble since he already knew there were no doors where she lived.

Tumble’s star knew about all kinds of wondrous things. She would mention the wise old Whitebeards whose voices have long been silent, like the flowers. She’d tell how the old Whitebeards reappear Winter after Winter since time forgotten. And they will continue to return, many times after this story has been told.

Reminiscence of these beloved things would cheer Lovely, once she’d come back to herself. She loved them all, but the forests remained her favorite. They seemed to call to her.

How could she know of the sunbeams that linger among the trees in those forests, if it were not possible for her to visit by sunlight? Tumble needed to know. So he asked.

Naturally, Lovely had an answer for everything. Stars can be very bright. She explained she had overheard a young family of sparrows one evening at the Six O’clock Feeding. Apparently, the oldest of the children had still not returned home. Mother Sparrow told the others that perhaps Pipsqueak had found the perfect spot for a tree fort on a branch caught by sunbeams. She told her babies not to worry, for a tree house might be all that is keeping him.

Tree houses have a way of doing that, which must have something to do with the trees. Tree houses. Tumble had always wanted one.

Lovely enjoyed thinking sunny thoughts, and she knew just how to share the ones dearest to Tumble’s heart.

One day you shall have your very own tree house, she announced.

For her, it was that simple. How did she know this, he wondered. Then, as was her custom, she’d finish her stories with only one request: that someday he would speak with her of all that he had learned.

It is true, she noted, "the world can be a very cold place at times. But the Earth in her kindness responds by giving forth the flowers. New flowers can appear where you least expect. The Earth knows how to delight us. And our job, of course, is to pass the good along.

You have so much good in you, Lovely smiled, which means you always have extra to share just when it’s needed most. Tumble didn’t quite know what Lovely meant by that, but he had a strange feeling he’d find out.

He tucked her words away in his heart like sandwiches you save for later on when you’re hungry. With due tenderness, she had instructed him in many subjects to prepare him for his travels. She told him he’d come upon certain guides who would help him along his path, each in a special way.

"Where one might teach you compassion and sympathy, another may teach you humor, or even great courage. You will recognize them.

There will always be mysteries too amazing to understand. Often, when we do finally understand, they become even more amazing.

She reminded him, Tumble, you already ARE who you are Becoming! You have been given everything you need to see you through. Sometimes certain things seem only half real and half true. You will see that it takes time to know the difference. If we allow some magic to remain, it gives us a necessary glimmer of hope or helps us to see in a better way. Some learn early. For others, it takes a lifetime. But remember, do not remain long with discouragement, for it has a terrible way of wasting precious time.

Lovely understood time. She dwelled with the ageless stars. She knew about waiting.

CHAPTER 2

FROM AMBER FIELDS TO THE HILLY LANDS

As Lovely had predicted, the time had come. Tumble knew that he was ready to begin his journey. He said his goodbyes to her and set out to see the world for himself.

He knew little of his whereabouts as he crossed the wide prairie land with what provender he had taken with him in his pack. The amber fields were like himself, open and windswept with their hair uncombed. As his feet brushed through them he felt like the waves of the wind, part of everything that was free. This was a good way to begin.

Slowly the days grew shorter and the chill nights came faster with the passing of sunsets. By the time he reached the hilly lands, Tumble no longer felt the presence of time. He was filled with the great expanses of land and sky.

Love alters us and helps us grow, and nothing else has ever worked as well. Love makes the little things matter most.

Why does one love a star? he’d muse. Because she is gentle or bright? Or because she always seems to understand? Because she tries to see everything so clearly?

Then he would answer his own questions:

Because she is kind and willing to listen. Because her words come from the heart of a perfect friend...

Everywhere he went, she was always in his eyes.

The amber fields were like himself, open and windswept with their hair uncombed.

CHAPTER 3

ROCK OF SAGES

Winter came. Except for the Great Whitebeards, Tumble’s memory of that winter seemed as blurry as the snowstorms through which he traveled. But to Tumble the world of the Whitebeards was a gingerloaf dripping with white icing.

Nights were long. The wind hurled huge swirls of snow, roaring like dragons that blew white smoke on the surface of the earth. Nothing was certain about the sky except, at times, a faint round glow from the misty moon.

It was here in the cold of these storms that he pressed forward wishing for a glimpse of Lovely to lead the way, to assure him that he was not really so far from home. She was not to be seen, and he felt lonelier and farther away than he could ever have imagined. You don’t have any brothers and sisters. Therefore, make your own family in the world–and they will be proud of you in all you do. Remember to show kindness to strangers so that kindness will come your way. The proper approach is important.

In this cold frozen world he had not seen a trace of anyone. He trudged onward. From one rolling mountain to the next everything was covered with white, silent and untouched. At one point he thought he saw footprints in the snow, but they were only the tracks of a windblown leaf. He was exhausted.

Footprints of Another Kind

As he neared the tall towering cliffs that were swept up in mounds and drifts, it seemed to him Winter was a time of ancient wisdom and great, long sleep. It was almost as if the cold had sunk deep into the bones of the crouched hills that huddled close together for warmth.

In the cliffs, Tumble began to imagine he saw huge faces staring with tired, empty eyes; with long beards of ice flowing down, down from those aged faces.

They must be freezing! he thought.

They were.

His head turned left to right looking from shape to shape as he marched past the ancient corridor of this mountain pass in the cold light of late afternoon. As the path turned, the ice figures hung over him. Like motionless waterfalls, some of the forms were hunched over sadly. Some looked peaceful, some were a bit frightening (he quickened his pace past these), and some looked friendly enough to speak or ask a question. One kindly face looked like a grandfather about to tell his grandchildren a bedtime tale. Each was as varied in expression