The Magic Mirror: And Other Stories for Children Containing Mental Exercises

by Lone Wolsing

Overview

The small stories about the cat, Bliss, and his way of helping children from the town present tools that may help children help themselves.

The world can be a difficult place to operate in with all the options children are offered todayand with the supervision and control they are subjected to. The freedom of my childhood, with its games and experiences, taught me about life, but many children do not have that freedom today. Through the small stories, children are given the possibility of taking possession of their lives through the use of fantasy and power of thought.

The cat, Bliss, shows techniques that are used by many adults throughout the world today. So why should children not be able to profit from them? Let them try. Read the stories aloud and let the children draw their fantasy pictures and try the exercises.

Several Danish children have enjoyed listening and drawing it makes their everyday life easier and their self-esteem much better.

Enjoy reading.

Lone Wolsing

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781504326988
Publisher:	Balboa Press
Publication date:	03/03/2015
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	108
File size:	282 KB
Age Range:	9 - 12 Years

About the Author

Lone Wolsing is a storytelling teacher in primary school, implementing mindfulness and mental exercises in her teaching. She graduated from Aarhus Universitet with a degree in music and has a master’s degree in learning processes. She is a music composer and writer of books in music teaching, children’s fiction, and kinesiology. She is a TFT/EFT therapist and kinesiologist.

Read an Excerpt

The Magic Mirror

And Other Stories for Children Containing Mental Exercises

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By Lone Wolsing, Susanne Hemdorff

Balboa Press

Copyright © 2015 Lone Wolsing Mølle
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-5043-2697-1

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CHAPTER 1

The Day Everything Was Allowed to Be as It Is

Up on the hill, there was an old mill. It was ramshackle and had not been used for many years. Yet it stood on the hilltop, gazing majestically and sagely out over the countryside. The door under the big arms of the mill were broken here and there was always open. Anyone could walk right in. Sometimes it was as if the old mill winked to show that it contained all sorts of strange secrets for people to come and share with it. Children liked to go there.

The old mill was occupied by a cat nearly the same age. His name was Bliss. He was gray and dignified as only a cat with great self-esteem can be. He had an old quilt to sleep on and no other things—except his good mood and great wisdom. This was not at all bad.

Every day, Bliss would catch mice for his supper. It was not hard, for there were many mice in the old garden. But one mouse were left in peace: a big, yellow-necked field mouse whom Bliss had named Bless. They often helped each other in the mill.

Often at night they sat philosophizing about big questions, such as Where do mice come from? Which way do you go to reach the stars? Where is my inner me located? Do we see the same things when seeing? Why are children very often sad when they come here to the mill but happy when they leave? They would spend many hours on such conversations.

The other day, something quite out of the ordinary happened.

Two boys, Stanley and Edward, and a girl by the name of Alice had gone astray from the village and were heading for the old mill. The three children all had their mobile phones with them, but there was no coverage that far away, which was probably just as well. They were not as concerned and anxious as their mothers.

They explored the area with open minds and a happy curiosity. This is a good thing when children's minds are growing and they need to be wiser and learn about life.

Up at the old mill, the children stopped and looked in. "Hello! Anybody there?" Stanley cried through the doorway. Nobody answered.

"Hello! Come on out and play!" Edward cried.

"Let's not just stand here yelling; let's go inside," Alice said, and she was the first to step through the doorway. It was a bit dark and gloomy, but her eyes soon got used to the dim light.

And there on a quilt lay Bliss.

"Hey, look! There's a cat!" Alice exclaimed as she went over to Bliss right away.

Aware of his worth, Bliss sat up at once, preparing himself for sweet caresses. It really was long ago that somebody had fondled him, he thought, purring very loudly, as if to say that Alice's hands should just keep on caressing him. It was very nice being stroked and having his fur scratched.

"I wonder what it feels like for a cat to be stroked," Alice said, stroking her own arm. "Not bad. But people don't often do that kind of thing anymore. Isn't it foolish?" she said to Stanley and Edward.

"What's foolish?" Edward asked.

"Well, that people don't let other people stroke their arms or backs when it's such a nice feeling," she said slowly.

The boys didn't think much about that. They didn't care for somebody stroking them. Yuck! But they liked stroking the cat.

Bliss understood everything they said, for he was indeed a very special cat. He walked back and forth between the children, letting all three of them stroke him. Wonderful, he thought. A little to the right—yes, ah, and a little on my shoulders. Ah. But I should teach them something while they are here.

Bliss suddenly walked over to a box below a window. He jumped up on the box and into the window, where he turned around as if to say, "Follow me." Then he jumped out behind the mill.

The children hurried out and around the mill to follow him.

Bliss lay down on a sunny spot in the grass, purring as loud as he could. This was his attempt to tell the children to do the same.

Alice and Edward lay down in the grass right away, stretching themselves to their fullest. Stanley, on the other hand, was a little restless; he could not relax. He was used to his mother calling or texting him at least every ten minutes. Now he worried that something might have happened to her.

"Come and lie down!" Edward said. "There just isn't any coverage here. So for once, we are alone."

"Oh, come on!" Stanley answered. He was afraid that his mom would be concerned when he didn't answer. And they would not be able to track him by his cell phone using GPS.

But Alice and Edward were having a wonderful time, and without saying it aloud, they had agreed to stay there on the grass by the mill until they had to go home to eat. So Stanley had to learn how to relax and do nothing.

Bliss was lying between the two lazybones, enjoying the company. Stanley sat down on a rock.

"Come and lie down in the grass," Alice said. "It's completely quiet here, and we aren't used to that."

"That's right," Edward said. "For once, we are not doing anything. Did you hear? Anything. Do we have to spell it out to you?"

Maybe ten minutes passed—which is a long time when you do not know what to do—before Stanley finally got down on his knees between the two others.

"Look up at the clouds," Edward said, lying on his back in the grass. He pointed to a cloud he thought looked like a car. He kept watching it while it slowly changed its appearance in the sky and then disintegrated. He felt perfectly calm. He relaxed completely.

Alice caressed Bliss, who purred like never before. She especially noticed the softness of Bliss's fur and felt how nice it was to touch him on his chest and tummy. The cat put up with it. She closed her eyes so she could really feel its fur against her fingers. It was a good experience. Those feelings and the warmth of the sun froze the situation, stopping the clock.

The place was very peaceful.

Stanley kept looking at his cell phone to see if a text had been sent. But it was all blacked out. Finally, he lay flat in the grass. Like Edward, he looked up in the sky, watching the clouds.

Slowly, Stanley became calm. He sighed deeply. It was as if calm crept into him from his toes and moved all the way up to the top of his head.

"Well, well!" Alice said. "You certainly took your time. Your mother is all right! You and she need to learn to have faith in the world.

"I think Bliss wants to teach us to allow everything to be as it is and not wait for anything or want to change things, but just lie here and be." Alice was thinking aloud. "We should just notice how everything around us is filled with sounds and colors, feelings and scents, and so on."

Bliss thought about how Alice had finally gotten it, and he purred louder. It was a peculiar, faint growling sounds.

For the rest of that afternoon, Stanley, Edward, and Alice just lay in the grass, watching clouds. Small beetles and butterflies passed by, and the sun cast shadows, with the mill as a silhouette.

It was a magnificent day—a day when everything was simply allowed to be as it is. And the old mill winked.

CHAPTER 2

Linda and the Invisible Ball

"Hey," Linda called as she crossed the lawn toward me. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing," I replied. I sat drumming my fingers on the bricks of the low garden wall, looking down.

"Are you coming? Will you play with me? I have a new ball," Linda went on in a happy voice.

I looked up but could not see any ball anywhere. "Where is it?" I asked in a sad voice.

"Oh, are you sad? Or angry?" Linda asked.

"Well, no. It doesn't matter," I said. After a while, I continued, "Where is your ball then?"

"Come on! We'll go up to the old mill. It's up there."

"Why? Why all that way?"

"Oh please, come on. I have really been looking forward to showing it to you."

We went up to the old mill. Bliss, the old gray cat, came out, greeting us with a loud purr. He was always nice to talk to.

"Where is your new ball?" I asked, looking around me.

"Here," she said with a smile. "Right here!"

But I couldn't see the ball anywhere at all. "Oh, you are teasing me." I looked down at the grass.

"No! I'm not!" Linda had a big smile on her face. It was as if her whole body were laughing. "It's right here if I say so! Now close your eyes," she said as she laughed.

I closed my eyes.

"Put your hands together in front of you, and rub them a little against each other."

I did as she said, then asked impatiently, "How long do I keep doing this?"

"A little while longer. Good! Hold them as if you were about to clap them, but keep on holding them a little apart. They must not touch."

I did as she told me.

"Can you feel the warmth?" Linda asked.

"Yes—a little." I wasn't quite sure, and I didn't really know if I felt like feeling it.

"Okay! Now hold your hands in front of you as if you were holding a ball between them."

I still did not know what Linda was talking about. I stood staring at my hands for a while. "I feel something!" I said, surprised.

"Good! Now move your hands slowly toward each other as if you were making the ball smaller and smaller."

I had to stop and think. I really felt something between my hands. "Yes! I really feel it now!" I also laughed.

"Well, it's nice to see you laughing again." Linda smiled.

That afternoon, Linda and I played with the invisible balls for hours. It was fun. We made them big and small, just as we liked.

But the oddest thing happened that night. I could not sleep. I was lying in my bed, thinking about the peculiar sensation the ball made me feel in my hands. It was a sort of tingling, even in my fingertips.

I rose from my bed and walked over to the window. And there in the garden, to the right of the lawn where Linda and I had talked in the morning, was the most beautiful ball, lying right there on the grass. It was big and shone brightly in a multitude of colors.

It literally lit up the whole place.

And then it was as if the ball smiled at me.

I wonder if others can see it, I thought, sighing happily. And I could not resist. I simply had to go down there.

I walked down the stairs and sneaked out into the garden. I walked over to the ball and touched it gently. It started shining even brighter. I tried to make it smaller the way Linda had shown me. This time I could hold the ball with just one hand.

I went back to bed with my beautiful, wonderful ball.

That night I had an incredible, puzzling dream about the cat, Bliss, the old mill, balls in all kinds of colors, and a feeling of joy I had not had before.

Did you know that you can get happy from playing with an invisible ball? I didn't until Linda came that day. What a day it was!

Often when I am bored and do not know what to do, I go out in the garden and play with my invisible ball.

It changes colors according to my mood. Sometimes I think the ball knows what mood I am in already, before I go there, and that it wants to show me the colors that make me happy. I love my invisible ball. You should try it too.

CHAPTER 3

Henry and the Kite's Heavenly Secret

Henry was playing by the apple tree over at the old mill not far from his house. He was alone, which he often was. He had gone down to the apple tree to work on building his hiding place there.

It was a fine hiding place. The only thing missing was someone to play with. Henry had often thought about how wonderful it would be to have a friend with him in his hiding place.

Bliss came once in a while. But he was his own cat, so Henry could not always count on him feeling like talking. Then there was Bless, the mouse. She just ran around squeaking. Henry did not understand that language. Once in a while he brought a morsel of cheese for Bless. Then he would sit and tell it all kinds of fantastic stories that he would invent on the spot.

His mother had told him not to lie, but he didn't think he was lying, as he was just talking to a cat or a mouse. And everyone could hear that it was just pure imagination and crazy ideas.

But that day—that weird day—was going to be a magical day under the apple tree.

Henry began adding another couple of boards to the hiding place, so it was almost finished. He looked around. Neither Bliss nor Bless was to be seen. The wind whispered softly in the crown of the apple tree. Henry panted a little in the heat. It was hard driving in the nails with his dad's heavy hammer. He wished his dad would help him finish his hiding place. That would be nice.

There were seven apples on the apple tree, but they were not quite ripe yet. His parents had said he could pick them when they were. He had heard them called Filippa apples—yellowish green and tart and very juicy. Henry thought they tasted good—like summer and winter at the same time. Every year he looked after the apples until they were ready for eating.

Suddenly he saw a kite flying high above. It didn't seem to be on a string. Henry put his hand above his eyes and watched it. It was flying hither and thither, the way kites do.

The kite came closer. It was red and orange with blue wings. Its tail had seven yellowish bows. It was painted with a funny face, so it looked as if it were laughing down at Henry. He could not help laughing himself. It was contagious.

Then the kite dived in a sizzling, whirling fall. Henry stood motionless as it landed in front of him, only a few yards away.

At first Henry looked around for an owner. That dashing, grinning kite surely had an owner—a boy somewhere who was missing it now.

He waited a while.

Nobody came.

He walked cautious toward the kite. It was as if it said, "Come on! I won't harm you!"

Henry stood looking down on the kite a little while. Then he picked it up. Very carefully. He was happy. It was so beautiful, and it smiled at him in a puzzling way.

Then the bows on the kite's tail caught his attention. They were an amazing color—like spring and autumn at the same time. They looked like the apples on the tree. And there were also seven of them!

Henry found that something was written on the first bow: "Send me off with wishes you know."

Henry thought a little about that. Then he went to the hiding place to fetch a pencil, because he wanted to do what the kite said. He sat for a long time, pondering his wishes.

The kite grinned at him as if to say, "What do you wish, my friend? Come on – write it down!"

Henry took a deep, determined breath. He would untie the bows one at a time and write his wishes inside them.

The first thing he wished for was a good friend. He untied the first blank bow and wrote, "Good friend." Then he sat looking for a while at the kite and its tail.

Hmm, he thought. The next thing I wish for is to have more funny and kind people around me so I don't have to be alone so much. In the third bow he wrote, "Funny neighbors."

The kite started laughing loudly, which startled Henry so badly he stepped away from it. But the kite's laughter was so contagious that Henry had to surrender and laugh along—loudly and joyously.

Then Henry untied the third bow and wrote, "Love." He missed little the little signs of love from his parents, who were far too busy on weekdays. He thought about hugs and kisses from his mom and funny games with his dad.

Henry was lost in his own thoughts, dreaming about what might be, when the kite flapped its tail. It was probably saying, "Get a move on, my friend!"

Henry untied the fourth bow. Then he wrote, "A new bicycle." He didn't really know why, because he had his old blue one.

Two bows remained, and he untied them both. Then he closed his eyes and went for the first word that came to mind. Now, this was even more peculiar. The first word was joy. He wrote it in the sixth bow. It had come to him all of a sudden. Weird! he thought. But a good word! Hmm ... weird, but good.

The next word was music—wherever that came from. He didn't play an instrument. But he wrote the word in the last bow.

Henry carefully tied all the bows again. He sat looking at the kite, wondering whose it was, and whether it had a name.

The kite laughed loudly again. Then it started talking very slowly. "My name is Starwave, and I'm entirely my own kite. I come when somebody calls for me. I live in the heavenly ocean."

Henry stared at the kite. It could speak! "But I didn't call for you, did I?" he asked cautiously and wonderingly. "I don't know you at all!" Henry's eyes and ears were popping out of his head for sheer puzzlement.

"Yes, you did. You wished for someone to be with, and for more joy and music in your life. That's why I came."

Henry stood there quietly. Music! He didn't play any instrument. He didn't even know how to play one.

"I am off again," the kite said. "Now that you have written your wishes, will you please lift me from the ground?"

"Yes, yes, of course!" Henry said. He carefully picked up the kite and lifted it as high as he could. Then he ran. He simply could not help it; he kept running until he reached the other end of the mill garden.

The kite soared into the air. It took a few big swings over the garden and Henry. It was grinning down at him. His wishes had been sent off on a journey. He wondered where to. Maybe up in the heavenly ocean?

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from The Magic Mirror by Lone Wolsing, Susanne Hemdorff. Copyright © 2015 Lone Wolsing Mølle. Excerpted by permission of Balboa Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Contents

Preface, ix,
About the Stories, xi,
Acknowledgments, xiii,
Chapter 1 The Day Everything Was Allowed to Be as It Is, 1,
Chapter 2 Linda and the Invisible Ball, 11,
Chapter 3 Henry and the Kite's Heavenly Secret, 19,
Chapter 4 The Living Paintings in the Old Mill, 31,
Chapter 5 The Secret Room in the Old Mill, 41,
Chapter 6 The Magic Mirror, 49,
Chapter 7 The Meeting with a Special Lady by the Old Mill, 57,
Chapter 8 The Wonderful Glass, 65,
Chapter 9 I Am That I Am, 77,
Chapter 10 How to Throw a Stone, 89,