Sat, 12 Sep 2026 13:07:29 -0700WeeblyThu, 27 Oct 2022 20:53:57 GMThttps://www.pennywickpress.com/childrens-stories-by-sheila/the-story-of-quiet-hopeI wrote this 20-minute play for an elementary group of mixed ages.  Some of the characters can be doubled up if you don't have enough actors.
The Story of Quiet Hope
Characters:
Narrator 1, Narrator 2, Hope, Wise Old Owl, Mean Witch, Brown Bear, Red Bird, Yellow Duck, Blue Horse, Green Frog, Purple Cat, White Dog, Black Sheep, Goldfish, Kind Witch


( Setting:   A forest background, a  rock, and a pond. Two people have tree or flower costumes. At first they look like part of the set. These are the narrators.)  

Narrator 1- Once upon a time...

Narrator 2A - in a forest not too far from Our Elementary School...

Narrator 1 - Maybe it’s in Lake of the Woods, 

Narrator2B - Maybe it’s along the banks of the Mighty Mississippi

Narrator 1 - lived girl named Quiet Hope.

(Quiet Hope enters.)

Wise Old Owl (approaches her):  Hey! Little girl!  Whooooooo are you?  

(Quiet Hope looks at Owl, but doesn’t say anything.)  

Owl:  Hey!  I said hi!  Greet me back.

(Quiet Hope sits on the rock and yawns a huge, stretching yawn.)  

Owl:  Oh!  How rude!  Am I boring you?

(Quiet Hope stretches and yawns again.) 

Owl: Well, I never!  You have a lot to learn, little girl!  Maybe if you watch and listen, you will see how animals greet each other and are kind, not rude and yawning all the time! (Owl flies away.)

Narrator 1:  What the Old Owl didn’t know

Narrator 2A: Even though he was usually very, very wise…

Narrator 1:  Was that this Quiet Hope was under a spell.

Narrator 2B:  Mean Witch had cursed her long ago.

Mean Witch (enters, holding a bundle that could be a baby):  Ahhh ha  ha ha ha!  I have taken you from your loving mother and father, for they have insulted me.  They knew I have powers, and so they called me an animal.  For that you will have to pay.  You must see and touch nine animals in this forest glade in order to get your voice.  If you do not do this by your 10th birthday, you will fall asleep forever.  (Mean Witch exits)

Narrator:  Of course you can guess when her birthday is. 

Narrator 2A: Don’t make them guess - they’ll never guess.

Narrator 1 - They have to guess. (turns away) 

Narrator 2B - (In a stage whisper) It’s tomorrow...but you knew that, right? (also turns away)

(Quiet Hope yawns big, and starts to lay down.)

Owl: (flies back in)  It really bothered me that you didn’t  greet me earlier. 

(Quiet Hope stands and looks at Owl.)

Owl:  I’m trying hard not to get mad at you.

(Quiet Hope shakes her head.) 

Owl:  Is there something wrong?

(Quiet Hope nods, and points to her throat.)

Owl:  I heard of a girl - she was cursed by a Mean Witch, and she has to touch nine animals in the forest before she turns 10 - is that you?

(Quiet Hope nods.)
 
Owl:  Have you touched any animals yet?

(Quiet Hope shakes her head.) 

Owl: Of course not.  Ok, I’m going to help you out.  Maybe we can get you your voice back. 

Narrator 1:  It didn’t seem likely that this silly owl…

Narrator 2A:  Not silly - that’s the Wise Old Owl….

Narrator 1:  That’s not…. That’s just a thing people say…. That old owl isn’t really wise.

Narrator 2B:  Watch and see. 

Owl:  I will wait with you and when we see the animals, I will tell you what to do.

(Brown bear lumbers through, one side to the other.)  

Owl:  Why didn’t you touch the bear?

(Quiet Hope Shakes her head)

Owl:  You’re going to have to…

(Bear comes through again, leaves again.)

Owl:  Maybe the bear will slow down? 

(Bear comes through again…)

Narrator 2A:  Oh dear.  This isn’t good.

Narrator 1:  I have an idea!  

Narrator 2B:  Is it a good idea?

Narrator:  Watch and see!  

(Bear walks through again.)  

Narrator 1:  Brown bear, brown bear, what do you see?

(Brown bear Stops, looks around, shrugs.  Just then a Red Bird enters.)  

Brown bear:  I see a Red Bird looking at me. 

Owl:  It’s a little known fact that animals in the forest are very friendly and always stop to greet each other.  When they stop, you have a chance to touch them.  Trust me, this will work.

(Red Bird comes up to Brown Bear, they do a greeting *actor’s choice*   Quiet Hope walks behind them and reaches out to touch Brown Bear on the back, then shys away.  Bear leaves. Red Bird hops around a bit, hops away from the Quiet Hope. Red bird is almost off stage -) 

Narrator 2A:  Red Bird, Red Bird, what do you see?

(Red Bird looks around, Duck comes waddling in)

Red Bird:  I see a Yellow Duck looking at me.
 
(Yellow duck enters, quacking around.  Red Bird chirps.  They greet each other, Quiet Hope touches the red bird who jumps and flies away. Yellow duck waddles around, eats some grass...  starts to leave;)

Narrator 1:  Yellow Duck, Yellow Duck, what do you see?

Yellow Duck:  I see a Blue Horse looking at me.

Narrator 2B - He must have good eyesight, I don’t see a blue horse!

(Blue Horse enters, neighs.  Duck and Horse greet each other, Quiet Hope touchs Duck, duck leaves.)

Owl: You’re doing great!  You’ve already touched 4 animals.  How many did you need to touch?

Narrators together: Nine!

Narrator 1: Let’s get this show on the road!

Narrator 2A:  Blue Horse, Blue Horse, what do you see?  

(Green Frog enters, hopping)

Blue Horse: I see a Green Frog looking at me.  

(They greet one another, Quiet Hope touches Horse. Horse neighs and leaves)

Narrator 1:  Green Frog, Green Frog, what do you see?

Green Frog: I see a purple cat looking at me. 

(Cat enters, meowing and stretching.  She and Frog greet each other, Quiet Hope touches Frog. frog hops away)

Narrator 2B;  Purple Cat, Purple Cat, what do you see?  (Dog enters, panting, smelling trees and rocks etc)

Purple Cat: (Cat sits down and licks its paw.)

Narrator 1:  Purple Cat!

Narrator 2A: Purple Cat!

Narrator 1 and 2 together: PURPLE CAT!

Purple cat:  Meow… what?  

Narrator 1: She asked you a question!

Purple cat:  Fine. I see a White Dog looking at me. (Cat starts to walk off stage)

Owl:  Well?

Purple cat:  Well what?  

Owl:  Greet the dog!  It’s animal tradition. 

Purple cat:  Fine.  (Cat and dog greet each other, Quiet Hope touches cat, cat jumps, screeches, scratches out at dog.)

White Dog:  Ow!  She scratched me!

Narrator 2B:  Stop being so dramatic!

Narrator 1:  This little girl will pet you on the head if you stop whining. 

(Quiet Hope pets dog, he is happy again.)

Narrator 2A: That’s better.  White Dog, White dog, what do you see?

White Dog:  I see a black sheep looking at me.
  
(Dog and sheep greet each other, Quiet Hope touches Dog, who rolls over for a belly rub.  Quiet Hope smiles, then Dog leaves, Quiet Hope waves. Black Sheep eats grass)

Owl:  This is going so well!  That’s 8 animals, just one to go!  

(Mean Witch appears.)

Mean Witch:  Ahh ha ha ha!  You thought you could beat me at my game - but here’s a twist!  
Forest, forest, hear my words, 
no animal legs shall disturb 
this peaceful forest glade we’re in 
until this little girl turns ten!

Narrator 2B: Oh oh.  Oh well, let’s go. The end. 

(Quiet Hope starts to weep.)

Narrator 1:  Hold on, hold on.  There has to be something we can do. 

Owl:  I don’t know, that Mean Witch was pretty clear - we aren’t going to see any animals until midnight, and that’s too late!

Narrator 2A:  Like I said, game over, Donezo. The end.  Let’s go. 

Narrator 1:  No, no, no.  What did the Mean Witch say exactly?

Owl:  Something like: 
Forest, forest, hear my words, 
no animal legs shall disturb 
this peaceful forest glade we’re in 
until this little girl turns ten!

Narrator 2B: So, like, bye.

Narrator 1:  No animal legs…

Owl:  But not all animals….

Narrator 1: Have legs!

Just then, the Goldfish jumps out of the water in the river

Narrator 2A: Oh wow.

Narrator 1: Black Sheep! Black Sheep! What do you see?

Black Sheep: I see a goldfish looking at me.  

( Quiet Hope touches the sheep and the goldfish)

Narrator 2B:  Goldfish, goldfish, what do you see?

Goldfish:  I see a teacher looking at me!

Owl:  A teacher?

Narrator :  Yes, silly old owl,

Narrator 2A: Silly old WISE owl…

Narrator 1: You taught this little girl how to break the curse!

Owl:  And now let’s all teach her how to use her voice!

(Mean Witch enters.)

Mean Witch:  Not quite.  She hasn’t touched ten animals. 

Narrator 2B:  You said nine!

Mean Witch:  I did not.  I said 10.

Narrator 1:  You said nine!  We all heard you.

Mean Witch:  What?  Nine? What kind of sense would that make?  She’s turning 10.  The curse is on her 10th birthday.  Of course it’s 10.

Owl: But that’s not fair!

Mean Witch:  What about this whole situation seems fair?  It’s 10, and that’s that. 

(Quiet Hope starts to cry, Mean Witch laughs.  Narrators whisper to each other, all other animals return to the stage.)  

Narrator1: There has to be something we can do!

Narrrator2:  Come on, Wise Old Owl, think!  I have been bragging on you this whole time!  You have to think of something!!

Owl:  But… but… she touched all these animals, and now there’s a curse, so no more can enter. I just don’t know… unless one happens to fly in.

Mean Witch:  There’s the first bell - it’s almost midnight!  Looks like I win, little girl!  The end. 

Narrator 2:  We’ve been through this before - it can’t be the end!

Narrator 1:  We’re missing something…

Owl:  Goldfish said I’m a teacher…. But I’m also an animal, and you haven’t touched me yet. 

(Quiet Hope reaches out and shakes owls wing - Mean Witch cries out in dismay, big dramatic cry)

Kind Witch:I am going to have to step in - Mean Witch, you have to do what you said you would!

Mean Witch:  Mind your own business!

Kind WItch:  Being kind is my business!! You must allow Hope to go on with her life!

Mean Witch :Oh well, can’t win ‘em all!!”

Narrator: Now that you have your voice, what do you want to do?

Quiet Hope:  Let’s sing - sing with me!

(They sing) (For our performance, we sang Ocean Eyes, choose any song your group would like) 

Narrator 2:  Now it’s the end.  Thank you for watching our tale. 

Narrator 1: You forgot something.

Narrator 2: What?

Narrator 1:  Tell them, everyone!

ALL together - “And they lived happily ever after.”

Narrator 2A: The end!

​Copywrite 2022 Sheila Path-McMahon

​]]>Wed, 26 Oct 2022 16:52:39 GMThttps://www.pennywickpress.com/childrens-stories-by-sheila/alphabet-boutiqueLetters on the keys of  a typical typewriter live for the click and the clack, they never worry about experiences or adventures that they may lack.

But Remington’s letters were struck with the idea that they should get up and get out, so the characters popped off for a walk down the block where they strolled into The Quaint Little Shop.   
They passed knick-knacks and trinkets with nary a glance, tap-tapping to the section which always entranced - the books!

“Can I help you find something special?” Inquired the clerk.

“Doubt it,” sneered J, with a really big smirk.

“Pay him no mind,” said Y. “Yes, we’d love to see what’s new.”

“Here are little books that truly engage. They’re all the rage, look there’s a picture printed on every page.”

“Preposterous,” blurted I indignantly, “this book is absurd! No letters? No writing? Not even one word!”

“No!” gasped N.

“Why?” asked W.

C cried, P paled, Z zonked out and S flaked.

They felt more upset as the clerk turned each page.

V’s voice reverberated, “We have a choice! We can stand here and cry while we worry about why, but instead of being blue, let’s figure out what to do.  And for that, we need A. We’re all looking to you!”

All eyes turned to A, whose opinion held sway.  “It’s simple,” A said, “we’re on the outs and want in.” He saw their confusion, went on with a grin, “the answer is clear, it’s right underfoot.”

“But, but, but…” cried B.

“The books are complete!” said T.

“There’s no way,” said K.

Looking at their deflated demeanors, A stood tall, stomped the ground, pointed straight down.

M got it, “Oh!”

Q quipped, “Yes, I forgot that was so!”

F, G and H huddled together.  “We don’t get it,” they cried.

“It’s obvious,” said O.

Another caught on and exclaimed, “Look down where you stamped, see, X marks the spot!”

“My foot left a D!”

All squealed with glee, outlining their very own names for anyone to see.

The Quaint Little Shop sold pads of ink in any color you could think. “These pigments are just like the ribbon at home! Grab a pad, find a surface, and make it your own.

Soon wrappers were flying in an alphabet melee, letters grabbed little books to brand in their way, shifting between upper and lower cases, the joy of writing all over their faces, dipping and stomping and dipping some more, pictures were scattered all over the floor. 

Everyone found an image to imprint with script, “Much better,” laughed L as he did a backflip.

But G felt guilt strike.  “What have we done?  We got our way, but maybe the clerk has something to say.”
They looked, he pointed.

E elbowed R who reddened, confused - but U understood when she saw: Children had been watching the show while the alphabet utterly lost control. 

And those kids bought all the books that the letters had stamped - even the ones with the pages still damp! 

“After an experience so fun and unique, I’m renaming the store Alphabet Boutique.”  

The letters return from the Remington each week, their friends - numbers and punctuation have joined in on the fun. Creating books for the kids is job number one.

​The whole alphabet learned something great about books: You go where books are and you take a good look. There’s something for you somewhere up on the shelf, if there’s nothing you love, you can write it yourself.

The end. 
Copywrite 2022 Sheila Path-McMahon]]>Wed, 26 Oct 2022 16:44:49 GMThttps://www.pennywickpress.com/childrens-stories-by-sheila/tangled-up       This is the story of three children; two sisters, Bianca and Sadie, and a brother, named Forrest.  This is the story of a small mystery that came between them, but brought them together.  Or you could say brought them together, but came between them.  You’ll see what I mean.

          The mystery came about on a day that you’d least expect it.  It wasn’t a dark and stormy night.  In fact, it was just the opposite: a bright and sunny day in spring, and it was almost summer vacation.
          
           On this sunny Sunday, the three of them were at a baseball game.  Forrest’s team, the Junkyard Dogs, was playing, while Bianca and Sadie cheered from the bleachers.  The Junkyard Dogs were winning.

Normally, this would be a very happy time, but Bianca was feeling weird.     

“I feel funny,” she said to Sadie.     

Sadie repeated, “funny,” and laughed.     

“No,” thought Bianca, “not the funny that makes you laugh.  The kind of funny that makes you want to cry.” But she didn’t say so because she didn’t think Sadie would understand anyway.  She didn’t know if anybody would understand.

Bianca didn’t understand her feelings and she could barely admit it, even to herself, so we won’t know what those feelings were for a while yet.  She tried to shrug it off, and feel happy for Forrest and his team, when a quick-moving shadow caught her eye.  It looked like someone, or something, had run under the bleachers.     

She stuck her head down between her feet and saw something a little odd.

“What?” asked Sadie.  She couldn't figure out what her sister was doing, but it looked like fun, so she copied Bianca, but she couldn’t put her head between her feet because her legs weren’t long enough.

Bianca pointed to a strange creature lurking beneath the bleachers. “Yuck,” said Bianca.  “Stay away from That!  Look, its hair is all messy, and I can’t tell whether it’s a cat or a dog or what!”  Bianca said this with utter disdain, much like she would say, “no, thank you,” to broccoli.  Even when she was grossed out, she tried to remain polite.

They heard a loud crack and looked up just in time to see the ball sail over the outfield fence.  Meanwhile, Forrest ran the bases.  The girls watched and cheered him on.  When they thought to look down, the friendless creature was gone.

“Where go?” asked Sadie.

“Far away, I hope,” replied Bianca.  Soon, the game was over, and after a victory meal of ice cream sodas with the team, the creature was forgotten.

That night, Bianca was just finishing her homework, alone in her room, and she thought she heard a sigh.  “I didn’t realize how tired I am,” she thought.  “Oh well, back to math.  The problem she was working on was hard, but she was almost finished.  And she always felt proud about getting her homework done.

Just as she finished up and closed her book, she heard the sound again, and this time she was sure of it.  Her own heartbeat - so loud it sounded like Sadie pounding on her little bongo drum, and suddenly Jojo, her pet bird landed on her head!

She laughed in surprise, but she knew he only did this when he was frightened.  Jojo helped her feel brave, so being careful not to wiggle her head too much, she cautiously began to check out the room.  As she tiptoed around, her pile of clothes rustled.  “I should have put them away earlier,”  she thought.  “Now there’s a Monster under them!”

Bianca reached up to pet Jojo and reassure herself when he stole her shiny barrette from her hair and flew out of the room.  He seemed to squeak ‘good luck’ as he left, although he might have said ‘good bye’.

Meanwhile, her hair flopped into her face, and she lost her balance on a toy phone Sadie had left on the floor.

She really felt like crying when the pile of clothing started giggling.  She knew that little, mischievous voice.  Getting up, wiping away her tears and taking a confident step forward, she fearlessly lifted up a sweatshirt.  Who do you think was in the middle of her fresh, clean clothes?

Sadie!  Now that she was revealed, she was really laughing.     

“Oh, Sadie, you scared me!” said Bianca, laughing a little herself.  She was so relieved.  Her baby sister was as far from a monster as you could get!

“Friend,” said Sadie, pointing to the closet.

“That’s a closet, “ said Bianca.  “CLAW-set.” She repeated.  She knew that her baby sister was still learning to talk, but how could she mix up something as easy as “friend” and “closet?”  Unless…

“Let’s play a game,” she whispered.  “Hold your breath for as long as you can.  She listened carefully.  She heard short, raspy breaths, and she knew they weren’t coming from her kid sister.  Bianca let out a squeal, which in turn caused Sadie to start crying.  

“Shh, Sadie, maybe the monster doesn’t know we’re here,” Bianca said, hopefully.  Slowly, Sadie’s sobs came to a halt.

“Friend?" asked Sadie, still breathless from crying.

“No, that’s a monster!” said Bianca impatiently.  She thought maybe Sadie had seen too many movies.  Being the big sister, she knew better.  Bianca picked up Forrest’s prized baseball bat, and she approached the closet cautiously.

Just then, Forrest came in looking a little angry.  He was mumbling something about problems under his breath.  Forrest looked around the room, surprised to see Bianca’s normally neat and tidy bedroom strewn with clean clothes; he was also wondering why Bianca’s hair looked like a bird’s nest.  All of this passed through his thoughts, but since he was not in a good mood to begin with, he decided to stay that way.      

“What are you doing with my bat?” he snarled.

Bianca blinked.  She was scared of the monster, but part of her didn’t want any help, especially from Forrest.     

“Oh, just admiring it,” she said, “I wish I could play baseball and get a homerun.”

The rasping grew a little louder.  Bianca glanced at the closet and then at Forrest.  She felt a little like enlisting his help, but her pride held her back.  If she couldn’t play baseball, she wanted to prove there were cooler, braver things she could do.

“Why don’t you play baseball, if you want to so badly?” he asked.     

“I don’t know the rules.  What are you doing in here, anyway?” she asked, hoping to change the subject and get him to leave. 

“I’m looking for my markers.  I’m going to draw.”

Bianca was surprised at this.  She knew that he had spent most of Saturday practicing for the game, and she also knew that Mr. Jones, Forrest’s fourth grade teacher, who had been her fourth grade teacher last year, never let a weekend go by without loads of homework. “Did you already finish your homework for tomorrow?”     

“No,” he said, as his brow furrowed.

“Well,” said Bianca, “it takes some time, but why don’t you just do it?  Fourth grade work is so easy.”     

“Hmph,” said Forrest, “maybe homework like math is easy when you already know how to do it!”     

In the course of this argument, neither Bianca nor Forrest noticed Sadie sneaking over to the closet.  Suddenly, she threw open the door, and a huge, hairy creature came tumbling out.     

“AHH!” screamed Bianca and Forrest.     

“AHHH!,” screamed the creature.       

Bianca held the bat tightly, but she felt frozen in fear.     

Sadie, however, toddled right up to the monster and gave him a big HUG!   

“What are you doing?  Are you crazy?” asked Bianca.     

“Friend,” laughed Sadie.  She tickled the monster, and he started laughing, too.  The sight was so funny that Bianca and Forrest started giggling despite themselves.  They tickled each other back and forth until everyone ended up in a big, laughing pile.

Finally, the laughter subsided.  Forrest tried to find the monster’s face, but it was hard, in all that hair!     

All three of them felt around in the thick hair until they found its face.

They gently smoothed the hair away, and they were surprised at what they saw.

“Hey!” said Forrest, “it’s pretty.”

“Yeah, beautiful!” said Bianca.

“Friend,” said Sadie. The monster smiled. Bianca and Forrest looked at each other and smiled, too. 

“Yeah, friend!” After all of the excitement, the kids were full of questions. 

“Where did you come from?  Who or what are you?  Why are you here?  Do you have a name?”

Slowly, the monster started to speak in a squeaky voice that was hard to understand at first.

“My name is Buelahtrala.  I’ve been around since Forrest was born.  I’m the love that exists between siblings.”

“Sibleys?” asked Sadie.

“No siblings, it means brothers and sisters.”

“You’ve been around since then?”  Forrest asked.  “Where have you been?”

“Oh, pretty much in your closet, sometimes under your bed.  Just close enough to look after you.  Usually I’m not really visible.  But my hair has been growing wild, and that’s when it’s easier to see me.”    

“What’s up with your hair?  Do you need a haircut?” asked Bianca.

“No, thanks.  My hair grows wild when siblings have strong feelings, like jealousy.

“JELLY!” yelled Sadie.

“Who’s been jealous?” scoffed Bianca, thinking of her feelings at the baseball game, but trying to look innocent.

“I have,” said Forrest quietly.

“You?” asked Bianca, “What do you have to be jealous over?”

“You know,” said Forrest, kicking the rug.

“No, please tell me,” Bianca said.  Forrest looked doubtful. “If you tell me, I’ll tell you why I’ve been jealous of you,” said Bianca.

Forrest looked up at his sister.  It never occurred to him that she would be the jealous one.  “You?  Okay, I’m jealous that you’re so good at math.”

“Math?” Bianca almost laughed, but held it in when she saw how sincere her brother looked.

“Well, I’m jealous that you’re so good at baseball and you get to win games.”

They looked at Buelahtrala.  Her hair was looking a lot less tangled.

“So, does that mean, if we’re not jealous, your hair will get better?” asked Bianca.

Forrest and Bianca looked at each other.  “Just because you admit that you have the feelings doesn’t seem to make them go away,” said Forrest.  “I still don’t know how to do my homework for tomorrow.”

“Well,” said Buelahtrala, “Now that you know what your feelings are, you can change the situation.”

“How?” asked Bianca.  And then she thought about it.  “I know, I’ll teach Forrest how to do his math homework.”

“And I’ll teach you the rules of baseball!” 

Just then Sadie started running around the room yelling “Sibleys! Sibleys! Sibleys!” and laughing.

Sadie, Bianca, Forrest and Buelahtrala, who was nothing more than a big ball of love, all started laughing, too. And that night Bianca taught Forrest Math, and of course, the next day, Forrest taught Bianca the rules of baseball.
The end. 
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