This beautiful chalkboard drawing was a gift from a student I taught German to when she was in 1st grade. She is now a rising 6th grader. She knew I was coming to tell a story to a group of rising 1st graders & she wanted to draw a picture on the board for me, but she did not know what story I would share. --- If you look at this picture for a moment, and then read the story, keeping in mind that the picture and story were created totally independent of each other, you might get a sense that this was no "coincidence," but a sense of "destiny." The spiritual world works in miraculous ways sometimes. - At least that's how it felt to me.
My story went something like this:
As I was thinking about a story to share with all of you on this beautiful summer morning, I thought back to the time when I was your age, a rising 1st grader, excited about starting school. When I was six years old I did not live in this country, but I lived in a country far away. If you were to travel to this country, you would need to cross a big ocean, and if you were to take a boat to embark on that journey, then you would have to sail for many days before you would arrive. The country where I grew up in is called Germany, and in the southern part of that country is a beautiful stretch of mountains. These mountains are called the Alps, and they are so big that when you look at them, you think that the tips must touch the clouds, and when you climb to the top of one of the mountains, you get the feeling that you could touch the clouds with your fingertips. In the Alps, there are a great many villages, small villages, comprised of not more than maybe 12 or 14 houses - Can you imagine how small such a village would be? It would be as if all of you here today together would make up one of these small villages. And it is in such a small village that I grew up in. Most people in the village were farmers. They tended the fields, so people could have yummy food to eat. Many of them had goats, and sheep, and cows, and they would take them to the meadows to munch juicy grass. And in the evenings, they liked to sit on benches in front of their houses and watch the sun set behind the mountains. Many of the people in the village were old. They had seen many springs, summers, autumns, and winters in their lives, but they were very wise, and they always had a story to tell. And so one evening in the summer when I was a little girl, just before I went to 1st grade, this is the story a wise woman told me, while the sun was setting, as we sat together on a bench in front of the farm-house:
Once upon a time in these mountains there lived a miller. This miller was very wealthy, but he had a heavy heart. He was a very stubborn man, and he did not like to share with people at all. Now it so happened that a great drought fell upon the land, and many people did not have enough food to eat. They would come to the miller and beg for just a bit of flour to bake a loaf of bread for their hungry families, but the miller would always say, "No. I will not give you any of my flour." One day a little gnome-mannikin came to the miller. You see, many gnome-mannikins lived in the Alps, well still live there today, working hard inside the earth. They, too, were hungry, and this gnome-mannikin begged the miller for just a pinch of flour. Yes, just a pinch. But the miller who had sacks and sacks of flour stacked in his store was truly a stubborn, unkind man and he simply said, "No. I will not give you a pinch of flour." This miller had a son. As much as the miller's heart was filled with stubbornness and greed, his son's heart was filled with love and compassion, and he always wanted to share with people. The miller's son took the goats to the pasture every day, and there he would sit with them. When he saw the gnome-mannikin pass by, leaving the mill looking all sad and droopy, he asked him, "What is the matter little mannikin?" Then replied the gnome-mannikin, "I asked your father for just a pinch of flour, but he would not give it to me." Then the little boy went to where the flour was stored, and he secretly filled a teensy-tiny little bag with some flour and gave it to the gnome-mannikin. He thanked him kindly & disappeared.
Some time passed, and this drought continued. Even the miller's store was empty now, and the stubborn miller had become very ill. In fact, he was so ill that his family feared he would not live much longer. One day, as the miller boy was tending the goats, the little gnome-mannikin appeared to him and said, "Come follow me." And this the boy did. The gnome walked to a tree, and there in the tree was a magic opening - yes truly, such an opening can only be spied by someone walking through life with an attentive eye. The boy even had to duck down a bit to fit through. But then before him stretched such a magic world that you would not believe it! The path was lined with sparkling gemstones in all hues of the rainbow. There were crystals so big that the miller boy had to stand on his tip-toes to see the tops of them. The path led to a might hall. This hall was splendidly decorated, and before them stretched out a long table. Around the table many gnome-mannikins had gathered, and the table was filled with sweet drinks and so much food - oh the little boy had not seen such a feast ever in his life! The gnome-mannikins invited him to come sit at the table with them, and he did, and they invited him to eat and drink with them, which he did, too, and he ate and drank until he was filled. Then there was great fiddle music, and they danced and celebrated, and had a mighty time together. Eventually, though, the gnome-mannikins disappeared into the mountain, and only the gnome-mannikin who had let the boy into the mountain remained with him. He gave the miller boy a little stone and said, "Give this to your father." - Then he led the boy out of the mountain, along the same path they had taken in.
When the boy got back to the meadow, the goats were not there, so he went home. There he was received with great joy. You see, his parents were very worried, because he had been gone for seven days, and the goats had come home without him. Then he told his parents his story and he gave the little stone to his father, and as soon as the father held it, he became well. They kept this stone in the dresser from then on, and they were prosperous and happy together for many, many years. And this is why many people in small villages in the Alps keep a stone of health in the dresser until this day.
And that is the story how I have heard it in my heart many years ago.
~~~
Copyright by Cadi Thomas. You may only publish, reprint or repost this story with the permission of the author. You may link to this post. Please do not publish, reprint or repost the chalkboard picture. It is the creation of a very special girl, and I'm simply posting it here, because I was blown away by the "coincidence." - Thank you for honoring this request.
Ahhh! What a lovely fairy tale The Fisherman & His Wife is! I used the fairy tale to introduce lower case letters & each student created a morning lesson book - pieces of art, I tell ya! This is the blackboard. 
Our sea for the class play was decorated with silks & cloths & seashells & starfish & fish the children drew on paper. So, so lovely!
Our handmade programs. Each program contains two unique drawings by a 1st grader - front & inside. They felt so special having a play with a program. 
We added a lil' fish lampwork bead to bind their "The Fisherman & His Wife" books. These books will be true treasures for them. - So much nicer than icky worksheets!
