"Bed!" yelled the mum
"Enough playing around, sleep!"
Three little girls rolled into bed. The eldest whined, "Mum tell her to zip it. I can't sleep with her talking. And close the curtain I can't sleep with the light coming in"
"Quiet little ones. Silence to sleep time." The mother moved towards the window and opened it a jar. Calling out to the wind. The mother called "wind of beautiful cooling moving breath, please come this warm night and cool my girls to a gentle sleep. Help them wind down to a peaceful slumber."
The wind heard the mother's soft alluring call. And passed the window by. Wind looked in and saw her daughters in their beds. Wind saw the eldest and remembered that child from earlier in the day. When she cursed the wind for blowing her hair into her face and not seeing where she was stepping tripped and landed face down on the ground. She cried and whined. All day she was yelling and complaining about something. Her younger sister pulled her hair for being bossy and not sharing the dolls. Her youngest sister bit her for screaming at her for pulling the cats tail. And now this eldest sister was whining because she couldn't sleep because of the chirping of the crickets.
'Boy was she annoying' thought the wind 'always complaining about something.'
The wind didn't feel like being nice to the complaining little girl. It blew some dark rain clouds that were so full of water they rumbled and thundered. The rain poured down on the roof of the little girl's home. And scared the little girl.
"Mum Mum I can't sleep its too noisy." She complained.
"Listen to the music of the rain" replied the mum. It's telling us a story if we listen.
But the eldest sister complained she couldn't sleep and to close the window.
The mother called out to the wind. "Wind why do you bring rain, it is not soothing for my daughters to sleep by. Please wind blow a gentle a tune".
The wind didn't want to be gentle, for the eldest sister was not gentle. Never satisfied. Wind blew the dark clouds away, and let the stars be seen in the night. The moon glowed gently down into the room.
The eldest sister complained to close the curtain some more as the moonlight was too bright.
The wind blew the curtain back more and blew into the room. It lifted the annoying child into the air and carried her out the window up into the night air. The little girl was shocked and scared. She looked all around saw how high she was getting higher like an airplane, seeing below little dots for houses and lines for roads in between towns, forests, parks and farms. The wind carried the girl to a far away mountain high in the clouds. The little girl cried and cried. She felt so sacred and helpless. She missed her mum and sisters.
"Stop your blubbering!" Stormed the wind "Breathe my breath and relax. I will not harm you. I will take you back to your mother and sisters. After you promise not to complain anymore. No more Whining! NO more Complaining!"
The eldest sister was so sad for her mum. She promised no more complaining. But the wind wasn't sure if she could keep her promise. "That means if your littlest sister bites you, you don't scream at her; but find an alternative solution to help her stop biting. If your younger sister wants to play with your dolls let her, make a rule for her to take care of your dolls, or she can't play with them. But Keep the Peace! No more short temper or yelling and whining, and complaining. You have to find peace within you and keep it."
"I'll try," whimpered the eldest sister.
"If you don't keep the peace and whine and complain then I'll pick you up again and throw you in the ocean."
The eldest sister didn't like that idea. "What if I forget and complain just a little"
"Then "replied the wind "I will throw you in the ocean just a little"
The eldest sister took a deep breathe and thought about all the times she complained and thought how she could have reacted or acted instead of complaining. A lot of deep breathing took place. As she had to think wisely. She came to a realization that even when she came to a point of total frustration where she would have just screamed and gone mad at her younger sisters, for whatever reason, in the end it wouldn't have paid for she would have just been passing on that storm. To keep the peace means every act would be in love and joy. And the more you give the more it comes back to you. The more frustration she gives out the harder her sisters bite. The girl sat there on the hilltop for a time finding her peace within. She really didn't want to be dunked in the ocean. She really had to find peaceful solutions instead of complaining. After a time she stood up.
"I feel I am ready to go home now. I think I can keep my promise." So the wind so light now blew the girl on the gentlest of currents back home. The eldest sister was asleep long before she touched her pillow.
The mother smiled out the window. "Thank you wind for bringing my child back to me. And so full of peace too, how can I repay you for your help?"
The wind replied, "You could make for me many wind chimes that twirl and swirl, that make different sounds, that spin and dance, for me to play with when I pass by your garden. I would enjoy that"
"I would be delighted," replied the mum.
And when the next day dawned the mother and her daughters had fun creating lots of different wind chimes for the wind to play with when it passes through.
And when ever the wind blew through the eldest daughter was always reminded about keeping her peace within.