Ruby’s yellow house was sinking.
It started near the top of the mountain, but every day it slid a little farther down the muddy slope.
As Ruby’s house slipped down, the walk to school grew longer.
At first, she could walk to the schoolhouse on top of the mountain in only five minutes. But as the rain made the house slide, and her house fell farther down the mountainside, the five-minute walk became a ten-minute walk.
And the ten-minute walk became a twenty-minute walk.
And the twenty-minute walk became an hour-long slog.
“I can’t keep climbing this mountain,” Ruby said.
But the birds cheered her on. “You can do it, Ruby. You’re stronger than you think you are.”
So Ruby kept climbing.
But the climb to school grew longer and longer.
When the walk became nearly two hours, and Ruby had to get up before the sun rose and before the birds were awake, she said, “I can’t keep climbing this mountain.”
But the night owls cheered her on. “You can do it, Ruby. You’re stronger than you think you are.”
So Ruby kept climbing.
But the rains came, and the mud carried her house farther down the mountain, and the climb to school grew into a painful trudge.
When the walk became so long that Ruby had to start up the mountain again almost as soon as she had come down it, she said, “I can’t keep climbing this mountain.”
She nearly gave up.
But the birds and the night owls and all the other mountain animals cheered her on. “You can do it, Ruby. You’re stronger than you think you are.”
So Ruby decided to climb one more time.
When she returned home, which had slid even farther toward the valley floor, she knew she would have to leave right then and climb through the night if she wanted to make it to school on time.
But she was tired.
Ruby said, “I am not strong enough anymore.”
The mountain animals were sad. So was Ruby.
She cried herself to sleep, for she would not go to school again, she feared.
But as she slept, she dreamed. And in her dream, all the mountain animals said in one voice, “You can do it, Ruby. You’re stronger than you think you are.”
“But how?” Ruby said.
A voice came from the mountain night. “There are many kinds of strength.”
Ruby woke with a start… and an idea.
Her legs had grown strong from climbing the mountain every day. And her mind had grown strong from all those days spent at school. Using all she had learned, Ruby worked to pile rocks beneath her house so it wouldn’t slide any farther down the mountain.
Then with the help of her mountain friends, she cut many logs and laid them side by side along the road up the mountainside.
She tied strings to the birds and the owls and other mountain animals who happily helped.
And the next morning, she sat atop a sled she had placed on the logs. She tied the strings to the sled and yelled, “Hiya!” With a mighty pull, all the mountain animals flew and climbed and fluttered, and they pulled her up the mountain faster than she’d ever gone before.
She made it to school on time.
At the end of the day, she sledded down.
Her house hadn’t moved.
“You did it!” The animals cheered.
“We did it,'” Ruby said. “Together, we’re stronger than we think we are.”
Share this: