Silly Scripts, Stories and Scenarios: Blackberry and Redcurrant
This story is based on a few old fairytales that I adapted and put together
Original fairytales were quite different than the Disney tales. I wrote a script based on this story that I will post next week. I loved the old fairytales when I was growing up. I loved the characters, the magic and the forests where they lived. I actually did get attacked by big red ants outside of Kenora, Ontario. I was unknowingly picking blueberries on their anthill. As I ran onto the road, it was terrifying to see them coming for me from all directions – like they had some secret intelligence network. They clung onto the bottom of my jeans and kept biting my legs until I picked them off one by one.
Black Currant and Red Currant
Once there were two sisters named Black Currant and Red Currant. For short, they were called BC and RC. There were two bushes growing on either side of the front door, one was a red currant and the other black. They lived out by Kenora and went to Sicely School. Every day they walked the length of a winding gravel road through the bush to go to the main road to wait for the bus. The bush was thick with berries and the evergreens grew so tall that the girls could not see the tops. They blocked out the sky.
One day they kept stopping to pick blueberries on the way home when they saw a dwarf hopping up and down on a huge ant hill. His mouth was blue from the wonderful berries but he had caught the tip of his beard in some old wire fence lying on the ground close to the hill and he couldn’t pull away. The big red ants were climbing up and down his legs and biting him.
“Don’t just stand there gaping! Help me!” he yelled.
The girls quickly ran up to him. BC picked him up under his arms and yanked him out of the bush. RC brushed the ants off of him.
“Youch!!!” he yelled. “You ripped my beard. You foolish girls. A lot of help you are. Why don’t you just leave me alone.” The dwarf stomped off and disappeared among the bushes.
The girls looked at each other with one question in their minds. Who was this creature? Without saying a word, they followed him through the forest at a safe distance.
Eventually they came to a clearing in the woods. They could see a small wooden house and could hear many voices inside. They could hear the grouchy dwarf complaining about the girls and his beard. The girls were filled with curiosity but knew that they should get home for dinner. They carefully marked their way through the forest by putting groups of stones together by the side of the path. They hoped that the dwarves would not notice them. Finally, they found their own gravel road and hurried home.
When they reached home, their mother was in the kitchen finishing dinner. BC ran into the room.
“Mama, we met a horrible dwarf on the way home. He had a long beard and was terribly grumpy.”
“Oh, you met Gratzo,” the mother answered, “He’s lived in the forest since I was a child. He’s a nasty creature, isn’t he? Did he hurt you?”
“No, we helped him and then he yelled at us!” exclaimed BC.
“Yes, that sounds like Gratzo,” commented their mother. “It’s best to stay away from him!”
During supper they talked. “How did you know Gratzo?” asked RC.
“Well, we always knew about Gratzo,” began their mother. “He was the grumpy dwarf in the woods. People said that he lived with his six brothers and they worked in the gold mine down by Omens Creek. The mine had been shut down for some time but since the dwarves are so small, they hewed out their own tunnels and still managed to bring out rocks with traces of gold in it. The owners only dealt with Gratzo, and sometimes they were quite fed up with him!
BC asked, “What about the other six?”
“No one saw much of the other six. They were very shy of people, but Gratzo didn’t seem to care who saw him.”
“Are they still mining now?” queried RC.
“I don’t think so,” answered their mother, “but who knows? I always thought it was just stories when I was a little girl.”
BC asked, “Why would he be standing in the middle of the ants picking blueberries? Those carpenter ants are vicious and they have a big bite!!!”
RC said, “You should have seen him hopping about. He didn’t have the sense to run!!”
“I wonder what he was up to?” questioned their mother. “When your father didn’t come back from the forest that day, I wondered…”
“How long has Daddy been gone,” asked RC.
“Almost ten years,” answered her mother. “You were four and BC was two. He just disappeared. I’ve always felt that he was alive, but…”
“What could have happened to him?” asked BC.
“I don’t know girls, I just don’t know.”
Suddenly they heard a knock at the door. BC and RC ran to it, opened it and stood back in surprise.
BC exclaimed, “Mama, it’s a bear!”
“A bear?” the mother questioned. But just then the bear spoke. “The rain has come up and the wind is blowing, can you give me shelter?”
“Do you mean us any harm?” demanded the mother.
“No mamm, on my life, I need a place to rest.”
“Alright then,” answered the mother, “you are welcome here.”
The bear came into the small house and lay on the ground by the fire where he slept peacefully until dawn. The next night he came back and soon he became friends with the family. He came every night and slept by the fire. He listened to the books that the children read. He watched the girls play games and danced with the girls when their mother played music.
One day in fall the girls came across the dwarf fishing in the creek. His beard was twisted around the fishing line. He was jumping up and down and cursing his luck.
“What are you doing, standing there staring at me!” he yelled. “Come and help me. Can’t you see that I’m stuck!!”
RC and BC turned to run away.
“Don’t run away!” admonished the dwarf, “Curse you, get my beard unstuck!”
BC and RC couldn’t stand to see him so unhappy. They came closer and saw that his beard was hopelessly entangled. RC took the scissors out of her pocket and cut the beard and the fishing line.
“What have you done now??? Ruined my beard and my fishing line? Now I’ve got no hook! It’s no thanks you get from me!” With that, the dwarf picked up his rod and grumbled his way into the bushes and disappeared.
The girls followed at a safe distance. They came to a path and saw their piles of stones on the edge. They followed along until they came to a little house. The dwarf banged his way inside and began grumbling about the girls.
“We’d better get home,” commented RC as she pulled BC back along the path.
“But I want to see what it’s like inside!” protested BC. “Let’s come back in the morning, maybe there will be no-one there!”
When they got home BC called to her mother, “Mama, we saw the dwarf again. His beard was stuck in his fishing line!”
RC added, “He was fishing. His beard was all caught up, we tried to help him but he yelled at us.”
“I told you not to go near him,” their mother scolded. “Leave him alone and don’t go near him again!”
The next day was Saturday and RC and BC were up early. They quickly tidied up the cottage and told their sleepy mother that they were going to pick berries. Excitedly, they found their path mark with piles of stones. They carefully followed the path until they came to the cabin. They stopped and listened. All that they could hear was birdsong and squirrels chattering. Cautiously, they approached the door. It stood slightly ajar. They stopped, they listened, they pushed it open.
It was the tiniest cottage that they had ever seen. It was like a dolls house. There were seven miniature chairs around the table with seven place settings. They forgot about being careful and started to play.
“Let’s have tea!” exclaimed BC as she sat down at the table. “One lump or two?” she offered RC. RC was still a little nervous, but she began to giggle and pretended to have tea. BC looked around and saw stairs up to a loft.
“Look RC, I wonder what’s up there?” She led the way upstairs while RC nervously followed. As she stood up, she knocked over her chair. The noise frightened her so she ran up close behind BC. There were seven small beds in a row.
“What tiny beds!” gasped BC and she started to bounce on each one to see how soft it was. RC was listening carefully at the top of the stairs. “I hear something!” she whispered.
BC stopped bouncing for a minute. “What?” she asked.
Sure enough, the dwarves were coming along the path singing to themselves. RC and BC looked around. They didn’t have time to get themselves down the stairs.
“Quick!” cried BC. “Under the beds!” They dove under a bed but there was barely room for one so BC crawled under another bed just in time. They heard the dwarves come into the house.
“What happened here?” exclaimed Smiley.
“Someone’s been here!” answered Duffy.
“Somebody’s tasted the sugar!” complained Dr. Pudding.
“Someone’s been drinking tea!” remarked Gladys.
“Someone knocked over my chair!” echoed Tiny.
“Let’s check upstairs,” suggested Snooper. “Maybe they went up there!”
As the dwarves tiptoed upstairs the girls shook uncontrollably under the beds, but they could think of no way out.
“Someone’s been bouncing on my bed!” exclaimed Smiley.
“Someone’s been bouncing on my bed!” exclaimed Duffy.
“Someone’s been bouncing on my bed!” exclaimed Dr. Pudding.
“Someone’s been bouncing on my bed!” exclaimed Gladys.
“Someone’s been bouncing on my bed!” exclaimed Tiny.
“Someone’s been bouncing on my bed!” exclaimed Snooper. “It’s a good thing that Gratzo’s not here. What if they’re hiding?”
“Where could they be hiding?” asked Gladys.
“Tiny said, “SHHHHH” and pointed under the beds.
Suddenly the dwarves knelt down and looked under the beds. The girls screamed and rolled out from underneath. The dwarves chased them in circles as the girls jumped over the beds, ran down the stairs and out the door as fast as they could. As they were running down the path, they bumped into the bear.
“Whoa!!! Where are you going?” asked the bear.
“We’re going home!” answered RC, “The dwarves are after us!”
“The dwarves?” exclaimed the Bear. “You mean Gratzo?”
“No,” answered BC, “all the other ones.”
“What did you do?”
“Well, we were exploring a little bit,“ admitted BC. “We went into their house.”
The bear laughed. “A little bit nosey were you? Don’t worry, the dwarves are all friendly. They wouldn’t hurt you – except for Gratzo, that is. You run along home and I’ll explain things to the dwarves.”
The girls were quick to start back on the trail and glad when they reached the cottage. They spent a quiet day working in the garden and reading. They said nothing to their mother about their morning.
Meanwhile the bear walked up the path to the little house. The dwarves were buzzing around like bees. They stopped when they saw the bear.
“Good day to you,” he began. “The girls meant you no harm. They were just curious.”
The dwarves muttered among themselves.
“Someone’s been stealing the precious jewels that we bring back from the mine,” said Snooper. “It must be those girls. No one else knows where we live.”
“Yes,” agreed Dr. Pudding.
“Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes,” echoed the dwarves one at a time.
“Believe me,” assured the Bear, “those girls aren’t interested in your jewels! Is Gratzo about? I have a score to settle with him.”
The dwarves looked at each other with their eyes open wide.
“Haven’t seen him in two days,” answered Dr. Pudding. “Suppose he’s up to mischief somewhere.”
“I’ve had enough of his tricks,” scowled the Bear.
“Good luck to you sir,” squeaked Tiny. The dwarves went in for tea and the Bear stomped into the forest.
That night the bear did not come back to the girls’ cabin. Winter came, snow fell and still the bear did not visit for the whole season. Finally, the spring came and the girls were dawdling on the way home from school.
“Look at the flowers!” BC exclaimed.
“The first buttercups,” pointed RC, “Over there!”
And so, they were wandering through the luscious spring forest when they found the dwarf sitting among his treasures. There were beautiful, sparkling jewels lying in the grass.
“Oh, it’s you horrible young girls, coming to steal my jewels, are you?” The dwarf started to run towards them but they quickly stepped behind a huge pine tree and he ran right into the tree. He was so angry that he twisted and turned and caught his beard in the branches. “Oh you awful girls,” he yelled. “Set me free!”
The girls were too afraid to move. Suddenly the bear came out of the woods.
“Help me you little toads.” The dwarf swore as he swung from side to side.
The bear spoke. “They will help you if you grant them a wish.”
“I’m not going to give them any of my jewels!” snarled the dwarf as he jabbed himself on the tree. “Get away from me!”
“You can keep your baubles,” said the bear calmly, “although you must have stolen them from the other dwarves! But first you must free me!”
“Girls, chase that bear away. He talks nonsense!”
RC and BC looked at each other and they looked at the bear and the dwarf.
“Set me free!” demanded the dwarf.
“No, you set me free,” answered the bear.
“Girls!” the dwarf yelled hopping up and down on one foot.
BC stated firmly, “Set the bear free.”
“Set the bear free!” echoed RC.
Meanwhile the other dwarves had heard the commotion and quietly hid behind the trees to listen and watch. The dwarf stopped hopping and glared at the Bear. Suddenly he sighed, “Bear, you have your freedom.”
The bear’s skin fell away and there stood an older man with graying hair.
“Now set me free, you silly girls!” demanded the dwarf.
Although the girls stood in stunned silence, BC managed to hold the branches back, while RC cut his beard till there was hardly any left.
“Hah! My beard, you selfish girls! You’ve ruined my beard.”
Suddenly the six dwarves ran from behind the trees and grabbed up the jewels.
“The jewels. My precious jewels. You thieves! How dare you steal my jewels!” shouted Gratzo.
When all the jewels were safely in their pockets Tiny spoke.
“Gratzo, we never thought that you would do such a thing!”
“Never thought,” said Gladys shaking her head.
Never thought,” echoed all the dwarves.
“It’s all their fault!,” Gratzo pointed at the girls, “If it wasn’t for them…”
“Gratzo,” answered Dr. Pudding, “The jewels are for us to share and pay for the things that we need. We all have to live together.”
“Augh! I don’t need you. I’m going to live in a cave!” and Gratzo stomped off into the forest.
“He’ll be back!” laughed Dr. Pudding.
“Would you like to come and celebrate with us?” asked Gladys.
“No,” said the older man. “These girls had better go see their mother, she’ll be worried about them.”
“Till next time then,” said Tiny. “Thanks for finding our jewels!” The dwarves headed down the forest path past the little piles of stones, singing.
The girls jumped for joy and ran home.
“Mother, mother!” they called.
“It’s not a bear, it’s a man,” shouted BC.
“Gratzo turned him into a bear,” shouted RC.
Their mother came running from the cottage and stopped still in the middle of the path. She stopped still. She looked as if she had seen a ghost.
“Mother, what’s the matter?” asked the girls together.
“It’s your father,” she muttered.
They turned and saw the man was smiling broadly.
“Father?” they asked.
“Yes,” said their Mother and Father at once, with tears in their eyes.
The hugging, and crying and laughing went on for days before things settled down again. The family became quite friendly with the dwarves but no one ever saw Gratzo again.
END