The Truth About Stories Read Free Page B

has a bottom, said Walrus. Sorry.
    I’m sure you’re beginning to wonder if there’s a
     point to this story or if I’m just going to work my way through all the water
     animals one by one.
    So one by one all the water animals tried to find the mud at the bottom
     of the ocean, and all of them failed until the only animal left was Otter. Otter,
     however, wasn’t particularly interested in finding mud.
    Is it fun to play with? asked Otter.
    Not really, said Charm.
    Is it good to eat? asked Otter.
    Not really, said Charm.
    Then why do you want to find it? said Otter.
    For the magic, said Charm.
    Oh, said Otter. I like magic.
    So Otter took a deep breath and dove into the water. And she didn’t
     come up. Day after day, Charm and the animals waited for Otter to come to the surface.
     Finally, on the morning of the fourth day, just as the sun was rising, Otter’s
     body floated up out of the depths.
    Oh, no, said all the animals, Otter has drowned tryingto find the mud. And they hoisted Otter’s body onto the back of the
     Turtle.
    Now, when they hoisted Otter’s body onto the back of the Turtle,
     they noticed that her little paws were clenched shut, and when they opened her paws,
     they discovered something dark and gooey that wasn’t water.
    Is this mud? asked the Ducks.
    Yes, it is, said Charm. Otter has found the mud.
    Of course I found the mud, whispered Otter, who wasn’t so much dead
     as she was tired and out of breath. This magic better be worth it.
    Charm set the lump of mud on the back of the Turtle, and she sang and she
     danced, and the animals sang and danced with her, and very slowly the lump of mud began
     to grow. It grew and grew and grew into a world, part water, part mud. That was a good
     trick, said the water animals. But now there’s not enough room for all of us in
     the water. Some of us are going to have to live on land.
    Not that anyone wanted to live on the land. It was nothing but mud. Mud as
     far as the eye could see. Great jumbled lumps of mud.
    But before the animals could decide who was going to live where or what to
     do about the mud-lump world, Charm had her baby.
    Or rather, she had her babies.
    Twins.
    A boy and a girl. One light, one dark. One right-handed, one
     left-handed.
    Nice-looking babies, said the Cormorants. Hope they like mud.
    And as it turned out, they did. The right-handed Twin
     smoothed all the mud lumps until the land was absolutely flat.
    Wow! said all the animals. That was pretty clever. Now we can see in all
     directions.
    But before the animals could get used to all the nice flat land, the
     left-handed Twin stomped around in the mud, piled it up, and created deep valleys and
     tall mountains.
    Okay, said the animals, that could work.
    And while the animals were admiring the new landscape, the Twins really
     got busy. The right-handed Twin dug nice straight trenches and filled them with
     water.
    These are rivers, he told the animals, and I’ve made the water flow
     in both directions so that it’ll be easy to come and go as you please.
    That’s handy, said the animals.
    But as soon as her brother had finished, the left-handed Twin made the
     rivers crooked and put rocks in the water and made it flow in only one direction.
    This is much more exciting, she told the animals.
    Could you put in some waterfalls? said the animals. Everyone likes
     waterfalls.
    Sure, said the left-handed Twin. And she did.
    The right-handed Twin created forests with all the trees lined up so you
     could go into the woods and not get lost. The left-handed Twin came along and moved the
     trees around, so that some of the forest was dense and difficult, and other parts were
     open and easy.
    How about some trees with nuts and fruit? said the animals. In case we get
     hungry.
    That’s a good idea, said the right-handed Twin.
     And he did.
    The right-handed Twin created roses. The left-handed Twin put thorns on
     the stems. The