The Little Boy Who Cried and Cried The little boy who cried and cried.
Once upon a time there was a tiny little boy.
He had one brother and one sister.
They grew bigger and bigger as the years rolled on.
But he remained very small.
His mother said he would sprout one day.
Like a runner bean,
One day you will wake up and you will have grown six inches.
Your hands will be as big as mine and your legs as long as daddy's.
Now this tiny little boy,
Whose name you should know as Milo,
Wasn't sure he wanted hands as big as daddy's.
He imagined them on the ends of his yellow jumper.
Great big hands sticking out.
How would he hold his favourite mug with fingers like that?
Daddy couldn't hold the tiny handle of his favourite mug.
He had to clasp the mug in his hand like a bear paw when he passed Milo's hot chocolate in the morning.
He did think he would like legs as long as mummy though.
Then he would be able to sit on the worktop like her.
She would hop up and chat to daddy while he cooked supper on his cooking days.
But then he thought of his special bed.
Mummy had to fold her legs up when they lay side by side to read a story on Milo's bed.
Her long legs didn't fit straight.
Milo didn't want to have to fold his legs up.
They would be all bent when he was old if he did that.
His big sister laughed when he cried at her being so small.
Don't be silly,
You're the baby and you will always be small she said.
His big brother listened and did not laugh when Milo tried to explain how he was fed up with staying so small.
His brother who was the tallest of them all said,
I was not small for long,
He looked sad,
I grew and grew like a runner bean.
My hands and my legs and my feet wouldn't stop.
One day my legs were longer than mummy's and my feet had grown quite as big as daddy's.
Milo looked at his huge brother and wished so hard a little of his bigness could sprinkle down.
But then I cried and cried,
His big brother said,
For I felt so big I didn't want to be taller than mummy or fit into daddy's jumpers.
I wanted to stay small.
What did you do?
Asked Milo.
He was fascinated by the thought of his giant brother crying.
How could such a big strong person cry?
I looked at the animals in the zoo,
His brother said.
What were they doing?
Asked Milo.
He thought of the bears and the gorillas,
The elephants,
The lions and the giraffes.
He thought of all the big strong animals and felt even smaller.
How could they help?
He wondered.
First I looked at all the huge ones,
Said his brother.
I walked around and saw them all playing and hugging,
Growling and sleeping.
They were so happy.
They didn't seem to mind being so big,
He said.
And?
Said Milo.
This wasn't helping at all,
He thought.
And I walked on and saw the middle sized animals,
The wolves and deer,
The penguins and the boar,
The lemurs and the chimpanzee.
They didn't seem to notice if they were big or small.
They jumped and crawled,
Stalked and stomped,
Waddled and swam.
They were too busy having fun to think at all.
I walked on some more.
And?
Said Milo.
And I came to the reptiles,
To the bugs and the crawlers,
To the lizards and the turtles and the snakes this long.
They were much smaller than the rhino and the buffalo outside.
They were sunbathing and thinking with half closed eyes.
And?
Said Milo.
And as I looked,
I found the tiniest creature in the zoo,
Sitting,
Blinking,
Watching me.
I shivered.
Why?
Milo asked.
For he,
Milo,
Was the most powerful of them all.
And I was very,
Very glad he was so small.
How small was he?
Asked Milo.
As small as your thumb?
Answered his tall brother.
And he was wearing a yellow skin,
Quite as bright as yours.
Milo looked at his thumb.
He waggled it in the air,
Round and round,
Until his whole hand,
And then his arm was going round and round.
And he jumped up and spun his body in its yellow jumper,
Round and round,
Laughing,
Jumping.
Suddenly he felt so strong.
And his size didn't matter at all.
