A Cautionary Tale

This is Sonja.


She is nice. Some people really like her. But Sonja has a flaw. Sometimes she forgets to listen to her mother.

When Sonja was little her mother said, "Sonja, don't ever leave the water running in the sink. You might forget about it, and you could have a flood!!" Sonja listened. She knew her mother was right because her mother was Wise.

But Sonja thought, "I can do more than one thing at once." And so she did. For many years Sonja let the water run in the sink while she did other chores, and nothing ever happened until...

Saturday morning Sonja was getting ready to meet her friends. She combed her hair and brushed her teeth. Then Sonja walked into the kitchen. Sonja wondered, "Why is that puddle on the floor?" "Why is that lake on the floor?" Then Sonja saw the water pouring out of her sink and onto the floor. The bubbles were piled high!

Oh, no! What was she going to do? First, she turned off the water because she is a smart girl. Then she pulled the plug in the sink. Then she began to clean up the water. (Later she remembered to get her camera - after she had already cleaned up a lot.) The cabinet under her sink was flooded.


The floor was flooded.


Sonja cleaned 2 and 1/2 basins of water off her floor. Sonja was sad.


But her floor and cabinet were clean! *Woo Hoo!*

Sonja should have listed to her mother. She also should have read this poem BEFORE the disaster. Because it is a good poem and says Wise things.

TURNING OFF THE FAUCET

If you don't turn the faucet off tight

When you're done in the bathroom,

You'll be wasting water.

Also, the sink might fill up

And overflow and flood the bathroom,

And then the bathroom would fill up

And overflow and flood the bedroom,

And all your clothes would get soaking wet,

And when you wore them, you'd catch a horrible cold

And have to stay home from school

And you couldn't learn anything

Or see your friends.

And after you'd missed school long enough,

All your friends would forget you

And you would be so sad and wet

You'd probably just stay in bed

Wearing your sad, wet clothes

With your sad, wet head

On your sad, wet pillow

Until you just shrivelled up and wasted away.

And nobody would care.

Except your parents

And they'd be all sad and wet

And shrivelling and wasting away, too,

Because you didn't turn the faucet off.

- Jeff Moss

Sonja should have read that poem. But she didn't. She should have listened to her mother. But she didn't.

And she flooded her kitchen.

Fortunately, my dears, the story doesn't end there. Later that night, after the coldness and wetness were done, Sonja went to see her BROTHER! Whom she LOVES! He sang in a concert. It was pretty. Sonja loved it. She smiled...and so did he.


They both smiled. Because they were happy. But it almost didn't happen. Because Sonja didn't listen.

So, my dears, always listen to your mothers. They are Wise. And never, never leave the water running.