The River Shrooms
On the banks of the St. Lawrence River lived a group of Shrooms called the River Shrooms. The River Shrooms are absolutely adorable. In fact, if you ever met them, you would probably want to squeeze their little cheeks. It is not advisable to do so though, as they may bite you.
Dressed in the most beautiful hand-sewn blue gowns, the River Shrooms are impeccable in their looks. Their blue flowing hair has never been seen out of place and you will never find a speck of dirt under their nails.
The Shrooms are a group of creatures that live in various mushrooms throughout different regions of Canada. The Forest Shrooms were the very first colony of Shrooms to ever exist and they have been around for hundreds of years. The River Shrooms broke away from the Forest Shrooms colony because they had a disagreement amongst themselves.
Two of the youngest, Forest Shrooms wanted to move the entire colony to live beside a river. This idea was brought up in a council meeting and was flatly denied because the Elder Shrooms do not like change. The young Forest Shrooms later decided they would break away from the colony and start their own. They were actually the very first to do so.
There is no animosity or hard feelings between the two colonies or with any of the other Shrooms that have since started their own colonies. The Shrooms have no idea what animosity, bad feelings or even hatred is all about. It just isn’t a part of their culture.
All the Shroom colonies, have been having some severe issues within the environments they live in because of human interference. The Shrooms had all been living in their different environment for centuries with no problems. Their problems only started when humans started appearing on Earth.
The River Shrooms have noticed a drastic difference in the quality of their water. They have also noticed more and more debris floating downstream. The River Shrooms have been successful sanitizing the water and pulling the debris out, up until now. However, now there is just too much of it. You have to keep in mind the Shrooms are only an inch tall.
The River Shrooms could never ask for help from humans because it wasn’t something they did. For centuries the Shrooms had never been seen by any human but all that changed on June 27 at precisely 1:27 pm EST because of a great prophecy being fulfilled.
As part of the prophecy, the Forest Shrooms were discovered by a lumberjack which paved the way for the rest of the Shroom colonies. The Shrooms knew of the prophecy for their entire existence. On the day of the prophecy, all the other Shroom colonies, huddled on their rooftops and waited for a sign from the heavens that the prophecy had been fulfilled.
The sign from heaven appeared as a beautiful light show. The whole sky lit up a brilliant white with a purple hue to it. The Shrooms had never seen anything like this before and yet, they knew exactly what it meant.
There was a grand celebration on the evening of the prophecy for all the Shrooms. They danced around and had a huge feast. It was a glorious sight to see.
Each Shroom colony knew they could now interact with the humans. These interactions are meant to help the Shrooms get the help they need to save their land, homes and colonies.
The River Shrooms live in large, lush mushrooms by the edge of the river. They have survived by the river for centuries just fine until about the last decade or so. They are finding so much debris in the river that it is too much for them to handle by themselves.
The River Shrooms have been busy with council meetings ever since the day of the prophecy. They must decide how to handle this next phase of their lives; interacting with humans.
“So, we know there is one human who runs the steamboat up and down the river,” said an elder River Shroom, summing up the council meeting. “We are all in agreement that we should approach him.”
“Yes,” said one of the youngest River Shrooms. “I know exactly when and how to confront him. We go to him at the place he camps for the night and we approach him when he has had his fill from the toxic liquid in the little glass bottle. He seems to be giddier then.”
“Good observations,” said the elder.
“We have been studying his actions since he took over this route five years ago,” said the youngster.
“You have observed him well,” said the elder.
That evening a small group of River Shrooms went to the campsite of the steamboat captain. They saw that he had drank about 3/4 of the toxic liquid in his glass bottle and that he was pretty giddy.
“Oh Sam,” they could hear him saying to himself. “Maybe it is time to stop drinking. I don’t want to lose my Sally.”
“We can help you keep your Sally,” said the youngest River Shroom, to the human.
“You can?” asked Sam, not sure where the voice was coming from.
The River Shroom showed himself to Sam, by stepping forward into the moonlight.
“Oh no!” cried Sam, putting down the glass bottle he had been drinking out of. “They warned me about drinking too much of this stuff. Now I am hallucinating!”
“You aren’t hallucinating,” said the River Shroom. “I am real.”
Sam rubbed his eyes in disbelief, but when he opened them again, the River Shroom was still there. Sam bent over and very carefully picked the River Shroom up in his hand. He was also very careful not to fall or knock everything over.
“You certainly are cute!” exclaimed Sam, lifting his other hand and pinching the River Shrooms cheek.
“I wouldn’t advise you to do that,” said the River Shroom, showing Sam his very sharp teeth.
“Oh,” said Sam, immediately taking his hand away from the River Shrooms face. “What are you? Will you bite me and how are you going to help me keep my Sally?”
“Well,” said the River Shroom, motioning for the other Shrooms that were with him to show themselves. “We are the River Shrooms and we really need your help.”
“How come I have never heard or seen you before?” asked Sam. “And, how is me helping you going to help me keep my Sally?”
“We have lived for centuries, without the humans knowing we exist,” explained the River Shroom. “That all changed a few nights ago.”
“Does this have anything to do with that strange light show in the sky the other night?” asked Sam.
“It has everything to do with it,” said the River Shroom. “Now, getting back to our conversation, we can help you keep your Sally, by making you a hero.”
“A hero!” exclaimed Sam, liking that idea. “How are you going to do that?”
“Our river is clogged by debris and the quality of our water is quickly deteriorating,” explained the River Shroom. “By helping us unclog the river, you will be the sole reason our colony of Shrooms survive. Surely, Sally will think of you as a hero then.”
“Helping a whole colony survive,” said Sam. “Yes, I think Sally would like that very much. She is an environmentalist.”
The next morning, Sam unclogged the river for the Shrooms with his steamboat. It didn’t take him all that long and he could see by the smiles on their faces he really did a good thing for them.
“See you are a hero!” said the River Shroom, pointing to a reporter, who saw what Sam did for the River Shrooms.
“I suppose I am,” said Sam, puffing out his chest as the reporter took several photographs of him and the River Shrooms.
That evening, the story about Sam being a local hero hit the internet. Sally saw it and came running to be by Sam’s side.
“You are my hero,” said Sally, giving Sam a big kiss on his cheek. “Look at the kind gesture you have done for these beautiful creatures.”
“Thank you,” said Sam, proud as punch.
Sam gave a wink and a thumbs up to the River Shroom. The River Shrooms were very grateful to Sam. The river was clear of debris and soon, the quality of their water had drastically improved.
Moral of this Story:
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