The Wooden Crate

Jim Jacob (0:04)

Hey friends, it's Mr. Jim and welcome back to Kids Short Stories. If this is your first time or you're still newer to our family, I want to encourage you to try five. That's our challenge where for five days in a row, your kids listen to some awesome stories to use their imagination and watch their creativity come to life. You see, we make stories every single day for you and you just never know what kind of story you're going to find on any given day. So hang with me for five days, whether maybe driving in the car or maybe during lunchtime. And I think you're going to find something pretty amazing happens. Well friends, are you ready for today's adventure?

It was a beautiful day as Ethan was helping his grandparents clean out their attic. And boy, was it a big job.

This box is really heavy, Grandma. All right, I'll be right back. Ethan was holding on to a box and had the job to carry it all the way to the street for garbage pickup. All day long, they had been going through a whole bunch of different things to make sure which things they wanted to keep and which things it was time to get rid of. And Ethan had been working hard and it was almost all done and almost time for him to head home. But something truly magical was about to happen. Hey, Ethan, could you help me with this over here? Called his grandpa. Sure thing, I'll be right there, yelled Ethan as he ran back towards the attic ladder. The only way to get up and down from the attic was one of those pull down ladders from the ceiling. As Ethan climbed up the ladder to the attic, he was met by his grandpa who had a very large crate that he was trying to open. I can't remember what's in this old crate here, but can you help me pull it open? Yeah, sure. Ethan grabbed a screwdriver that had a flat blade at the end of it, and wedged it into the corner of the crate, and pushed with all of his might until finally, the top of the crate popped open. Whoa! Wow!

Wow, I forgot about all this stuff in here, said his grandpa. What is all this and where did she get it from? Asked Ethan. These are all things that my grandparents gave to me. I was about your age, and I think their family gave it to them even longer before. Wow, this is some really cool stuff in here. Over the next hour or two, Ethan and his grandpa spent looking through that crate full of some amazing old ancient treasures. Well, not exactly treasures like gold or silver, but some really cool old stuff. By the end of the afternoon, it was time for Ethan to head home. His parents were waiting in the car, and he waved goodbye to his grandparents. Oh, Ethan, I want you to take this box here. I can't remember exactly what it does. I remember it was very special in our family, and I want you to have it. Whoa, thanks, grandpa. It's so cool. All right. Love you. Bye. Ethan grabbed the box, got into his parents' car, and they drove back home.

Little did Ethan know how much magic that box had inside of it. By the time Ethan got home, he had examined every square inch of this box. It was about the size as a shoe box. It was made of old, old cedar wood. It smelled really good. There was this door on the side, and it opened and closed. It was empty inside, but it was still a very cool box from his grandpa.

Ethan brought it back to his bedroom, and then joined his family for dinner. While they're eating some delicious spaghetti and sauce, they heard a sound.

It was a loud crashing sound that came from Ethan's bedroom.

Can I be excused? I'm going to go see what that sound was. Yes, that was a strange sound, said his parents. Ethan walked back to his bedroom and saw that that box from his grandpa had fallen off the shelf he'd put it on, which is very strange. There's nothing around here that could have knocked it over. As he picked it up and set it back on the shelf, he heard another sound.

It was a sound from inside the box. Ethan opened up the door and couldn't believe his eyes inside of this box was a very small but very real and alive elephant. Yeah, an elephant! Ethan dropped down to his knees and his mouth fell open. He couldn't believe what he was looking at. This little, tiny little elephant, it was so adorable! And it had this little trunk, and it would raise it up high and say, Moooo!