An artwork storybook for children. Each paged text will be accompanied with childlike picture illustration.

Page 1
Curiosity killed the cat. That didn't discourage me.
I'm not a cat. I'm a boy. Curiosity thrills me.

2
Dad and Mom are newspaper reporters.
I asked them to teach me to be a reporter too.
They're teaching me... and I like it.

3
One morning I sat lounging in my tree house.
I was reading Robert Browning's German folk legend.
It's popularized in, "The Pied Piper of Hamelin."

4
This thrilling folk tale takes place in 1842.
The entire population of children in Hamelin,
a village in Germany, vanished...all but one.

5
Curiosity chilled me. I shivered with interest.
My reporter's instincts kicked in.

6
I was determined to find out what happened to those kids...
and shout out what I'd found from a mountain top.

7
This hypnotic folk tale captivated my reverie.
As I turned the pages, a mythical cloud fell upon me.
It left me mesmerized, and lost in a dream.

8
In my fantasy I stood on a soap box before the world.
People were pressing...
"Where are those children?
What happened to them? When did they vanish?
Who was responsible for this...and why?"

9
My newspaper editor required of me.
"Catch the next thing smoking out of here, boy.
I'm sending you to Germany. Get me answers."
"Yes, Sir."

10
"I want to know everything about those children."
"Yes, Sir."
"What are the five W's, boy?"
"Who, when, where, what and why, Sir."
"Go. Get me my story."
"Yes, Sir."

11
My editor would settle for nothing less.
Therefore I found what, he sent me to find.
I found it shortly after I arrived in Germany.
First, I found myself traveling aboard a train.
Traveling at the speed of courage, I was on my one way track.
There was no turning back...until I got Mr. Phelp's story.
My destination..."Hamelin," ofttimes called, "Pity City."

12
I'd read that a pack of rats lived there.
They outnumbered the citizens by thousands.
The rats wanted the citizens out.
They wanted Hamelin to be owned and operated by rats.

13
The citizens wanted the rats out. The rats were too clever for them.
They were taking over. Citizens could do nothing to stop them.

14
The children wanted themselves out because outsmarted,
and overthrown by rodents the adults made them feel
not loved, cared for, or wanted.

15
My train rumbled through the countryside.
As I sat gazing through the window visions of scurvy scurrying rats
dashed through my imagery.

16
Children yelped and scattered frantically to avoid them.
I saw myself amid them shooing the pesky rodents
with an old dried-out broom.

17
The grinding of iron wheels churning on the railroad
came to a scraping stop at the station.
The call of the conductor summoned me from my daydream.
"HAMELIN," he announced as the sliding door slipped open.

18
I stepped off the train and into another world...Hamelin, Germany,
a town also known as, "Pity City."

19
Hmmm...I pondered. Strange...where on earth, if I am on earth, am I?
This place seems earthly...but untimely.

20
At first I stood just gazing.
If this is Hamelin, it looks like it looked
back in 1842. Everything here appears the way it looks in my
Pied Piper storybook. WOW!

21
There's mystery in the air. Aside from birds' songs,
there's silence everywhere. Where is everybody?
There's no one to meet me, no one to greet me.

22
Off to my right, sited upon a flagstaff, a German flag fluttered in the breeze.
It seemed to stare at me. I stared back.
It waved at me...I waved back.
It smiled at me. I smiled back.

23
Then the banner turned its attention back to the firmament.
There it billowed in honor of its purpose. Its undulation signified its
allegiance to it's homeland.

24
I turned my attention back to the banner's homeland too.
Why? I pondered. Why have all of it's people vanished?
And come to think of it...the train station...it has vanished too.
This isn't where I stepped of my train.

25
I found myself standing at the corner of a deserted street.
I have a myriad of questions to ask. I know that there are answers to all of them here...
and I shall uncover every one of them.

26
Take a stroll, I said to myself. You're on tour...browse around.
There's adventurous excitement here to be found.
Picture windows in shops are adorned with temptation.
Half-timbered whitewashed houses are rising above
multi-colored cobblestone avenues.

27
These antiquated homes are shadowing well-kept trees, shrubs, flowers,
and hedges placed along worn walkways.
This town seems to be an old-fashioned wonderland.

28
A floral breeze is breathing in my face.
Here, I thought, is a place of sunshine and blue skies.
Why would they call this,"Pity City?"
It looks like a town of happy people to me.
But...where is everybody?

29
Every house, store, the park, even town square is void of citizens.
Furthermost...there's not a sign of a rat.
Stillness here bewilders me. Suddenly I get the icy feeling that
I am the last person on earth...yet I am being watched.
The noise of silence rumbling through my ears overwhelmed me.

30
I BURST FORTH WITH A SHOUT!
"HELLO!" My echo repeated me several times.
There wasn't any other response. I shouted again."HELLO!"
The vibration of my voice reverberated from the sky,
through the rooftops, and faded into silence.

31
"HELLO! I called. Is there anybody here?"
I flinched as a tiny reply came from behind me.
"I'm here."

32
I froze. My yelling made me feel silly...so I answered before I turned.
"You are here," I said with a sheepish reply.
"You're here too," the return, "who are you? Where are you from?"

33
"I'm just a tourist. I'm from America. And you?"
Slowly I turned. A pair of timid looking eyes met mine.
I gasped. "You're just a kid!"
All the children vanished but one...I pondered.
Could this be the one who was left?

34
"If being twelve, and a half, makes me just a kid,
then yes. I guess I'm just a kid. Hi there. My name is Oscar.
My friends call me Rat."

35
"Your, FRIENDS?... call you Rat?"
"Well they're knuckleheads. But they love me.
And I love them. All the kids from here love each other.
We do lots of poking fun. You're just a kid yourself.
You've got to know that."
"Oh, I'm from Chicago Illinois. I have my share of
knucklehead friends...I think."

36
Bracing himself with crutches he shuffled closer to me.
He had a solemn air about him.
"You got a name?" he asked.
"Angel," I replied. "I wouldn't like calling you Rat.
How about I call you Trusty?"

37
"Call me, Trusty? Are you sure you want to trust a rat?"
His crutches scraped the ground as he tottered closer
to me with his eyes looking at mine, as if to beseech me to say
that I would become his friend.

38
"I want to trust you, Trusty."
I extended my hand. His hand clutched mine.
I gave him a heart to heart warming smile.
He gave my smile his smile.

39
"You are an angel," he said.
"Told you, that's my name."
Trusty hugged me.... and trembled.

40
"Trusty, they call you rat? I get the feeling that you haven't shared
exactly why. Why, Trusty? And...why do you need crutches?
What happened?"

41
"Rat bit me."
"Rat bit you!"
"That's why they poke me with the name rat.
A rat bit my toes off."
"A rat bit your toes...!"

42
"Off," he inserted. "They said that I caught an infection.
They could find no correction. So they had to...ambu...amp...ampu..."
"Amputate!!" I punctuated.
"Yes. That. To my foot. What was left of it."

43
I slapped my palm over my heart.
"Incredible! Trusty, where is your mom? Where is your dad?
Where is...everybody?"

44
"They're in the woods."
"They're in the where?"
"Not the where... the woods."
"What woods? Woods where?"

45
Turning of his eyes toward the horizon
he directed my attention to distant highlands.
Fixed upon the hills and spanning the horizon the skyline
of woodlands came into view casting a misty veil.

46
"The grown-ups are in there. They'll be in there all day.
Just like every day."
I shaded my eyes with my hand and squinted to discern.
"But...why?"

47
"They're looking for the rest of us kids. I'm the only kid left.
The rest of us vanished."
WOW! What I've heard about the kids is true, I thought.
The entire population of children vanished...except...

48
"Trusty, have you any clue as to where the rest of the kids might be?
Are there really rats here? If so...where are they? Oh! Please!
Tell me what your trying to tell me."

49
Sitting on a bench and patting the space next to him
Trusty poured out a solemn look from his expression.
I sat in the space next to him in wonder. Trusty's eyes became windows.
Through them I could see his humanitarian heart.
His facial communication revealed that he had a lot to tell.

50
"Years ago," he began, "Hamelin was a lovely town."
"Hamelin," I said, "is a lovely town today."
"The grown-ups have done a little cleaning around town
since the rats left. What you see today, can't compare
with what you would have seen back in the day."

51
"By the way... What's the date of today?" I asked.
"Tuesday, May the tenth."
"What year?"
"1842."
WOW! I thought. I must be dreaming.

52
He pointed toward rolling hills.
"There, twisting its way through the mounds. That's not a frenzied snake.
That's the Weser river. Back in the day, the Weser was only knee deep
to a seven years old. It was the perfect place for kids to flip and dip in all day.
Hamelin was a fun place to live."

53
"But...slowly day by day...things got creepy.
Hamelin started getting rats."
"Rats. Oooooo..." I looked down at my feet as if I expected to see them sitting there
looking up at me...squeaking and trying to climb up my legs.
Trusty paused for me to finish inching my feet up on the bench.

54
"Yes. Rats." he confirmed. "There were rats everywhere."
"They must have looked hideous," I said.
"Pretty much. They were rats of all colors, and every size.
They had spiky whiskers, and red bubble eyes. Pink tails were snaking.
They were noise making clawing gnawing rats."
I sucked in a deep breath of air.

55
"Nobody knew where they were coming from. Every person, every pet,
every living creature in Hamelin were afraid of them."
"your foot, Trusty. Tell me about the rat that bit your foot."
"I was three when it happened. I was sleeping."
I couldn't speak. I reached out and touched him. He was a bit cold.
However I felt an inkling of valor in the warmth of his spirit.
There came a hardened wink in his eye.

56
"I'm pressed," he said, "but I'm not crushed."
I smiled to bestow an air of esteem.
"You're courageous," I replied.
"Maybe I'm kind of...but I've learned to accept what happened."
"Yes. I can see that. Weren't your parents watching over you?"
"There was nothing the grown-ups could do to stop the rats."

57
"Where did the rats go? How did you get rid of them?"
"Where the rats are now, I haven't a clue. How did we get rid of them.
We didn't."
"I don't see any rats here. I don't understand."
"You don't now...But listen up, and you will."

58
"The rats were eating all of our food. Everybody was always hungry.
People started calling Hamelin, Pity City."
"Oooooo...now I see. More, Trusty, more."

59
"Well...the grown-ups got mad at our leader. They mobbed his home.
BANG! BANG! BANG! They pounded on his door. There was shouting
and cursing. You don't want to hear the four letter words I heard that day."
"Hey...I'm from Chicago. I've already heard all of them...said a few.
What happened next?"

60
"More BANG! BANG! BANG! I could hear the uproar from a block away.
From my room I heard my friends screaming and crying. Through my window
I saw them running around like crazy. Later they told me that their parents
were taking their problems out on them."

61
"What do you mean?"
"I knew what they were going through, because
I was going through the same thing."
He spoke with a whimper. His eyes got watery.
When he saw my eyes getting watery his speech cleared and toned down.
He wiped his tears away. I rubbed mine away too.

62
"Our leader had no solution to the pollution, so when the grown-ups got no satisfaction
out of knocking on his door..."
"Banging," I said.
"Well yes...banging. The rats drove the grown-ups to drink.
When they got drunk they took their anger out on us kids."

63
"They kept banging every day. Finally his door opened. But only to a narrow crack.
Our leader poked his red nose through the crack.
People were so closely pressed together and moved so near to him
that their shadows darkened his face."
"WOW. What did he say?"

64
"He floundered...Hello everybody. How wonderful that you caring citizens
should come to visit me. What can I do for you?
Our leader is...um...fat...So they called him, fats.
They griped. The rats, fats...the rats.
He asked them, what about the rats.
An angry man complained.That's my line, tub belly.
What are you going to do about the rats?"

65
"His answer was, there's nothing we can do.
At that the people turned and scattered in an uproar."
"Uh-oh," I said, "something tells me that we're getting to the good part."

66
"That, part won't come until the end."
"Then there is, a happy ending to this dilemma."
"I didn't say that. What I am saying is this...."

67
"The next day, an unexpected knock came on our leader's door.
Not, BANG! BANG! BANG! But, peck, peck, peck. When he peeped out
he saw a mysterious looking man peeking back at him.
Our leader asked, Who? What?"

68
"The man replied, I'm looking for your leader.
Our leader lied. He said, our leader is busy.
kicking rats away from his feet, the stranger said, I'm not surprised.
I've heard that these rats are giving him plenty to do.
You have pollution here. I'm your solution near.
Our leader gave him a sidelong look and said,
I don't think I know you.
The man answered, if you did, you wouldn't have these rats."

69
"Our leader asked him, who are you.
The man said, I'm the Pied Piper. You have rats here. That's where I come in.
That's where they go out.
Our leader said, No way. This I've got to see.
The man smiled and said, For one thousand pieces of silver, you will see.
Our leader said, okay...you get rid of the rats. I'll give you one thousand pieces of silver.

70
"Every eye in Hamelin watched as the stranger
marched up our main street. He began tooting his pipe.
Every rat in town began to follow him. They followed the piper out of town.
Then they all disappeared into the woods."

71
"When the stranger returned for his money, our leader refused to pay him."
"What? Why?" I exclaimed.
"Because he's a stingy liar, and a cheat.
For one thing, he was swindling our parents out of tax money,
that's how he stayed so rich. Everybody else was poor."
"What did the stranger say when your leader wouldn't pay him?"
"He said, I'll be back. When I return...I"ll be tooting a different tune.'"

72
"One morning soon after that our leader was yanked out of his sleep
by the sound of noisy children. He stumbled over to his window.
Outside he saw us. We felt like we were at play. We paraded behind the Piper
as he tooted his pipe to our tune."

73
"We followed him into the woods. Deep inside we saw a giant tree.
A little door in its trunk only big enough for us to pass through opened.
Like magic, the Piper pranced through. We danced in behind him.
Because of my bum foot, I was last."

74
"As I entered the Piper wrapped his arms around me.
He said, my dear beloved child. Welcome to the Kingdom of all children.
There is no people here except children. And there never will be
until grown-ups learn how to treat them.
I looked around. My friends were playing on a playground with other kids.
They all had wings."

75
"The piper said, everything that makes children happy is here.
And they are free to help themselves to everything that makes them feel good.
If you don't want to go back to that dreadful place,
you don't have to. But I need your help. Please go back
and tell what you've seen here.
I asked, why me. He said because God chose you."

76
"I said, Well...in that case...I'll go back.
He said, when you get back, you'll meet an angel.
I went, WOW!...a real live angel?
Yes. You will tell that angel everything about everything you saw here. Okay?
I said, Okay, Sir."

77
"Then he said, be waiting, watching, and expecting to see me. When you do...
I'll be coming to bring you home. I promise.
Okay, I believe you. I trust you, Sir."

78
"He placed his fingers over my eyes, and closed them.
That's when I heard you calling."

79
"Shouting," I said with a red-cheeked blush.
"You sounded like you were softly singing."
"I did?"
"Yes. Like you sound now. You were standing at the street corner.
You were singing and looking all about...
as if you were looking for me. I stood there behind you for a while
listening to your angelic melody and admiring your wings."

80
"Ooooo,,,I knew I was being watched. I felt it."
My wings? What wings? I don't see any wings on me."
Trusty laughed. "That's because they're on your back."
I looked over my left shoulder, and then I looked over my right.
"I don't see...Well...if you say so, Trusty."

81
"Them," said trusty, "the wanderers out there in the woods. I've told them the truth.
Not one of them believe me. The Piper told me that if just one of them believe me,
then their belief in me would heal my foot instantly."

82
"Really," I said, "did he say what he meant by that?"
"He said that he can heal my foot. But he'd much rather give the grown-ups
a chance to heal it, by having confidence and respect for us children.
As long as none of them cares to believe me they will wander in vain in the wilderness,
and I'll be lame until my friend comes back for me."

83
"Oh Trusty. That's heartbreaking. I'm...I'm..."
"You're kind and understanding, Angel. But it looks like I'll just have to wait patiently
until the Piper comes back to get me. But it's worth it. I'm helping him...
and he's helping me, and my playmates. It doesn't get any better than that. Believe me, Angel.
Believe me."

84
"I believe you, Trusty." I affirmed as my departure train pulled into the station.
"Thank you, Angel. I needed that. Your trust in me has healed me. LOOK.
Your ride home has arrived."

85
The call of the conductor fell on the air.
"All aboard. Last train out. Last call."
I remained seated on the bench beside Trusty. I grabbed his hand.
"No! I won't go!"
"Of course you'll go. You'll go home to your family and your friends.
Go, Angel. Go home."

86
"Here," he offered, "I'll walk you to your train."
Trusty stood and extended his hand toward my hand. I clutched his hand.
Our fingers interlocked. He gave me a lift to my stand.
His crutches tumbled to the ground as I stood.
Together we walked to my train.
I paused at the open door and hugged my friend.

87
"What are you going to do when you get home?"
Trusty asked me, as I stepped aboard my train.
"No question. I'm going to tell people everything that you told me.
I'll tell them everything that happened here. I'll tell people...like...
Extra Extra. Read all about it. I'm going to write it. It's going to appear
in the daily news...front page."

88
"WOW!" trusty exclaimed, " You'll write about us kids in Hamelin, for everybody to read?
For real...I mean for really for real, Angel?"
"Yes, Trusty, yes. And guess what, Trusty. I won't give up. I'll press on until I get
at least one person to believe me.
"Promise?" Trusty asked.
"Promise." I pledged as the door slowly slid closed.

89
The train started rolling in slow motion.
Pressing his palm against the window he began jogging to keep up.
I pressed my palm against the window from inside and aligned my fingers with his.

90
He wiggled his fingers. I wiggled mine.
I smiled for him. He smiled for me.
He waved good-by to me. I waved good-by to him.

91
I took my seat and looked out the window.
I saw a playground filled with kids. One of them was Trusty.
He was running and playing all about.They all had wings.

92
He looked up and saw me through my window.
When he pointed to me, all the kids looked up at me. They all waved. I waved back.
Then everything vanished. I heard Mom calling. I woke up in my tree house.
My Pied Piper book was turned the last page. I'd finished reading it.

93
Mom called again.
"Angel."
"Yes, Mom."
"You've been up there all day. Come down here now. It's dinner time."
"Yes, Mom."

94
At the dinner table I told Mom and Dad my story.
They believed me.

95
And...well...that made the three of us happy.
And...I know that made Trusty happy too.

"THE BEGINNING."