By Bill Conley
Moral of the Story:
Every story doesn’t need pictures on a page—some of the best pictures are the
ones painted in your mind.
Imagination is your superpower, and the more you use it, the stronger it
becomes.
When you close your eyes and listen closely, you become the illustrator.
That’s when the magic really begins.
There once was a little boy named Miles
who had a favorite bedtime tradition.
Every night after dinner, bath, and
brushing his teeth, he would climb into his bed, pull up his blanket, and wait
for his mother to come in with a storybook.
But not just any storybook.
“It has to have pictures!” Miles
would shout. “Big, bright, funny pictures!”
And every night, his mother smiled,
picked one of his favorites, and read it aloud while Miles giggled at the
drawings.
But one night, something strange
happened.
His mother sat on the edge of the
bed holding a book with a plain brown cover.
Miles squinted.
“Where are the pictures?”
“There aren’t any,” she said with a
grin. “Tonight, we’re going to use your imagination.”
Miles crossed his arms.
“No thanks. I want to see the story.”
His mother leaned closer.
“But what if you could see even more?
What if you could see things nobody else can see—things only your
imagination can show you?”
Miles raised an eyebrow. “Like
what?”
She opened the book and began to
read.
“There once was a flying elephant
named Edgar who wore red sneakers and delivered bubblegum balloons to children
around the world…”
Miles blinked. Then blinked again.
“Wait. The elephant flew?”
His mother smiled.
“Use your imagination. What color is Edgar’s skin? What do his sneakers look
like? Where is he flying right now?”
Miles slowly closed his eyes.
“I see him!” he said. “He’s blue.
With big purple ears! And his sneakers light up when he flies!”
His mother kept reading.
“On Wednesdays, Edgar flew to a
jungle made of jellybeans, where he met a zebra who played the xylophone and a
bear who bounced on a trampoline.”
Miles laughed.
“This is silly!”
“Can you picture it?” his mom asked.
“I see everything,” he said.
“Even the jellybeans. They’re all my favorite flavors!”
Then came the next part.
“On Saturdays, Edgar liked to visit
the tallest mountain in the world. But instead of snow on top, it had…
spaghetti! Yes, spaghetti, with meatballs rolling down the slopes!”
Miles covered his mouth and giggled.
“I’d bring a fork and climb up!” he
shouted. “I’d eat my way to the top!”
“What color is the spaghetti?” his
mother asked.
“Rainbow,” he said without
hesitation. “Red for strawberry, green for lime, blue for blueberry! And the
meatballs bounce like rubber balls!”
Next came the most curious tale of
all.
“Edgar once flew to a city under the
sea, where octopuses wore top hats and jellyfish twirled like ballerinas at a
birthday ball.”
Miles leaned in, eyes wide.
“Do you see it?” his mother asked.
“I do! I see the jellyfish spinning,
and the octopuses dancing. There are bubbles everywhere, and the walls are made
of seashells!”
Then his mother read:
“One day, Edgar visited the Desert
of Dreams. But it wasn’t made of sand—it was made of pillows! Giant soft
pillows that stretched for miles. Whenever someone told a bedtime story, the
pillows fluffed themselves and sang lullabies.”
Miles sat straight up.
“I’d jump from pillow to pillow! I’d never stop bouncing!”
His mother nodded.
“And what do the pillows look like?”
“They’re cloud-white, with golden
buttons. And they smell like vanilla!”
By the end of the story, Miles had
forgotten all about pictures.
He didn’t miss the drawings.
He didn’t miss the illustrations.
Because he had made his own.
That night, as she tucked him in,
his mother whispered,
“So… what do you think?”
Miles smiled.
“Tomorrow… can we read a story with no pictures again?”
His mother beamed.
“I was hoping you’d say that.”
🖍️ A Poem to End the Tale
You don’t need pages filled with
art,
To see the story in your heart.
Just close your eyes and take a peek—
Your mind can travel every week.
To castles, clouds, or candy seas,
To dragons, ducks, or talking trees.
Imagination is the key,
To picture all you want to see.
Thought-Provoking
Questions:
1.
What did your Edgar the
Elephant look like?
2.
Which silly place from the story
would you want to visit most?
3.
Can you draw your own imaginary
scene from what you pictured today?
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