🌿 The Birds of Maplewood: Peaceful and the Storm Inside Junie
🌿 The Birds of Maplewood: Peaceful and the Storm Inside Junie
🌤️ Heyday Sets the Scene
“Hey to the day!” squawked Heyday, the chattiest bird in all of Maplewood. He perched on the crooked branch above the old footbridge, feathers puffed with excitement. “Gather ‘round, gather ‘round! I’ve got a tale to tell—one with waves, worries, and a girl named Junie who thought the storm was outside… but oh no, it was inside her all along.”
He hopped once, twice, then leaned forward dramatically.
“Now, before we begin, let me introduce the flock. We’ve got Mr. Owl, who knows everything except how to take a nap. We’ve got Above All, the eagle who sees the whole world from the sky. And of course, we’ve got Peaceful the Gull, who floats on the lake like he invented calm.”
Heyday winked. “And me? I’m your narrator, commentator, and occasional troublemaker.”
He flapped his wings. “Now then… on to the story.”
🌊 Junie’s Stormy Morning
Junie Miller was having a day.
Not the kind of day where you lose your pencil or forget your lunch.
No, this was the kind where your heart feels too full and too tight at the same time.
The kind where you want to cry and shout and hide and run—all at once.
She sat by the lake with her knees pulled to her chest, watching the water ripple in the wind.
“It’s too much,” she whispered. “Everything is too much.”
From above, Heyday spotted her and gasped. “A storm alert! Emotional category four!”
He zipped off to find the one bird who understood storms better than anyone.
🕊️ Peaceful Arrives
Peaceful the Gull glided down like a drifting feather, landing beside Junie with a soft plop.
“Rough waters today?” he asked gently.
Junie sniffed. “There’s no storm. It’s just windy.”
Peaceful shook his head. “Oh, I wasn’t talking about the lake.”
Junie blinked. “You… you can see it?”
“Of course,” Peaceful said. “Storms inside are louder than storms outside. And they splash more.”
Junie looked down. “I don’t know how to stop it.”
Peaceful stretched his wings. “You don’t stop storms. You steady yourself in them.”
🌬️ The Lesson of the Center
Peaceful pointed his beak toward the lake.
“See how the waves move? Up, down, up, down. But look deeper.”
Junie leaned forward.
“The water underneath,” Peaceful said softly, “barely moves at all. It stays steady. Calm. Centered.”
Junie frowned. “But I don’t feel steady.”
“That’s because you’re stuck in the top part,” Peaceful replied. “The splashy part. The part that reacts to everything.”
He tapped her chest with the tip of his wing.
“But your center? It’s still there. Quiet as the deep water. You just forgot how to find it.”
Junie breathed in. Then out.
The storm inside her didn’t disappear—but it softened, just a little.
🦅 Above All’s View
A shadow passed overhead.
Above All the Eagle circled once, then twice, before calling down:
“From up here, Junie, your storm looks small. Not because you are small—but because you are bigger than you think.”
Junie smiled weakly. “I don’t feel big.”
“That’s why you have us,” Above All replied. “To remind you.”
🦉 Mr. Owl’s Wisdom (and Grumbling)
Mr. Owl fluttered down from a nearby branch, muttering, “Honestly, I was in the middle of a perfectly good daytime nap.”
But then he softened.
“Junie,” he said, adjusting his spectacles, “storms are teachers. They show you where you need strength. And where you already have it.”
He nodded once, firmly. “And you, my dear, have more strength than you know.”
🌈 Junie Finds Her Center
Junie closed her eyes.
She breathed like Peaceful taught her—slow, deep, steady.
She imagined the deep water beneath the waves.
Quiet.
Still.
Safe.
When she opened her eyes, the world looked the same…
but she felt different.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
Peaceful bowed. “Anytime.”
Heyday swooped in, nearly crashing into Mr. Owl. “And that, my friends, is how Junie learned that storms don’t always roar outside. Sometimes they rumble inside—and that’s okay, because she’s learning how to find her calm.”
He puffed up proudly. “Hey to the day! What a story.”
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