This story is called "Some Like It Hot."
Rupert the rabbit was terribly, oh-so-very hot,
He could not believe just how terribly hot;
he could not.
It was the end of the day,
so the sun was setting in the west ,
During the hot summer time, he’d learned,
he liked the night time the best.
In just a little bit, he would probably get out and about,
Some of his friends would also be moving around,
he had no doubt.
During these hot summer days, he stayed near the trees,
The elms, oaks, birch, and cypress
with their long knobby knees.
Because here, in this thick grove of green,
leafy trees towering so tall,
He could safely stay in the cool shade all day,
with no problem at all.
He didn’t like the winter when he was cold
and the grass was dead,
Nor did he like it much when the bright sun was so hot overhead.
Still, it would soon be getting cooler
once the sun was all the way down,
And then he would be able to get out again,
and to move around.
He heard the crickets start their nightly chorus not so far away,
He knew it wouldn’t be long now,
before his friends came out to play.
He must have closed his eyes for a moment,
or maybe even two,
Because the next thing he knew, he heard a voice ask,
“How do you do?”
Night had fallen and the quarter moon
was shining very bright,
So it was easy to see the lizard there in the moon’s light.
He was clinging to the tree,
with his head not far from the ground,
Rupert wonder how it felt to see everything upside down.
“Hello,” Rupert said.
“I feel good tonight,
because it’s cooler at last.”
He’d never met a lizard before;
they always ran away so fast.
“Well yes,” the lizard replied,
“the sun is gone, and now I’m cold.”
“And I’d like to ask a favor,
if I’m not being too bold.”
“My name is Rupert and I like to help when I am able to,”
“So if you will tell me what you need,
I will see what I can do.”
“Well, thank you,” the lizard said,
with both his eyes blinking really fast,
“Because if I don’t hurry,
I’m afraid I’m not going to last.”
“Well then,” Rupert said,
“please tell me what you need right away,”
“I will do all I can to help make everything okay.”
That’s when the lizard jumped
all the way to the ground from the tree,
Then said, “I’m very cold and need to get warm,
will you help me?”
Rupert moved his front legs so the lizard
could get closer to him,
Then, when he seemed all settled in,
Rupert even lowered his chin.
“Oh thank you!”
the lizard said, as his shivering slowed down,
“But why are you so very cold?”
Rupert asked with a frown.
“That’s just the nature of nature,
and the way that I am made,”
“For you and I, some things are different,
in the sun and the shade.”
The lizard told Rupert his name was Leon
and that he loved the sun,
Leon told him that, for lizards,
the sun was important, not just fun.
He was amazed to learn his blood was warm,
while Leon’s was cold,
That meant the sun’s warmth wasn’t something
Leon’s body could hold.
The lizard knew that Rupert was in the shade
more often than not,
While he stayed in the sun as much as possible,
where it was hot.
“Big, flat rocks in the South are the
very best place of all,” he said,
“In the South?”
Rupert asked,
“Why not in the East, West, or North instead?”
“No matter the time of day,
that is where the sun shines the longest,”
A new voice said, “That’s why he stays in the South,
where it’s the strongest.”
“Hello , Flare, it’s good to see you again,”
Rupert heard Leon say,
“It has been a very long time
since I’ve seen you come out to play!”
The newcomer was an insect Rupert had never before seen,
He gasped when the bug lit up
and he seemed to glow a bright green!
“That is true,” said the bug,
“you are out all day, while I come out at night!”
“I’m glad to see that this time,
you are safe and everything is all right.”
“The last time you two met was very bad indeed,”
said a soft voice.
“I am happy to see that this time,
you made a much better choice.”
“Grandmother Spinner!”
Rupert smiled,
“I’m glad to see you again too!”
“It has been a while, a month or three,
since the last time I saw you.”
“Yes,” she said, “and here we all are,
talking about warmth and the sun,”
“It seems we have gathered together here,
each of us, one by one.”
“But what happened the last time that these two met?
I’d like to know,”
“And, more than that, I’d like to know
what is is that makes Flare glow!”
“I see our friend, Flare the firefly
has taken you by surprise!”
Grandmother Spinner chuckled,
“And so, of course, you want to know why.”
“Firefly?”
Rupert’s eyes grew wide.
“But Flare lights up all green!”
“Fire is all yellow, orange and red,
from what I have seen.”
“I thought you were a lightening bug,” Leon said,
looking up at Flare.
“Lightening bug or firefly,” the insect said,
“I don’t really care.”
“Although there are many different beatles,
our glowing friend is right,”
“Whatever you call him,” Grandmother said,
“he still lights up at night.”
“And it’s a good thing you do!”
Leon added,
“or I might not be here.”
“But Rupert doesn’t know what you mean,” Grandmother said,
“that much is clear.”
“Leon waited too long before looking
for a safe place for the night,”
“I didn’t want to leave,” the lizard agreed,
“Flare is exactly right.”
“A lizard must stay warm in order to move,” Grandmother said,
“So they must find shelter while
it’s still warm out, not wait, instead.”
“But just like tonight,” Rupert guessed,
“he waited until it was too late,”
Not wanting to stop good feelings
was something he could appreciate.
“Fireflies don’t usually come out until it’s dark,
later at night,”
“There’s really no point,” said Flare,
“until others can clearly see my light.”
“What do you mean by that?”
Rupert wanted to know.
“What does it do?
“I use it to talk to other fireflies.
I blink, and flash too.”
“But I don’t like it much,” said Leon.
“The flashing bothers me.”
“Exactly!” said Flare.
“The flashing helps to keep me safe, you see.
“There are some things in nature
that we don’t always understand,”
“But these are things we can use,” said Grandmother,
“each of us can.”
“I get it,” Rupert said.
“Lizards eat bugs, that’s just what they do,”
“But all of your blinking makes them look away,
and not want to.”
“But it was too hard for me to leave that day,
I waited too long,”
“And so,” Leon explained,
“I was cold and not feeling very strong.”
“I saw he wasn’t moving,” Flare joined in,
“so I buzzed down low,”
“I really couldn’t just leave him there
to be eaten, you know!”
“I was too weak, cold, and tired
to care about his flashing light,”
“Another time I probably would have eaten him,
but not that night.”
“Flare went for help,” Grandmother went on,
“and rounded up some of his friends,”
“Leon was taken to shelter,
and that’s how this happy story ends.”
“I can see you’re thinking hard,” the spider said.
“Do you want to share?”
“Perhaps you have learned something new from our friends here,
Leon and Flare.”
“I was thinking about air and East
and what we talked about before,”
“I wondered if this story of fire and the South is something more.”
“I’m glad you are listening,”she chuckled
“with more than your ears,”
“The more someone opens their eyes,
the more someone really hears!”
It was hard for him to tell what
Grandmother Spinner might be thinking,
But it seemed that she was smiling,
and one of her eyes was winking.
Rupert watched as Flare flew around,
making a low kind of buzzing sound,
Blinking on again and off again,
as he flew closer to the ground.
“The Element of Fire,” she started,
“is much more than just hot,”
“Some love the sun and the heat, like Leon,
and some, like you, do not.”
“While heat and light do not always
go together, mostly they do,
“Flare’s tail may look like fire,
but it is really a sticky goo.”
Still tucked safely between his legs,
Rupert felt Leon squirm just then,
And wondered how long he would stay,
or if he‘d leave, and if so – when.
And, while meeting new friends along the way
was something he liked to do,
He’d have to stay still until dawn,
and wasn’t so sure he wanted to.
But, really, what could he do?
He couldn’t just get up and go,
Maybe if he listened closely to Grandmother,
she would know.
“Fire can really be quite useful,
in so many different ways,”
“Fire from the sun can keep us warm,
as Leon would surely say.”
“And without the fire inside of Flare,
his life wouldn’t be the same,”
“But fire isn’t only fire,
it goes by more than just one name.
“Fire also has to do with feelings
and all the things you feel inside,”
“Many feelings like love and anger,
even those like justice and pride.”
“Passion is fire, too,” Grandmother said,
“in its many forms and ways.”
“When you feel fire in your heart,
there is much you want to do or say.”
“Fire,“ she said, “is the realm of action,
of putting words into deeds,”
“It’s the growing of all kinds of things
and ideas which once were seeds.”
“Well,” Rupert smiled,
“that is a lot to think about, that I can see,”
“And like, in Leon’s tale,
fire also has to do with energy.”
“You are quite right my furry friend,”
the spider said.
“What you say is true.”
“And the will to use it
is part of the Element of Fire, too.”
“I think,” said Flare, flying close to Leon,
“there is a lesson here.”
“And I wonder, my friend,” he said,
“if you will have the ears to hear.”
“Yes,” the lizard sighed,
“I understand everything being said,”
“I really should be more careful
from now on, and use my head.”
“I hope you will be smart and put your thoughts
into action, my friend,”
“That your will power will be fueled
with the passion of life in the end.”
“Because,” Grandmother warned,
“the warmth of the hearth is not the same at all,”
“As the sun is at the peek of the day,
when it is a red hot ball!”
“Fire may well be the realm of action,
this you already know,”
“But once the sun has gone down,
it is past the time for you to go.”
“Come on then!”
called Flare,
“let’s let Rupert get on with his night,”
“If you want to follow me,
I’ll lead you there with my light.”
“How about,” Rupert suggested,
“if you climb on my back instead?”
“I will carry you where you want to go,
so you’ll be safe,” he said.
So that’s what they did,
all of them together as good friends,
And of course, as you know,
they went South, as our story ends.