Kids Bedtime Stories

Minecraft
Cosy up and snuggle down for tonight your adventure takes you to the never-ending, angular world of Minecraft.
You find yourself standing on top of a large hill overlooking an ignored landscape. Below you the broken fences and ruined buildings hint at a once fertile and thriving farmstead. But now the fields are barren and brown. The earth has turned to dust, and nothing grows. You scan the valley for any sign of life and your attention is caught by the glint of sunlight on water. At the head of the valley is a deep blue reservoir; the water held back by a huge wall of granite blocks. On the far side of the dam sits a small stone building and from here a dry ditch runs along the floor of the valley. You follow its course and observe that after passing behind a barn it divides at regular intervals. It becomes a series of ditches that look like the grid squares on a map. The ditches are very narrow, only one block wide and one block deep. You realise that this was an irrigation system bringing fresh water to the crops, but the size of the grid squares puzzles you. They are quite small, no more than five blocks square. Carefully observing the rest of the valley you spy a rocky outcrop on the hills opposite and you are also surprised to see the glint of sunlight on water again. There is a natural spring creating a waterfall, and the water splashes against the rocks, the droplets catch the sunlight and shine like diamonds. Below the outcrop the grass is lush and a deep green and you can see several sheep grazing contentedly. The whole scene is vaguely familiar, but you can’t quite recall where you have seen it before. The sun is high in the sky, indicating that it is near lunchtime. Before you begin to explore the valley, you check your inventory. You are pleased to see that you have quite a few items already and you stride out purposefully towards the nearest of the buildings.
The farmhouse is in a very bad state. The roof is missing and there is no glass in the windows. You begin to explore the rooms but find they are all empty. It would have been nice to discover a treasure chest, but what you really wanted to find was a bed. Although the sun is still high in the sky and darkness is a long way off, you know it is wise to prepare a safe place to spend the night. First, you choose a room with no windows but with a door that closes. Next, you open your inventory to retrieve the materials you will need to craft a bed only to discover that although you have plenty of wood, you have no wool; however, you are delighted to find you have shears. You set off towards the sheep immediately, thankful you’d noticed them earlier.
The outcrop is farther away than you first thought and traversing the dry, dusty valley is tiring.
When you eventually arrive, you find the air cool and moist due to the waterfall and you are glad to find the sheep quite tame. Even though you have no wheat, they are happy to let you shear them and soon you have enough wool for several beds. You consider trying to lead some of the sheep nearer to the farm, but you are more than grateful for the wool and they seem very content with where they are. You return to the farm alone.
In the ruined farmhouse you easily construct your bed using the crafting table to combine three planks with three wool. And, to make it more personal, you go one extra step and add dye to make it your favourite colour. Your final task is to combine one stick with one coal to craft four torches. These you place on the walls. There is no roof, but there is little evidence that it rains much in the valley and so your room is complete. You head outside.
You are still puzzled by the way the ditches form small squares and so you decide to search for clues. You begin in the barn where you find the remains of some old equipment. It is very dusty, but it looks as if it should still work. There is a large wooden barrel with a spout attached at the base, standing on a bench. The lid of the barrel is attached to a vertical screw. The screw is connected to a wooden shaft that goes through the wall to the outside. You walk round to the back of the barn where you discover a huge waterwheel attached to the shaft. The bottom of the wheel is in the dry ditch. You understand that if you can get the water running again it will fill the ditch and turn the wheel. This will then turn the shaft and the screw will force the lid downwards, crushing anything that is in the barrel. Returning inside the barn you continue to search for clues. Behind the broken door you discover some boxes of empty bottles. Each box has a picture of a large red apple on it and awakens a memory deep inside. You rush outside but the large sign on the side of the barn that read ‘Appleby’s Red Delicious Apple Juice’ has gone. Your friend created this farm a long time ago to celebrate their love of Red Delicious apples. It was their favourite kind of apple and they used to eat one every day. And now, you can remember what the squares are for. Inside each one stood an apple tree. Your friend explained to you how the trees would only spawn apples if all the wood was removed and the trees were dying. The water in the ditches used to keep the air moist and that helped the trees last longer. That way they produced more apples. You stare at where the trees once stood and are determined to bring them back.
Opening your inventory, you are delighted to find two saplings. They will be more than enough. But although you search thoroughly you can find no bonemeal. This is an important fertilizer, and you will struggle to grow apple trees without it. You search the barn but there are no supplies of bonemeal anywhere. Then you have an idea.
You begin searching carefully along the dried-up ditches and it isn’t long before you find what you are looking for. You remember that when your friend created this world, fish used to escape from the reservoir and swim along the ditches. Your friend used to try and catch them. When the water dried up, they must have died. And sure enough, you find their skeletons in the silt at the bottom of the ditches. Bones are an excellent source of bonemeal and soon you have more than enough.
You plant the first sapling in the centre of one of the squares. Next you apply the bonemeal and stand back. You watch with amazement as the tree erupts into life. It soars upwards, pushing the leaves and branches ever higher. It has only taken the tree a few moments to fill the area surrounded by the ditches. Its leaves rustle in the warm afternoon breeze as you open your inventory and select the axe.
It seems counterintuitive to destroy a tree that has just grown but if the orchard is to produce apples, the trees must be managed. Carefully, you use the axe to remove the trunk and branches until just the leaves are left, suspended high above the ground like a large, green cumulus cloud. Moving to the next grid you repeat the process with the second sapling, but before you begin removing the trunk and branches you notice that the ground below the first tree has several new saplings growing. The tree has begun to spawn. Looking up you search the leaves in the hope of seeing an apple. You are not disappointed. You know that the saplings will not grow quickly without bonemeal, and the apple will take some time to ripen, so you return to the task at hand. Once you have completely removed all the wood from the second tree you pick up the new saplings and begin planting them. You work steadily through the afternoon.
After many hours of hard work, you have planted at least 50 trees. Some of them you have left whole, allowing them to grow old in their own time and play their part in the valley’s ecosystem.
The sun is beginning to move toward the horizon as you decide it is time to see if you can get the water to flow and fill the ditches. The trees are starting to cast long shadows now but as you make your way towards the stone building by the dam, you are surprised to see one of them move. It is an enderman. You are very frightened and wonder if you attracted it by planting so many trees. You hope that it spawned randomly and that it will leave quickly. Knowing that making eye contact will provoke it, you move cautiously towards the stone building keeping your eyes firmly fixed on the ground. As you walk away, you experience an overwhelming temptation to stop and see if the enderman is following you, but you are determined to see the farm as it once was and so you hold your nerve and don’t look back. After what seems an age, you reach the building and risk turning around. To your relief the enderman is moving through the orchard in the opposite direction. As it reaches the last of the trees, it vanishes.
Inside the stone building you find a mechanism for opening a sluice gate. This is a wooden board that stops the water escaping from the reservoir. As you turn the handle, the board moves upwards and the fresh, clear water sings as it washes along the dry ditch. By controlling the flow, you will provide just enough water to fill the ditches and turn the waterwheel without wasting any of the precious resource.
On your way back to the orchard you pass by the waterwheel. It is turning slowly, but steadily. Water droplets fall from the blades like rain and the last rays of the sun cause a rainbow to form in the spray. Glancing into the barn you see that the press is working well and you go in search of apples.
Not all of the trees have produced apples and you can only collect a few. It is a long, slow process and nature works at its own pace.
Careful not to bruise the delicate flesh, you place the apples in the press and wait eagerly for the golden juice to flow. You fill several bottles and store some in your inventory for later.
As the sun finally sets below the hills, you make your way towards the farmhouse. You notice the grass is now growing beneath the trees and that some of the sheep are heading for the farm. Accompanied by the soft sound of apples falling to the ground, and the rhythmical motion of the press, you enter the farmhouse and go to your room. Night is falling, and as you stare into the dark blue sky dotted with pinpricks of light, the stars remind you of the apples nestling in the trees. You have worked hard, and the farm will produce apples for a long time to come, but for now the day is at an end and you’re tired. Content with your achievements and happy to have helped bring life back to your friend’s farm, your mind plays happy memories of the times you spent in this world with your friend. You know that your time here is done, the torches are burning low, and you lay on the bed feeling comfortable and warm. It’s not long before you feel your eyelids getting heavy. You surrender to your body, close your eyes and drift away awaiting your next adventure.