Tear Drop joins Wondermonger on her quest

More from the Land of the Crystal Caves–and Poetry Friday, too!

Today, we meet Tear Drop–also know as TD Not-enuf–and also the Sleepy Knight.

Special thanks to our Poetry Friday host, A Word Edgewise. Thanks, Linda!

Do you remember HR Pufenstuf?

For some reason, I started singing the theme song this week–and then I realized why. I hadn’t realized that Tear Drop also liked to be called TD Not-enuf. Here’s the theme song to this very weird show, and below you’ll find TD’s version of it.

The Wondermonger meets Tear Drop and the Sleepy Knight

When last we left our hero–

Last week, Wondermonger met Bigfish in her journey to save the stories in the Land of the Crystal Caves.

When the story ended, the Wondermonger was running after Bigfish, but she wasn’t sure where they were heading.

She stops for a rest

The Wondermonger couldn’t catch her breath. She couldn’t run after Bigfish anymore, so she sat down on a moss covered rock and after a couple of minutes felt quite a bit better. She took a few sips from her water bottle–of course, she never went anywhere without it. And she fished out a bit of chocolate from her pocket, brushed off the lint and let it melt in her mouth. She took off her knapsack and looked in it for something else to eat, but looked up when she felt warm breath on her neck.

Some new friends–

A horse stood behind her. She hadn’t even heard him walk up. He nuzzled her neck. She found some baby carrots in her pack and the horse nibbled them from her open palm. It was then that she noticed a rider. A knight in rather tarnished looking armor lay on the horse’s back, and on the back of the knight bounced a creature shaped like a teardrop.

“Are you ok? Can you hear me? Do you need help?” asked the Wondermonger.

“You don’t have to shout,” the knight replied. “I’m fine. I’m just tired.”

“What is that thing on your back?” asked the Wondermonger.

Teardrop introduces himself

That “thing” jumped down to the ground and began to chant and dance:

“I’m rubber, you’re glue.

Whatever you say bounces off me and sticks to you!

I am not a thing!”

“Oh, I’m sorry. Who are you?”

“That’s Tear Drop,” said the knight. “And I’m called the Sleepy Knight.”

“Yes, that’s true,” said Tear Drop. “But I’m also called TD Not-enuf.”

Then TD began singing and dancing (to the tune of HR Pufenstuf)

I’m TD Not-Enuf

I let you know you’re not good enough

TD Not-Enuf

You always do too little and you never do enough.

And so does the sleepy knight

“That’s why I’m always tired,” said Sleepy Knight. “I try so hard to do the right thing, but it’s never enough. And I won’t stop until I’m enough. Why just a few minutes ago, I rescued a big purple fish and put him into a pond. Before that, I saved this lovely horse from a man who was hitting him with a stick. I also weeded the garden, did the laundry, polished my armor, baked a lasagna and dropped it off at a friend’s who just had a new baby, and washed the dishes. But it’s not enough. I still need to do more—no matter how tired I am.”

“I feel tired just listening to everything you did today,” said the Wondermonger.

Tear Drop had jumped back onto the Sleepy Knight and banged on her armor. “It’s not enough, you know. There’s still more princes to rescue and sick neighbors to feed—and when was the last time you swept your hut? And I could use a haircut. But who cares about me? All I do is work, work, work—and it’s never enough.”

The Wondermonger felt bad for the  Sleepy Knight—and Teardrop. She had an idea—and perhaps a little magic of her own.

The Wondermonger uses her magic

She took a poem and some fluff from the clouds and some softness from the moss and warmth from the sun and wove them all together into a blanket.

This was her poem:

Your job is not to do it right,

But to inspire and delight.

You do this just by being you

Letting your light shine bright and true

Nurture seeds in your soul’s garden

Let them grow—it needn’t be harder.

Get your glow on; be the light you are

In this way, you’ll truly go far.

And always know you are not alone

Comfort and love are your true home.

I weave this poem into a sheet

To warm your heart and also your feet.

The others watched in wonder as she worked.

“Come lay down—all of you,” she said.

She helped sleepy knight down from the horse and took off her helmet. Horse lay down first, then Sleepy Knight took Tear Drop in her arms and put her weary head down on horse’s stomach. The Wondermonger tucked them all in.

And goes off to find Bigfish

In no time at all, they all fell asleep. The Wondermonger smiled at the peaceful scene and set off to see if she could find Bigfish again.

More of the Wondermonger’s story to come

But that’s all for now.

Thinking about how much time I’ve spent listening to TD Not-Enuf has reminded me of a lovely meditation I learned from Kim John Payne. I’ll share it with you in my next post.

In the meantime, thanks for stopping by. I’d love to hear about your experiences with TD!

xoxo