The sentence-part1The Parts of Speech met ,as usual for a cup of coffee and a chat at the local watering hole. the Nouns ;NOUN, COMMON NOUN,COLLECTIVE NOUN,ABSTRACT NOUN and the youngest PRONOUN sat down and ordered tea. Their closest friend Adjective was there as well and, being a traditionalist wanted a pot of tea. Verb and Adverb, rarely seen apart ordered some coffee, Conjunction and Preposition in order not to be outdone and join in the others ordered green tea . The Articles settled for ice-tea for it was a hot day and the place was about to get really hot………………..

The atmosphere was turning thick as they all realised that they were getting nowhere, fast!

So Conjunction moodily added ‘and, but.’ while Preposition readily added ‘in, at’’. Article in exasperation said ‘a, the’

They all fell silent again, all looking exasperated , knowing that something was missing. Something so important that it was keeping them from communicating!

A wise owl who, who was

present ,noted their predicament and gave a thither

and laughed at their predicament.

Angrily they looked at him and

in turn asked him….’’

Owl, fowl that you are, it is rude of

you to laugh at us, softly and loudly as you do, why is that ?’’The owl, in astonishment and glee looked back

at them and said,’’ Have you not realised, oh

worldly ones, the gift you carry? How obtuse are

you, not to realise your worth?

One by one and on your own you

make no sense, but, together you are have a lot to

say .They all looked at each other and in

unison said,' we know that, we’ve known for ages!! ‘How are we to do that?’’ ’’Yes,’’ said

the owl, ‘That seems to be the problem, isn't

it!!!!!?????

They all looked at each other, surprise etched on their brows. ‘Here’s an idea!’’They turned in unison and shouted-’Since you’re Owl, and thus wise and learned why don’t you teach us! Show us the way, show us how to make sense!!!’

Owl looked at each of them, and noted the expectant look on their faces. He

puffed up his chest feathers as if to heighten his importance, (actually he

was as excited as they were, he just wanted to hide it. )

with all the air of

mystery and pomp he

could muster, he asked

for his notebook and

pencil, he put the pencil

in his mouth so as to

wet the tip-(a nervous

act on his part!)

With great big eyes,

heightened by big round

reading glasses, he

looked at each of them,

slowly, one at a time,

until they were all

feeling nervous and

about to burst.

With a mischievous glint

in his eye he turned and

opened his mouth to

speak, the parts of

speech held their breath

so as not to miss

anything of what he

was going to

say…….’can I have some

tea???’. They all

tumbled to the ground,

groaning and mumbling.

After having a good laugh, at their expense, Owl

coughed apologetically, ‘Sorry about that but I

couldn’t resist myself.’ Owl coughed once again, ‘right,

on to business!’ Silence reigned so thick,

you could cut it with a knife. He walked around them and

scrutinised them one by one, stopping every few

steps to take a note or two and to whisper to himself,

this made them very nervous indeed!

Owl stopped in front of NOUN and his family, ‘What do you do?’ he asked with all the formal pomposity he could

muster.Noun answered ,’We name things, people, places and

animals.’ ‘Aha! , name givers! Splendid, splendid!’

‘there are six of you, surely not all of you give names?’Owl asked demurely, hoping to catch them off guard.

Common noun and Proper noun, being twins answered in unison ‘yes! We do!, we give different names, but names

we give!’Owl looked at them closely, ‘Give me examples!’ He said.

Common noun said ‘Cups, Saucers!’Proper Noun said ‘Bone China from China!’

Then he turned to Collective Noun, Abstract Noun and Pronoun-the triplets!

‘And you what do you do?’‘We give names, as well!’ they replied in unison. All

wearing a look of exasperation on their faces.‘Such as…….!’ asked Owl, with a benign look on his face.

(As if to say- I’m onto your little game!)The Triplets replied, 'A Class of Intelligent Students are

WE!’

Owl moved on and stopped in front of the Nouns' best friend-Adjective, a shady looking character (

if you ask me!)‘and…….’ ,’what is it that you do?’ asked owl

pompously.‘Well…… you see, the Nouns are my best friends,

so, I enjoy describing them, I make them look better you see.

Like your feathers are shiny and straight, you see….’ the Nouns gave a short lived laugh as

Owl turned his head owlishly (360 degrees!) and glared at them in a most angry manner.

He moved on and stopped in front of a mild mannered looking character –Verb.

‘And you………….’‘I ‘m into actions ,mate! I give names to all the

actions round here. You talk, walk, we listen, see , understand, actions man, actions!’

Verb continued ‘Do you see that bloke over there?’, pointing at a dark corner of the bar.‘He knows what I’m about, go talk to him.’So Owl walked over to –Adjective, who was

quietly sipping some Green Tea.

Before Owl had time to open his mouth and repeat his question, Adverb quickly said, 'I'm Verb’s best buddy, you see! We have

come a long way Verb and I so I think it’s appropriate that I do

something for him so I describe or modify his actions, when he does something beautifully or someone

speaks strangely, you realise it because I wisely and carefully tell

it to you!’

Owl kept on scribbling, seeming unfazed by the rather hostile

environment building around him. He turned around to face the

other side of the room, rather his head did, after all he was an Owl, wasn't he ? That is what Owls do! In a quiet corner, sitting between Adjective and Adverb he spotted

Conjunction, quietly sipping some excellent Brazilian coffee. Owl tip-toed over and as he was going to ask the now over-used question,

Conjunction calmly turned towards Owl and in a rather polite manner said, ‘ I, Mr. Owl join what

the others leave separate.’ owl looked quizzically at Conjunction.

Before he could even put in a word cross-wise, he continued…

‘When the others do mange to string

words together that do make sense, but usually they are not joined I jump in and join them, see, we coined a name for them: apart from

words I join phrases and clauses.' Owl

was totally stumped, and even more

flabbergasted at the fact that these

people had something which

could change civilization

altogether! ‘Oy! Don’t forget me!'

shouted Preposition joined by Article,

we’re equally important as the

rest of them!’

Owl turned his head another 360degrees (impressively I might

add!) towards Preposition and

Article. He waddled over and patiently waited with abated

breath for their answer. Preposition went first, ‘ I show

the relation between two words or

phrases, usually preceding Nouns, Pronouns or my

friend here-Article. They’re either On

top, or Behind or At the bar.’ Article not

to diminish his importance, even though being of small stature, ‘ I precede nouns or

adjectives in a definite or indefinite

way!’

Meaning I show them when known and unknown. ‘You

know, water is A drink. The water you’re drinking is

tap water not mineral.’ Said article

with a smirk. Owl, being of delicate stomach-stopped drinking and gave

the barkeep a rather unpleasant look. And

if looks could kill, the barkeep would

have been turned to toast in a split of a second, well maybe two, he was rather a stout fellow, being the barman and all. Owl was stumped, not a very usual

state for him to be in. Here, in this

room lay a treasure trove!

Here lay the problem- how to take that

knowledge and put it in a state of harmonious coherence! Owl turned towards the parts of speech and…. In his

usual pompous manner –’ I shall now retire to

deliberate and concentrate on the

problem at hand- do not disturb me!’ and with that he waddled to a

quiet corner of the shop to contemplate and

Observe. -observation-Owl already

knew them, what they did, what they were

capable of, all he needed was the way of how to

get them to work together, to work as a unit and thus compose and construct………but

what?

Owl closed his eyes and tried to relax……Meanwhile the Parts

of Speech went out of the shop, one by one, each saying goodbye to the barkeep. In his or her own manner.

Had they been attentive they would have noticed Owl’s

reaction to their parting words.

Unknowingly they had given him the answer

he needed, all that was necessary now was; time and some

patience!!!! Easier said than done, but it had to be so!

Owl needed to string together what they

were saying. He needed to put the

words in a ……….!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Way that made sense and would not cause

tension…. A SENTENCE???

Owl jumped up, knocking everything over, barkeep was at first surprised and afterwards rather

miffed at these rather unbecoming antics.

‘Sorry!’ said Owl sheepishly.

‘But I’m besides myself, I think I’ve

found the answer to their problem.!’