A Scuffle of Sticks

When a sibling rivalry ignites a wild ruckus, Mr. Redge enlists Jonathan's help to end the unfriendly feud. Using his skills as a storytelling problem solver, Jonathan weaves a tale on the wisdom of unity and the strength that lies in working together. It inspires the brothers to bundle up their bickering and squelch their scuffles, proving their sibling bonds are truly unbreakable.

Episode webpage: https://jonincharacter.com/a-scuffle-of-sticks/           

PARENTS, TEACHERS AND HOMESCHOOLERS: In this modern twist on Aesop’s fable, “A Bundle of Sticks” sibling rivalry takes center stage. What unfolds are lessons in the power of cooperation, problem solving, understanding others, the value of listening and the importance of family bonds. (Aligns with CASEL Social and Emotional learning framework for self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills and responsible decision-making.)

IF YOU ENJOYED THIS STORY, you may also enjoy the brother, Percy, Porky, and Peregrin’s origin story, The Three Little…Hogs?!: https://jonincharacter.com/dorktales-three-little-hogs/

The three hedgehog brothers also make an appearance in Little Red: https://jonincharacter.com/dorktales-little-red/

Dorktales Storytime Podcast website:
https://jonincharacter.com/dorktales-storytime-podcast/

CREDITS: This episode has been a Jonincharacter production. Today’s story was written by Amy Thompson, edited and produced by Molly Murphy, and performed by Jonathan Cormur. Sound recording and production by Jermaine Hamilton at Hamilton Studio Recordings.

Transcript

JONATHAN CORMUR: Hello Dork Squad. I'm Jonathan Cormur and you're listening to Dorktales Storytime, the podcast for kids and their pop culture-loving grown-ups.

THEME SONG: It's a beautiful day for a story, adventure and glory, new friends and old ones too. It's an excellent day to get swept away in a tail, so let us regale you.

 A crash of leaves and twigs. Redge runs through the forest.

 REDGE: Jonathan! Jonathan! Come quickly! Post haste! They’re at it again!
 
 JONATHAN: Who?
 
 REDGE: Pardon me?
 
 JONATHAN: I said, WHO?!!

REDGE: Well you needn't yell, Jonathan, I’m right here in front of you. (wheezes) Just let me (wheezes again) catch my breath. 
 
JONATHAN: Redge, slow down. Take as much time as you need. Who are you talking about?
 
REDGE: When?
 
JONATHAN: Just now…you were shouting–
 
REDGE: YOU shouted WHO at me like an angry owl. 
 
JONATHAN: But! You just! Nevermind. Why’d you crash through the forest into my front yard as I was weeding my perennials?
 
REDGE: Pere-who?
 
JONATHAN: What?! 

REDGE: What are pere-whatever you said? 

JONATHAN: Perennials are flowers!

REDGE: Oh. Why didn’t you just say that? 

JONATHAN: Ugh! Redge. Let’s start over.  Why exactly are you out of breath?
 
 REDGE: They’re at it again!
 
 JONATHAN: You mentioned.
 
 REDGE: Well they are! 

JONATHAN: But who?
 
 REDGE: What do you mean?!

JONATHAN: Who is at it again? 

REDGE: Oh right! 

JONATHAN: Yes! Finally. Tell me what’s going on.

 REDGE: Well you see: Percy, Peregrin, and Porky, you remember them, right? 

JONATHAN: The three little hedgehogs?
 
 REDGE: Yes! They made a home out of straw, sticks, and bricks and thwarted the Big Bad Wolf.

JONATHAN: Before he transformed his life and found mindfulness.

REDGE: Precisely. 

JONATHAN: Well, what about them?
 
 REDGE: So you see, I was wandering through the wood, like I do, almost every sundown.
 
 JONATHAN: Yes, we know, you like to…
 
 REDGE/JONATHAN (together): Take Redginald’s Radiant Rambles at twilight for good circulation and neighborly greetings. 

REDGE: Wow. I’m impressed. You know me so well, mate. 

JONATHAN: So you were walking…

REDGE: Ah yes! I was. Strolling along the forest floor, waving at Sherlock Nettlesbee, and giving high fives to Flippy and Floppy Loppy. But then I turned the corner on the path and passed Percy, Porky, and Peregrin’s house… 

JONATHAN: Oh neat!
 
 REDGE: They were wailing.

JONATHAN: Oh no.

 REDGE: Not only wailing, but also wrestling! 

JONATHAN: Oh NO. 

REDGE: And they were shouting about their sibling rivalries back and forth, saying the worst, most bullying remarks, ones that only a sibling can shout! It was quite a kerfuffle! 

JONATHAN: OH NOOO.

REDGE: Oh yes, I thought that after their blow-the-house-down incidents with Big Bad, the siblings would be a little better at listening to one another…but it seems they are not.

JONATHAN: Well what would you like me to do? 

REDGE: I’m not sure. But at this moment, I’m realizing it’s taken TEN minutes for me to explain this to you—ten minutes I’m absolutely certain they’ve used to keep wailing and wrestling with one another.

JONATHAN: Well what are we waiting for?
 
 REDGE: I was waiting for you!
 
 JONATHAN: Ok then, let’s go!
 
 REDGE: Righto! Onward!

(We hear more crashing through the forest, Jonathan and Redge panting as we suddenly hear them approach a loud ruckus)

PERCY: …all your fault, duuuuuuuude!
 
 PORKY: Duhhhh no it wasn’t! Peregrin’s the one!
 
 PEREGRIN: As I’ve expressed plainly to you before. That’s an entirely fraudulent statement! YAUUUUUGH!

JONATHAN: Waaaaaait! Hold on a minute! Percy, Peregrine, Porky! Redge brought me here to help sort things out.

PORKY: Oh, hello there Jonathan.

PERCY: Brosef, this is not the time.

 PEREGRIN: This is a family matter, kind sir. Reginald, please escort Jonathan back to his domicile. 

 JONATHAN: But, maybe I can help? I’ve been told I’m a pretty good listener.

REDGE: And a superb problem solver!

JONATHAN: Aw thanks, Redge!
 
 REDGE: Any time, mate.
 
 PORKY: Uhhh I dunnooooo.

PEREGRIN: I am dubious as well. 
 
 PERCY: Yo dudebros, Redge knows what he’s sayin’. Maybe we should bring Jonathan into our very un-chill goings on.
 
 REDGE: It’s your time to shine, Jonathan!
 
 JONATHAN: OK fellas, er, bros. I see there’s some tension. How about we start small: how’d all this fighting kick off?
 
 PEREGRIN: I can inform you of the most relevant details. It began this morning…
 
 PORKY: It’s all about our mudder!

JONATHAN: What?

PERCY: You know, our dear sweet mother!
 
 PEREGRIN: My brothers are trying to pass on that this predicament is purposely about the yeartide remembrance of our dear sweet mother’s nascence.
 
 PORKY: Huh?
 
 JONATHAN: Yeah, even I didn’t get that one…Redge?
 
 REDGE: Don’t look at me, I’m lost too.
 
 PEREGRIN: In other words, it’s her birthday!
 
 REDGE: Oh goodness!
 
 JONATHAN: Ok, let me get this straight. It’s your mother’s birthday…
 
 PORKY: And we don’t know what to get her!
 
 PEREGRIN: Well, she said she knows what she wants to celebrate her big day, but she doesn’t want to tell us! Instead, she conveniently left us some clues…
 
 PERCY: Some radical inspo for her epic present!

PEREGRIN: But alack, the sun is now setting, and we’ve been feuding about what her clues mean for so long, we’ve not made any progress on Mother’s gifts!

JONATHAN: Ohhhh, well what clues did she give you?
 
 PORKY: Well I got a basket of eggs. Maybe mama wants an omelet for breakfast?
 
 PERCY: I told you, dude, she’s already HAD breakfast! The SUN. IS. SETTING.
 
 PEREGRIN: Precisely, breakfast is not what she wanted! Because I got an unmarked box of powder… it looks, and tastes, like salty flour…that’s not an ingredient in an omelet! Perhaps she’d like me to make some art from papier mache? But I don’t seem to have any paper…or glue.
 
 PORKY: That’s your problem… you don’t have a clue!
 
 PEREGRIN: That’s NOT what I SAID!
 
 PERCY: Y’all are bogus! You keep forgetting what ma gave me! And it’s RUDE, DUDE!

REDGE: What did your mother give you, Percy?

PERCY: She gave me this bag of sugar. And I got nothin on what that means, Redgeman.

PEREGRIN: As per usual, Percy fails to work cohesively with his “bros”.
 
 PERCY: Hey!

PORKY: Hey!
 
 PERCY: You hey!
 
 PEREGRIN: NO, HEY TO YOURSELF!

PORKY: Hey!
 
 PERCY: WHOA!
 
 PEREGRIN: EXCUSE ME!

More scuffle grunts and noises. 

JONATHAN: OK! WHOA THERE! Brothers! I think I know what’s going on here. Quit fighting for just a sec! If you give me some of your time, I have a story in mind to show you what I’m thinking…

PORKY: Oooh I like a story.
 
 PERCY: Especially one with a moral, those tales are totally tubular.

PEREGRIN: Acceptable, Jonathan, we’ll discontinue our fisticuffs for a few minutes for the sake of your relatable narrative that will bring us to a clearer understanding of our current situation. 

JONATHAN: Okayyyy. 

REDGE: Righto! One of Jonathan’s fabulous fables, coming up!

JONATHAN: Ha. Thanks for the introduction, Redge. Okay, this story is called “The Bundle of Sticks.”

PORKY/REDGE: Oh I know this one! 

JONATHAN: You do? 

PORKY: Big Bad Wolf huffed and puffed and blew the house down!

REDGE: Close! That’s your story and it had to do with sticks too, but this one’s different. Jonathan’s told it to me before. Go on Jonathan.

JONATHAN: Long ago there lived a father with three sons.

REDGE: Sort of like your dear sweet mother and you three!

JONATHAN: One day, the son’s quarreling became too much for the father. They were wrestling and pinching and rolling around too much. So, the father commanded, 

FATHER: Stop! Go fetch me a bundle of sticks! 
 
 REDGE: They went out and collected the sticks!
 
 JONATHAN: Yes, but they were still angry with each other so they went out in separate directions. Each son picked a stick to bring back to their father, and each hoped theirs was better, bigger…
 
 REDGE: The most stick of all the sticks that ever stuck! 

JONATHAN: Right. They each hoped their gift was the most stick of all the sticks so they could show up their brothers’. 

PERCY:: Well then. Tell us. Who had the most brilliant branch of all the brothers? 

PEREGRIN: Was it perhaps the one with the most studious air? 

PERCY: As if, bro. 

JONATHAN: Actually, the father took a stick from each son, held it up to the sky, and snapped it in half!
 
 PORKY: Duh, crushed it!
 
 PERCY: Pulverized!

PEREGRIN: Fragmented the sticks into pieces!

JONATHAN: Yes, he snapped each stick in half. Exclaiming loudly each time,

FATHER:  HAHA! I snap your stick! And yours! And yours! And ALL THE STICKS. 

JONATHAN: His sons watched, mouths agape in horror as their hard work was destroyed. 

PORKUS: Why’d you do that, papa?
 
 JONATHAN: Asked one son, let’s call him… Porkus.
 
 PEREGRIS: Perchance you’ve made a mistake, father?
 
 

JONATHAN: Asked another son…his name was…Peregris…. And the last son said, 

PERCIUS: But Daaaad, all our hard work has been wiiiipedd ouuuut!

REDGE: Let me guess, that son was named “Percius”
 
 PEREGRIN: I believe I’m picking up on the allusion here, Jonathan, you’re saying OUR fighting reminded you of these three sons, and their father?
 
 JONATHAN: Pretty much. But my story goes on, as the three sons knelt at their father’s feet. He taught them an important lesson: 

FATHER: I asked you for a bundle of sticks but each of you has brought me single sticks. 

JONATHAN: His sons were dumbfounded and didn’t know what to say. They didn’t want to disappoint their father. 

FATHER: Here, you try it.

JONATHAN: The father instructed, and he handed each of his sons one of their sticks… 

ALL THE SONS: SNAP! 

JONATHAN: The sons broke them easily.
 
 PERCY: Whoa. That’s bogus!!

JONATHAN:  Totally, then the father said,

FATHER: You see, these sticks are bendable, snappable, and weak on their own. Now bundle them together and hand them to me. 

JONATHAN: The father held the bundle of sticks over his head. He strained with all his might to break them in half. 

FATHER: You see… (speaking through gritted teeth), alone, they’re nothing, but together, these sticks become unbreakable!

PORKY: WHOAAAAAAAA
 
 PERCY: TUBULAR

PEREGRIN: Ah, I think I can surmise where this plotline is progressing and detect its honorable ending. It appears you’re pointing out how we’re stronger when we combine our efforts.
 
 PORKY: When we can share!

PERCY: When you work together!
 
 JONATHAN: That’s it! And the father told his sons the moral of this story, 

FATHER: When you’re divided among yourselves, you’re no stronger than a single stick in that bundle.

REDGE: But together…

FATHER: You’re unbreakable! 
 
 PORKY/PEREGRINE/PERCY (together): Indubitably/Whoah-bular/Wowza
 
 REDGE: See? Didn’t I tell you Jonathan would blow your minds and bring your sibling struggles to an end?

 JONATHAN: Heh - that’s kind of you, Redge. So, how do you brothers think this fits with your Mother’s birthday clues?
 
 PORKY: Duh, well, mudder gave me eggs.
 
 PERCY: I’m slangin’ sugar.
 
 PEREGRIN: And I’ve got flour…hrmmm, I’ve discovered the formula! Just like the sticks, our ingredients are meant to be bundled together. Mother wanted us to come together and mix our eggs, sugar, and flour to make her…
 
 PORKY: A birthday cake!
 
 PERCY: Whoa Dudes!! Thanks, Jonathan, you’re such a bro. We weren’t supposed to get all aggro before! We were supposed to ride that wave together and come out closer! 

REDGE: Some might say, tastier!
 
 PEREGRIN: Oh we are ever so thankful to you and Reginald, Jonathan! You’ve shown us we should have looked at it all through our mother’s eyes this whole time—she wanted us to act like better siblings, as a team!
 
 JONATHAN: That’s it! But, brothers, I feel like you might’ve missed one last ingredient.
 
 PERCY/PORKY/PEREGRIN: HOW SO?/WE DID?!/REALLY?
 
 REDGE: What ingredient is it, Jonathan!?
 
 JONATHAN: Love.
 
 EVERYONE: JONATHAN!
 
 REDGE: Well,I said he was good at problem solving and storytelling. I didn't promise he wouldn’t be cheesy. 

PEREGRINE: Cheesecake is a delectable option for a dessert. 

PORKY: Or red velvet cake…

PEREGRINE: With cream cheese frosting! 

PERCY: Ya bros! That sounds totally awesome! Time to get our snack on! 

REDGE: Oooooo yes! I can help! I have the perfect apron, just for the occasion! 

PERCY: Excellent!

JONATHAN: Baking brothers! This is shaping up to be a lovely afternoon.
 
 EVERYONE: Yay cake!
 
 Their revelry and laughter fades.

 JONATHAN CORMUR: Thank you for listening! I’m so happy you came to spend time with me today. Before I go, I want to share Storypillar, another podcast I know you’re going to enjoy! Storypillar is fun, silly and you get to explore stories from all over the world.

 JONATHAN CORMUR: This has been a Jonincharacter production. Today’s story was written by Amy Thompson, edited by Molly Murphy and performed by Jonathan Cormur. Sound recording and production by Jermaine Hamilton at Hamilton Studios. Reach out to us on Instagram or email us at dorktalesstorytime@gmail.com. Find links in the show notes or go to dorktalesstorytime.com. Now, go be the hero of your own story and we’ll see you next once-upon-a-time!

THEME SONG: So gather your squad for all to see. It's a universe that we've imagined. There's twists and turns and lessons learned. This is where the unexpected happens. Join our humble hosts and hit the trails of the wonderful, wacky, wild world of Dorktales.

© 2023 Dorktales Storytime