The tambourine’s tale

The tambourine

The tambourine sat on the floor with all the other instruments and rattled quietly to himself as the children stomped round the room looking for something to play with. The tambourine loved his own tinkly, crashy, smashy sound, and he loved being picked up and shaken violently. It made his life really exciting.

He was sort-of friends with the maracas, but he didn’t really like their rattly insides. He was best friends with the drums, because he liked loud noises. But their noise was different – more bang-y and thumpy, so he didn’t mind if the children chose them as well as him. He could always make himself heard. He liked to be loudest and best.

Suddenly, he found himself being pushed to one side. Kaylee had picked up the triangle. The tambourine frowned and rattled his bells a little bit. Surely a tambourine was better than a triangle?

Kaylee tinkled a little on the triangle and then said to Mark, “Come and make some music with me.”

Mark came over and took up the maracas. He shook them and made them shush-shush a little.

“Listen to the little peas inside these maracas,” he said to Kaylee. “It’s like the wind in the trees.”

Kaylee grinned and tinkled the triangle a few times. “I’m making a noise like wind chimes.”

Ben came and picked up the drums. “I’ll make some thunder,” he said and whammed on the drum so hard that everyone jumped in surprise.

The tambourine felt very sad. He really wanted to join in but no one had any spare hands to hold him with!

Mark made his maraca-wind blow louder and louder. The peas in the maracas were whacking hard from side to side.

Kaylee shouted. “We need some lightning! Someone find something to make lightning with!”

The tambourine held his breath and hoped and hoped. He thought he could be good at lightning. But there was no one to pick him up.

Suddenly the door of the playroom opened and Kaylee’s mum called, “That’s a fabulous storm but it’s now bedtime. Put the instruments away, please!”

“Mum! No!” called Kaylee. “Please come and make some lightning so that it’s a proper storm!”

Mum looked round and saw the tambourine on the floor. “This is just perfect for lightning,” she said and grabbed him with both hands. The tambourine was ecstatic! Mum moved him fast. Up, down, pause… up, down, pause… The light from the bulbs in the ceiling flashed on his bells even though Mum was careful not to make them ring. The tambourine knew he was making the best lightning ever. Without a single rattle.

At the height of the storm, Kaylee called, “Right, make the storm die away. Wind, you go first.” And Mark gradually made the maracas grow quiet.

“Now the wind chimes can’t chime,” said Kaylee, and put the triangle down.

Mum stopped flashing the tambourine about and said, “No more lightning. The storm has moved away.”

Ben made the drum-thunder roll away into the distance. Everything was now quiet.

The children put the musical instruments into the music box and the tambourine smiled to himself as he fell asleep. He knew now that he didn’t always have to be the noisiest or chosen first to be an important part of the action.

The moral of this tale is that everyone has something else they’re good at even if they aren’t aware of it.