Counter


Melloh Jelloh

A Children's Story about a "Jelly Man"



Mrs Mack couldn't concentrate because of the loud noises  coming  from  out front of the house! Road works were in progress and the whole  house  shook with every Bang! Crash! Wallop!! However, she knew she had to try and blockout the noise and make up the Jelly!

It was a special occasion and meant to be a surprise for her children, Mary and Shaun. Afterall, not every day  do they get rewarded with a "Good Kids Day"! And Jelly was their favourite!

"Now, let's see .. Plain Jelly .. Ingredients .. ONE package Yellow Jelly and 1 pint  boiling water. Yes! I think I can manage that!

Rattle!, Rattle!, Bang!, Crash!, Wallop!!!

The table shook, cupboards shook, everything on the shelves  shook  and  at times quite violently!!
 
"Preparation Method.. Dissolve Jelly in boiling water. Turn into individual moulds. Chill until firm. Unmold."

Rattle!, Rattle!, Bang!, Crash!, Wallop!!!

"Oh Glory be! How the heck am I meant to concentrate with that rumpus going on!"

Mrs Mack considered concentration a MUST whilst cooking. Not that long  ago she prepared a "special treat" called "Patio Rice" that didn't  quite  turn out as she had hoped. (no one told her it wasn't meant  to  be  walked  on) In fact, if that "Patio Rice" had been spread over the roadway  out  front, the workers out there would be there for months breaking it into pieces!!

"ELEVEN packets of Orange Jelly ... One pint boiling water."

Mrs Mack tipped Eleven packets of Orange Jelly  into the  bowl  of  Boiling water. Was about to look for the molds when the phone rang.

Rattle!, Rattle!, Bang!, Crash!, Wallop!!!

"Hullo?"

Rattle!, Rattle!, Bang!, Crash!, Wallop!!!

"Hullo!!! Look, I'm sorry you'll have to  speak  up  ...  there's  roadworks going on and I can't hear you"!!!

Rattle!, Rattle!, Bang!, Crash!, Wallop!!!

"er.... Sick? ... Mary's Sick? ... School? ............."

Rattle!, Rattle!, Bang!, Crash!, Wallop!!!
Rattle!, Rattle!, Bang!, Crash!, Wallop!!!

"Sorry this is hopeless!! .. NO! Not You! .. Hopeless here ...  Can't  hear you ... I'll come and see you"

Rattle!, Rattle!, Bang!, Crash!, Wallop!!!
Rattle!, Rattle!, Bang!, Crash!, Wallop!!!
Bang!! Bang!! Crash!! Crash!! Wallop! Wallop!

Everything in the kitchen shook, more violently than ever before! Something fell out of the wall cupboard and its contents went into the setting Jelly.(No one ever did discover what the ingredient was)

Slish-slosh!! Spitter-spatter!! Splitter-splutter!! Squish-squash!!

The Jelly expanded,  expanded  and  expanded  breaking  the  bowl  in  the process!  The Jelly slowly Drip-dropped  onto  the  floor  forming  into  a strange human like shape. It had  a roundish body, two short legs, two arms that extended down the length of the body and a long narrow  head!  Slowly, slowly slithering across the floor, coming to rest inside a broom closet.


2 Wobbly Wobs
                     

Inside the Broom closet things were stiring! Slowly!!

The Jelly tried and tried to stand errect. Each attempt was met with severe Wobbily Wobs.  Legs wobbled and folded. Arms wobbled up and down. Head  and body wobbily wobbed! The Jelly wobbled Wobbily to the floor,  folding  over onto itself.

A Jell niddle-noddled inside the head of the  Jelly  `that  if  it  pressed itself against the door and forced the body, arms and  legs  to  follow  it could manage to stand'!

The fact that it "Jelled the niddle-noddle" surprised  the  Jelly  because "it" had never experienced anything like it before!

"Funny sensation", the Head niddle-noddled."This niddy-noddy inside my head is like words forming somewhere, tickling me where the  hole  is  above  my Chinny-Chin-Chin! Just as if it wants to get out!!"

"Needle Noddle Noo!! I wonder what a Chinny-chin-chin is too?"

The Jelly head pushed against the door, bracing the body  against  a  mop, broom and shelving, slowly slither-slathering  upright  with  wobbily  wobs making it swish and sway back and forth, forming into a strange "S" shape.

Jelly wiggled-wobbled wobbily back and forth,  stretching  itself  up  and down, moving first the head back and forth, wobbly arms touching the  floor and finally, the wobbily legs.

Words niddy-noddled and Jelled inside the head. "Ah! I think I've  got  the hang of the wobbles now! ... and the niddy-noddling too"

This time as Jelly jelled the words, the tickling sensation caused a sound to utter from the hole above his chinny-chin-chin.

Something like: "I zink I got da 'ang ov ze 'obbles now" It wasn't anything like that had Jelled inside the head, but the tickling in  the  hole  above his chinny-chin-chin felt good, so decided to practice Jelling more niddy-noddles from the head to the "hole".

As he did so a picture jelled in his head and on the picture had something on it: "Melloh Jelloh". "Is that what I am ... a "Melloh Jelloh?"

The tickling sensation felt good as the Hole utter the words!
"Pells-mell ... Daz wot I Iz! ... Melloh Jelloh !!"

               "Kall da me Melloh Jelloh ..  an' Qwite ritely
                daz me ... Melloh Jelloh  .. an' Qwite ritely
                Melloh Jelloh .. I Niddy-noddled
                Melloh Jelloh am dis fella."


3 SAFFRON


"Melloh Jelloh .. I Niddy-noddle
Melloh Jelloh I'm dis fella."

Melloh Jelloh repeated the phrase over and over  and  the  Hole  above  his Chinny-chin-chin tickled and tickled until it almost hurt.

"Melloh Jelloh .. I Niddy-noddle
Melloh Jelloh I'm dis fella."

"I call me Melloh Jelloh
I call me Melloh Jelloh and Quite rightly
I call me Melloh Jelloh",the Hole Gobbly-Wobbed

"I dunna unna-stand!!! If I Niddy-noddle the words they come out diff'rent when I Gobbly-Wob them ... And the Hole above my  chinny-chin-chin  doesn't tickle when I Gobbly-wobble!"

"Melloh Jelloh I'm dis fella", he Niddy-Noddled.

"I call me Melloh Jelloh", he Gobbly-wobbled.

"Melloh Jelloh I'm dis fella."

"I call me Melloh Jelloh".

Melloh Jelloh repeated the Niddy-noddles and Gobbly-wobbles over  and  over and was caught by surprise when the Closet door opened!

A young girl stared at him, eyes staring and mouth wide open! She closed the door and opened it again ... closed and opened it again ... it was still there whatever it was!!!

"Melloh Jelloh I'm dis fella", Melloh Jelloh niddy-noddled.

"What?" The door closed and opened again.

"Melloh Jelloh I'm dis fella", Melloh Jelloh niddy-noddled once again.

"What are ... how did ... you're made of Jelly ... Yellow Jelly!!!"

"Melloh Jelloh .... I call me Melloh Jelloh", he Gobbly-wobbed.

"That's better, I can understand you when you sing"

"Sing? That's a Gobbly-wobble!"

"Well, you can't stay in the Broom closet Mom will find you!"

"Wazza Mom?"

"Oh! Don't worry about that now, I'll explain it all to  you  later!  First we have to find a safe hiding place for you! If Mom found  you  she'd  more than chuck a wobbly ... and goodness only knows what Daddy would do!!!"

"Wobbly? Oh I can do Wobblies ... and Golly-Wobbles ... Wazza Daddy??!!!!"

Mary folded Melloh Jelloh over her arm and carried him through the kitchen, out through the patio, across the lawn and into the garden Shed. She stood Melloh Jelloh up and closed the Shed door. Her hands rested on  her  hips, stared at Melloh Jelloh for awhile, frowned and in her best demanding six year old voice said:

"Now! Where did you come from? What's a niddy-noddle,  a  Gobbly  Wob,  and why are you made of Orange Jello?"

"Well, my Mom was a Bowl that broke when she had me and I slither-slathered into the broom place! I wiggle-wobbled upright and discovered niddy-noddles... Niddies ........."

"Niddy-Noddles, or Niddies, are thoughts, when you THINK!", Mary interjected

"Daz nice fer 'em! ... I have Nuddles too. Sorta like heavy niddies"

"That's concentration!"

"Nah! ... If Niddies are `thoughts' which are really `thinks'.. then Nuddles must be `Thunks' ... because they're heavy Thinks!"

"I need time to think ... er thunk ... about that!"

"What about you're singing then?"

"Well, when the Hole above my chinny-chin-chin .............."

"That's you're mouth and your chinny-chin-chin is your CHIN"

"Oh, really? ... Well, when I niddy-noddled my MOUTH above  my  CHIN  would tickle!  But whenever I Gobbly-Wob  ..  er...  SING,  the  words  come  out different, and you can understand them. Just like I'm Gobb .. er .. SINGING now!"

"My name is Mary, by the way"

"Nah!!! Saffron !!! Coz yer got Saffron over you!"

"That's my yellow frock, silly!"

"SAFFRON!!!!"

"OK ... Saffron then!"

They smiled at each other. Melloh Jelloh raised an arm  and  placed  it  on Mary's shoulder.

                     "I'm just mad about Saffron ,
                      Saffron's mad about me
                      I'm a-just mad about Saffron ,
                      She's just mad about me."

"Hey, that's cute! Real cool!"

"Yeah ... I like cool ... gotta keep cool or else I'll splish-splosh!"

                      "I'm just mad about Melloh Jelloh,
                       Melloh Jelloh's mad about me
                       I'm a-just mad about Melloh Jelloh ,
                       He's just mad about me."

"So, did you come from a Bowl too?"

"I don't THINK so! Anyway, I'm only six years old ..... how old are you?

"I was made in the year-of-Thursday .... or somfin likadat"

Mary and Melloh Jelloh spent many  hours  that  day  sharing  Human  thinks and thunks and Jelloh Niddies and Nuddles. Too soon Mary  realised  it  was time for her to leave Melloh Jelloh for the day and re-arranged the interior of the shed so that he could be hidden from prying eyes. The last thing Mary wanted was for her Daddy to come `fiddle-faddling around', as Melloh Jelloh would say! Especially if he were whisky-frisky drunk!

"Pells-mell ...  He's got ME talking like him now!!!"


4 FOURTEEN


Mary opened the door of the shed to find Melloh Jelloh standing upright with the aid of a garden rake and a straw broom! She gave a little laugh.

"What's with the rake and the broom?"

"Good morning to you too!!! It's to stop me from falling over when I sleep"

"You lay down to sleep ... not standing up!!!"

"Oh NO! You go splish-splosh if you lay down!"

Mary was about to ask what "Splish-splosh" meant when the door  opened  and there stood her young brother, Shaun. Mary panicked and pulled the door shut,holding it firmly.

"What have you got in there ... who are you talking to?"

"If I open the door and show you .. you must promise NOT to tell Mom and Dad...OK?"

"Yes, OK"

Mary introduced Shaun to Melloh Jelloh. Shaun  was  excited  becaused  he'd never seen so much jelly in all his life!

"I'm Shaun and I'm Mary's ...er... Saffron's....little Brother"

"Little? ... you're Fouteen ... that's little! .. Fourteen!!!"

"No! I'm only three, not fourteen"

"You're SIZE Fourteen!"

"Oh, right!"
                        "I'm just mad about Fourteen ,
                         And Fourteen's mad about me
                         I'm a-just a-mad about Fourteen ,
                         He's just mad about me."

"Now remember Shaun ... not a word to anyone about this! No one must EVER know about Melloh Jelloh ... RIGHT???"

"No Problem!  I like him ... he's cool!

"Gotta stay cool. No splish-sploshes then!"

"What's a `Splish-Splosh' then?"

"Dunno! It hasn't happened yet... and I'm sure I'm not going to like it when it happens either! I just know that a Splish-Splosh is bad for me!!"

"What do you eat...cookies?" asked Shaun.

"Nup .... I ate from the Bowl before it broke! ... What's a cookie?"

"Cookie .... a biscuit ...cookie biscuit .... really Yum-Yum!"

"Yum-Yum is good, right?

"Like Jelly ... Jelly is Yum Yum too!"

"YOU EAT JELLy????"

"Er ... Jelly .... not Jelloh creatures!"

"There's a diff'rence?"

"Oh yes! Jelly is soft and wobbles on a plate. Jelloh, like you .... well, you're stiff and shaky! No one could ever eat you!!"

"Pells-mell!!! ... I don't like  this  place  anymore!  Jelly  and  Jelloh! Wobbles on plates! Stiff and shaky indeed!!!

5  Electrical Bananas


The next day Melloh Jelloh was all alone. Mary went to school and Shaun to kindergarten. He felt alone and very lonely.  Very  lonely  indeed!  So  he peaked through the opening of the shed door and saw  it  was   a  beautiful cool day ... cold enough to freeze a Jelly Baby, he mused.

He eased himself through the opening and wobbily-wobbed his way toward the house. He could hear someone gobbly-wobbling .. singing .. inside somewhere so he went to a window and looked in to see who or what it was that  gobbly-wobbled so beautifully!

It was coming from the kitchen and inside Mrs Mack  was  preparing  another "special treat". She was peeling bananas and then stuffing them inside  the food processor.

When she switched on  the  Food  processor  the  whirring  spitter-spatter, splitter-splutter noise frightened Melloh Jelloh. Bananas were ok  ...  but things electrical frightened him!

Something inside him made him feel nervous  about  fizzy-sparkling  things. He didn't know why .. he just knew that fizzy-sparling things would somehow do a Fizz-sparky thing to him .. from head to toe! And he didn't want that!

As he moved away from the window in fright Mrs Mack just happened to get  a glimpse of him! His bright Yellow shape startled her and she yelled out: "Aliens! ... Aliens! ... Hell's Bells!  Aliens!"

Melloh Jelloh retreated to the safety  of  the  garden  shed.  He  promised himself that he'd never venture outside of it again!

   "Electrical banana
    Is gonna be a sudden craze
    Electrical banana
    Is bound to be the very next phase", Melloh Jelloh sang as he slid into his hiding place.


6 Widdle Waddles

             
The weather was changing from  cold winter to warmer  spring  days.  Melloh Jelloh felt nervous! The warmth made him feel  sticky-gooey ... and sticky-gooey  was  not  good, not for Jelly, and most of all ... not for a Jelloh!

Sticky-gooey was one thing,  ...  but,  Widdle-waddles  were  something  so horrible he didn't want to think about them! However,  widdle-waddles  were inevitable and he knew that they would most certainly happen.  More  sooner than later!

"What do I do? Do I tell Saffron .. er .. Mary! And Shaun? ... Warn them or just splish-splosh?"

Melloh Jelloh spent most of that day thinking about this and couldn't make up his little Jelly mind one way or the other... afterall, he only had Jelly for a brain!

When he awoke the following morning he discovered that he was  more  sticky-gooey than the day before. His drooping arms had  a  slight  splish-splosh coming from them and his feet were standing in a small pool of splish-splosh! The Widdle-Waddles had begun!

"How on earth do I break the news to the children!  How do I explain Widdle-waddles and the dreaded Splish-Splosh? I've become so attached to them ...and enjoy their chitter-chatter, even though I don't understand  more  than but a fraction what they talk about!"

Melloh Jelloh decided to THUNK about it overnight! There's always tomorrow and tomorrow he will decide the issue, once and for all!  That's  providing the Splish-Splosh doesn't get him!


7 Flying High


Mary and Shaun arrived early at the shed. Mary opened the door for herself and Shaun and excitedly looked around, but was shocked  by  what  she  saw! She almost screamed!! Melloh Jelloh was melting and was standing in a pool of jelly!

"Oh No!! ... what's wrong? ... What's happening?

"You're melting away!, cried Shaun.

"This is widdle-waddles turning into splish-splosh.  Soon, my dear friends,I'll be only splish-splosh, and be no more!"

"But you can't! .. I mean ... we love you...and we want you to stay with us...forever ..not just melt away from us!" Mary had tears in her eyes as she spoke and glanced  at  Shaun  who  sobbed quietly to himself.

"How...How long do you have....I mean do WE have together?"

"The sun is hot and I'm splish-sploshing rapidly. We don't have much time".

"Isn't there something we can do...like shove you in the freezer... I'm sure Mom wouldn't mind once we explained?"

"No sorry! I have already widdle-waddled away much of  my  arms  and  legs.My body is getting thinner and thinner. Soon I shan't  be  able  to  stand! The moment I can't stand and collapse to the ground  I  will  splish-splosh away almost imediately!"

"Then I don't want to see you as a pool of Jelly ..er.. Jelloh!" Mary said, stamping her foot.

               "Born high forever to fly,
                Wind -a velocity nil.
                Born high forever to fly,
                If you want your cup I will fill" .

"What do you mean?"

"I'm going to splish-splosh then fly off in vapor ... but if you like I'd like to fill a cup of my Jelloh so you can keep something of me"

Mary and Shaun departed. They were delayed by their Mother who  had  chores for them to do. When they finally returned to the shed  Melloh  Jelloh  had melted away...except for a small piece of head where his mouth was.

"If you want your cup I will fill"  Melloh Jelloh said in a whisper.

The children scooped up some Jelloh...and both cried as they saw the last of Melloh Jelloh melt away. A sudden wisp of vapor went over them and in the gentle breeze a whispering was heard:

                    "Born high forever to fly,
                     Wind -a velocity nil.
                     Born high forever to fly,
                     If you want, your heart I will fill"

                          --- The End ---


8. "Mellow Yellow"  ;by  Donovan


I'm just mad about Saffron ,
Saffron's mad about me
I'm a-just mad about Saffron ,
She's just mad about me.

They call me mellow yellow Quite rightly
They call me mellow yellow Quite rightly
They call me mellow yellow .

I'm just mad about Fourteen ,
A-Fourteen's mad about me
I'm a-just a-mad about a-Fourteen ,
She's just mad about me.

They call me mellow yellow
They call me mellow yellow Quite rightly
They call me mellow yellow .

Born high forever to fly,
Wind -a velocity nil.
Born high forever to fly,
If you want your cup I will fill .

They call me mellow yellow Quite rightly
They call me mellow yellow Quite rightly
They call me mellow yellow .
He's so mellow , mellow fellow

Electrical banana
Is gonna be a sudden craze .
Electrical banana
Is bound to be the very next phase .

They call it mellow yellow Quite rightly
They call me mellow yellow Quite rightly
They call me mellow yellow .

You, ah, Saffron , yeah ,
I'm just mad about her
I'm a-just a-mad about a-Saffron ,
She's just mad about me.

They call me mellow yellow Quite rightly
They call me mellow yellow Quite rightly
They call me mellow yellow .
Oh so mellow , oh so mellow , oh so mellow .



Back to TOP

®