Michael Fleming

An even better bedtime story to read to your kids (or by all means play the audio) - the greatest poem ever written? “If you can keep your head when all about you        Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,    If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,     But make allowance for their doubting too;    If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,     Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies, Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,     And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise: If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;        If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;    If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster     And treat those two impostors just the same;    If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken     Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,     And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools: If you can make one heap of all your winnings     And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss, And lose, and start again at your beginnings     And never breathe a word about your loss; If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew     To serve your turn long after they are gone,    And so hold on when there is nothing in you     Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’ If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,        Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch, If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,     If all men count with you, but none too much; If you can fill the unforgiving minute     With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,    Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,        And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!” By Rudyard Kipling.

The Dragon of Salt Lake 🐉 One day, a small dragon flew into the small town of Burnley, England. The dragon was quite small. The dragon bought a precious treasure from the good people of Burnley – its football club. Some of the good people of Burnley pointed and said, "Look, a dragon has bought the club!"… But the rest of the townsfolk laughed, and said, in a condescending manner, "Don't be daft, there's no such thing as dragons." Then, every year that followed, the small dragon grew bigger, and bigger, and bigger. And little by little, more of the good people of Burnley pointed and said, "Look, the dragon is growing – and it's guarding our precious treasure"… As we all know, dragons love to hoard treasure. Still, some townsfolk shrugged their shoulders… "Maybe it's a dragon, I can't quite tell, it's hard to say." Others said, "At least our precious treasure is safe." Then, one dark night… The dragon had grown so large, its wings and tail hung out of the sides of Turf Moor. The whole town could see it. The dragon then roared, spread its wings, and flew away – taking the precious treasure with it. And the good people of Burnley looked around, to see that their precious treasure was gone. They looked at each other – all of the good people of Burnley, from all walks of life, looked at each other, and said, "Dragons are real." By Stories From The Smoke.