Stop Stop the Church Moose

One summer Saturday, Willy was playing at the church, and wandered into the woods by the pond. She was pretending to be a great hunter, when suddenly she tripped over something, and almost fell into the pond. She steadied herself, and then turned to see what she’d tripped over. When she saw what it was, her eyes opened wide, and she said, WoW!, For there laying all curled up, and partly covered by leaves, was a baby Moose!!



She looked carefully around for Mama Moose. Mama Moose are very protective of their babies. A mad mama moose could trample and hurt a large man, let alone a little girl, if mama Moose thought you were hurting her baby. There was no Mama Moose in sight.



Willy decided she’d hide and watch for a while to see if Mama Moose came back for her baby. She waited for a long while, but no Mama Moose. Willy went to lunch with her mother, and told her about finding the baby moose. She asked her mother, “If Mama Moose doesn’t come back, can I take the baby Moose home for a pet?” Her Mother said, “No way, Jose!!. A baby moose grows quickly into a very, very large moose with big antlers. Why, the antlers would go right through our ceiling and roof!!. Those sharp hooves of theirs would cut up our floor. Besides, a Moose is a wild and dangerous animal, in spite of their silly looks. Leave it alone in the woods.”

Willy was sad, but she said to herself, “maybe I can’t bring him home, but I’m going to watch over him, try and feed him, and see that he’s all right. And that’s what she did.

All summer long, Willy mostly, but some of her friends too, looked after the baby moose. For a while, they tried feeding him with a baby bottle. But he’d take one sip, and the bottle would be empty. So they got, first a quart bottle, then a gallon bottle. One of Willy’ s friends’ parents raised milk goats, so they got milk from there. Fortunately, what Willy’s mother said was true, and it wasn’t long before the baby was up and walking around and eating Moose food. Willy and her friends brought him plants and grasses from the lakes and streams around them. They really didn’t want him eating all the plants and grasses there at the church. They still tried to hide him. However, no matter what Willy and her friends did, it got harder and harder to hide the baby moose, though he really wasn’t a baby anymore.

That’s how the baby moose got his name. For when he got to big to hide, people going by in their cars would see him. If there were children or tourists in the car, they would yell, “Stop, Stop. Look at the Moose, at the Moose”. Willy decided, after this happened a few times, that his name should be “Stop, Stop, the church Moose.” Before that, she’d tried several names, but none seemed to fit, like Clarence, or Wally, or Moosie. So from then on, the baby was called, Stop Stop. Although she didn’t know it at the time, Stop Stop really liked his new name.

All summer long, Stop Stop grew and grew. He stayed close to the church, and was always wandering around, listening what the people said when they came to church for meetings, or when the youth group held events at the church. He particularly liked to look in the picture window on Sundays, and listen to the people sing, and the various lessons, and the sermon. Not that he could understand the words, but he did like the sounds.

Stop Stop got so tame, that Willy was able to ride on his back. She also let some of her friends ride on his back too. By now he was so big, he probably weighed 800 or 900 lbs, and so tall they just couldn’t jump on his back. Stop Stop had to sit down with all 4 legs folded under him so they could get on. The kids then had to hold on real tight, When Stop Stop got up his back sloped so much, they would slide off if they didn’t hold on tight,

Willy used to ride him in to town. The townspeople soon got used to seeing them. Tourists. however, were a different story. Whenever Willie and Stop Stop were going along the main road, people would stop, jump out of their cars, and take lots of pictures. Sometimes this caused a traffic jam, and people could not get to stores or work, because of all the cars blocking the main road. They would ask Willie all kinds of questions, like “what kind of animal is that?, Is he a boy or a girl, how old is he, and lots morel”

Willy couldn’t understand why people couldn’t recognize a moose when they saw one, but she happily answered all their questions as best she could. After a while, the Police Chief, Mr. Maxwell, asked Willly to please ride Stop Stop down the back streets when she rode him to town, to avoid the traffic jams caused by the tourists.

That wasn’t the only trouble the Willy and Stop Stop got into. Once she rode him to the movie theater, on the south edge of town. Stop Stop tried to follow her into the theater, but almost got stuck in the door. As it was, his sharp hooves ripped the carpet in one (small) spot, and he knock over some signs. Luckily the Theater manager was very understanding . He told Willy the theater management intended to replace the carpet that week anyway. The signs were quickly set back up, and Willy took Stop Stop outside and tied him up. Stop Stop did not like being tied up, but since there was lots of juicy grass, and sweet tree branches and leaves , he did not put up a big fuss. The theater manager, when he saw Stop Stop eating, smiled, because the moose was clearing grass and branches that he had been going to hire someone to clear away.

Then one day Willy rode Stop Stop to the City Library, and tied him up in the library parking lot. This was a mistake. On the other side of the library parking lot was a little square , where every Saturday the town held a Farmer’s Market. There were all kinds of fruits and vegetables, like lettuce, stringbeans, apples, and corn. There were also table with jellies, such as fireweed, blueberry and blackberry, and some different kinds of crafts. There wasn’t any moose food in the library parking lot, but Stop Stop could smell the food in the Farmers Market. Moose being very strong, pulled and pulled at the rope tying him to a metal signpost in the parking lot, trying to get to the food he smelled. Suddenly the sigh snapped off at the sidewalk level. Stop Stop made a mad dash to the Farmer’s Market. First he went to the lettuce, knocking over a table of jellies as he went, He next went for the corn, but the sign he was dragging knocked several people off their feet. Whereever Stop Stop went, people were yelling and screaming, and he was knocking over tables and booths. Willy came out of the library, saw what was happening, and ran over to grab Stop Stop.

Everybody was very angry after this. The mayor and police even talked to her parents. In the end, Willy was forbidden to ride Stop Stop into town again. Her Dad told her that everyone agreed that a Moose is a Wild Animal, that should not be ridden, and that it was Willie’s fault for trying to rideStop Stop, a wild moose. Willy had to work to pay back the people whose vegetables Stop Stop ate or stepped on. She could not ride Stop Stop anymore. Stop Stop then started following Willy where ever she went.

As the summer went on, Stop Stop, besides following Willy, started wandering farther afield. He’d go down to the Palmer Hay Flats, to visit other Moose, play Moose games, and go to Moose school. He always came back to the little Church in the woods.

Summer ended, ended, and Willy was back in school. She still came over to church to play in the church yard, or help her mother print off bulletins, or sweep the floors. Stop Stop still wandered around the Churchyard, and Willy was able to talk to him, pet him and feed him a few tasty plant morsels. Stop Stop was wandering a little further away now, after all, he was nearly full grown, and had a nice set of antlers. They were somewhat small, but about the same as other boy moose his age. Now nature has prepared the Moose for cold weather and snow, with his hooves, antlers, and funny looking but very useful lips. His eyes also work a lot better that a human, but it was his hearing and sense of smell that really stand out. What I’m trying to say is that Stop Stop was doing great. Willy might worry about him, but Stop Stop had only three things to worry about—cars, hunters and wolves. Except for cars, which moved too fast, Stop Stop was equipped to avoid hunters, and deal with wolves.