tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6468660914791425912024-03-08T13:21:50.167-08:00Stories for Simon and Helena by Nanafaith1110http://www.blogger.com/profile/02358925817174593317noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-646866091479142591.post-78272913286675749832017-01-02T11:46:00.003-08:002020-04-12T01:42:39.933-07:00The blue tomato<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
It was a Wednesday.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
On Wednesdays, Nana always goes to the supermarket to do some shopping.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This Wednesday was a lovely, sunny day. Nana’s green car sparkled in the sunshine.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
At the supermarket, lots of people were already getting their shopping. Their cars sparkled, too, but they were not as sparkly as Nana’s green car.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a name='more'></a>Nana parked the car, took her shopping bag with the pink flowers on it out of the car boot and hurried to the stand where the trolleys were waiting for shoppers, pushed a Euro into the slot, and pulled the trolley out.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Then she went into the supermarket and tried to remember what was on her shopping list.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I remember now,” she told herself after a minute or two. “I need tomatoes and other things.”<br />
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There was nobody at the tomato stand, so Nana took her time choosing which ones she would buy. There were little ones with green stalks attached, tomatoes as big as apples, tomatoes hanging off long joined-up stalks and medium-sized tomatoes arranged in rows. The tomatoes in rows all looked the same and probably tasted the same.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Then Nana looked again at the rows of medium-sized tomatoes. Are not all tomatoes red? She asked herself. No. Some are green if they are not ready to eat, but as a rule the tomatoes we eat on our bread or in our salad are red.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So what was a bright blue tomato doing in a row of red tomatoes?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Nana looked around for a sales assistant, but she could not see one. There was a man in a straw hat selling meat at the meat counter, a large lady wearing a floral overall selling cakes at the cake counter, and three ladies taking the money at the check-outs, but there was no one selling tomatoes.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Help yourself!” the sign said at the vegetable stand.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“OK. I’ll help myself,” said Nana out loud as she took a paper bag from the pile of paper bags waiting to be filled with carrots, or…peas, or…beans, or…apples, or…tomatoes.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Nana packed 6 red tomatoes into a paper bag.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“That will be enough,” she decided.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Then she heard a small voice telling her to “Take me, too!”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Nana looked around, but she could not see anyone.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Youwho! I’m here,” said the voice, and it seemed to be coming from the tomatoes.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It was. The blue tomato was talking.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Tomatoes can’t talk,” said Nana to herself, “especially blue ones.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Don’t leave me here,” said the blue tomato sadly.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Nana felt sorry for the blue tomato. She did not think she would want to eat it, but she would show it to people and they would be happy that she had rescued it.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Back home, Nana unpacked her shopping and put the bag with the tomatoes in the fridge.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Then she heard a familiar voice calling “Get me out of here. I’m freezing cold.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“All right, all right, I’m coming,” called Nana. She took the seven tomatoes out of the fridge and out of their bag, and put them on a plate. The blue one was in the centre and the other six in a ring around it.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Thank you,” called the blue tomato.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Don’t mention it,” said Nana.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“You can’t eat me, you know,” said the blue tomato.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I wasn’t going to,” said Nana. “No one eats blue tomatoes.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“What I mean is that I’m too special to eat,” said the blue tomato.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Yes, you are,” said Nana.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I’m not really a tomato at all,” said the blue tomato.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Yes you are,” said Nana. “You must be. You were in the company of tomatoes and you look just like a tomato except that you are blue.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“No, I’m not a real tomato. If you try to eat me, you will get terrible indigestion. I’m only a pretend tomato. I’m made of plastic. Shoppers look at me and then they buy the real red tomatoes. I’m part of the supermarket decorations along with the other plastic fruits and vegetables. Nobody has ever taken us home before.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Well, you are part of my decorations now, Mr Blue Tomato,” said Nana, and laughed at her own silliness until tears ran down her cheeks.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“That was a really silly mistake, wasn’t it!” she said when she had finished laughing.<o:p></o:p></div>
“Yes!” called all the tomatoes in a chorus. “It was a really silly mistake, Nana.”</div>
faith1110http://www.blogger.com/profile/02358925817174593317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-646866091479142591.post-19460612262003258752017-01-02T11:27:00.002-08:002017-01-02T11:28:27.260-08:00The donkey with sad eyes<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s Charlie’s birthday today. He is 5 years old.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Charlie is on holiday. He’s staying with Auntie Annie at the
seaside. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“What would you like to do this morning, Charlie?” Auntie
Annie asked. “Your birthday party doesn’t start until 3 o’clock.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I want to ride on a donkey,” said Charlie.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Do you?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“But only if you ride a donkey, too,” said Charlie.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<a name='more'></a>“I think I’m too old to ride on a donkey, Charlie,” said
Auntie Annie. “But we can ask the man who leads the donkeys to look after you.”<o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Auntie Annie and Charlie hurried to the beach. The sea was a
long way out and the donkeys were trotting miserably along the sand without any
riders. Very soon they came back to the place where they always waited for
riders. Auntie Annie and Charlie went up to the man in charge of the donkeys.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Charlie wants to ride on a donkey,” said Auntie Annie.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Does he?” said the man, smiling from ear to ear. He was
short and fat. Charlie would be his first rider that day. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Yes I do,” said Charlie, “and so does Auntie Annie.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Charlie pointed to his Auntie. Auntie Annie shook her head.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I don’t really want to ride at my age.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Charlie looked disappointed.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“You are not too old, Mrs,” the donkey man said, bowing like
a musketeer. “I have donkeys especially for grownups and ladies.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The donkey man went up to a grey donkey with a bright
blanket over its back.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“This donkey feels the cold, Mrs. He’d be happy to take you
for a ride. It would keep his back warm.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Very well. I would hate to disappoint him.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The donkey man turned to Charlie and asked him to tell him
his name.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Charlie, Sir,” said Charlie, who had decided that anyone in
charge of so many donkeys must be a very special person.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Charlie? Now isn’t that a coincidence,” the donkey man
said. “That little donkey in the front is named Charlie. Would you like to ride
on him?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Yes please, Sir,” said Charlie, and the donkey man lifted
him onto the donkey and told him to hold the reins tightly.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Why has he got such sad eyes?” Charlie asked.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“He always has sad eyes until a nice little boy named
Charlie decides to ride on him,” said the donkey man. “Now it’s your turn,
Mrs,” he said, offering to lift Auntie Annie onto the saddle.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I can get on by myself,” said Auntie Annie, and did so.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Nobody else seemed interested in a donkey ride, so it was
just Charlie, Auntie Annie and 16 empty donkeys who set off down the beach.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The donkeys were tied together, so they always stayed together,
but the donkey man always walked with the donkey in the front with a horsewhip in
his hand to hurry the donkeys along if they were too slow.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Charlie the little boy was excited. Both Charlies wanted to
go even faster. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The donkey man could not run very fast, and the donkeys
really preferred to walk than run, but the donkey man now had to hold the
donkeys back when Charlie called “Giddy-up, Giddy-up, Charlie!”.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Soon the donkeys picked up speed and were cantering down the
beach instead of walking. Charlie the donkey’s sad eyes lit up. He was
cantering without first feeling the horsewhip on his flank.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Auntie Annie was
bobbing up and down and hanging on grimly to her donkey, shouting “Slow down,
please!”, but the cantering turned into a gallop.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The donkey man was now running as fast as he could. The
little bells around the donkeys’ harnesses were jingling merrily. Charlie the
little boy and Charlie the donkey were having a wonderful time.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Since Charlie the donkey was galloping, all the other
donkeys were galloping, too. Auntie Annie screamed “Slow down now!” without the
’please’. The donkey man let go of Charlie the donkey and fell moaning to the
ground. He could not run any more. Now he had sad eyes and all the donkeys had happy
eyes. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What kind of eyes did Auntie Annie have?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’ll let you into a secret. Her eyes were wide open and she
was shouting “Stop, Stop!” at the top of her voice.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Several people on the beach took up the chase after the
donkeys because they thought they were running away. But there was no need to
stop the donkeys. They stopped all by themselves when they got to the place
where they always stopped. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The donkeys waited for the donkey man to catch up with them.
A kind person helped Auntie Annie to climb off her donkey. Charlie wanted to stay
on his. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Can I take the donkey home, Auntie Annie?” he said.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“He’s not for sale, Mrs,” interrupted the donkey man. “He’s
the fastest donkey in the world.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Auntie Annie thought the donkey man was being quite clever.
The people who had run after the donkeys were very impressed and they all
wanted a ride on the fastest donkey in the world. Since the donkeys were all tied together, they
were all the fastest donkey in the world, but no one thought of that.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“We couldn’t buy him anyway. We haven’t got a field to put
him in,” said Auntie Annie. “Come along now, Charlie.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I can’t leave my donkey here,” said Charlie.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“We’ll come back tomorrow,” said Auntie Annie.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
At his birthday party that afternoon, Charlie told everyone
that although he liked his bicycle present very much, he preferred his donkey.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“What donkey?” they all asked.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The donkey that my Auntie Annie gave me this morning,” he
explained.<o:p></o:p></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br clear="all" style="mso-special-character: line-break; page-break-before: always;" />
</span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</div>
faith1110http://www.blogger.com/profile/02358925817174593317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-646866091479142591.post-4318016408172441272016-09-11T03:03:00.002-07:002017-01-02T11:45:20.951-08:00Donkey-speak<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“Hi, folks! I’m Dinky,” Dinky the donkey called to everyone
who came past his big green field, but no one was interested and that made
Dinky very sad.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<a name='more'></a><div style="text-align: justify;">
Dinky missed his old friend, Stanley the Shetland pony.
Stanley had shared the big green field for a long time. But a little girl had
come and ridden on Stanley and told her father that Stanley was exactly the
pony she had dreamt of. So the little girl’s father had bought Stanley, and
they had taken him away in a big horse-box.</div>
<span style="text-align: justify;">Dinky had called out “There’s room for me, too,” but the
little girl’s father had called back “Sorry, we can’t make room for you in our
field, so you’ll have to stay here.”</span><o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
The farmer promised Dinky that he would bring a new pony to
keep Dinky company, but he didn’t. Dinky was left all alone in the big green
field.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
One day, the farmer came to see if Dinky was OK, but when he
left, he forgot to close the gate properly.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Dinky saw that the gate was not closed properly. After
looking around and seeing nobody, he pushed his nose under the catch and the
gate opened wide.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“Now what shall I do?” Dinky asked himself.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“I’ll run away,” he answered, and trotted out of the big
green field onto the road.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“I’d better be quick, before someone sees me,” Dinky told
himself and galloped as fast as he could down the road.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Sometimes he was hungry, but that was not a problem. He
simply stopped and nibbled the grass on the side of the road. When he was
thirsty, he drank water from one of the puddles in the road that the rain had
left behind.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
But most of the time, Dinky was moving fast and he was lucky
that no one was around, so no one saw the little donkey as he ran away from the
big green field.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Then Dinky saw a road-sign. It read “ZOO” and had a picture
of a zebra on it.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“Wow,” thought Dinky. “A striped pony! I’d like a striped
pony to talk to. I’ll go to the zoo and get one.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Dinky puzzled over how he could persuade a zebra to go home
with him to the big green field.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“What if he doesn’t speak my language?” he thought. “What if
nobody understands donkey-speak?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
But there was no turning back, so Dinky followed the signs
to the zoo and presently he was standing in front of the wrought-iron gates
that he unfortunately could not open.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
The zoo was closed for the night.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“What shall I do now?” thought Dinky and walked slowly away.
The zoo was surrounded by a wrought-iron fence, so Dinky followed it and to his
amazement there was a gap in it. Someone had sawn pieces out and stolen them.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Dinky squeezed through the gap in the fence. He was still
alone. No sign of any zebras.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“Where is my zebra?” he asked himself. Then he set out to
look for it.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
He went past all kinds of animals and they were all locked
up for the night. The owls looked at Dinky in astonishment. The tiger in his
cage licked his lips and Dinky was afraid. He trotted past all the big cat
cages very fast and all the big cats roared as if to say “I’d like you for my
breakfast.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
He went past the elephants and they trumpeted at him. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“Who are you?” they seemed to be calling, and Dinky tried to
tell them. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
The elephants were fortunately polyglot. Some had already
lived in more than one zoo. They could more or less speak donkey-speak.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“No, thank you,” they said, when Dinky invited them to share
his big green field. “We don’t live in fields. Where we live it is sandy and
dry and we have a big bathtub to go for a swim. Do you have a big bathtub,
little donkey?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“No, but rains a lot and keeps the green grass wet and
tasty,” Dinky replied.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Dinky moved on to the penguins, but they didn’t understand
him at all, and the sea-lions just flapped their flippers at Dinky and told him
that he was keeping everyone awake.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Next door to the sea-lions was a big pool. On one side there
were rocks and they had snowy tops. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“I wonder who lives here,” Dinky wondered. “It’s summer and
there is snow on the hills.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Then he saw something big, white and furry.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“What’s that?” Dinky asked himself.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
The big, white, furry something stood up. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
It was a polar bear.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Dinky had never been to the North Pole and he had never seen
such a large, white, furry animal before.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
On reflection, Dinky realized that it looked a bit like the
sheep in the neighbouring big green field at home, but the sheep made little
noises, and this big furry creature roared.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“Good evening!” called Dinky, hoping he would be understood.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“Good evening!” replied the polar bear much to Dinky’s
surprise. “Who are you?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“I’m Dinky. Who are you?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“I’m Peter.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“Can you get out?” asked Dinky.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“No, and I don’t want to,” replied Peter.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“Are you on your own in here?” asked Dinky.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“Yes and being alone is very boring,” answered Peter.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“I have a big green field all to myself. I think you’d like
it there, and you’d have me to talk to,” said Dinky, hoping that Peter the
polar bear knew enough donkey-speak to carry on a conversation. “Where did you
learn my language,” Dinky asked.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“I speak all languages,” said Peter. “You have to in here.
This is a refugee camp, you know.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“What is that?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“That’s a place you are brought to when you have lost your
home,” Peter explained.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“So no one is at home here,” said Dinky.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Then a new thought came to him.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“Do you think I can stay here, Peter?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“I expect you can,” said Peter, “but it’s not for me to
decide.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“Oh,” said Dinky. “What do you suggest?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“Why don’t you lie down on the grass I can see from where I
am? I’d invite you in, but it’s too wet for you where I live. In the morning
you can ask someone if you can stay here.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Dinky slept well. He was very tired from his long journey
from the big green field. One of the animal keepers came early and found Dinky
asleep.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“What have we here?” he asked in a voice not unlike that of
the farmer.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Dinky woke, stood up, and shook himself.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“I’m Dinky,” he said in donkey-speak. “I’ve come to stay or
find a zebra to take home.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“Calm down,” said the keeper. “You can stay with the other
donkeys until we find your owner.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
The keeper led Dinky to the other donkeys. To Dinky’s joy
and amazement, the green field was even bigger than his big green field at
home, and there were about six other donkeys having their breakfast. But best
of all, striped ponies also lived in that big green field. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
When the donkeys and zebras saw Dinky, they stopped having
breakfast and came running. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“Who are you?” they asked.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“I’m Dinky and I’m looking for a friend to take home,” said
Dinky.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“We are all your friends, Dinky, but we are not going
anywhere,” they answered.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“Oh,” said Dinky.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“But you can stay here, Dinky,” they continued.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“So, little donkey,” said the keeper. “You can stay here
until we find your owner.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
And do you know what? Dinky is still living in the zoo. The farmer
did not even try to find Dinky. He put sheep in the big green field, surrounded
it with an electrified fence in case the gate was left open again, and was glad
that Dinky had left home.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Dinky was glad he had run away. He now had a dozen or more friends
and he soon joined the group that gave rides to little children, so now and
again he could talk to Peter, the polar bear and thank him for his help. <o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
</div>
faith1110http://www.blogger.com/profile/02358925817174593317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-646866091479142591.post-36043891565972946572016-07-06T12:16:00.004-07:002017-01-02T11:44:49.590-08:00The Secret<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="Default" style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
When is your birthday, Simon?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
My
birthday is on the October 11, but I’ll let you into a secret. I have only
had one birth day, the day I came into this world, and so have you, but we
remember the special day when we came into the world by celebrating with a
party or an outing and we sing a special song. Let’s sing it now. Somebody
somewhere is sure to have his or her birthday today.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
</div>
<a name='more'></a>Max's
birthday is in March, but an outing is always good fun, so when it was Daddy’s
birthday on the first day of autumn he told Max that they were going for a
walk and should take a basket with them, Max was happy, but he did not know
what the basket was for.<o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
<br />
Happy
Birthday to you, <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
Happy
Birthday dear S O M E B O D Y, <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
Happy
Birthday to you.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
“It’s a
secret,” said Daddy.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
“What
kind of a secret?” asked Max.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
“It’s a
secret secret,” said Daddy.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
What’s
a secret secret?” asked Max.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
“It’s a
secret I am not sure about, Max. Let’s just go for a walk and wait and
see,” said Daddy.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
Max tried to guess what the secret was.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
“Is it
a water secret?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
“No, it
isn’t,” said Daddy.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
“Is it
a flying secret?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
“No.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
“Is it
an ice-cream secret?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
“No,”
said Daddy.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
Max could not think of anything else to ask about, so he put on his wellies and a
jacket, borrowed Mummy’s shopping basket, and Max and his Daddy set off for
their walk.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
“Don’t
forget your gloves, Max!” said Mummy.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
“I
don’t want any gloves, Mummy. It isn’t cold enough.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
“Put
them in your pocket, Max,” said Mummy. “You might change your mind.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
“I’m
taking my gloves, too,” said Daddy.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
“Is it
a birthday secret, Daddy?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
“Not
exactly. You’ll see.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
They
soon came to Farmer Giles’s farm.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
“Where
are we going?” asked Max.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
“Just
through Farmer Giles’s fields,” said Daddy.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
Max was excited.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
“Is it
an animal secret?” he asked.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
Max loved animal secrets because there were usually wild animals in a zoo or farm
animals in a farm at the end of the secret.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
“Not
this time, Max,” said Daddy.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
Now Max was disappointed, but not for long.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
As they
were walking along the edge of Farmer Giles’s field, Max suddenly spotted
something. It was a berry and lit looked good enough to eat.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
“Try
one,” said Daddy. “You might like them.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
“They
look a bit like strawberries, but they are not red,” said Max.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
“Strawberries
grow on little plants on the ground, Max,” Daddy said, “but these berries
grow on bushes.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
Max liked the the fruity berries. They were juicy and made up of little balls stuck
together. You could eat the little black balls one by one, or you could eat the
whole berry at once.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
The
only problem is that when you try to pick them. The bushes prick you with
their thorns.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
“These
berries are called blackberries and they grow on thorny bushes,” said Daddy.
“The thorns are to stop the birds eating the berries.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
“I
can’t see any birds,” said Max, “but the thorns are stopping Max eating.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
“I have
a good idea,” said Daddy. “Put your gloves on. I’m going to wear mine.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
So Max and his Daddy put on their gloves so that they would not feel the thorns
when they were picking the blackberries.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
“Now
let’s fill the basket with blackberries and take them home to Mummy,” said
Daddy. “Mummy will make a blackberry crumble for tea.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
Max picked the berries that were not too high for him to reach, and Daddy picked
the ones growing higher up, almost in the sky. Very soon they had reached the
end of one hedgerow and were ready to start on the next one, but the basket was
still not very full, even after two long hedgerows.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
“You’ll
have to stop eating them, Max,” said Daddy. “You will get a tummy-ache
and Mummy won’t have enough blackberries for the crumble.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
Max sat down on a big stone and waited while Daddy went along a different hedgerow
and filled the basket with fruit. He was tall enough to reach the even the
highest branches – well almost - and did not eat any – well, not many.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
Then
they went home.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
“Can we
go again on my birthday, Daddy?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
“Of
course we can go again, Charlie,” said Daddy. “But not on your birthday. The
blackberries have only just started to grow in March.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
“But we
can go on my un-birthdays, like tomorrow,” said Max. “Yes, we can,” said
Daddy.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
“You
brought a lot of blackberries home,” said Mummy when she saw how many Max and his Daddy had gathered.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
Max had a ring of black juice all round his mouth.<br />
“Let me
see your tongue, Max,” said his Mummy.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
Max stuck his tongue out. It was almost black from eating berries.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
“I
thought so,” said Mummy. “You must have eaten a lot of berries to get such a
black tongue.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
“Daddy
got some more to fill the basket.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
“That
was a very good idea,” said Mummy.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
Max went to look in a mirror and was very surprised to see that his tongue was the
black colour of the blackberries.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
Mummy
made the crumble for tea and Max painted a picture. What did he paint?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
The
blackberry crumble was very nice, but not quite as nice as the blackberries Max had pulled off the bushes and popped into his mouth. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
faith1110http://www.blogger.com/profile/02358925817174593317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-646866091479142591.post-3424983205160800022016-07-06T11:49:00.002-07:002017-01-02T11:48:06.021-08:00Ughtah the giant<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Ughtah is a big guy. He has big feet, a big voice and a big
heart.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
When Ughtah enters a room he has to duck so that he doesn't
bang his head on the top of the door frame.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
When Ughtah sits down, he takes up two-thirds of his sofa. You
can’t see what is behind Ughtah without running round him.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<a name='more'></a>Ughtah never shouts at anybody and he gets upset when people
shout at him. What he doesn’t know is that people shout at him because he so
tall that they think he won't hear them if they don’t shout. Ughtah so tall and
round that he does not always know where a voice is coming from, either. This
makes life difficult for Ughtah because he never knows who is not angry with
him and who is not hiding behind him.<o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Ughtah likes to go for walks in the woods, but only when the
sun is shining and the birds are singing. On sunny days Ughtah thinks the sun
is shining especially for him so he says a loud THANK YOU to the sun. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Ughtah likes the woods because the trees are even taller
than him so he does not feel like a giant. When he stands beside some of the
trees, he feels very tiny.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
In the summer, the trees are dressed in leaves that rustled
in the breeze. Ughtah thinks the trees are waving to him, so he waves back.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
When the birds see Ughtah, they sing special songs for him.
The bird song that Ughtah likes most is that of the cuckoo. He sings Ugh-tah,
Ugh-tah. The other birds do not like their fat feathered friend. They sing
tunes like Ugh-ugh-ugh-ugh-tah, or Ugh-tah-ugh-tah-tah, or
tah-tah-tah-tah-tah-tah-ugh. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
In winter Ughtah does not enjoy his walks as much. The
leaves on the trees have turned red and yellow and fallen off, leaving the
branches bare. Most of the birds who sing for Ughtah have taken holidays in
warmer places, and the wind often howls as if it is angry with Ughtah. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
So instead of going for walks in the woods, Ughtah listens
to symphonies. His favourite symphony is by a guy called Beethoven and goes
Ugh-tah-tah-tah, Ugh-tah-tah-tah. Ughtah likes to sing along with Beethoven’s 5<sup>th</sup>
symphony, but sometimes he plays his own
music on his old upright piano. One of his favourite tunes is the “Flea Waltz”. It goes
Diddle-ugh-tah-tah, Diddle-ugh-tah-tah, Diddle-ugh-tah-ugh-tah-ugh-tah-tah. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Ughtah likes to play piano duets with his friend whose name
is Diddle. They play scales that go Did-dle Did-dle Did-dle Did-dle-tah and the
Flea Waltz fourhanded, and Diddle, who is very short and has very small feet,
but a big heart like Ughtah's, but not quite as big, winds his revolving piano
stool as high as it will go and sings along to the piano-playing. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
When they have finished making music, they drink lemonade
and eat fruit. Piano-playing makes you thirsty and hungry, Ughtah says. If they
are very hungry – and they always are - they go into the kitchen to eat the
donuts someone Diddle knows bakes secretly for Ughtah every day. They eat them
all up to the last sticky mouthful, leaving nothing on the plate. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
You always know when Ughtah and Diddle have been eating
donuts because they have a ring of icing sugar around their mouths and the
donut plate is empty. Diddle says that the rings in the donuts have transferred
themselves to their mouths, but Ughtah is not very good at thinking deeply
about things, so he only laughs at what
Diddle is saying, thinking it must be a joke.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
One day, Ughtah said to Diddle “We're getting fatter and
fatter on these donuts. We must find out who makes them and ask them not to
make as many.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“We? Don’t you mean you?” said Diddle.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
The problem is that while Diddle stays the same and can get
through any door, Ughtah now not only has to bend over to avoid the top of a
door, but also has to squeeze himself through the door opening with a push from
Diddle that ends with a plop as Ughtah arrives on the other side. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“You are getting very fat, too, my friend,” Ughtah said,
mainly because he would prefer to have a fat friend who did not tell him that
he was fat.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Diddle does not like to be told he is getting fatter because
it is not true. He says the donuts are too big. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“If the donuts are half as big, twice as many will fit on
the plate,” Ughtah argues, “so I will eat twice as many to make the plate empty.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“But three small donuts are less food than three large
donuts,” Diddle argues. “If you want to get through doors, you should eat small
donuts and it doesn’t matter how many are left over.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
But Diddle was not being fair. He had decided that when
Ughtah had eaten three small donuts next day, he could eat all the others, but
he did not tell Ughtah about this solution to the problem of what to do with
the 6 left-over donuts.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
There were normally 6 big donuts on the plate. Diddle was
good at counting. He and Ughtah each normally ate 3 big donuts each. But if the
donuts were small and Ughtah ate 3 as usual, there would be 9 donuts left over.
Ughtah was not good at counting, so he would not notice, Diddle decided.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Ughtah finally agreed to eat smaller donuts. Diddle knew that the
donuts came from the baker’s shop called ‘Angel's Cakes and Donuts’. The sales
assistant, whose foreign-sounding name was Crogski Ailkens because she was
foreign person, liked Ughtah and Diddle, which is why she baked the donuts for
them every day. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Crogski was a head taller than Diddle, which did not mean
that she had two heads; it just meant that the rest of her was not as short.
Crogski was at least two heads shorter than Ughtah, but that did not mean she
had no head; it just meant that the rest of her was not as long. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
"I think I'll take a holiday from work," said Ughtah’s girlfriend Eckerlie one day.
"I want to see what you are eating, Ughtah. I don't want you to roll up
the aisle when we get married." <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Eckerlie thought she would marry Ughtah one day. Marriage was
not something Ughtah thought about, so he asked his is girlfriend Eckerlie why
he would even think of rolling up the aisle with anyone.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Eckerlie was forced to admit that Ughtah was not very bright.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“I’m going on holiday, Ughtah. When I come back I expect you
to be half as fat as you are now.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
"That’s a good idea, Eckerlie," replied Ughtah,
thinking of all the donuts he ate every day. “But you will go to work every
day, won’t you?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Eckerlie’s brain-cells were now working overtime. She was
trying to understand why Ughtah wanted her out of the house all day.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“I could stay at home and spend my holiday in the garden,”
she said. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
"But we need the money, Eckerlie." said Ughtah,
now worried that she would see the donuts. “You must carry on working.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“If you worked every day, you would not be as fat,” said
Eckerlie. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“If I worked all day, I would hate it,” said Ughtah.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
You’ve guessed. Ughtah is not an all-the-year-round worker.
In fact, he only ever works when the circus comes to town. Then he paints his
own nose red to match the red nose mask with the spectacles that hook over his
ears. He paints his face white with one big black tear rolling down his cheek.
Ughtah squeezes himself into his clown constume, although it has grown smaller
since the previous year. He puts on his hat with the wobbly flower on a spring
and entertains the audience in the circus tent. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“Here comes Roly-Poly!” the circus manager announces, Ughtah
rolls down a long ramp into the circus manege and the audience shouts and
cheers.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Ughtah performs his clown act to music played by Diddle.
Eckerlie stands by in case of emergency, though she does not quite know what an
emergency looks like. It could be something to do with the large safety-pins
she has pinned to her Red Cross uniform. If Ughtah should burst out of his
costume she would be there to pin him in again. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
A week later Eckerlie started her holiday. She sat in the
garden and did crosswords or read a book. Ughtah did not realise that Eckerlie
was also watching the kitchen through a car mirror screwed onto the deck-chair.
The kitchen door was fortunately open, so Eckerlie did not miss anything.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
While Ughtah and Diddle were playing duets on the piano,
Crogski crept silently into the garden and into the kitchen. She was carrying a
plate. On the plate were 12 half-sized donuts covered in icing suger. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Eckerlie did not say anything. She got out of her deck-chair
and went into the kitchen.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Eckerlie felt very hungry when she saw the donuts.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“I’ll just have one,” she said to herself. “Nobody will
notice. There are so many.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Eckerlie enjoyed the donut so much that she ate another, and
another, until there were only 6 left on the plate. Then she went back into the
garden and had a sleep.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
While she was sleeping, Ughtah and Diddle finished their
music-making, their lemonade and their fruit and came into the kitchen to eat
the donuts.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“Somebody had eaten half the donuts,” said Diddle.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“No they haven’t,” said Ughtah. “There are 6 on the plate.
There are always 6 donuts on the plate.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“But I ordered 12,” said Diddle, now very puzzled.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“We only eat 6, Diddle,” said Ughtah. “Why did you order 12?
Didn’t we say that we were going to eat smaller donuts, not more donuts?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“These are smaller,” said Diddle. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“But I only eat 3 and you only eat 3, so there are enough donuts
for both of us.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“But there should be 12 donuts on the plate.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“What have you done with the others then,” said Ughtah. “We
were playing the piano when the donuts came.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“I haven’t done anything with them, Ughtah. They have disappeared.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
The two musicians ate the small donuts and went for a walk
in the park.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Next day the same thing happened. Ughtah and Diddle played
the piano; Eckerlie sat in the garden; Crogski brought the donuts and left;
Eckerlie ate 6; the musicians came to get their donuts and 6 had gone. Every
day for a week the same thing happened.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
On Saturday Diddle went to the baker’s shop and asked Crogski
why she was only bringing 6 donuts.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“I brought 12 every day,” Crogski said.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“But there were only ever 6 on the plate,” said Diddle.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“Somebody must have
eaten them while you were not looking, Diddle,” said Crogski. She was quite
angry that someone who was not Diddle or Ughtah had taken the donuts.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“I think you’ll have to guard your donuts, Diddle,” said Crogski.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Diddle told Ughtah what Crogski had said and they decided to
spy on the donut thief.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Next day they played a recording of piano music and hid
behind a door from where they could see the kitchen table.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Crogski brought the 12 donuts and left. Then something
happened that made Ughtah and Diddle rub their eyes in disbelief.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Eckerlie, who had told Ughtah he was fat, came into the kitchen and gobbled up 6 of the
donuts before going back into the garden.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“What shall we do now?” said Ughtah.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“We’ll challenge her,” said Diddle.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“How?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“Follow me!” said Diddle.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
He led the way to Eckerlie’s deck-chair. She had her eyes
closed and was enjoying the sunshine.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“Hey you,” shouted Diddle, making Eckerlie and Ughtah jump.
“Where are my donuts?” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“They are on the plate,” said Eckerlie.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“I mean where are the 6 donuts that should also be on the
plate?” said Diddle.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“I don’t know,” said Eckerlie.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“You are telling an untruth, Eckerlie,” said Diddle.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“Don’t say that to Eckerlie,” said Ughtah. “She doesn’t know
anything about the donuts.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“Oh yes she does,” said Diddle, looking closely at Eckerlie.
“Look at the icing sugar all round her mouth.“<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Ughtah looked.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“You’re right, Diddle,” he said. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“Did you eat all those donuts last week and today?” Diddle
asked. “The evidence that you did is very strong.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“Did you, Eckerlie? If so, I’m disappointed in you,” said
Ughtah. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Eckerlie was ashamed. She picked up her book and went home.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Diddle ordered 6 big donuts for the following day. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Ughtah said he was not going to roll down the aisle with
Eckerlie for all the donuts in the world.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
</div>
faith1110http://www.blogger.com/profile/02358925817174593317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-646866091479142591.post-54115855925740166362016-07-06T11:48:00.003-07:002017-01-02T11:46:01.391-08:00The bird on a string<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
One windy autumn day Charlie went for a walk with his Daddy.
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Charlie loved walks with his Daddy because his Daddy told
him interesting things. When Charlie asked a question, his Daddy gave him an
answer. Charlie remembered everything his Daddy told him. At home he told his
Mummy what Daddy had explained. They
played a game called “Guess what I saw today!”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In the autumn, the leaves on the trees turn red and gold and
wind blows them off the branches. They float down until they reach the ground.
Then they huddle together in a pile and walkers in the woods can listen to the
rustling as their footsteps swish through the piles of fallen leaves. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When the wind is very strong it howls and the tall trees
sway to and fro. It’s a good idea to hold on to your hat if your wearing one
because if the wind takes it off your head you may not be able to run fast
enough to catch it.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a>Today Charlie and his Daddy decided to go to the park. In
the park there was a steep hill In the winter when snow lay on the ground; children
could slide down on toboggans, but I’ll tell you that story another time.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The wind was howling through the trees as Charlie and his
Daddy got to the park. It was hard work climbing the hill, but half way up Charlie
saw something beautiful: they saw a beautiful bird swaying and tossing itself
high up in the sky. It was coloured with nearly every colour in the world and
it had a long tail.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“What’s that, Daddy?” said Charlie. It didn’t look like the
hens in the coop or the ducks in the water, or even like the little birds who
fly in an out of the wooden bird houses in people’s gardens.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Daddy looked up at the bird.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“It’s tied on a string,” said Charlie “but it wants to fly
away.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The coloured bird on a string flew higher and higher, but it
could not fly away. Charlie saw that it was being held prisoner by a little
boy. The boy was quite a bit bigger and quite a lot older than Charlie, but
Charlie ran ahead up the hill and said to the boy holding the string tightly: “Let
go! Can’t you see that the beautiful bird wants to be free?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Don’t be silly,”
said the boy. “It’s mine. If I let go of the string, it will fly away.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“But it’s a bird,” said Charile. “Birds always fly.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Don’t be silly,” said the boy again. “It isn’t a bird, it’s
a kite.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Charly turned to his Daddy.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“What’s a kite, Daddy?” asked Charlie.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“It’s a toy made of painted paper and pieces of wood,” said
Daddy.” Sometimes it lookis like a bird.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Like this one?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Yes,” said Daddy. “but
it can also look like a dragon or a clown.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Do you have one, Daddy?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“No, but we could make one.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Let’s go home and make one now,” said Charlie.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Charlie and his Daddy hurried to the shop in town where you
could buy the wooden pieces and paper to make a kite. Then they hurried home to
make it. Charlie decded to make a fish, so Daddy cut the paper carefully and
Charlie coloured it with his crayons. Then Daddy fixed the fish onto the wood,
and they found a ball of string in the kitchen cupboard, so they used that to
make string to stop the fish from flying away.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Where’s its tail?” Charlie wanted to know.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Charlie coloured a large piece of paper while Daddy had a
cup of coffee. Then Daddy cut the long piece of paper into long strips and
glued them onto the tail end of the fish so that they wriggled and wiggled.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“That’s nice,” said Charlie. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Now we’ll go back to the top of the hill in the park and
see if our fish can fly like a bird,” said Daddy, and they hurried back before
the wind died down.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Charlie held on to the string, in which Daddy had made a
loop so that it could slip over Charlie’s hand and keep a tight hold on the
fish kite. Then he helped Charlie’s colourful fish to get off the ground by
running fast and holding it above his head. At first it dived and Charlie was
worried.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I don’t think my fish wants to fly,” he said.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Yes, it does,” said Daddy. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Sure enough, all at once the fish kite made a decision.
Instead of diving back onto the ground, it started to climb into the sky. Daddy
put Charlie’s hand through the loop at the end of the string and the watched
the fish climbing higher and higher until the string was stretched as far as it
would go. The fish’s tail fluttered in the wind and the fish would have liked
to go on flying, but Charlie was holding on to the string.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“If I don’t let go, I will soon be flying, too,” said
Charlie.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But fortunately, the wind was not quite strong enough to
lift Charlie from the ground.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The little boy with the bird that was not really a bird was
still holding on to his bird kite. The kite bird was still swooping and
climbing. The boy came to Charlie and said <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I like your fish kite. It can fly even higher than mine.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Charlie was very happy.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Can we come here tomorrow?” he asked his Daddy.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Yes, if the wind is strong enough, Charlie.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“We can bring Mummy, then she can see how high a fish can
fly,” said Charlie.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“That’s a good idea, but you must pull the fish in because
we are going home now,” said Daddy.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Then Charlie pulled at the fish and Daddy wound the string
together into a ball as the fish came nearer and nearer. When the fish kite was
back on the ground, Charlie took the string loop off his wrist and they wound
it onto the ball of string. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Then they went home to tea.<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
faith1110http://www.blogger.com/profile/02358925817174593317noreply@blogger.com0