Wednesday, 3 August 2022
The Quiet Alley
Welcome To The Family: Feathers Forever
One day in the garden, I was playing tag with my cousins B-245 and Gumdrop. Gumdrop and I were laughing as we tried to chase B-245, who was very good at finding the best hiding places and trying to get away from us. “You’ll never catch me!” called B-245, pulling a funny face. “Not for long you won’t!” I called, then I turned to Gumdrop. “Come on, Gumdrop, let’s teach that B-245 a thing or two about how Tag is supposed to be played!” “Yeah!” cried Gumdrop. We were having a wonderful time. It was a warm, sunny day, just fine for playing tag. Someone fell out of the tree, which caught my eye. “Hey…” I said, wandering over to the thing. It was a big white pigeon feather. Maybe it was pulled out or shed by another bird, I thought. I stroked it across my arm. It felt very light and tickly. I decided to go and show my cousins.
“Hey! You two!” I called out, “Come and see this! It’s a feather.” I said. “A feather?” asked B-245, “How’s it going to continue our Tag game?” I lifted the feather above my head and waved it in the air. “Aaargh! Tickle monster attack!” screamed Gumdrop, and she and B-245 ran for it as I ran after them. After a little while, I pounced onto B-245 and tickled her chest with the soft, grey feather. How she laughed! “Hey, stop it!” she cackled. “How do you like it now?” I asked, but B-245 wasn’t ready to give up yet, she snatched the feather and tickled me, until I was lying on the grass next to her, laughing loudly.
Later, I snuck back into the house with my feather and saw Palm, Teresa and Duane relaxing on the sofa. “Maybe I could give them a tickle,” I said, and I sneaked up behind the sofa whereas the parents weren’t looking. “Nothing much happens in every day of my life, mum,” said Duane to his mother Teresa. “Yes, you do, you play with the kids, what else have you got?” said Teresa. “You know what? I’m fancying a little adventure in my life, something to look forward to, to cheer on like a team in a footie match, something- HA HA HA HA HA!” It was me, tickling Duane with a feather. “Now you’ve got adventure on your hands right there, Duay-Duay,” laughed Teresa, but it wasn’t long until she was tickled herself. Zura, Cookie and Candy raced downstairs to see what was going on, but it wasn’t long until Palm was tickled next. “Hey, stop!” he boomed, while Zura and the two pups cracked up laughing.
I leapt out from behind the sofa and began to tickle Zura. “Stop tickling our grandma and dad!” cried Cookie. “I’ve got this feather, what else could I do to spice up a little bit of laughter in your life?”
Brum At The Bowling Alley
The Quiet Alley
Mr Newman is the owner of the local bowling alley. The only problem is, he doesn’t like all the noises that the bowling alley has to offer. While he was sitting at his desk reading his favourite comic, the noise would come at him from outside. Pins being knocked over, children screaming in joy, strike screens…all of this was too much for Mr Newman, and every night he would come home stressed, dreading the day ahead. Sometimes, he wished he didn’t work for the bowling alley and worked for the local cafe instead, because cafes are much quieter. He would sit at his desk the next day with a pillow over his head, dreaming that he would quit this very bowling alley any minute.
One day, a new spa opened up in town. Posters were put up talking about how wonderful the spa was, and on his way to work, Mr Newman spotted one of the posters, and thought it would be fun to go there to escape the noise. He still had enough change he received from the people who come to his bowling alley, so maybe it would be nice to ditch his job and have a little ‘me time’ in his life. He never had spa treatment in years, not since the original spa, Silky Salon, got knocked down and replaced with a loud, noisy roller rink. So he hot-footed it to the spa, and when he got there, it was a beautiful sight: the spa was bright blue, with a waterfall outside it and some exotic, tropical flowers.
Mr Newman booked his spa appointment, and he was offered one straight away. He sat in a chair and had his nails trimmed. The spa lady looked so beautiful, that Mr Newman wished he could ditch his recently divorced wife and marry her instead. The spa lady then treated Mr Newman to a pedicure. “Oh, that’s divine,” he sighed. “Don’t ask us, dear, it’s just our job,” said the lady. Next, he had a haircut, and it didn’t hurt a bit, even when they used a big hairdrying machine on his head, and he was given a copy of his favourite magazine. He was even given a cup of tea. This was the life.
However, when he was relaxing in the hot tub, he began to think about the bowling alley. He missed all the noises, all the flashing lights, and all of his friendly customers who come to eat cheesy nachos with cola. The lady came up to him, but he was all worried. “Enjoying your stay, love?” she said. “No. I’m actually worried about my bowling alley. I wanted to get away because of all the noise, but now I regret doing that.” said Mr Newman. “What can I do?” The lady thought for a minute, then she put her hand on his shoulder. “You have to learn to accept things as they are. When you go with the flow with things, it just so happens that you can get used to your crummy job and make it a happy one.” Mr Newman thought for a moment, then said, “I think you’re right, actually. I think I like my job at the bowling alley after all.”
For the rest of the day, he had a day off. He ate green salad and chocolate cake at a cafe, he swung on the swings in the playground and practised tennis with his best friend Dennis. When he went to bed, he kept thinking the same thing:
“I must go back to the bowling alley.
I must go back to the bowling alley.”
When he awoke the next morning, he looked at the calendar. Today was his birthday! “Well, fancy that,” he said, “A perfect time to come back to the bowling alley.” He brushed his teeth, ate his breakfast, put on his clothes and dashed to the bowling alley. When he came to the front door, he heard chanting from inside. “Mr Newman! Mr Newman!” It sounded like a large crowd was chanting his name. “I wonder what they’re chanting my name for?” he asked, and crept inside.
When he got into the alley, he was greeted by a cheering crowd and lots of confetti and balloons falling from above. “Happy birthday, Mr Newman!” shouted the crowd as the spa lady from earlier wheeled in a huge, enormous bowling pin cake. “And we made you this cake, just to appreciate how much you love your job. Any words before you cut it?” Mr Newman hemmed and hawed, struggling for words. Then he cleared his throat and said, “Thank you for making me the head of this bowling alley. I’m very lucky to have everyone who comes here as my closest friends!” The cheering started up again as Mr Newman stepped forward to cut the giant cake.
Suddenly, BOOM! The cake exploded and bits of cream and icing flew everywhere onto the crowd, onto the spa lady and onto Mr Newman. Everyone laughed, even Mr Newman. Oh well, it’s no good having peace and quiet when you’ve got a job full of friends!
THE END.
Featherwand
