Story Extracts

Creeky Bottom

It was a normal Sunday afternoon out in the garden of Creeky Bottom. The super squirrel fort was being manned by Squeek the squirrel, and spidey forest was being guarded by Shreek the spider. 

Down in Creeky Bottom it was well know that Squeek and Shreek were arch enemys. They patrolled their homes constantly peeping out across the green making eyes at each other.

It had just gone 12 noon, play time for the residents of the manor at Creeky Bottom. 

Out ran the first Super Girl. Red cape flying, brown hair blowing in the wind. She span around shouting

“You can’t catch me!” 

Bounding out next through the patio doors was Wonder Girl. Blue cape sawing, brown hair waving in the wind. She was followed by Super Baby Girl. Super Baby Girl was mixed in all the colours of the rainbow. She came charging with both arms out, hair tied up meaning business, screaming

“I’m going to get YOOUUU!” 

This was a typical scene seen across the green before Sunday lunch. However, something was different, the big people were following the Super Girls. They seemed excited about something, there was lots of talking going on. Neither Squeek nor Shreek could quite hear what was being said.

Forbidden Wood

Milly's Miserable Machine

Molly stood at the door and looked at the sky, it was quite a clear day but there were some ominous clouds on the other side of the valley. As she kissed Billy, Dan, Tilly, Sam and Tarquin (as the fifth child Tarquin  was given a name that didn't rhyme with Milly or her husband Stan’s name) and waved them off to school, she thought “right time to put a wash on before watching Jessica Fletcher solve another crime in ‘Murder She Wrote’ and those clouds reach over here.” Milly grabbed a big pile of washing, it was mostly whites as her husband, Stan, had white polo shirts for his job as a long distance lorry driver and the kids had to wear white socks for school. She closed the washing machine door, added the washing powder and fabric softener and turned the machine on. The machine made a strange grumbling sound as it started. Milly looked at it puzzled, but thought “It is a bit old now, I'm sure it's ok.” and went to watch the tv with a cup of tea and a cake.

When Milly returned to get the washing out of the machine the door jammed a bit, Milly gave it a big tug and finally it opened. Once again it made a grumbling sound but Milly thought it was just the water draining from the machine. Milly went outside to put the wash out to dry and when she had finished she noticed that there were an odd number of socks, so Milly went to the washing machine and looked inside , but it was empty. Milly slowly moved the machine away from the wall to look at the hose. She didn't like touching the hose as it reminded her of a snake and that was the one thing she was afraid of. So Milly called her friend Felicity who lived next door. Felicity was a housewife but also a part-time plumber. Felicity cane round, took one look at the space behind the washing machine and said “It's too dark back there for me, you know I don't like confined spaces. You'll have to face your fear of snakes and do it yourself while I talk you through what to do.”. Milly gulped as she grabbed the hose while Felicity explained how to open it. Once opened, loads of white socks fell onto the floor. Milly looked shocked and said “How are all those socks getting stuck?”. Suddenly the washing machine grumble again, Milly and Felicity looked at each other. Felicity said “Did the washing machine just grumble?” And before Milly could answer, the washing machine said “Yes I did!”.

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