Spring and the problems it brings

On the first day of Spring, every being, except for Breeze, spend their time cleaning. His plan was to sit and watch Spring work its magic on the wood.

Lilian walked beneath the tree he sat in and shouted to him, “Mr. Breeze how come you get to sit around all day while I work?”

“I dunno ask your mum.” He said, hoping she would go away.

“I did – she said, either you love dirt or you are just plain lazy.”

“I am not lazy” Breeze said.

“That is what I said, you love dirt.” Lilian said goodbye and went home.

Breeze smiled, “I do love dirt,” he told a passing bird.

However he lost his smile when he returned home. His cave sparkled. He screamed and ran back into the wood. Banging his fist on Hamish’s door he tumbled inside the moment the door opened, yelling, “It is horrible, just horrible you got to help me. I can’t live in a sparkling house. Do I look like a princess,no, I don’t. “

Hamish said, “Good.”

Breeze stopped and stared at Hamish. “What do you mean good?”

“Great,no more dust flying around you, clogging up the air when you walk, I can go visit you, have tea without my allergies kicking off..”

“Then others would want to come visit – I would have to be nice and not eat all the cakes.” Breeze considered the problem. He smiled then said, “ I’d best go and find some dirt for my home.”

Breeze spent the evening spreading dirt about his home. Next morning he went out side for ten minutes to stretch and admire the morning sunshine. Walking back inside he groaned, “How is this possible?” His home was gleaming, sparkling, super clean. “Ahghhhhhhhhh”

He ran to Elegant witches house where he found his favorite baker, Tulip, having breakfast with Elegant. “Did you do it?” he demanded.

“Do what?” Elegant and Tulip asked.

“Put a magic clean spell on my house?”

“No we didn’t but I am sorry I didn’t think of it. And we can’t blame Lovisma she is on spring holiday.””

Breeze marched away, he needed to think about this problem. As he marched through the wood he spotted a pair of purple boots dangling from a branch in a tree ahead of him. “Hello, now that is a funny place to put a pair of purple boots.” He tweaked the boots.

“Hey let go of my boots.” Penelope demanded.

“Sorry I didn’t realise there was a Penelope attached to them.” Breeze chuckled. “What are you doing up there?”

“I was watching for something to happen.”

“Did it?” Breeze looked about him.

“I dunno I slept late today, all of the super cleaning yesterday made me tired.” Penelope jumped to the ground.

Breeze blinked, her dress was brighter than the sun and her gleaming skin made it hard to look at her. “You look colourful.”

“Thanks. Are you going home now?” She smiled at him and waited for his answer.

“Yes. Bye” Breeze was in a hurry to get home for he hadn’t eaten breakfast. His stomach rumbled with each step he took. As he walked he scooped up lumps of earth from the ground and stuffed them in his pockets. When he reached his home he closed his eyes and walking inside he began to drop bits of dirt against the walls, on the floors, furniture and on him. Then he opened his eyes in time to see each bit of dirt roll back outside.

He sniffed the rolling dirt and whispered, “this stinks of Elf magic.”

While he ate his three bowls of cereal he considered the likelihood of meeting Penelope who was watching for something in a tree on a day when an elf spell had been placed on his home.

“Penelope did it.” Now he knew who cleaned his house, it was time for him to persuade her to let him continue as normal. Trouble was Elves are tricky beings to deal with, for they are clever. But Breeze knew they were kind and Hamish’s words gave him an idea.

So he set to work. The next time he met Penelope she got a fright. “Oh my, what happened to you?”

Breeze looked ill, his normally green skin was an unhealthy orange colour and sprinkled with bright blue spots. He sat down and whispered, “I don’t feel well, my house…”

“What about your house?”

Breeze said, “I am allergic to cleanliness. I need dirt to make me feel well, happy and …alive.”

At his words Penelope began to panic, “Oh dear, oh dear. Let me come home with you and see what I can do to help.”

“That would be most kind of you but there is some evil spell working on my house, every time I get it right – poof – it is clean again.”

Penelope looked horrified. “I will do my best, I won’t promise much but I will do my best.”

And she did, of course, though Hamish did scold Breeze for tricking the kindly Elf. “Well she shouldn’t muddle in other people’s lives, we are all different you know.”

Hamish simply shrugged his shoulders.

The Runaway Schoolhouse

Reviews from young readers make every writers heart sing, including this review from Arfah of St. Michaels School.

St Michael's School Library

Today Arfah in Year 4 has written a review of Maria Matthews’ book The Runaway Schoolhouse for us!

What is the book about?

A schoolhouse called Clearie is one hundred years old and fed up. So many times he has helped children get educated but his reward has been nothing but fuss. How much he hates the school! He dreams to go to France instead but doesn’t know how because he’s a house.

Did you like the book?

Yes, I enjoyed the book because it was really adventurous. It was also funny too when Clearie tried to move and fell apart and bits of crab came out of him!

How many stars?

5 out of 5!

Thank you, Arfah, and I am glad you liked the book!

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If wishes were fishes

Breeze, the ogre, loved to eat. When he wasn’t eating he was sitting on a sturdy branch dreaming of eating. The trouble was if he saw food, he ate it.

One day he was passing the witch’s house when he saw a cake sitting on their porch. Breeze, wondered why anyone would do this.”A pretty looking cake deserves to be eaten.” He said aloud.

No one shouted, “no it doesn’t, leave it alone, that is mine.”

So in his mind, finders were keepers or in this case – eaters. Breeze ate the cake in one neat mouthful and went off to find a sunny spot to have a snooze.

“You ate my cake. In fact, you are always eating things without asking. It is time I taught you a lesson.” Lovisma flew over him and sprinkled some horrid pink dust on his head before heading home.

Breeze noticed two odd things when he woke up. Number one was; he wasn’t in a tree. He was swimming in a salty pond. The second one was he was eating and his nose seemed to be protruding from his face much more than it normally did. “How odd,” he said between munches.  He looked down at his body and it too had changed. But it wasn’t for the better.

Because he was now a … seahorse.

 (Drawing courtesy of Template.net)

“I am very hungry and why can’t I stop eating? ”

Hours later he was exhausted from eating non stop, but still hungry.  He closed his eyes and thought about all that had happened since he ate the cake. It must have been Lovisma’s cake Breeze reasoned. Elegant witch would never turn me into a non stop eating seahorse but Lovisma would, perhaps I should ask her forgiveness.

The second he thought it, the tiny witch appeared before him. She smiled. “Do you give in?”

“What?” he asked between mouthfuls.

“Are you ready to apologise for eating my delectable cake?” She was standing with her arms folded.

Considering she didn’t look like she might explode with anger, Breeze nodded.

“I am really really sorry and will do anything to make up for it but just turn me back to the way I should be, chubby and green.”

Lovisma smiled. It wasn’t pleasant. Breeze held his breath he knew something nasty was about to happen.

“Okay so every Saturday for the next month you will bake cupcakes for me and you will wash up all of the baking equipment at….Tulips house, when she bakes.”

Breeze didn’t really listen, all he heard was cupcakes and Tulip bakes. He loved Cupcakes and there was no better baker than Tulip. “I agree”

She said, “If wishes were fishes and Ogres could bake cakes before dinner time let’s have Breeze back before the end of this rhyme.”

Breeze shivered and with a loud “pop” he leapt from the water onto the grass. Looking down at the ground he was delighted to see his nice chunky green toes.

Lovisma reminded him of where he was to be on Saturday morning and left him with a large smile on her face. Breeze was a little confused and decided the best thing to do was to go see Tulip and offer to do the washing up for her. “What a horrendous thought,” he shuddered and wondered what put such a task into his head.