Sticky Toffee Surprise: A story retold

Lovisma was planning a big surprise for Halloween night.

Last year Breeze spoiled her surprise, this year she was being careful.

“He won’t ruin my Halloween night.” She muttered. She sat on a fat mushroom watching her spoon do laps of the pot as it stirred the thick bubbling mixture.  “Hmm vanilla toffee apples who can resist them?” She giggled.

On hearing a twig snap she looked up, then relaxed as one of the Muppet Bunnies dashed past her. He was carrying a carrot and intent on getting back home.

“Nothing will spoil this surprise. I am safe here as that stupid Ogre is helping Elegant and the Fairies make bobbing marshmallows.” She said.

Breeze was standing a short distance away disguised as a giant pumpkin.  He got the idea from Bob (click here to see him as a pumpkin.)  Breeze wished to prevent another Halloween disaster created by the tiny witch.  Everyone knew Lovisma hates pumpkins.

Sometime later the wood was filled with the silence, as everyone was preparing by dressing as either their favourite witch or ghost, Lovisma placed buckets of her special toffee apples around the party tables. The apples sparkled and glowed. “What child or ogre could resist these twinkling smiling apples?” she muttered.

Meanwhile, Breeze was holding a meeting with the adults. “I am not sure what will happen when you take a bite so I took one from her basket.” He stared at the Fairies and Elves who were busy shaking their heads as they muttered things like, “well you would have to be mad to take a bite”.

He held an apple in his hand and stared at it.

Tulip said, “Well we won’t know until you take a bite from it.”

Breeze didn’t want anyone to think he was afraid. He closed his eyes and took a bite. Hmm, it tastes lovely. Then as he watched the toffee ran off the apple like a river and lay around his feet. He made an important discovery. I am stuck. He groaned.

Elegant said, “I bet she plans on taking all of the children’s treats while they are stuck to the ground. I am sure it will wear off soon Breeze.”

“How soon? I don’t want to miss the best party ever.”

He sounded so sad that the fairies and elves started working on a spell to free his feet. Once he was free. Breeze said, “I think you should create a special spell for Lovisma.”

The party was great. The children loved the bobbing marshmallows that looked like giant spiders. They laughed when Matt tried to eat a real spider thinking it would taste of marshmallow. The spider was not happy as he scuttled away into the dark night.

The children turned their attention on the toffee apples. Lovisma held her breath and waited.

Matt grabbed an apple. He took a bite. She flew upwards impatient to see his distress when his feet became stuck. However, once he broke the skin, the apple fizzled and sparkled sending bolts of dancing lights into the night sky.

Lisbeth, Lillian and Daisy-Lyah’s apples played a musical tune the minute they held them.  Children were grabbing apples and dancing and laughing with delight as each apple revealed a treat.

Lovisma was angry. Her face was bright red. Something was not right.

“Give me one!” She grabbed an apple and instantly the ground beneath her feet began to shake. Everyone ran for cover as two tall scarecrows appeared carrying pumpkins. They placed the pumpkins on the ground and rolled them at Lovisma.

She was knocked off her feet to land on a huge pumkin. It seemed to swallow her then with a soft, pop, her feet and arms and head appeared.

Lovisma screamed.”I’m Trapped. Help. I’m not a pumpkin.I don’t even like pumpkins.”

Hisilicon K3

She waddled off into the wood crying, “I bet you did this Breeze.  I will get out and then you had better watch out.”

Lisbeth was sitting beside Breeze shivering. “I hope she doesn’t get out. She is nasty.  But why do you look happy? You should be worried Mr. Breeze.”

He smiled and said, “I am not, because Elegant added her forgetful potion to the spell so Lovisma will escape from the pumpkin but she will have forgotten everything and we will have a great party.”

Daisy-lyah and Lillian were kind Fairies and they filled a basket full of treats for the naughty witch.

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Sally’s Sunflowers

Sally started on her list. 1. Keep Bubbles out of the way.

She put a nice comfy cushion on the sunny windowsill in her bedroom, next she placed Bubbles on top of the cushion.

“Now number two, the birds,” Sally whispered.

It was a tricky thing to do but Sally placed five fat seed balls on the bird table in their garden along with a full net of peanuts.   Crossing her fingers she hoped the table wouldn’t break.

“Number three,” she said and went to collect his post from the postbox.  Sally walked to  Mr. Blunts door.

Bubbles ran up to her as Mr. Blunt opened his front door.

“Shoo cat!” He shouted.

“Bubbles came to say hello. She likes people.”

“Well,  I don’t like her. Why have you got my post?” Mr. Blunt asked in a loud voice.

“I was being nice!” Sally whispered.

Just then, Bubbles ran in to the kitchen.

Mr. Blunt chased after her. Sally followed. Luckily for Bubbles, Sally was smaller and faster than Mr. Blunt. Diving under the table she caught Bubbles in her arms and dashed home.

“My teacher says practice makes perfect, we will make him smile.” Sally said hugging Bubbles to her.

Number four was – mow his lawn. But, Mr. Blunt had already mowed it.

Sally shook her head. “It is very hard to help some people.”

Number five: wash his car.

Sally took out the buckets and sponge for washing the car. She wanted the car to sparkle so she squeezed an extra dollop of liquid into the bucket.

She was washing the windows, when she heard a strange noise. She discovered there were dogs licking the car. Great big dollops of dog slobber were flying about and landing on the nice clean car.

“Shoo go away,” she said. They started barking.

Mr. Blunt came outside. “Who is making all that noise?” He stopped and stared at his car, which was covered in dogs of many shapes and sizes.

He was still shouting as Sally and the dogs ran away.

Mum asked her, ‘Is this what you washed his car with?’

“Yes. It said, it will give the greatest shine all week long.” Sally said scratching number five off her list.

Number six: buy him some sweets.

Sally shook her piggy bank. She counted out loud, ‘four euro and two cents. I could buy an awful lot of chocolate for that.”

Scooping the money into her blue purse Sally walked along beside her mum with a hop and a skip. The money rattled as she moved.

The sweet shop with its rows of rainbow jars of sweets was her favorite shop. “He is a really old man so perhaps I should buy him soft sweets.”

The shopkeeper said,  “that is a kind thought, yes jellies are over here.”

Sally scrunched up her face. Mr. Blunt reminded her of a shark. “What would a shark like?” she asked.

“Something strong and hard, I think, to crunch on.”

‘Well, he is an old shark so perhaps, some bulls eyes, chocolate candy, jelly babies and some soft jellies, just in case.’

“Good idea.”

Sally bought some chocolate mice for Bubbles and herself.

On the way home Sally said, “I don’t know how to give Mr. Blunt these sweets without making him mad.” She sighed. “How can I make him smile if all he does is get madder and madder?”

“Maybe he just doesn’t smile.” Mum said.

Sally grinned. ‘That is silly. Everyone smiles, even Bubbles smiles.’

Back home Sally walked to Mr. Blunts front door. She rang the doorbell. When the door opened Sally shoved the bag of sweets at him saying, ‘these are for you,’ and ran back home.

Mum asked, “did it work?”

“I don’t know.”

Mum bent down and gave Sally one of her extra special hugs.

“Number seven will make him smile, a great big toothy smile!”

Sally spent hours working on her picture. The bird table looked just like the one in her back garden, the birds looked like birds. Sally went to bed saying, “tomorrow I am going to see Mr. Blunt smile.”

That night Sally dreamed that Mr. Blunt smiled so much, he out shone the sun. It hid behind a cloud. The birds didn’t like his smile, they flew away. The dogs were frightened by it and howled like wolves.

On the way to his house, the next morning, the wind pulled the drawing from her hands. It landed in a puddle. She gave it a shake and continued to his door.

The door opened. “What? You’ve come to give me another tooth ache?”

“I drew a picture to make you smile, here it is.”  She held the picture out for him to see.

He took the soggy picture and gave a nod of his head.

Sally was sad but she said, “I’m not giving up. I’ll write down my funny joke.”

Sally’s joke was:

A cheeseburger walked into a bar and said, “hello, can I have a pint of beer please?” The bartender replied “Sorry, we don’ t serve food”

Sally wondered how she could deliver it to him without him seeing her. Dad said, “Let’s send it by airmail.”

He showed Sally how to make and fly paper airplanes. Soon the kitchen was full of paper planes whizzing about.

“I can do this.” Sally said. Walking outside she took the empty bird food bucket and placing it upside down stood on it. She saw Bubble’s sitting in Mr. Blunts garden chair. The back door opened. Sally held her breath, pointed the nose of the plane in the direction of the back door and threw the plane.

It flew straight. Then with a – smack- it hit him on the nose. “Ouch! Who did that?”  He roared.

Sally hid behind the fence. With a sigh Sally sat down on the bucket. Now she had to bake a cake. Sally didn’t like baking but she did like eating cakes.

She baked the cake with mums help. While it was cooling Sally made the icing. “This is the best bit”, she told Bubbles as she drizzled some icing on his paw. He tasted it. Sally went to clean her face and put on a clean tee shirt.

When she returned she discovered Dad had left just one piece of the cake.

“Sorry Sally but it was delicious.” He said.

Sally had one chance left. But she didn’t know what to do. Mum gave her an idea. ” Mr. Blunts wife was a great gardener. ”

“Really?” Sally said. They were watching a tv program about gardening.

“She loved bright flowers.”

The man on TV was talking about Sunflowers. ” They are very smiley flowers, aren’t they?” Sally said. She went to find her dad.

“The trouble is real Sunflowers take months to grow, Sally,” he said.

Sally had a plan. First, she drew a huge sunflower.  Then she and her Dad to his workshop.  Days later they were finished. The flowers had bright yellow and orange faces. They had leaves for arms. The petals made a soft clicking sound that she knew the birds wouldn’t like. Her mum helped her paint the flowers.

“It will keep them away from Mr. Blunts garden and Bubbles too.”  Sally said.

Next morning, Sally and her Dad went to Mr. Blunts house, very early to plant their sunflowers. “Don’t worry Sally, if he shouts, I’ll shout back.” Sally crossed her fingers.

Mr. Blunt was grumbling as he walked to the door. He opened it. “You!” he said to Sally.

“Follow us, Mr. Blunt, you have to see this.”  Dad said.

Mr. Blunt followed them. They stood together and waited. Sally heard a strange sound. She felt sad, Mr. Blunt’s bottom lip was wobbling. She knew what that meant.

“I’m sorry, these were supposed to make you happy,” she whispered.

Mr. Blunt walked over and bending down hugged her lightly, ” Thank you. Can I touch them? My wife loved sunflowers, these are smashing!”

Sally did a cartwheel and laughed aloud. Her miles of smiles worked.

 

 

“Well done! Sally. I’ve made some gingerbread, can I bring it over?” Mum asked Mr. Blunt. He answered with a smile.

After that, Mr. Blunt became the smiliest man in the neighborhood. He even suggested they start a business. From then on every Saturday morning Sally, and Mr. Blunt sold sunflowers in the market. And every Sunday morning Mr. Blunt arrived at Sally’s house to hand her a small bag of chocolate mice for Sally, just to make her smile.

Lolita gets clever

With  five hundred and fifty five  sacks of nectar  collected, I only have six more to go. Then I will be  collector of the week, Horace thought as he paused for a break.

It was humid and hot, not two of his favourite words but work was work and families had mouths and they needed to be fed.

He paused and with a neat flick his strawlike tongue zipped outwards and got …nada… zilch…nothing.

Again, it can’t be happening again. Oh gosh, that’s the third time today. I’m overworked, I’m finished I won’t make the top of the pollen charts today or tomorrow. I must be ill. As he ranted and raved, a strange noise caught his attention. He paused and looked about him. The other insects around were mostly bees or the odd horsefly, but he could have sworn he heard a giggle. He didn’t see anyone watching him.

“Oh god, its worse than I thought, I’m going cuckoo, mad, batty.” He shuddered – he hated bats.

Horace considered his options. To return home now would be to admit total and utter defeat.  “I’m not a quitter, ” he muttered. “I’ll move on to the next plant and try once more.”

Horace waited for the wind to lift and like the other butterflies about him he had a knack of taking off just at the right moment. However, today when he stretched his wings for take off, he noticed that something was not quite right. I feel as though I am gaining weight. Must go back to  Moving and Meditating Classes, they did me good the last time. He decided as he flew on to the next plant.

He landed with a thump and gave himself a minute. He closed his eyes and pictured a calm scene. Night time and his bed.

Meanwhile Lolita ladybug had unattached herself from him and was busy collecting nectar. Horace is exceptionally stupid, he closes his eyes for a minute each time he lands. She hummed as she worked.

Butterflies were famous for being less than clever but today she had hit the jackpot, so far she had robbed Horace of six sacks of nectar and if she played her cards right he would even give her a ride back home.

The sun was dropping to its bed, the level of noise was dropping as most animals were settling down for the night.  Horace was almost home. He was exhausted and flying low to the ground. As he flew over a discarded bicycle he noticed a strange reflection. It can’t be me, I am never that shape, he thought and circled for a better look.

Lolita, I will fix her. But saying it and doing it are two very different things. Horace didn’t want to hurt her merely give her a fright. Suddenly he saw the perfect place to do it.  It was a steep climb but he made it. He dropped very low over the basin and with a huge effort gave his wings a shake. The sleepy ladybird slid off the end of his wing, the sacks of pollen followed her dropping through the air. As Lolita woke with a fright she began to scream.  Feeling the sudden rush of air, she began to flick her wings to stop her fall.  It was enough for Horace to turn around dive between her and the sacks and collect them with his outspread wings.

“Don’t mess with me again. I am not stupid.” Horace said as he turned for home.

With a shrug Lolita vowed she would have better luck tomorrow as she too made her way home.

 

 

Mudpile Wood: Job Swap

Breeze loves to see Izzy, a tiny smiling fairy, visit Mudpile Wood. Her visit means Winter is over because Izzy’s job is to wake up the trees.

When Breeze met her on a cold frosty morning, Izzy was not smiling. Her red curly hair was bouncing around her face. He guessed she was angry.

“What’s up?” he asked.

“I need another job. I’m tired of doing this stuff.” Izzy glared at him.

 

Breeze wondered why he was always finding fairies with problems.

He decided it was because he was clever and could help them.

 

“If you wake up the trees in Mudpile wood then I will take you to lunch at Tulips house. We will help you find a new job.” Breeze crossed his fingers because he hoped Tulip wouldn’t be mad.

Two mad fairies would be tough to deal with.

 

Izzy flew close to his face. She flew around his head and came back to stare at him. Breeze smiled. He didn’t blink, not once.

She nodded. “Okay just for you I will wake them up in a hurry.”

 

Breeze climbed high into his favourite tree and sat watching Izzy work.

“She is very good at this,” he told a passing dragon fly.

Izzy flew to each tree in turn, said her magic words, gave the tree a hug and flew on to the next one.

Today she was moving very fast. The rabbits on the ground got dizzy as they followed Izzy.

 

Breeze saw the rabbits fall over and grinned. Tulip came to join him. “What are you laughing at?”

He stopped smiling and said, “Izzy is making everyone dizzy, watch.”

Tulip did. “It is not funny. Hamish has just stepped on a hedgehog. Now Hamish has a sore foot. ”

 

When Izzy finished she came to sit with Breeze. “I’m tired and it is your fault.”

Breeze said, “Tulip says that to me, very often. It must be a fairy thing, You are weak and small, while I am strong and tall.”

 

“No it is because we work and you don’t.” Tulip told him.

Turning to Izzy she said, “Would you care for some rosehip tea and a cookie?” When Izzy agreed Tulip said, “this way.”

 

They were sitting at Tulips house minutes later sipping tea and nibbling on cookies.

Izzy explained how tired she was of her job. “I’ve been doing it forever.” She sounded sad.

 

Breeze said, “why don’t you swap with Ellen, the Tooth fairy? She is tired of her job.”

Tulip looked surprised. “That is a good idea. Let’s go visit Ellen.”

 

Breeze took the last cookie and told them he would mind the house while they went to visit Ellen.  He was feeling sleep but chuckled as he heard Izzy sing: “I’m to be a tooth fairy. When do I start, what do I do?”

Lovisma Tries to Cook

Breeze was woken by Tulip. She was tapping the top of his head with her wand.

“How can you sleep? Can you not smell it?” She had a tiny pink clothes peg on her nose. It made her sound funny.

Breeze giggled. She glared at him. “It’s not funny, it is stinking.”

He said, “Its okay. I can’t smell a thing. I have a slight cold in my  nose.” He waved a grotty looking hanky at her.

“Well I need you to do something about the smell. We are having an exhibition of fairy paintings tonight and I can’t have my guests smelling that horrid smell.”

Breeze smiled. “Give them a clothes peg then.”

She twacked him on his nose. It glowed red. “Sorry” she said. “It is really bad, please help.”

He started investigating. It didn’t take long to find the source. There was a huge black tunnel of smoke rising from the edge of the wood very close to the river. Breeze ambled through the forest and heard more complaints about the awful smell. “I’m on my way to solving the mystery. ” He told everyone he met.

When he got to the edge of the wood he groaned. “It’s Lovisma.”

The tiny witch was sitting on a fallen tree at the edge of the forest. She was fast asleep. The cauldron sat on a fire some distance from her. The liquid was gurgling and spitting. Smoke billowed into the sky. There was not a bird or butterfly in sight.

Breeze wondered if it was safe to go nearer. He decided the answer was no. Opening his mouth as wide as he could he roared, “Lovisma wake up. Your stuff is angry.”

Lovisma shot up into the air, whacked her head off an overhanging branch . She screeched, “No no no, my fudge is kaput.”

Breeze ambled up to her. “I like fudge.” He told her and smiled.

“Well no one likes burnt fudge, look it is….like…” She peered into the pot. “It is all in one gooey gloopy mess. What will I do with it?”

“Why were you making fudge? Couldn’t you just zap some?” Breeze asked.

“I could just like this.” She clapped her hands together and a bowl of fudge appeared besideBreeze.

He took a piece. It melted in his mouth. “Yummy.”

“I thought I could surprise Tulip. I heard her say I couldn’t bake or boil an egg.” The tiny witch sat on the tree and looked very upset.

Breeze regarded her thoughtfully. He didn’t like to see any being upset . When he heard the wicked Snow Queen in the north was sad because her owl had died he sent her some jokes to cheer her up and a basket of Tulips coconut biscuits. He let another piece of fudge melt in his mouth and he thought about the problem.

“I have a problem.” He said.

“You are not the only one.” Lovisma grumbled.

“No listen my problem is there are a lot of holes in the mountain path. It is making it very dangerous for Mrs. Groundsel and her grandchildren. Your stuff could solve the problem.” He smiled at Lovisma. “Yes let’s go.”

He and Lovisma walked to the mountain path followed by the smelly cauldron full of gunge.

They ate the fudge while they worked. Breeze pointed out the gaps in the path and Lovisma zapped them full of her stuff.  When they were finished he smiled at her and said, “I will tell everyone what a good kind witch you were today, thank you.”

She looked at him and glared. “Don’t you dare.” But Breeze did notice she was smiling when she vanished.

 

Here is a picture drawn by Breeze of one angry witches pot.

A question to everyone,

I have been given this:

 for follows.

Thank you.

 

But what is a follow? What do I do with it? …. Breeze

 

 

(Thank you from Maria and Doris)

A Smoke Filled Mystery (Part 1) 500 words

Breeze saw a cloud of black rising from the edge of the forest. “Fire,” he bellowed.

His voice set the ground shaking. Trees were wobbling like jellies shaking the birds and squirrels out of their resting places. Birds flew away, squirrels bounced along the ground.

Breeze  slid down the trunk of the tree. He ran to the centre of the wood and roared, “Fire.  Get to the river.”

Everyone heard and obeyed. Fire was not a thing to play with or wait to admire. Breeze ran towards the strange cloud.

Mrs. Groundsel dashed past him, she had a child under each arm and a wooden spoon tucked into her hair. She stopped. “Breeze where are you going?”

“To check on Tulip and make sure everyone is out of the wood.”

“Okay, be careful.” She picked up a tiny frog who was hopping on the spot but not moving forward. “I’ll take care of the rest, ” she said, tucking the frog into the pocket in her apron. She raced away.

“She is one Super granny ogre.” Breeze said and ran towards Tulips house.

He was almost at her house when he stopped and smelt the air around him. “Funny but it should smell smoky and horrid by now. This is a strange fire.”

Close to Tulips house he saw some rabbits nibbling on fresh grass. He looked at them and wondered if they were deaf or did they not know fire was dangerous. He was too worried about Tulip to stop and talk to them.  “I’ll come back for you,” he said.

They ignored him and kept eating.

Breeze got to the house and looked about him. Tulips house was on the edge of the forest.  He looked about him. Where is the fire? He wondered.

Tulip came out to him. “Why was the wood and the ground shaking?”

Breeze shook his head, he didn’t want to say he made a mistake. “Fire drill, yes we were practicing in case there is ever a fire. We need to know how to  get out fast.”

Tulip looked closely at him. “Really?”

Breeze smiled.

“And who was the fastest?” Tulip began to sweep her front step.

“Mrs Groundsel. ” Breeze muttered.

Tulip was sweeping very fast. She made the air about her was turn thick and black with dust. His eyes followed the rising dust. It rose in a hurry high above her house, as though it were trying to escape.

“It’s a cloud of dust.” Breeze said and sat on the ground with a thump. He gave himself a minutes rest then he trotted off to explain to everyone why he thought it was a fire. As he ran he wondered why Tulip was cleaning with so much energy. She usually did that when she was mad at someone or something.

There is a mystery to be solved back there. I will have to return and find out why Tulip is cleaning like a crazy fairy. Breeze thought as he hurried along.  But first he had to do a lot of apologizing to all the scared beings who were sitting on the bank of the river wondering if they would have a bed to sleep in tonight.