Below are the first chapters of 2 fun and action packed stories for children. Contact me if you want to see more.
The Santas Who Stole Christmas
Chapter 1
“Chris, if I find your stupid robot in my room again I’ll be using it for firing range practice.” yelled his army fanatic sister hurling the offending robot down the stairs. Chris put the digital camera he was dismantling on to the coffee table and ran to check Pat his patrol bot. No damage. It was a good job he built them so strong. He flipped open a control panel and pressed some buttons. Then set the reprogrammed bot back on a patrol that now did not include his sister’s bedroom. That left a hole in the defence. He would have to think of how to secure that, after all he was the man of the house when Dad was away on active duty as a sergent in the army.
“Help, I’m stuck” squealed Muckmeister. Chris found his little brother wedged up to his shoulders in the washing machine. (He probably had a real name, but no-one ever used it – Muckmeister just suited him so much better.) From the yowling and hissing it sounded like there was a cat in the washing machine with him, which was strange because they didn’t have a cat.
Once Chris managed to persuade Muckmeister to let go of the cat it wasn’t too difficult to extract him. The cat shot out after like a mud-covered cannon ball with claws. Clumps of dishevelled fur stuck out between the patches of dirt and the cat hissed like an angry but petrified snake, its eyes still wide with shock. There was no way Chris was going near that ball of fury. He opened the door to the back garden and stood well back. The cat made good its escape remembering to subtract one from its remaining lives and never ever ever come near this house – or even street again.
“Cat needs a wash” insisted Muckmeister, who was in serious need of a bath himself, being covered in mud and with cat claw slashes across his nose and cheek.
“You need a wash.” replied Chris taking Muckmeister by the hand and leading him to the bathroom. “What’s Mum going to say when she sees you?”
Mum had only popped out to the corner shop to get some milk – because Muckmeister had used it all up making milky mud pies. She had left Big Sis in charge, but Big Sis was working out with weights in her room – it was best not to disturb her. (Other people called her Dor – supposedly because her name was Doreen, but Chris reckoned it was because she was built like a barn door.)
“How many times have I told you not to leave bits of electronics all around the house?” Mum’s voice echoed up the stairs.
“It’s not my fault I had to rescue Muckmeister from the washing machine and give him a bath.”
They heard their mother’s feet thumping up the stairs. She burst through the door mid water pistol fight and got doused by friendly fire from Muckmeister.
“Look at the mess, why did you have to get the waterpistols out?”
“Chris realised the bathroom floor, walls and all the towels were drenched.
“How else was I going to get him to wash his face? Would you rather I just left him stuck in the washing machine with an angry cat covered in mud?”
“What?”
You’d think their mum would have given up being shocked by the things her youngest son got up to, but apparently not.
“Well, when you put it like that…” She seemed almost lost for words. “Ok, thanks Chris, I’ll take over from here, just clear up your gadgets from the living room will you. I’ve got Jenny coming over for a haircut later and you know she always likes to stop for a natter afterwards.
His mum did hairdressing part time, sometimes at home like today, or sometimes she would take her things to other peoples houses and cut their hair there. She had used to work as a full time hairdresser in a posh boutique in town before she had got MS. It was a disease that meant sometimes she was very weak and couldn’t do much, but other times she was more like her old self – like today
Chris had been quite young when his mum first got MS so he didn’t really remember her not having it. He always remembered trying to help his Mum and doing jobs for her so she could rest, and when Muckmeister had been born and Chris was about nine, it seemed only natural to help look after him too. Dor had already been in secondary school then and had been more independent. She was already used to going out and meeting friends after school, or off to sporting events at the weekends, so she wasn’t really at home to help out much.
Chris took his stuff up to his room as his mum had asked him to and put it on his desk. Just then there was a knock at the door downstairs. Mum brought Muckmeister in wrapped in his dressing gown, a pile of his clothes tucked under her arm. Can you keep him occupied for a while that will be Jenny.
“Ok” agreed Chris “Come on trouble,” he said taking his little brother “see what you make of this.”
He switched on the computer and clicked to connect to the internet. While the computer connected a window on the desktop showed a Christmas countdown. Four weeks, two days, eight hours, twelve minutes and 10…9…8… seconds until Christmas.
A quick search gave Chris what he was looking for – Santa’s email address.
“Hey Muckmeister, when you’re dressed we’ll write to Santa.”
“Socks on.” said Muckmeister, with a sock on each hand like a pair of gloves.
“Yeah, it’s a pity that’s all you’ve got on. Come on I’ll help.”
Finally they sat at the computer together, Chris tapping away at the keyboard.
Dear Santa,
Thanks for the great presents we had last year. I hope you liked the grape juice and diet mince pies we left. (It was Mum’s idea to get the healthy ones, but she means well.)
This year Muckmeister would like...
“Well what would you like then? From Santa.”
“Play dough, paint, crayons, sand turtle” gabbled Muckmeister.
“Sounds like a recipe for disaster.” Chris replied, but typed it all down anyway.
“That’s done. “ he said
“And you, Chris want lectic” said Muckmeister pointing to the pile of wires and stuff decorating Chris’s room.
He added a list of robot parts for himself: motors drivers, transformers,microchips, circuit boards, an ultrasonic range finder and an 8 channel relay module. He continued…
I have tried to be good, apart from the time I got the school server to email all the parents and tell them the school was going to be closed for maintenance , but I did get a weeks detention for that. Anyway I have got Muckmeister out of loads of scrapes and my patrol bot makes sure the house is safe while Dad is away, so that has to count for something.
Merry Christmas
Chris Tingle
PS If you ever need some help with robots or computers just let me know.
PPS If you could bring Dad home for Christmas that would be the best present ever.
Chris read through his letter again and then hit the ‘enter’ key to send. After a few moments a laughing elf popped up on the screen.
“Santa has your letter and will be checking your request against his list so stay good.” it said, then disappeared in a shower of streamers. Muckmeister laughed excitedly “Again, again.” He shouted.
“Sorry, it only does it when you write to Santa, and you can only write one letter each year.” Muckmeister lost interest, clambered down and went to look for more mischief to make.
Jack and the Dog-Boy
Chapter 1
“I’m going to collect some lizards spit and ten headed toadstools for a potion,” said Wizard Wilberforce to his new apprentice Jack. “And I have to drop off some vanishing cream for Mrs Potts. She wants it to get rid of spots, but she better not use too much or it won’t just be the spots that vanish.”
Jack laughed nervously. He had only been working for Wilberforce for a few days and still wasn’t sure when he was joking. Being a wizard was something he had always wanted to do. He couldn’t believe his luck when he was given the chance to learn, and to bring his dog Max too.
“While I’m out you can sweep the floor” Wilberforce continued, “but mind you don’t spill that cauldron, it’s full of transformation potion.” Jack looked at the giant metal pot bubbling in the centre of the workshop.
“I’ll take care,” he said. He wanted to impress his new master. He waved goodbye, Max yapping happily at his heels.
Then Jack went into the workshop and started sweeping. He left Max playing in the yard with a stick. But the more Jack swept the dustier it got, so he opened the door to let in some air. Max bounded in too. He bounced up to the pot full of potion.
“No!” shouted Jack.
Max leapt up and put his paws on the side of the cauldron. He looked into the strange green liquid. He could see a strange green dog looking back at him. It had a stick in its mouth too.
“Get down,” shouted Jack rushing over to shoo Max out. But Max was already barking at his reflection. As he opened his mouth his stick fell into the pot and sank to the bottom. Before Jack could stop him, Max dived in to pull it out.
“Get out!” Jack yelled, “You’ll ruin it.” When he jumped out Max was covered in potion, eyes wide in surprise. What Jack saw next left him lost for words. Max was growing taller and taller and less and less hairy, until standing in front of Jack was another boy just like him.
“Oh no!” was all he could say. He couldn’t believe it, his chance of being a wizard ruined by a silly accident. What am I going to do? He thought. Then, after a few moments, “I’d better find you some clothes. And take that stick out of your mouth will you?” Max just shook his head. Jack tied his apron around Max’s waist
“Follow me,” he called as he led the way up the rickety ladder that led to his loft bedroom. Max put his hands on the rung in front of him and jumped up and down on the spot. He didn’t know how to climb ladders, Jack usually carried him up. It took Jack a while to show him how to move his hands and feet up one rung at a time.
He got out a spare tunic and trousers for Max, but it was hard work getting him to put them on. Max thought it was a game of tug-of-war, and kept pulling at the clothes with his teeth. And when Jack tried to take his collar off Max just looked up with big sad eyes and whined. In the end, Jack put the collar back on, and had just covered it up with a scarf when he heard the door open below.