Good short story to read or tell to children.
In order of appearance -
Uncle Rupert’s Magic Carpet.
Young Jimmy’s day.
Uncle Rupert’s Magic Carpet.
Young Jimmy’s day.
Uncle Rupert’s Magic Carpet.
Little Sophie was adamant; she was not going to stay with her great aunt and uncle for a whole two weeks while her mother was away on some silly training thing for work.
‘But you’ll love it there Sophie, I always did when I was young. Uncle Rupert and Auntie Florence are really kind people and it’s not for very long.’
Nothing seemed to change Sophie’s mind, ‘I’ll stay here on my own then mum, and Mrs whats-er-name next door can keep an eye on me.’
‘No Sophie, that won’t do at all, you are far too young and Mrs Gracie is too old. Poor dear must be ninety. We must sort this out soon, today would be good as I have already written to them. Aunt and uncle live in the most wonderful old cabin up in the mountains, fresh air, good food, why, they even had horses when I was there, my favourite was a big friendly white one called . . . ‘ Sophie interrupted, ‘Horses? They have horses? Will they let me ride them?
Sophie’s mum saw a glimmer of hope, this sudden change of mind was a blessing. ‘Oh, I’m sure they will, and you can take their old dog for walks in the forest too,’ she said keenly, hoping the dog might still be alive, after all, that was twenty years ago.
‘I’ll put you on the bus and give you a note for the driver to let you off at the right place and Aunt Florence will be waiting there for you.’
‘Okay mum, but if there are no horses I’m coming home on the next bus.’
True to their word, the driver dropped Sophie off at a remote countryside bus stop and Aunt Florence was patiently waiting for her. Sophie liked her immediately. ‘Isn’t it quiet here Auntie . . . where is the car?’
‘Ah, a car, yes, we had one of those contraptions a long time ago Sophie, but now we just look after ourselves up here in the mountains. Come along, give me your bag and we’ll take a nice walk home through the woods. It’s not far, about two miles, that’s all.’
‘Two miles!’ thought Sophie, that’s like forever. I don’t even walk to school and that’s only around the corner.’
The walk turned out to be very pleasant and not tiring at all as they walked on a carpet of soft pine needles and dry leaves. Sunshine lit the ground between the trees and in the distance a woodpecker tapped its beak on some lucky tree. Squirrels, curious to see who was walking through their forest, popped their heads around branches to watch. By the time Sophie reached the cabin she was already looking for the next adventure.
As soon as he heard their happy chatter arriving, Uncle Rupert stopped digging in the vegetable garden and waved wildly, so pleased he was to see them. ‘Hello my dear Sophie. My, how you have grown, you must be ten years old by now. . .’ Sophie interrupted, ‘actually, I’m eleven now uncle, or will be next month.’
They went into the house and showed Sophie to her room, ‘Your mum stayed in this very place you know. She liked it here because the window looks out over the paddock. We had lots of horses then.’
Sophie’s heart dropped. No horses? ‘Have you no horses now then auntie?’ she enquired, hardly able to hide her disappointment.
‘Just the one now dear, a great big friendly white horse called . . . ‘ Sophie interrupted again, ‘I see him, I see him, there, by the fence looking this way. Do you think he knows I am here Aunt?’
Aunt Florence laughed, ‘he sure will, once you feed him a carrot or two. Go with uncle while I prepare the dinner. Not too long now, you’ll need to calm down before bed time. Not too long Rupert and not too many carrots either!’
Over the next few days Sophie enjoyed the pleasures of the countryside. In between picking berries, helping in the kitchen and feeding the chickens, she played happily in the nearby woods. Instead of seeing animals on television she saw them for real and she was always being amused by the squirrels that visited the gardens. But most of all, Sophie liked the friendly old horse. Sometimes Uncle Rupert would sit her high up on his back, he seemed to like her being there and he definitely seemed to like Sophie. He only walked slowly and never too far, for he was indeed very old now. Uncle Rupert told Sophie not to become too fond of the old horse as he was likely to be going the same way as the others had, possibly while Sophie was staying at the cabin. Sophie wasn't quite sure what to make of this but every morning when she woke; the old horse was peering at her window from the paddock. Perhaps dreaming of when he was young or perhaps just waiting patiently for one more carrot.
Sophie's next favourite was sitting on the colourful rug in front of the log fire after supper, when aunt and uncle would tell her stories, stories about her mum, life in the mountains and their travels when they were younger. One night Uncle Rupert was to tell Sophie about the carpet she loved to sit on, it was a magic carpet. 'Well so the old gentleman told us when we bought it in a market place in the ancient city of Thebes,' confided Uncle Rupert, with a glance towards the window to make sure no one else was there. 'We made instant friends with the shopkeeper. Mustapha Mohamed was his name. It was the only magic carpet he had ever seen in his entire life but he’d not been able to find the secret which made it work. He said that it would be up to us to find the key that unlocked the magic.'
Sophie was spellbound, 'Have you tried abracadabra? Or open sesame? She asked, watching the rug very carefully as she spoke.
Her aunt Florence laughed, yes dear, we've tried them all and in the end we gave up. We only have Mustapha's word that it is a magic carpet and whether it is or is not, we've had it so long now it's become part of the family. See, it still has all the bright colours and there are no holes in it anywhere, it’s just like when we first had it.'
Evenings could be cold in the mountains and snow was always expected at this time of year. Tonight could be the night. 'Well, time for bed Sophie but before you go I have some sad news about your old friend out in the paddock. We are not wealthy people Sophie and the time has come to send our old horse to another place. Possibly a man may arrive tomorrow to collect him.'
Sophie was very upset as she went to bed; she wished her mum was there, she would know what to do. Even though it was very late, Sophie was still wide awake when she heard her aunt and uncle go to bed. They were soon snoring happily. Sophie looked out of her window, the snow had stopped and by the light of a full moon Sophie could see the old horse looking at her from over his fence. She saw him shiver with cold and shake off a little snow from his mane. She must do something; she could not rest until she had. Then Sophie had an wonderful idea. Tiptoeing in bare feet, she crept through the house and picked up the carpet from in front of the fire, how warm and dry it felt. Still in bare feet she crossed the snowy ground to the paddock and managed to climb onto the fence with the carpet in her arms. It was cold outside but nothing was going to stop such a kind deed for this beloved old horse. The feeble old horse stood shivering alongside the fence as though knowing he was about to have a warm coat. Soon the carpet was comforting him across his back. Little did Sophie realise that the key to the magic carpet was not in words at all but in actions of unselfish kindness. After all these years the carpet began to work its magic again, the old white horse was changing before Sophie’s eyes, becoming more white, taller and muscles began to cover his old bones. He was young again, young, strong and no longer cold. But more! He was no longer just an old horse but a splendid unicorn! Sophie watched in amazement as the unicorn shook off the carpet, took two steps forward and rose into the air, it was flying, flying over the paddock fence and away into the distant moonlit mountains. Sophie gathered the magic carpet in her arms, brushed the snow off and returned it to the warm fire place where it would dry off overnight. Sophie didn't feel the cold any more and was soon in bed and fast asleep.
Sophie was still snugly asleep when she was suddenly woken by shouting outside her window. It was Uncle Rupert, he had discovered the old horse was missing, ‘Florence, Florence, the horse has gone, come quick, look!’
Sophie quickly dressed in warm clothes and rushed outside to join them.
‘Well I never Florence. That old horse could never jump this fence and the gate is still locked.’
‘That’s not all Rupert, look; there are no hoof prints in the snow outside the paddock. How could he possibly have got out? The man was coming to collect him today too, what on earth can we say to him?’
Sophie wasn’t sure if it had all been a dream but she chose to tell what she knew anyway, ‘He just turned into a unicorn and flew across the mountains over that way,’ she said pointing excitedly.
Aunt Florence gently brushed her hand over Sophie’s hair, ‘Bless you my dear child, what a lovely idea.’
‘Yes,’ said Uncle Rupert, ‘what an imagination they have eh? Well, it’s a mystery to me. Let’s have breakfast and see if we can find out how he escaped later.’
They never did find out, only Sophie knew . . . and now you of course.
Little Sophie was adamant; she was not going to stay with her great aunt and uncle for a whole two weeks while her mother was away on some silly training thing for work.
‘But you’ll love it there Sophie, I always did when I was young. Uncle Rupert and Auntie Florence are really kind people and it’s not for very long.’
Nothing seemed to change Sophie’s mind, ‘I’ll stay here on my own then mum, and Mrs whats-er-name next door can keep an eye on me.’
‘No Sophie, that won’t do at all, you are far too young and Mrs Gracie is too old. Poor dear must be ninety. We must sort this out soon, today would be good as I have already written to them. Aunt and uncle live in the most wonderful old cabin up in the mountains, fresh air, good food, why, they even had horses when I was there, my favourite was a big friendly white one called . . . ‘ Sophie interrupted, ‘Horses? They have horses? Will they let me ride them?
Sophie’s mum saw a glimmer of hope, this sudden change of mind was a blessing. ‘Oh, I’m sure they will, and you can take their old dog for walks in the forest too,’ she said keenly, hoping the dog might still be alive, after all, that was twenty years ago.
‘I’ll put you on the bus and give you a note for the driver to let you off at the right place and Aunt Florence will be waiting there for you.’
‘Okay mum, but if there are no horses I’m coming home on the next bus.’
True to their word, the driver dropped Sophie off at a remote countryside bus stop and Aunt Florence was patiently waiting for her. Sophie liked her immediately. ‘Isn’t it quiet here Auntie . . . where is the car?’
‘Ah, a car, yes, we had one of those contraptions a long time ago Sophie, but now we just look after ourselves up here in the mountains. Come along, give me your bag and we’ll take a nice walk home through the woods. It’s not far, about two miles, that’s all.’
‘Two miles!’ thought Sophie, that’s like forever. I don’t even walk to school and that’s only around the corner.’
The walk turned out to be very pleasant and not tiring at all as they walked on a carpet of soft pine needles and dry leaves. Sunshine lit the ground between the trees and in the distance a woodpecker tapped its beak on some lucky tree. Squirrels, curious to see who was walking through their forest, popped their heads around branches to watch. By the time Sophie reached the cabin she was already looking for the next adventure.
As soon as he heard their happy chatter arriving, Uncle Rupert stopped digging in the vegetable garden and waved wildly, so pleased he was to see them. ‘Hello my dear Sophie. My, how you have grown, you must be ten years old by now. . .’ Sophie interrupted, ‘actually, I’m eleven now uncle, or will be next month.’
They went into the house and showed Sophie to her room, ‘Your mum stayed in this very place you know. She liked it here because the window looks out over the paddock. We had lots of horses then.’
Sophie’s heart dropped. No horses? ‘Have you no horses now then auntie?’ she enquired, hardly able to hide her disappointment.
‘Just the one now dear, a great big friendly white horse called . . . ‘ Sophie interrupted again, ‘I see him, I see him, there, by the fence looking this way. Do you think he knows I am here Aunt?’
Aunt Florence laughed, ‘he sure will, once you feed him a carrot or two. Go with uncle while I prepare the dinner. Not too long now, you’ll need to calm down before bed time. Not too long Rupert and not too many carrots either!’
Over the next few days Sophie enjoyed the pleasures of the countryside. In between picking berries, helping in the kitchen and feeding the chickens, she played happily in the nearby woods. Instead of seeing animals on television she saw them for real and she was always being amused by the squirrels that visited the gardens. But most of all, Sophie liked the friendly old horse. Sometimes Uncle Rupert would sit her high up on his back, he seemed to like her being there and he definitely seemed to like Sophie. He only walked slowly and never too far, for he was indeed very old now. Uncle Rupert told Sophie not to become too fond of the old horse as he was likely to be going the same way as the others had, possibly while Sophie was staying at the cabin. Sophie wasn't quite sure what to make of this but every morning when she woke; the old horse was peering at her window from the paddock. Perhaps dreaming of when he was young or perhaps just waiting patiently for one more carrot.
Sophie's next favourite was sitting on the colourful rug in front of the log fire after supper, when aunt and uncle would tell her stories, stories about her mum, life in the mountains and their travels when they were younger. One night Uncle Rupert was to tell Sophie about the carpet she loved to sit on, it was a magic carpet. 'Well so the old gentleman told us when we bought it in a market place in the ancient city of Thebes,' confided Uncle Rupert, with a glance towards the window to make sure no one else was there. 'We made instant friends with the shopkeeper. Mustapha Mohamed was his name. It was the only magic carpet he had ever seen in his entire life but he’d not been able to find the secret which made it work. He said that it would be up to us to find the key that unlocked the magic.'
Sophie was spellbound, 'Have you tried abracadabra? Or open sesame? She asked, watching the rug very carefully as she spoke.
Her aunt Florence laughed, yes dear, we've tried them all and in the end we gave up. We only have Mustapha's word that it is a magic carpet and whether it is or is not, we've had it so long now it's become part of the family. See, it still has all the bright colours and there are no holes in it anywhere, it’s just like when we first had it.'
Evenings could be cold in the mountains and snow was always expected at this time of year. Tonight could be the night. 'Well, time for bed Sophie but before you go I have some sad news about your old friend out in the paddock. We are not wealthy people Sophie and the time has come to send our old horse to another place. Possibly a man may arrive tomorrow to collect him.'
Sophie was very upset as she went to bed; she wished her mum was there, she would know what to do. Even though it was very late, Sophie was still wide awake when she heard her aunt and uncle go to bed. They were soon snoring happily. Sophie looked out of her window, the snow had stopped and by the light of a full moon Sophie could see the old horse looking at her from over his fence. She saw him shiver with cold and shake off a little snow from his mane. She must do something; she could not rest until she had. Then Sophie had an wonderful idea. Tiptoeing in bare feet, she crept through the house and picked up the carpet from in front of the fire, how warm and dry it felt. Still in bare feet she crossed the snowy ground to the paddock and managed to climb onto the fence with the carpet in her arms. It was cold outside but nothing was going to stop such a kind deed for this beloved old horse. The feeble old horse stood shivering alongside the fence as though knowing he was about to have a warm coat. Soon the carpet was comforting him across his back. Little did Sophie realise that the key to the magic carpet was not in words at all but in actions of unselfish kindness. After all these years the carpet began to work its magic again, the old white horse was changing before Sophie’s eyes, becoming more white, taller and muscles began to cover his old bones. He was young again, young, strong and no longer cold. But more! He was no longer just an old horse but a splendid unicorn! Sophie watched in amazement as the unicorn shook off the carpet, took two steps forward and rose into the air, it was flying, flying over the paddock fence and away into the distant moonlit mountains. Sophie gathered the magic carpet in her arms, brushed the snow off and returned it to the warm fire place where it would dry off overnight. Sophie didn't feel the cold any more and was soon in bed and fast asleep.
Sophie was still snugly asleep when she was suddenly woken by shouting outside her window. It was Uncle Rupert, he had discovered the old horse was missing, ‘Florence, Florence, the horse has gone, come quick, look!’
Sophie quickly dressed in warm clothes and rushed outside to join them.
‘Well I never Florence. That old horse could never jump this fence and the gate is still locked.’
‘That’s not all Rupert, look; there are no hoof prints in the snow outside the paddock. How could he possibly have got out? The man was coming to collect him today too, what on earth can we say to him?’
Sophie wasn’t sure if it had all been a dream but she chose to tell what she knew anyway, ‘He just turned into a unicorn and flew across the mountains over that way,’ she said pointing excitedly.
Aunt Florence gently brushed her hand over Sophie’s hair, ‘Bless you my dear child, what a lovely idea.’
‘Yes,’ said Uncle Rupert, ‘what an imagination they have eh? Well, it’s a mystery to me. Let’s have breakfast and see if we can find out how he escaped later.’
They never did find out, only Sophie knew . . . and now you of course.
Young Jimmy’s day.
I wish my mum would stop shouting up the stairs for me to come down. I’m not bothered about breakfast and I won’t be late for school. I’m sure I can do that ten minute walk in five – I mean, how hard can it be? Anyway, all my clothes are ready. I have a system - when I go to my room at night I lay my clothes out in random stacks on the floor. Trouble is mum interferes with the system by washing and tidying. It’s as much as I can do to maintain the status quo. (I bet you old people think that’s a pop group.) I know my way is best but convincing my parents is hard work. With luck my lunch box will be filled with goodies, you know, healthy stuff like crisps and chocolate bars. I just hope there’s no salad type rubbish in there. The school yard bins are filled with salads mums send in for their kids. Let’s face it salad is home to slugs and snails that crawl all over and wee on it. Not my cup of tea that – it might be yours.
I’ll just have a few more minutes laying here and thinking about getting up. It’s almost the same as doing it but without the effort. I bet mum’s lying about the right time anyway – she always does. Still mustn’t annoy her too much as she’s still a bit upset about the bathroom ceiling. How was I to know the bath would fill that quickly anyway, and why buy me that computer game if they didn’t want me to play with it?
Hey – I tell you what was funny. You know school uniforms are expensive and mums try and buy one that you’ll eventually grow into – saves money apparently. Well, Mondays I stay late at school for Judo and afterwards I couldn’t find my trousers. I had to phone mum, who came to the school with another pair. She seemed quite agitated by the whole thing but there was no need really because next day I found them – they’d been in my school bag all the time. Funny eh? Jimmy.
I wish my mum would stop shouting up the stairs for me to come down. I’m not bothered about breakfast and I won’t be late for school. I’m sure I can do that ten minute walk in five – I mean, how hard can it be? Anyway, all my clothes are ready. I have a system - when I go to my room at night I lay my clothes out in random stacks on the floor. Trouble is mum interferes with the system by washing and tidying. It’s as much as I can do to maintain the status quo. (I bet you old people think that’s a pop group.) I know my way is best but convincing my parents is hard work. With luck my lunch box will be filled with goodies, you know, healthy stuff like crisps and chocolate bars. I just hope there’s no salad type rubbish in there. The school yard bins are filled with salads mums send in for their kids. Let’s face it salad is home to slugs and snails that crawl all over and wee on it. Not my cup of tea that – it might be yours.
I’ll just have a few more minutes laying here and thinking about getting up. It’s almost the same as doing it but without the effort. I bet mum’s lying about the right time anyway – she always does. Still mustn’t annoy her too much as she’s still a bit upset about the bathroom ceiling. How was I to know the bath would fill that quickly anyway, and why buy me that computer game if they didn’t want me to play with it?
Hey – I tell you what was funny. You know school uniforms are expensive and mums try and buy one that you’ll eventually grow into – saves money apparently. Well, Mondays I stay late at school for Judo and afterwards I couldn’t find my trousers. I had to phone mum, who came to the school with another pair. She seemed quite agitated by the whole thing but there was no need really because next day I found them – they’d been in my school bag all the time. Funny eh? Jimmy.