Dylan and Pop's Bedtime Adventures

A. Price B.

Description

When Dylan returns home with Teddy after a sleepover at Nana and Pop's his imagination is buzzing. His visits are so crowded with amazing adventures that it all seems like a dream - or like something Pop must have invented. Even Teddy needs a little time to recover from the excitement. Pop does have a most extraordinary way of mixing up reality and make-believe, and no sleepover would be complete without one or two of his fantastic bedtime stories. Here we present some of Dylan and Pop's bedtime adventures, complete with magic and marvels, buccaneers and buried treasure, parties and pony rides.

Sujets

• Children's

Informations

• Publié par: Andrews UK
• Date de parution: 25 mars 2021
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780722350560
• Langue: English

Extrait

Dylan and Pop’s Bedtime Adventures
B. A. Price




Published in 2020 by
A H Stockwell
www.ahstockwell.co.uk
Digital edition converted and distributed by
Andrews UK Limited
www.andrewsuk.com
Copyright © 2020 B. A. Price
The right of B. A. Price to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without express prior written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted except with express prior written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1956 (as amended). Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damage.
All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.



The Gingerbread Mystery
Dylan was stopping at Nana and Pop’s the week before Christmas. The school had asked pupils to bring cakes, buns and biscuits for the cookery table at the fair, all profits to go towards new sports equipment. The footballs and rounders bats had seen better days, not to mention the holes in the badminton nets.
“Let’s go to the shops and buy some,” Dylan said to Nana.
“Would it not be more fun if we made our own? We have all we need in the cupboard. You and Dylan can do the mixing,” said Pop. “I will grease the trays and make the shapes – Christmas trees, snowmen and reindeer faces, with raisins for buttons as well as eyes. Put them in the oven at gas mark three.”
Twenty minutes later they were done to a golden brown. A sprinkling of sugar made them good to eat.
“These should sell well at school,” Dylan said.
“There is enough mixture left to make some gingerbread men,” Pop said.
He got the ginger spice and added it to the mixture. Once baked, they decorated them with boots, gloves and a waistcoat made out of icing sugar, leaving them to cool overnight with the window and door open for ventilation.
The moon was full and shining through the window straight on to the gingerbread men. It is well known the moon has mystical and magic powers. Slowly, one by one, they started to move and stretch.
“Hello,” said one gingerbread man to the other. “What is your name?”
“I don’t know,” he said.
“Neither do I!” said the other one.
“Nor me,” said another. “We will call ourselves One, Two and Three.”
“Good idea!” said Two.
“I agree,” said Three, and they looked at each other.
“I don’t like your boots,” said One to Two.
“Your waistcoat looks silly,” said Three to One.
“Well, you have a wonky eye and crooked smile!”
“Nobody is perfect,” said Three. “We are all bald. Let’s take a look around.”
“Yes!” said Two. “Let’s go exploring.”
“I am too scared,” said One. “What if they have a cat? We may be eaten!”
“I have not heard any cats,” said Two. “We will have to chance it.”
Gingerly they made their way from the cooling tray on to the floor and through the open door. They called back to the snowmen, but got no answer.
“We will have to tread carefully not to leave any crumbs on the carpet – a dead giveaway,” said Two.
“Let’s tiptoe!” said Three.
They found themselves in the front room with just enough light shining through the curtains to see their way. They climbed up on the settee to get a better look at their surroundings. One stepped on the remote control and nearly went to pieces when the TV came on and illuminated the whole room.
“Far too loud!” said Two.
“Turn it down,” said Three.
One jumped up and down to find the right button. Our gingerbread men had never seen TV before and were amazed.
“I don’t like this channel,” said Two.
“Try another,” said Three.
One started bouncing on the remote, changing from channel to channel.
“Is that what you call channel-hopping?” said Two.
The night was spent watching this channel then that. They could not decide. Being gingerbread men, they could not tell the time.
Suddenly they heard footsteps on the stairs, so they decided to hide.
“Quick!” said One. “We don’t want to be found.”
Two hid under the settee, Three behind a cushion and One in the toy tub.
When Pop was getting Dylan’s breakfast he noticed the gingerbread men were missing. He searched everywhere in the kitchen, but they could not be found.
Dylan came downstairs and, as usual, ran to put the TV on to watch cartoons. He bounced on the settee and crushed Three to crumbs.
“Oh no!” said Two, peeking from under the settee. “What a way to go – sat on by Dylan’s bum!”
One did not fare any better: Pop put the lid back on the toy tub and crushed him, never to be seen again.
Two said, “That is not going to happen to me!”
When Nana opened the door to get the milk in, Two slipped through the front door while her back was turned. He ran off down Rose Street as fast as his little legs would go and disappeared into the misty morning.
I wonder what adventures he was about to have.
Dylan blamed a ghost for eating them, but then remembered ghosts don’t eat! What a mystery!





Here Today, Gone Tomorrow
Two was running down Rose Street on a cold and misty morning. He was very tired by the time he got to the end of the road. Parents were taking their children to school, but did not see him in the fog. He dashed into an alleyway to avoid being crushed underfoot. He stopped to catch his breath and hid behind a rubbish bag.
When the noise of footsteps had passed, Two peeped from behind the rubbish bag to get his bearings, trying to decide which way to go. He heard a scratching sound not far away. Being a brave gingerbread man, he went to investigate and saw a strange animal.
“Hello,” he said. “My name is Two. What is yours?”
“Ratty,” said the rat. “I have not seen you around here before.”
“Freshly baked yesterday,” said Two. “I am new to the area!”
“Would you like a tour?” asked Ratty. “Jump on my back and I will show you around!”
Ratty took Two down the alley and on to the cycle track.
“Where are you taking me?” said Two.
“To meet my family.”
Ratty’s home was in a small hollow under a tree. Two found a large family: Mrs Rat and five children.
“This is Two,” Ratty said.
“Good – you have brought dinner home!”
“No, Two is not for eating – not yet anyway,” he whispered to Mrs Rat. “He is our guest.”
The rats’ nest was very warm and cosy. Two felt safe.
“Can I sleep here the night?”
“Of course you can,” Ratty said.
Two fell fast asleep, only to be woken by the sound of low-voiced muttering. The rats were discussing which part of him they would eat in the morning. Two waited until the rats were asleep, then crept out of the door, going silently into the cold night and covering himself in leaves to keep warm and hidden.
Morning came. The sun was shining. Two felt better, having had a narrow escape from the rats. Two started walking down the track, diving for cover whenever a cyclist came by, and avoiding birds – they would have loved to eat a tasty gingerbread man.
Two froze when he heard tiny footsteps behind him and fell flat on the floor. A girl was walking by, saw Two and picked him up.
“This will do nicely for my packed lunch,” she said, and she put Two in her lunch box to be eaten later.
‘Oh no,’ thought Two, ‘caught again! I must escape.’
The lunch box was dark and crowded.
“Looks like you are done for,” said a cheese sandwich.