ESME LEARNS TO FLY

Mrs. Trundle wondered why Mr. Trundle was walking in bear feet. “George has been round and chewed my slippers”, he complained. “Don’t worry darling,” she said: “I will make you some.” “Make me some”! He said. “What from”? “Those off cuts you have they will be lovely as carpet slippers. And the very big bit can be given to Esme as a carpet for her bed. Sally says she won’t sleep in her bed. So perhaps she’ll like a bit of your carpet.” “Well the little devil pretended to be a carpet once didn’t she and got taken home so perhaps she would like one”. He was wandering around trying to find a suitable plastic bag to cover his beard. It had grown so long now that he couldn’t walk without tripping on it. He wouldn’t have it trimmed because he said it was a home for little creatures and old food. He had two earwigs in it, one for each ear which stopped him hearing when Mrs. Trundle nagged him, some spiders, some of yesterday’s Sunday dinner, a couple of biscuits which he wasn’t supposed to have and a few other bits besides. Anyway he couldn’t find a bag so had to hold it out in front of him with one hand. He was annoyed with the dogs for trying to lick it and the spiders tickled him when the wind blew. There may even have been a drop of gravy from when he had to wear his steak and kidney pie hat after his pork pie hat was eaten. Anyway he didn’t like being without carpet slippers.

When he went off to work a little spider called Suzzie offered to spin a web so that his carpet offcuts could be made into slippers and joined up along the edges. Mrs. Trundle had the job done in a few minutes with Suzzie’s help and knew he’d be in a very good mood when he saw them. She took the other bigger bit of carpet round to Sally who put it in Esme’s box.

That night when Esme was sleeping, she felt the carpet rolling up round her. At first, as she was lifted into the air she was very frightened but then she loved the feeling of being in the air. However, once the carpet lowered itself down she was stuck on the ground unable to fly. Just then a family of Kestrels appeared saying: “Hullo Esme, we will teach you how to fly”. Esme was delighted and first she was told to watch the birds to see what they did. She looked at them stretching out their wings and fluffing out their feathers and told them she was too heavy. “Nonsense! Said the youngest kestrel who was only three. “All you have to do is flap your ears and raise your tail and say the magic word”. Esme unfurled her ears and said “dogragalabra” and up she went. She landed in Pockledown wood where she spent the night playing with the birds and swimming in a pond of enormous size. She chased swans and ducks which is naughty, and “borrowed” some food from them. She flew right over all the houses and shops which were closed and landed outside Mr. Trundle’s window, hitting her tail on the glass just as he’d got his beard comfortable. “Who is that”? He shouted and sprang to the window. “Woof”, said Esme whom he loved very much. He let her in and she licked all the bits out of his beard and cleaned it with a shampoo known as dog slobber. He did feel better and she invited him to sit on her back. “I’m far too heavy”, he said but she made him as she wanted to see if she could fly Sally to the shops when her feet were tired. He sat very gently on her back and held onto her ears. She took off and he saw everything from up on high and thought how good it was to be nearer the stars than he had ever been.

Then one of the kestrels appeared and told Esme what time it was. Dogs can only fly at night when it’s dark and now the sun was coming up. She lowered Mr. Trundle who crawled into bed and went home to Sally again who found her snoring on her new piece of carpet. “Isn’t Mr. Trundle kind”? She said as she tickled Esme behind her ears. “Yes. He is and this truly is a wonderful carpet”. “Well it’s the first time you’ve slept in your bed in all the years I’ve had you”. Little did Sally know Esme had flown in her carpet and not slept at all.

(The end).