THE PUDDLE PIXIES - CHAPTER 3 - A DAY AT THE SEASIDE

It was a very hot and sunny day, and in New Puddlington the Eastern Puddle was getting a bit small. There was not even enough water left for the Puddle Pixies to launch their pudaloes, nor for the pixie children to go swimming, and it was a bit too hot to run around playing games. They began to look rather fed-up. Mrs Amanda Puddle Pixie said:
‘Cheer up boys and girls. I know where there is a very LARGE puddle which NEVER DRIES UP!'
She went off for a few moments, then drove her very big Pixie Mover up to the door of the house, and all the little pixies jumped in. Off they went together, singing pixie songs as they drove along, with Dad handing out Pixie fruit and boiled sweets.
At last they reached their destination.
‘Here we are, chaps’
said Dad.
‘Out you get!’
As they tumbled out of the car, the little Puddle Pixies couldn’t believe their eyes. There, stretched out before them, was a ribbon of golden sand, and behind it was the BIGGEST PUDDLE THEY HAD EVER SEEN!
‘Look at that’
they all shouted.
‘What a HUGE Puddle!’
‘That’s not a Puddle’
laughed their Mum.
‘That’s THE SEA!’
Mum and Dad had already packed everything they needed for a day at the seaside, and soon the little pixies were all wearing their swimming costumes and were covered in special Pixie Sunflower cream, to protect them from the hot rays of the sun. They spent a very happy day splashing in the blue water, which tasted strangely salty, and learning to make sandcastles, while the bright yellow sun beamed down on them.
After a delicious picnic, the children began to get tired, and it was time to set off for home. The younger ones went straight off to sleep, and the older ones chatted happily until they arrived home.
As the eldest boy Mikey helped his Dad Pasquale unpack the car, they heard a strange rattling sound coming from one of the buckets. They lifted up the beach mats and towels covering it, and as they peered in they were surprised to see a pair of large round eyes looking back at them. It was a little pixie crab. He waved his pincers at them and said:
‘Hello, I am Chris crab. I crawled into this bucket for a little nap after my
lunch, and now I don’t know where I am’.
The pixies stared in amazement.
‘Oh dear’
said Pasquale.
‘It’s a bit late to drive all the way back to the sea tonight’.
Then he had a very good idea.
He stood at the edge of the Puddle and called softly:
‘Puddle Spiders! Puddle Spiders! We need your help’.
Now the Puddle Spiders are small creatures which live in the mud round the edge of and at the bottom of puddles. They are cheerful, friendly folk, and like to help out where they can. Pasquale had always been careful not to tread on them, and had taught his family to do the same. The spiders knew this, and were not afraid to creep out of the water in response to his call.
‘What can we do for you?’
said Susie Puddle Spider.
Pasquale explained about the crab, and asked if the spiders would look after him just for the night, until they could drive him back home the next day.
‘Of course we will’
replied Susie, and Pasquale placed the crab near the edge of the puddle. He looked shyly at Susie, who beckoned for him to follow her to meet the others. The crab looked huge beside the tiny spiders, but they soon became friends, and the crab was happy to answer all the many questions the spiders were asking about life by the sea. They soon found out that the crab was none too keen on the Seaside Birdies too! They chatted well into the night, until the crab went happily to sleep in the soft mud, watched over by his new friends.
Next morning, Amanda and Pasquale put their family in the pixie mover, and set off once again for the seaside. This time they had another passenger, Chris Crab, who stood on top of a bucket waving happily to his pals the Puddle Spiders as they set off.
‘Sorry to put you to all this trouble’
said Chris.
‘Never mind’,
chuckled Dad.
‘It means we get to have another day at the seaside!’
And so they did. Once again the sun shone, the water was lovely, and they enjoyed another picnic.
However, this time, when it was time to go home, Mum and Dad made very sure they were carrying no extra passengers!