Tuesday 8 April 2014

Who is stealing Mr Frogs flies?

Eva and I are renowned for our complete and utter lack of imagination when it comes to naming her cuddly toys. Her favourite bear, for example, is called Teddy; her little chick is called Chicky; her leopard is called Leopard (originally Leonard...we pushed the boat out here!). You get the picture. 


This little story I made up off the cuff for her one night and wrote it down when I came downstairs. It's just a bit of fun, but it makes me smile. 

PS. The highlight of our naming abilities has got to be Sir Barnabus the Squidge, Eva's fish. Barnaby for short, obviously.


Who is stealing Mr Frogs flies? 

Mr. Frog sat happily on a rock, waiting for a fly to buzz by. As he waited, he croaked a little song to himself. It went something like this:

My name is Mr Frog
A great flycatcher am I
I sit and I wait
For a fly to come by
As it buzzes about
My tongue zips out
Goodbye Mr. Fly!

He sang and he sang while his tummy grumbled loudly. Finally, a big fat fly buzzed close to Mr. Frog's head. 

“Bzzzzzz, Bzzzzz”

He was just about to snatch it when he glanced into the water and saw ANOTHER frog about to eat HIS fly. He glared into the pond.

"Are you trying to steal my fly? I have been waiting all day for a nice juicy fly to come by," he shouted, angrily. The other frog did not answer, it just stared at Mr Frog and opened and shut its mouth. Flip Flap. Flip Flap. Mr. Frog was sure it was making fun of him. He hopped up and down angrily. Hop, hop, hop.

But the other frog hopped up and down too! This only made Mr. Frog more angry. He hopped into the water, he would show that frog!

Suddenly the other frog was gone!

Mr. Frog was very confused. He looked in front of him. He looked behind him. He looked to the right. He looked to the left. He could not see the other frog.

"Where has that Frog gone?" he wondered.

He decided to ask Mr. Fish. "Mr. Fish, have you seen a frog around here?"

"Why yes," he answered. "YOU!"

"No, I mean ANOTHER frog."

"There isn't another frog here; I'm sure of it," said Mr. Fish.

"Then where IS that frog who tried to eat my dinner!" Mr. Frog looked around. Not only was the other frog gone, but his nice juicy fly had buzzed away! Mr. Frog sadly hopped back onto his rock.

He sighed and settled down to wait for another fly to come by. He looked into the water, still wondering.

"There! There he is again!" The other frog was back! Suddenly Mr. Frog heard laughter.

"Oh, Mr. Frog," chuckled Mr. Fish, "the frog you’ve been chasing is only your reflection in the water! You have been chasing yourself this whole time!”

Mr Frog looked down at the familiar face staring back at him and started to laugh, “How silly I am!”

At that moment, Mr Frog heard a noise…

”Bzzzzz! Bzzzzz!”

My name is Mr Frog
A great flycatcher am I
I sit and I wait
For a fly to come by
As it buzzes about
My tongue zips out
Goodbye Mr. Fly!





 

Friday 4 April 2014

Your Faceless Names

In my spare time, I have been writing short stories for quite a while now. Some aimed at teenagers, some aimed at adults, but mostly aimed at children. I have a daughter of three and I love to share my imagination with her, making up bed time stories and acting out imaginative play like I'm a three year old too. Fortunately, this has proven to feed her imagination and not just think she has a crazy Mummy...most of the time!

Our conversations quite often spark ideas in my head, causing me to reach for my notebook and scribble away. This blog is where I'd like to document those scribbles, and any other scribbles I may come across along the way, and hear your opinions on them. Good or bad, feedback can only improve my work. 

I look forward to seeing the thoughts of all those faceless names out there.