CHATTY SUMMER

Once upon a time, there was a season called summer who loved the sun. He loved it so much that he spent all day talking to it. The sun was his best friend, and summer was the nicest companion the sun could wish for, too.

All day long the sun was bored, for all it had to do was shine upon the Earth’s surface and not much else. So he was happy when summer came to talk to him, and passed the time pleasantly.

One summer’s day on the beach, when all the swimmers were enjoying a beautiful cloudless day and the sun was casting its rays on the sand, summer started chatting to him without stopping (as was usual!).

Short stories - Chatty summer

Seeing that the sun was very distracted by summer, a cloud sneaked up and hid behind the sun – and the sky began to darken. The people on the beach looked up and began to leave, gathering up their beach umbrellas and towels. There didn’t seem to be any sun, you see, and that’s why the people went home. Continue reading…

LAWRENCE’S TOY

Lawrence was a little boy of 8 years old who loved playing with his toys. On the whole he was a good boy and always got very good marks at school. That’s why one Christmas Santa Claus had arrived loaded with toys for Lawrence, for Lawrence had written to tell Santa that his school results were better than last year’s and that was why he wanted more toys.

Among the presents Santa gave Lawrence was a magic blackboard where you could write or draw anything you liked, but which erased everything when you shook it. Without a doubt, it was the Christmas present he liked most of all, for he spent hours and hours playing with it.

After the holiday was over, Lawrence decided to take the magic blackboard to school to show his classmates. But Liam, the naughtiest boy in the class, ran off with Lawrence’s board and teased him all through break.

Short stories - Lawrences-toy

“Liam, give me my board back!” shouted Lawrence. But Liam was taller than Lawrence and held it above his head so that Lawrence couldn’t reach it.

“Go on Lawrence, jump!” teased Liam. Continue reading…

THE SCATTER-BRAINED FAIRY

Once upon a time there was a fairy called Rita, who lived on the edge of a big city in a house with horses, sheep, a pig and several sheepdogs.  Rita the fairy enjoyed living in the countryside, but she had one problem: she was so scatter-brained that she forgot she had animals that depended on her, and sometimes she forgot to feed them.  Other times she forgot to stroke them, or to correct them when they did something wrong, but she thought: “… Well, they’re only animals so they won’t mind…”

One day, however, she remembered what she was and thought: “Wait, I’m a fairy!! I must learn not to forget these things… I know, I’ll do one of my spells to cure myself.”

So she cast a spell for a better memory. She said the magic words “Memoria memorieta memorium memoriae,” but then she forgot to throw her magic dust and the spell went wrong. And she turned into a little pig like the one on her farm.

Short stories - the scatterbrained fairy

That meant that Rita the fairy had to find an antidote spell to go back to her normal human state. But in the meantime the animals played with her as if she were one of them, they sniffed at her and crowded around her because she was a new pig they had never seen before. Continue reading…

THE LOCH NESS MONSTER

A long, long time ago there was a legend about a monster that lived in a lake called Ness, by the side of a little village in Scotland. No one had ever seen the Loch Ness Monster, but the whole world talked about her. People said that the monster in the lake was as big as a football pitch, that she had four eyes and ate all the little children who went near the lake.

Jake, for that was the name of an adventurous little boy from the area, decided to investigate and set off to explore the area around Loch Ness. Jake knew that if the rumours of the monster were true, he wouldn’t come out of his adventure alive. But there was something inside him that made him think that what people said was false.

Jake believed that if there really was a monster in Loch Ness, she couldn’t be as bad as the villagers said, for he believed that all living beings had their good and bad points, and that we should try to get the best out of each other.

Short stories - the loch ness monster

So Jake went off with his backpack full of food. When he reached the banks of the lake, he began throwing the food to attract the Loch Ness Monster. Continue reading…

THE DAY OF THE TREE

Matthew had woken up before his alarm went off, which was very unusual because normally he was a real sleepyhead. He jumped out of bed, put on his explorer costume, made his bed, pulled on his boots and went down to the kitchen for breakfast.

Matthew’s mother and father were busy making breakfast, and were very surprised to see Matthew appear at the door… “Good morning, son, what’s up with you today? How come you’re up so early?!” laughed his father.

“Well, I woke up before the alarm, so I wasn’t sleepy,” answered Matthew.

For Matthew, today was a very special day. It was the day of the tree, and they had bought a small tree to plant in the field as a symbol of respect for nature.

Short stories - The day of the tree

After breakfast, they set off. They took the necessary tools to plant the tree: a hoe, gloves and a hose for watering it.

When they got to the field, Matthew’s mouth fell open: they weren’t the only ones who had thought of planting a tree! There were lots of other children doing the same thing and also writing little cards to go with them, with the date and their name on it.

Matthew was sad to discover that his idea wasn’t new, and that lots of other people had had the same thought.

“Matthew, your idea to plant a tree in the field was lovely so there’s no reason to be sad,” remarked his mother. Continue reading…

THE INTELLIGENT DONKEY

There was once a donkey whose name was Bruno. He lived with his master, an elderly man called Alfred. Every day, Bruno and his owner would go to the fields to work the earth. They looked after it so well that no weeds grew, and they ploughed and sowed the seeds.

Bruno’s job was very important, for he was responsible for the hardest tasks and that helped Alfred not to get so tired.

Like every day, today Bruno and Alfred were in the fields. While his owner snoozed under a tree, Bruno took the opportunity to eat something. Suddenly, something began moving beneath the earth where Bruno was eating… and up came a mole!!

Short stories - the intelligent donkey

“What are you doing eating my soil? Silly donkey… Can’t you see this is private property!?! Go on! Get out of here!!” scolded the mole.

Bruno answered: “I’m sorry, Mr. Mole, but this soil belongs to my owner and I can eat anything I want. By the way, I’m not going to go away, and what’s more I can see you’ve tried to trick me…”

The mole was surprised to see he hadn’t managed to deceive the donkey; Bruno seemed to be more intelligent than other donkeys he knew…

“Don’t be angry, donkey, I didn’t mean to trick you! I didn’t know this land belonged to your owner…” answered the mole.

Bruno replied: “Let me tell you one thing, Mr. Mole. It’s not right to take advantage of others. You thought that all donkeys are silly, but you shouldn’t be prejudiced.”

And so the mole went back inside his molehill, blushing and reflecting on what had happened. Our dear friend Bruno the donkey had taught the mole a very valuable lesson: there’s no need to trick anyone, for you will achieve much more if you are a good and honest person.

THE END

THE TINY LITTLE MOUSE

There was once a tiny little mouse called Marvin.

He was so small that when his friends called him, he had to light a match for them to see him. At school he was always teased for being so small, but he didn’t care and remained deaf to everything people said to him.

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However, what some of them didn’t realise was that Marvin was the only mouse not to fall into the traps set by humans. Whenever he had to dodge the traps to get to his mouse hole, Marvin darted home nimbly and never once stepped on the mechanism that activated the traps.

Childrens stories - the tiny little mouse

And that wasn’t all. Whenever a human went mouse-hunting, Marvin would hide in the cheese holes and they never caught him. He was the only one who could.

Continue reading…

THE TALKING TAP

Once upon a time there was a tap that was used to wash plates… which is to say he was a tap in a kitchen in a house in the countryside.

He didn’t see people very often, so to entertain himself he learned to speak – but he only ever talked to himself. He would tell himself stories about what his life would be like if people lived in his house.

 

Childrens stories - the talking tap

One day, new owners bought the house – and they had a little daughter called Maria. The little girl didn’t have many friends nearby, for her house was quite far away from the village. So she would amuse herself by playing with the furniture and items in the house, and the thing she most liked to play with was the talking tap.

Continue reading…

THE ADVENTURES OF LOLA

If ever there was an intrepid and adventurous little girl, it was certainly eight-year-old Lola. Lola lived with her parents and grandfather in a house in a small village, surrounded by mountains, a river and lots and lots of trees.

Every day after school once Lola had done her homework, she would eat a snack and think up a new adventure. Today, Lola put on her explorer glasses and picked up her backpack, where she kept a compass, a bottle of water, a lamp and a GPS that her parents had given her for her birthday.

“Mum, I’m going into the garden for a bit“, said Lola. “Ok, Lola, but be careful and come back in before it gets dark” replied her mother.

Childrens stories - The adventures of Lola

Lola ran out into the garden, which was as big as a football pitch, and her grandfather, who was sitting on the veranda, said: “What’s today’s adventure? If you need a companion on your travels, just let me know“.

“Oooh, yes please, Granddad,” said Lola. “Come with me – I need you to help me complete a really, really important mission!!!”

So Lola and her grandfather went to a part of the garden where Continue reading…

THE DUCKS IN THE LAKE

Just like every day at the lake, the ducks were waking up to the first rays of sun bouncing off the water and bringing glorious colour to all the beautiful vegetation around there.

Dory, for that was the name of the strongest little duck in the lake, was helping the other little ducks as well as getting her children some food. Life at the lake was an oasis of peace.

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But then something unexpected happened… Ever since the lake had been built, a villager called Steven had been in charge of cleaning the lake. Steven respected the ducks as well as all the plants that surrounded them. But Steven wasn’t there today – instead, a man called Horace was now in charge.

Children´s stories - the ducks in the lake

Horace did not think the ducks were as important as making the lake as pretty as possible to surprise all the villagers.

One beautiful day when the first rays of sunshine were beginning to peep out, Horace arrived at the lake pushing a wheelbarrow in which he was carrying a strange object. Dory the duck, who was already awake and looking for food for her children, paddled silently over to the place where Horace and his wheelbarrow were, but couldn’t make head or tail of what was inside it.

After a few hours, Horace had finished his work of art. He placed a fountain right in the middle of the lake, with all kinds of pipes sticking out everywhere – poor Dory couldn’t begin to guess what they were for. Continue reading…