The Magic Necklace

[ailbhe]

Once upon a time there was a little girl called Linnea who had two friends called Charlie and Lola. Lola was Charlie's little sister. Linnea's little sister was called Emer.

One day, Linnea and Emer and Charlie and Lola were playing dressing up when Lola found a funny necklace. "Look, Linnea," she said, "look at this necklace!"

Everyone stopped playing and came to look at the necklace. It was very shiny and big. "That's my magic necklace," said Linnea. "It can fly."

"Wow," said Charlie, "a flying necklace! How does it work?"

Linnea brought Charlie and Lola and Emer into the back garden. "Everyone hold hands," she said. Linnea held Charlie's hand, and Charlie held Lola's hand, and Lola held Emer's hand. Then Linnea rubbed the magic necklace.

Whoosh! They floated from the garden up, up, up into the sky! They looked down and saw that they were flying over the little house in the garden, and then the big house, and the street, and the train tracks, and then they floated up over the town and away! They crossed fields and rivers and even cities.

They were flying to Ireland, where Nana lives.

They flew over the land, and over the sea, and over the land again. They went so high up they were higher than the clouds, and all around them were beautiful rainbows. Emer waved at an airplane! At least, Linnea spotted Nana's town, called Cork. They started to fly lower.

Down and down they flew, until Linnea saw Nana's back garden, all stones, with a big hedge. Crunch! Their feet landed in the gravel, and they stopped and looked at each other.

"Wow," said Lola, "that was amazing!"

Linnea walked to Nana's back door and pushed it open. "Boo!" she shouted. Nana jumped! She almost fell down in the kitchen! "How did you get here?!" she asked. "We flew with my magic necklace, of course," said Linnea.

Nana made them all a special big lunch after their long journey. She made pink milk and yellow milk, and nothing sandwiches and ham sandwiches, and apple flowers, and banana spirals, and banana muffins, and she drank hot tea. Linnea and Emer and Charlie and Lola all ate and ate until they were all full up. "You'd better go home now," said Nana, "or your parents will be worried! I bet they don't know where you are!"

Linnea and Emer and Charlie and Lola and Nana all went into Nana's back garden. "Bye-bye!" they all said, and there were lots of kisses and hugs for everyone. Then they held hands again. Linnea held Charlie's hand, and Charlie held Lola's hand, and Lola held Emer's hand, and Linnea rubbed her magic necklace. And they all floated up, up, up into the sky! Whee!

They floated up above the stony garden, and up above the hedge, and up above Nana's house, and up up up above the town called Cork, and then they floated so high up that they were above the clouds again! They almost crashed into a rainbow! But they floated over the land and finally they floated away from Ireland and over the sea. And then they were flying back over England, back to Reading, back to Curzon Street, and Linnea saw her house and they flew down, down, down, until they landed on the grass in the back garden, outside the little play house.

And they all went inside and said "Hello, Mum! Hello, Dad! Bet you can't guess where we've been!"

And Mum and Dad could never, ever guess!

Comments

[ailbhe]

It's complicated! The first time, I start telling the story, and Linnea corrects me until I get it right. After that, I tell it more or less unaided. "Tell me a story about the magic necklace and when me an' Charlie an' Lola went to see Nana flying" is probably how this one started, but it was a long time ago, so I can't quite remember. "What magic necklace?" "Did Emer come too?"