Pixie smiled to herself and wondered if Mr. Jones was always this angry. Did he wake up and think his milk was too milky, his water too watery and squirrels too squirrely? He needs to wake up and smell the roses? That’s all Pixie wanted to do, she loved starting her day among the beautiful colours and delightful smells.
Once Mr. Jones had become distracted with the boys and girls playing too close to the daffodils, Pixie skipped down the tree trunk and off across the green grass to find her friends. The grass was still wet with the morning dew, so she picked up her pace. She sprinted towards the pond and slid on her bum along the wet grass.
“WHEEEEEEE!” she shouted.
“PIXIE!”, three yellow ducklings cheered as they saw their favourite squirrel arrive on the path beside the pond.
“Hi guys!”, shouted Pixie as the ducklings splashed and crashed towards her, eager to be the first to hop onto her bushy tail.
“One at a time guys. Polly, you first.”
Polly danced as she realised she could jump on before her brothers. Pixie lay her tail on the ground and Polly crawled on, excited for what was to come.
“1,2... THREE!” Pixie swished her tail forward with all her might. Polly flew through the air, she flapped her little wings and soared higher than she had ever been. She could see over the park wall, out across the train track and over the waves in the sea.
Seconds later she landed face first into the pond, the cold water made her shiver but she smiled with delight after another Pixie catapult.
“AGAIN!” she shouted, as her brothers landed in the water beside her.
“Ducklings, I need your help. Mr. Jones is always angry, I think he needs to smell the roses. They are just so beautiful, it might help him relax. Wouldn’t it be great if he was our friend?” said Pixie.
“We love friends!”, the ducklings shouted, “We’re in!”
Pixie was excited and explained her plan.
“Tomorrow morning, before the park opens, we’ll meet at the bandstand. Percy, Polly and Patrick, you can’t be late. Once you hear the first train along the tracks, that’s our signal that we have to meet.”
“Ok, Pixie, but what do we do then?”, Percy asked.
“I’ll catch Mr. Jones’ attention and make him chase me to the roses. I’ll hide among them so he can’t see me. This is where I need your help.”, said Pixie.
“Great, this is exciting!” Patrick shouted.
“When I am between the roses, Mr. Jones will bend down looking for me. He will use his eyes to search for me, his ears to listen for me... and the silly man might just try and smell for me too.”
“You don’t smell Pixie!” said Polly.
“I know, this is when we will get him to smell the roses. When the wind blows their smell is stronger, I think it is because the roses are dancing and they want everyone to know how wonderful their scent is. We need to make the roses move.”
“Are you going to make wind, Pixie?” Percy giggled.
“No, that would be very difficult. You guys are going to move the roses. I’ll hide between them, Mr. Jones will be down looking for me and you guys will pull one rose to one side and then let it go. Once it swings up it will send all the lovely smells towards Mr. Jones and he will see how beautiful the roses smell, he will definitely relax and then thank us for helping him. We’ll have a new friend.”
“THAT’S A GREAT IDEA PIXIE!” screamed the ducklings.
“Thanks guys. Now, let’s get some rest, and remember, when the first train passes in the morning we must head to the bandstand.”
The next morning, Pixie’s ears picked up a rumbling sound in the distance, the train chugged into Blackrock station and the screeching of the brakes told her it was time to put her plan in place.
Pixie quietly left her sleeping parents in their burrow and headed for the bandstand. As she got closer she could see three tiny yellow shapes shivering on the steps. Her friends were ready.
“Morning guys!”
“Morning Pixie!”
“Are we all set? Do you know what to do?”
“Yes, we have picked the best rose and we know our muscles are ready.” The ducklings flapped their wings to show their strength.
“Great! Let’s go.”, Pixie gave the order.
The ducklings waddled off across the path towards the bed of roses. They wiggled their way in between the thorns and found their place beside their favourite rose.
“Let’s practice before Mr. Jones comes so we can get this right.” said Patrick. The ducklings agreed and decided to make a duck tower so that they could reach the petals of the rose.
Patrick crouched down and Percy hopped on his back, then Polly climbed on top of Patrick too before jumping on top of Percy. Their tower was ready. Polly’s wings reached out and pulled the rose a little, it swayed nicely letting out the lovely smell they needed.
While the ducklings practiced their plan, Pixie ran up the hill to the main gate and hid among the leaves.
It wasn’t long before Mr. Jones appeared at the gate. He took out his big metal key and stuck it in the lock. With a clatter he opened the huge gate, shoved his key into his pocket and growled at the little bird singing in the tree.
“Don’t worry Mr. Jones, we’ll make you smile.” Pixie whispered.
Mr. Jones walked to the little black and white house just inside the park. He opened the door and put on the kettle for a cup of tea. Pixie stood watching at the open door.
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE, SQUIRREL?!” Mr. Jones shouted.
Pixie didn’t move, she just grinned. This made Mr. Jones mad, he moved towards her and swung his big boot. Pixie was too quick, she jumped between his legs and pulled one of his shoelaces with her teeth.
Mr. Jones bent down to grab her, but cheeky Pixie jumped up and gave him a kiss on the nose instead. This made Mr. Jones furious. He chased Pixie out the door, his big boots thundering after her as she lead him down the winding path.
Pixie slowed down so that Mr. Jones could stay close and not give up. He grumbled and muttered and shouted at her but Pixie stayed ahead. Pixie lead Mr. Jones down into the open space where the bandstand was. She looked to her left and saw her friends among the roses.
The ducklings were getting scared now. Mr. Jones was getting closer to Pixie, he was running as fast as he could, bending down at the same time with his hands out wide to try and catch her.
Poor Pixie was getting slower as she moved towards the roses.
“I will eat you once I catch you squirrel!”, Mr. Jones roared.
“QUICK PIXIE, QUICK!”, the duckling tower was beginning to shake.
“Get ready guys, I’m coming!” Pixie shouted.
Pixie bounded into the rose bed and scuttled between the stalks before she found a nice hiding place.
“GET AWAY FROM THE ROSES!” roared Mr. Jones.
He bent down looking for Pixie, he looked left, he looked right. His eyes scanned the rose bed and his ears listened for any sign of brave Pixie.
“NOW!”, Percy gave the order and little Polly graabbed the rose. She moved the rose slowly backwards before letting it go and it popped quickly forward, just like they had planned.
“UH OH!” Pixie knew something was wrong straight away.
Poor Polly was now flying through the air. The thorn on the rose had caught her little wing and threw her forward.
She was heading straight for Mr. Jones’ nose.
Pixie and her friends looked on helplessly as Polly smashed into his big, squidgy nose.
Pixie raced in to save Polly as she dropped from his face, catching her with her tail.
Mr. Jones grabbed his flattened nose, “MY NOSE! OWWWWWW!” squealed the huge man like a big baby.
He looked towards the pond and saw Pixie bounding through the grass with three ducklings hanging onto her tail.
“That was fun!” Pixie shouted as she used her tail to fling the ducklings back into the water.
Percy, Polly and Patrick landed in the water with a splash. The four friends sat on the edge of the pond and laughed about their morning adventure.
“Is he our friend now?”, Percy asked.
They all laughed.
“Not yet”, said Pixie “we will need another plan!”
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