for Dave

Preview audio:

storyj.mp/ahbafiq459in

Scratch lived in a sleepy village somewhere in England. Nothing much ever happened in the village, it was always so very quiet. Then one day, while out playing in the woods, Scratch found a ball. It was different to all the other balls he had ever seen. So he carefully picked it up and carried it home.

Scratch was nearly home when he saw Molly, his human friend. Molly had been to dance class after school. Scratch also saw Sally the sheep and Betty the cow. 'Oh no!' He suddenly thought to himself. What if they take the ball because it is so nice.

"Where did you get that ball?" asked Molly. Scratch quickly put his paw on it so nobody could pick it up. "I found it in the woods" he replied.

"Oh, please show us where" said Molly.

They all followed Scratch back to the woods.

"I found it right here" said Scratch. "I looked to see if there was anyone here that it might belong to but there was just me here. Just me and the ball. So I decided to take it home."

Suddenly, there was a really loud trumpeting sound. So loud it made them all jump! The ground started to shake. Boom, boom, boom!

Sally the sheep and Betty the cow didn't like the loud trumpety noise. They didn't like the ground shaking beneath their feet either! They both turned around and ran home. Scratch tried to be brave. He growled a little bit but he was scared too. Molly was also a bit scared but decided to stay with Scratch. Then suddenly, as if by magic, the ball started to roll away on its own!

Scratch watched as the ball just kept on rolling. He didn't want to lose it so he ran after it as quickly as he could. He wasn't really looking where he was going. He was only looking at the ball. Then, as he got closer and just as he was about to pick it up the ball flew up in the air and got stuck on something. It seemed to be stuck on the end of a hoover pipe. Scratch was puzzled. Why would there be a hoover in the woods? Molly started to laugh!

Scratch jumped up and held onto the ball as tightly as he could. He was concentrating so hard he couldn't see who or what was holding on to the ball. Molly was laughing because she could see who it was! Finally, Scratch was so tired he had to let go. He stepped back and opened his eyes. Scratch could not believe what he saw!

Ha ha ha!

WOW!

The squirrel, the rabbit, the bumble bee and the ladybird all came out to see what was happening. Can you see them?