There once was a town who’d forgotten how to play. They were so busy rushing around, making and stacking and sorting and packing things in that they didn’t even notice their world becoming greyer and paler. Even though they were moving faster and faster, so that everything was a whirl and a blur, inside they were sluggish and slow and drab.
Until one dark velvet night, when the rest of the town was asleep, a girl named Bea happened to be awake and looking out of the window at the stars. And she saw one bright star begin to glow even brighter. Then it started to tremble and shake and – oh no! – it began to fall!
Quick as a flash, the girl shook her little sister Ottie awake and they ran out into the town. They looked up into the sky as they ran, watching with wide eyes to see what would happen to the star. Slowly at first, then faster and faster, it shot through the sky. Down and down it came, getting bigger as it came closer. Ottie clung tightly to Bea’s hand as they stopped and looked.
The star was going to land …
… here!
… right in front of their house!
They quickly ran back, under a tree, afraid the star might land right where they stood.
And – whoosh! – flash! – so it did.
Right where, moments before, Ottie’s little feet had squashed the grass.
Now there was just a big black smouldering hole, with a little flicker of flame dancing round its edges.
‘Stay here,’ whispered Bea, and she crept forwards towards the hole.
Ottie never did what her sister said, and peeped around her shoulder as they both looked over the edge.
There, in the bottom of the hole, was … a … balloon!
Ottie loved balloons. ‘Balloon! Balloon! Up! Up!’ she cried, stomping her feet and reaching her hands.
Bea was afraid her sister might topple into the hole. Gingerly, she reached out and, trying not to burn herself on the orange flames still dancing round the edge, she picked up the balloon.
It was orange too, and glowed in the dark night.
‘Up! Up!’ shouted Ottie.
The balloon didn’t seem to be hot – or even that strange, if you could forget that it had just fallen out of a star – so Bea put it to her lips and blew
… and blew …
… and blew …
on and on, once she’d started, she couldn’t seem to stop.
The balloon grew bigger and bigger. It seemed impossible that it didn’t pop!
Now it was as big as Ottie, then it was taller than Bea, as high as the tree, as wide as their house!
Ottie was staring in wonder. Her beautiful balloon! It was the best balloon she had ever seen. She clapped her hands and jumped up and down.
‘Don’t do that!’ gasped Bea. ‘You’ll pop it!’
Ottie stopped, mid-jump. She hated big bangs, and this balloon would be the biggest bang ever. Bea tied the knot. She was exhausted.
Pulling the ribbon from one of Ottie’s bunches, she tied the enormous balloon to the branch of a tree.
Ottie gave a huge yawn.
‘I think we’d better get you back to bed,’ said Bea. ‘That’s enough excitement for tonight.’
The girls could hardly keep their eyes open as they crawled back into bed, but just before they fell asleep they ran back to the window for one last glimpse of the giant orange balloon, bobbing and glowing in the moonlight.
They fell asleep with big smiles on their faces, dreaming about telling their friends in the morning.
But when the sun streamed through their windows – what a shock! There was no balloon to be seen. Instead, right under the tree, there stood a little cottage.
Ottie and Bea got dressed quicker than they’d ever dressed before, and ran our of the house without breakfast.
A crowd of children stood around the tree, looking at the front door of the little … no! it wasn’t a cottage at all! … it was a shop! A beautiful toyshop, its window filled with magical things the children had only seen in their dreams.
And just then, the door of the shop opened, and out stepped a lovely lady with sparkling eyes.
‘Now,’ she said, ‘who would like some breakfast cake and lemonade?’
‘Me! Me! Me!’ the children shouted. And the lady stepped back so they could all run into the shop.
And inside – oh, my! – what had seemed a tiny cottage opened into rooms and rooms all filled with the most wonderful toys and games.
Ottie and Bea just stood at the doorway, holding each other’s hands and drinking it all in with their eyes. They had never seen so much colour and brightness and fun. The shop sparkled in the grey of the town like a star in the dark night sky.
The lovely lady bustled towards them. ‘Now then,’ she said. ‘You must be Ottie, and you must be Bea.’
The girls were so surprised she knew their names they couldn’t think of a thing to say.
‘I have to give you the biggest thank you,’ the lady said. ‘If you hadn’t found me and blown up my balloon so brilliantly, I don’t know what I would have done.’
The girls just blinked in surprise. Had their balloon really turned into this magical shop?
‘Yes,’ said the lady. ‘That’s right. When we stars get too excited and full of ideas and things to do, we shake ourselves out of the sky and fall down to earth. It can be terribly sad if nobody finds us and wants to play. But here you are! You found me! And you do want to play, don’t you?’
‘Oh, yes! Please!’ Bea found her voice at last.
‘Yes! Yes! Play!’ demanded Ottie.
And, laughing, the girls ran to explore with their friends.
And do you know the most wonderful thing?
As the children ran home that day, clutching toys and blowing bubbles, and laughing, spots of colour began to glow through the town. And all the grown-ups stopped what they were doing – their cleaning and their busying and worrying and hurrying, and came to look at the toyshop too.
The lovely lady – whose name (have you guessed?) was Julia – welcomed them one and all. And inside they found memories and new delights. And – whisper it – they found themselves wanting to play …
For Julia, celebrating one year of magic at Ottie and the Bea: may it be the first of many!
London 17 September 2011
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