The seaside Adventures Of Woodrow the Woodlouse
Woodrow the woodlouse happily makes his way home from school; he couldn’t wait to tell his mum what Mr. Slater had taught them in the classroom earlier that day. He tells her that woodlice once lived in the sea but have forsaken water and have adapted to live on land. He also tells her that woodlice are related to shrimps, prawns and crabs. “We came from the sea mum, a very long time ago” “Is that BC” said his mum, “Yes mum, before cornflakes” “Oh I think it’s longer than that Woody, you’d better ask your dad.”
“Well mum, we’re going on a school trip to the seaside, it’s not for fun mum, it’s educational we’re going to Ticklewick Sands.” “What about your little delicate feet Woody, they’re going to get scorched in the hot sand love?” said mum. “I’ll have to get some sandals to wear” replies Woody. “When are you going on this trip Woody?” “Next Friday,” “Next Friday! Where on earth am I going to find seven pairs of sandals before next Friday Woody, that just impossible?” “Its okay mum, my friends the black ants may be able to help, they’re very clever you know, I’ve seen them cutting and sewing things, they look after one another and nurse any sick ants back to health, they’re very caring, I often visit them. They like my poo mum.” “Oh Woody you grubby urchin”… “But they do mum, they make compost for their nests out of the tiny pellets, they call it Frass. I’m sure they could help, I’ve seem them make shoes before.” Woody’s dad then calls out in a loud voice, “Cobblers.” “Oh be quiet Wilfred,” calls mum. “No mum, dad’s right, they are cobblers, and cobblers make shoes.” “See Winnie you thought I was daft and I got it right” “That’s a first” said Winnie with a wink of her eye.
Woody trundles off excitedly to see the ants. He tells them about his seaside trip and about how his delicate feet will get burnt on the hot sands. “I’ll need some sandals, seven pairs in all with quick touch fastenings; otherwise it’ll take me all day to get them on and off again, I’ll have missed all the fun by then.” “We’ll make them for you Woody, that will be no trouble at all, call back in a couple of days for a fitting” said the head worker ant.
A couple of days later Woody returns to the ant’s nest for his fitting. His new sandals are all lined up in pairs. “They look wonderful” he shouts, “You’ll need to try them all on Woody to see how they fit” said one of the ants. Woody began to put on the pairs of red sandals with the help of the ants. “They fit like a glove….on a foot” said Woody and they all laughed out loud. Woody walked in them like a new born deer wobbling daintily along the lane as he made his way home. He was bursting with excitement and couldn’t wait to show them off to his mum and dad. ”They are wonderful Woody, you’re right they are very clever” said mum. “You’re going to need a big rucksack to put all those shoes in Woody” said his dad.
It’s now the night before the school trip and Woody couldn’t sleep at all he was so excited. His mind wandered, thinking of what Mr. Slater had taught them about his distant ancestors coming from the sea. He eventually drifted off to sleep dreaming of what tomorrow’s great adventure might bring.
Woody was up bright and early next morning. His mum had prepared everything he needed and packed his large rucksack with his lunch and his many pairs of sandals. She gave him some money for an ice cream and put him on the bus. As the bus moved off Woody waved to his mum and dad through the window. It looked as if the bus was holding a cast of silent little people staring out from the half misted windows like actors in a moving theatre. Everyone was so excited, they chattered the whole way there, telling jokes and swapping sweets. “Now boys and girls, stay in your seats until I tell you to get off and I want you all to stay together outside” said Mr. Slater.
When they arrived at Ticklewick Sands the tide was coming in with a slow rhythmic whoosh, whoosh, as the waves fell onto the beach like exhausted swimmers. They all made their way over to the sand dunes, where they swiftly made a camp and put on their swimming costumes. Woody put his sandals on with the help of his friends, then Tiggy, Chiggy, Roly, Fuzzy and Chuggy clambered up the sand dunes, then curling up into a ball they rolled back down at high speed to see who could travel the furthest. “This is called the pill rolling game, its good fun let’s do it again” said Chuggy. “Can we play too?” shouted another group of boys, “Yes, climb up, it’s great fun.” After a short while and feeling rather dizzy they sat on the sand to have a rest. As the sun climbed higher into the sky and feeling tired from their game they all went for a paddle in the sea to cool off. Poor Woody couldn’t stay in the water for very long as his sandals made his feet float to the top rolling him over onto his back, so he just put his hands behind his head and floated in the cool water enjoying his seaside experience.
Mr. Slater shouted for everyone to get into the shade, as it was time to have lunch. Woody and his friends all sat together and swapped sandwiches as young boys do. Woody had potted wood paste sandwiches, Tiggy had algae spread, Chiggy and Roly had fungus and salad leaf finger rolls and Fuzzy and Chuggy had trap cheese crackers. “Yak”, they all shouted, “trap cheese, ditch them in the bin lads, that’s stuff’s for mice, come over here, you can share ours.” They all washed their sandwiches down with homemade nettle pop, delicious!
After lunch and with full tummies they all sat in a circle while Mr. Slater told them about sand. He told them that sand was made by the coming and going of the tides eroding the rocks into tiny particles like beads, how it is used to make all types of glass, like your spectacles Chiggy, lenses for magnifying glasses and microscopes. How a pearl inside an oyster shell starts with an irritation from a tiny piece of sand. It has a gland that secretes mother of pearl which it uses to coat the shell’s interior. It will take about a year to fully form, by this time the oyster will cast its unwanted treasure into the deep. It’s used to build houses, bridges and roads because it gives strength and substance. If you look at sharp sand under a magnifying glass it sparkles like jewels, diamonds, emeralds and rubies. All of these magical wonders from tiny grains of sand. The children were held spellbound as they listened attentively. “Wow, and we thought sand was just good for making castles and sand pies.”
After the talk they decided to walk back up the beach to the ice cream van. “Do you know, we haven’t seen one shrimp here today, I’m going to ask the ice cream man? Excuse me sir, have you served any shrimps here today?” “We’ll serve anyone here son,” said the ice cream man looking down at Woody, “What would you like?” “Err no, I didn’t mean that” said Woody, and everyone began to chuckle. They all got an ice cream and walked back down to the rest of their classmates on the beach. “There’s just time for one last paddle before we get back on the bus” said Mr. Slater. By now the tide was going out, “It’s too far to go to the sea Woody, let’s go in that rock pool, I bet it’s warmer too” said Fuzzy. ”I’m taking my sandals off this time” said Woody. All but Tiggy stepped into the rock pool, “come on Tig, its lovely”. “No, I’m not coming in, the last time I went into a rock pool I got a sand flea in my trunks and it bit me, my mum had to fish it out.” “Oh no, not your mum” said Roly. As they all stood in the warm water, which was shallow, sweet, clear and rippling. Woody began to laugh, then they all joined in, “What’s that tickling our feet, quick Roly lend us your goggles” said Woody. As Woody investigated the pool he couldn’t believe it…… “Eureka” he shouted, and there swimming around their feet were hundreds of baby shrimps and tiny green crabs, at last we’d found them and just in the nick of time.” Tiggy ran up the beach to tell Mr. Slater and the rest of the children. They all came running and carefully stepped into the pool. They all had turns of Roly’s goggles to see their ancestors and the thrill of pleasure was profound.
It was now late afternoon and the school bus had arrived to take them❤️😁 home. As they clambered onto the bus Woody looked down at his sandals, they had done the trick and he had managed not to lose any along the way. They were all tired out but still managed to eat sweets and sing sea shanty’s all the way back to school.
As Woody left the school bus, he shouted and waved bye to his friends then stopped to remove his sandals and put them in his rucksack. As it was getting late he decided to take a shortcut home through the churchyard which was now deep in grass and dew. Here among the grave pots were the snowy white shapes of other woodlice, they were larger and fatter than Woody with ghostly translucent edges to their bodies and looked rather scary, whoooo! Suddenly he heard the voice of the verger, Oh no, I’ll get told off again thought Woody. He quickly scampered along the quiet country lane, but as darkness started to fall he knew those pesky hedgehogs Sniff and Snuffle would be out foraging for woodlice. I might not make it home he thought, so he decided to call on the ants again who sprayed him with a toxic spray. Sniff and Snuffle wouldn’t dare to eat him now and neither would Trevor the pesky tree creeper. He told the ants of his wonderful adventure at the seaside, of seeing his ancestors the crabs and shrimps and how his sandals had protected his feet. “I’m very grateful to you all for your hard work, I’ll recommend you to all my friends” said Woody. “Oh no, don’t do that, we did that just for you Woody, they were a one off special never to be repeated.”
As he arrives safely home, his mum and dad were delighted to see him and couldn’t wait to hear about his wonderful day. “Well mum, it was full blown and splendid, I’ve brought you some shells and guess what, we saw some of our ancestors, baby crabs and shrimps in a rock pool just before we left. I was getting quite worried so I asked the ice cream man if he had served any shrimps at his van that day.” “What did he say son?” said dad. “He said he’ll serve anyone dad” “What did he mean Wilf?” said Winnie. Wilf did a belly laugh, “That’s what everyone on the beach did mum, they all laughed, but I never meant that, I just wondered if he’d seen any.”
“Poo, what’s that nasty smell Wilf, is that you, what have you been eating?” “What do you mean, is that me, it’s not me it’s coming from our Woody?” “Oh it’s okay mum, it’s a toxic spray from the ants to ward off Sniff and Snuffle and it must work mum, I’m here aren’t I?” “Oh Woody, you smell awful, you’ll have to get straight in the bath, put your sandals outside to blow the smell away then you can have your tea. Look now, there’s sand all over the carpet, oh Woody.” “It’s not my fault mum, it gets everywhere, we even got sand in our sandwiches too” said Woody. Wilf pipes up “Didn’t you know Woody that’s why they’re called sandwiches.” “Oh be quiet Wilf and read your paper” said Winnie. “Yes my love” murmured his dad.
After his warm bath to wash all the sand, salt and smell off and wolfing down his favourite tea mum tucked Woody into bed. In no time at all Woody slipped into a deep slumber dreaming of his wonderful day at the seaside. What a perfect end to a wonderful day. Night night Woody, sleep tight.
The end…….Look out for Woody’s next exciting adventure.
