|
|
|
Sand Castles On A Snow Day
Reader Star Rating: 
Ellen Chene
Childrens-Stories.net Terms of use: you may view online and freely print a single paper copy of the entire story page for your own personal domestic private use, individual qualified Teachers may also freely print additional paper copies for teaching purposes within their own educational establishment. Any other use is strictly prohibited without prior written consent by letter from us, please see the contact us button above.
Roni Badanni slipped beneath the warm comforter and snuggled with her cranky cat Tulula.
She loved the feeling of the cold air on her face and the softness of Tululas fur against her skin.
If only she could spend the day in bed.
She slowly opened her eyes to the daylight that had flooded the room.
'Oh no' she thought, 'I must have overslept, today is a school day.'
She always woke up while it was still dark to get ready for school, but now it was light.
How late could it be, where was her mom, why had she not woken her?
Totally befuddled she quickly located her furry slippers to avoid having her bare feet hit the cold floor.
She scurried down the stairs in search of the big hall clock.
When she saw that the little hand was on the nine she knew indeed that she had
overslept as she always woke up when the little hand was on the seven.
How could this have happened?
Today was a special day at school that she had been looking forward to, the Valentine's Day party.
How could she miss it!
She had laid out all the valentines that she was going to give neatly in a pile near her schoolbooks and eagerly looked forward to the ones that she would receive.
She must hurry to get to school before she missed all the fun.
In a frantic effort to get ready she dashed toward the stairs only to hear her mother calling from the kitchen, where she sat having her morning coffee.
She did not have time to talk, didn´t her mother know what was going on at school today, how could she be drinking coffee at a time like this?
As she entered the kitchen the smell of pancakes and maple syrup attacked her nose.
'Hmm' she thought, 'I am already late, what's a few more minutes.'
As she gobbled down the last bite of pancake, smothered in syrup, her mother informed her that there was no school that day.
'How could that be,' she thought, 'there is always school.'
Her mother, reading her thoughts, directed her to the big window in the kitchen that overlooked the backyard.
She could barely see out of it because it was covered with snow.
Snow was everywhere and it was still falling from the sky.
The school was closed for a 'Snow Day.'
'Hmm, well now what was she supposed to do?'
As usual mom was busy doing whatever moms do but Roni was at a loss.
Tulula was only good for cuddling, did not much like to play.
Any other day she would have welcomed a day off from school but today was the big party.
Well, maybe she could go out and build a snowman or make angels in the snow, all was not lost.
She put all of her warm clothes on, which took a very long time, and headed toward the door.
Upon opening it a cold blast of air and snow tumbled over her.
Well this was not going to work; how could she build a snowman if she could not even get out of the door?
So much for that idea!
She then took off all of the warm clothes that she had put on, which again took a long time, and pondered what to do.
Well, she could always read a book, as mom always suggested when she was bored.
No, did enough of that in school.
She could always clean her room, no that was never a good idea.
Well that settled it, the basement; she would take a trip to the basement where there was always an adventure awaiting her.
She never knew what to expect so she never knew quite what to bring.
Candy bars, an essential, was always a good thing since she did not know how long she would be down there and of course a flashlight to protect her from the dark.
Her mother did not particularly like her playing in the basement so she tiptoed quietly to the creaky door and slowly opened it, relieved that her mother was distracted on the phone with her Auntie Jennie.
She would have all day to explore as her mother and Aunt Jennie would spend hours on the phone solving all of the family problems.
Well enough with that, she had places to go and people to see.
The stairwell was cold and she wished that she had a sweater.
She wasn´t taking any chances, going back for one she would have to pass her mother in the kitchen, she would just have to be cold.
She gently opened the door a crack and peered into the basement.
'Hmm' she thought, 'I do not need a sweater, in fact I am kind of hot.'
She pushed open the door the rest of the way, only to encounter a beautiful sandy white beach and blue ocean.
There were all kinds of people on the beach.
Wow, this is the place to be, there is no snow here, the warm sunshine felt good on her face.
Boy, she could stay here forever.
She found her bathing suit on a beach chair and it took no time at all before she was in her suit and sticking her toes in the water.
Music was playing, kids were laughing, and everyone was having a great time. Who cares about an old Valentine's Day party when you can be at the beach?
With all this sand one could build a sand castle to the sky which is exactly what she started to do.
She was soon joined by Chipper and his sister Corky who were visiting from a place she had never heard of.
They had been digging in the sand on their way to China but preferred to join her in building a sandcastle to the sky.
They had a big job ahead of them but plenty of sand to do it.
They worked tirelessly for what seemed like hours.
'Yep this would take some time.'
After what seemed like forever, they decided maybe they should take a break and eat some candy bars.
Yep that sounded good to everyone.
Lucky thing that Roni had brought the whole box instead of one or two.
Chipper and Corky had never eaten candy bars before, but sure liked them.
In fact they each ate three leaving Roni only one.
She didn´t care, they were her new best friends and she was glad that they liked the candy.
Boy, all that work and sun made them hot and so they decided to take a dip in the ocean, the castle could wait.
Roni was a little bit afraid of the water because she did not know how to swim but Chipper was a great swimmer and stayed by her side.
Corky got a ball and they started playing catch in the water.
A dolphin swam by and offered to give them a ride, to which they eagerly agreed, and climbed on his back.
They hung on tight as he glided through the water with ease and showed them what lay beneath the surface.
By now it was getting dark and Chipper and Corky had to leave.
As they stood on the beach they watched as the sand castle started to be washed away by the incoming tide.
They all promised to meet again on another "Snow Day".
As the sun started to set Roni began to feel a chill.
She closed her eyes to remember this moment and her new friends.
When she opened her eyes she was no longer at the beach but in her cold dark basement.
She headed up the stairs with her empty box of Twinkies and her flashlight.
She passed her mom in the kitchen, still on the phone with Aunt Jennie, how could they talk so long.
She paused as her mother asked her where all that sand had come from that she was tracking across the kitchen floor.
She smiled remembering the beach in the basement.
Roni looked out of the window and it had stopped snowing.
She checked the big hall clock and knew that she still had time to go outside
and build a snowman.
This had been the bestest day ever and Roni looked forward to the next snow day.
The End
If you enjoyed this story, there are many more in our collection, to register please
Click Here
to register for more stories.
Click Here to Register for more Free Stories.
Story Rating
If you've already registered please rate this story below from your own point of view. Click one of the radio buttons next to a star below and then enter your registered email address. You can only rate each story once.
Story star ratings shown (2 to 5 stars) are the average of all rating scores to date, these may not update immediately subject to browser and local cache settings, in some cases it may take a few hours.
Thanks for your interest and happy reading.
|
