The rowing boat’s tale

The little rowing boat

The little rowing boat bobbed up and down in the sun on the pond that Leona had made in the large plastic tray.

“It’s is so good here,” thought the boat. “I want it to go on for ever! The sun is shining. The wind is warm. Everything is perfect.”

Suddenly, someone jumped into the boat, and it rocked wildly from side to side. The boat opened its eyes and found that Leona had let an old man get in. “Bother, bother,” the boat groaned. “Now I’m going to be rowed somewhere else. And it’s bound to be a horrid place. I hate change!”

The old man picked up the oars and started pulling on them. The boat skimmed along the edge of the shore for a long time, then came to a stop.

“Where am I now?” thought the boat crossly. “I won’t know anyone here. I’m fed up of being moved around.”

The man spoke up in a gruff voice. “Thanks, little boat. You did a good job there. And just look at all these palm trees! We’ll take some coconuts back with us and everyone will be really pleased.”

He filled the boat with coconuts and went off for a walk.

The boat was just dropping asleep on the sandy shore when a bump jolted him awake. Leona had stood a pirate captain next to him. And the pirate was pulling the little boat down to the water.

“Not again,” groaned the boat. “I want to stay here.”

This time the journey was longer. Leona splashed her hands in the pond, and made huge waves that rocked the boat from side to side. The boat was very tired by the time the pirate pulled it out onto another stretch of shore.

“I hate travelling,” the boat said. “I just want to lie here and dry out in peace.”

But the pirate’s friends arrived and lit a fire with branches and logs. The warmth gradually made the boat feel lazy, and it lay there listening to the pirates as they told tales of all the treasure they’d found on their journeys. Then the fire went out and the pirates went home. The boat fell asleep.

Suddenly, a voice said, “Mummy, Mummy, look, a boat!”

The little boat jerked awake. A lady and a boy climbed inside him and took up the oars. “What a brilliant boat,” the lady said. “We can row across the lake to school today. That will be much more fun than walking.”

“Bother, bother,” groaned the boat. “Why will no one let me sleep?”

“What will happen in school today?” asked the boy as they started rowing across the pond.

His mother said, “Oooh… you might sing, or play a new game, or learn how to dance… And you could take in one of these coconuts to show your teacher.”

They jumped out and tied the little boat to some railings, and it bobbed up and down in the sun.

“Thank you, little boat,” they said as they walked away.

The little boat was really tired now, but he realised it wasn’t so bad having to travel round the pond all day. His dreams would be full of the wonderful things he’d done: carrying coconuts, and listening to pirate stories, and imagining all those exciting things that happen in school. Perhaps Leona would let him do it again tomorrow. It was a good life!

The moral of this tale is that new things can be fun when you stop complaining and take a positive attitude