Womblecheep and the Snow

By

Jason Moody

It was all quiet in the Womblecheeps house. The only noise was the incredibly loud snoring coming from his bedroom.

The Womblecheep twitched his nose, wriggled his toes and let out an almighty yawn that sounded like a fog horn.

He slowly opened his eyes and got out of bed. The Womblecheep loved his bed. He would happily stay in it all day everyday if he could, but he was a very busy fellow.

Today was the weekend, so he planned on doing nothing.

He made his way downstairs into his kitchen. He pulled from the cupboard two loaves of bread, two jars of jam, sixteen tea bags and three iced buns. This was to be his breakfast.

He started to spread enormous amounts of jam on to the bread when there was a furious thumping at the door. He heard a familiar voice outside.

Wombly, Wombly. Come quickly, cried Matty.

The Womblecheep ran to the door and pulled it open, he couldnt believe his eyes.

Matty stood in front of him with a big , silly grin on his face. he was wearing a bright red bobble hat, and he had a thick blue scarf wrapped around his neck.

This wasnt what amazed the Womblecheep. Looking beyond Matty he could see the whole village had been covered in a white blanket of soft snow.

Its snowing, its actually snowing, shouted Matty.

The Womblecheep was still stood, open mouthed.

Matty tugged at the Womblecheeps enormous hands.

Come on.

The Womblecheep was rooted to the spot. The reason being he had never seen snow before, which was very strange, as he was one hundred and thirty five years old.

The Womblecheep bent down and scooped a handful of snow with his hand. His body shuddered as he felt the cold of the fluffy stuff in his hand.

Ooh, its all cold, said the Womblecheep. What is it?

Matty frowned as if he had been asked to do maths homework.

You dont know what snow is? he asked.

The Womblecheep shook his head. With that he scooped another handful and put it in his mouth.

Matty giggled.

Its like ice cream, but it dont taste of nuffin, said the Womblecheep.

Matty laughed. Youre not supposed to eat it, silly.

The Womblecheep quickly spat it out. He then shivered.

I think I better put something warm on, he said.

The Womblecheep ran back upstairs.

He returned looking rather odd. Matty shook his head.

You cant wear that, he said.

The Womblecheep had wrapped his giant duvet around him to keep warm in the cold. He wasnt used to the cold you see.

I dont have nuffin else, he said.

I know, follow me, said Matty.

Matty and the Womblecheep, wrapped in his large, flowery duvet headed in to the village.

They arrived at Mattys house. Miss Wormbottom laughed so hard when she saw the Womblecheep, she gave herself a stitch.

She helped Matty search the house for items to cover his huge frame.

They wrapped towels around his legs. They put several pillow cases inside each other and used this as a hat.

Miss Wormbottom even found some old curtains which doubled up as a rather nice scarf.

The Womblecheep was ready. With all the layers he was now wearing, there was no way he could feel the cold now. There was just one teeny, tiny problem.

He had no shoes.

The Womblecheep had never worn shoes before.

Miss Wormbottom found a few more towels and wrapped them around his large feet, tying them with string. They were ready.

He now stood in their kitchen, the Womblecheep was wearing all the colours you could think of. He did look rather silly, but at least he would be warm.

Matty and Womblecheep set off.

Where are we going? asked the Womblecheep.

Were going to the large hill, said Matty.

The Womblecheep loved going up the large hill that overlooked the village. When he wasnt busy mending this or faxing that, he would take a packed lunch and sit and watch the village.

They were nearly half way up the hill when the womblecheep stopped.

Whats that crunching sound? he asked.

Matty, again looked rather confused.

Crunching? he said.

Every time I take a step, I can hear a soft crunching sound, said the Womblecheep.

Matty giggled. Thats the sound the snow makes.

This snow aint arf clever,

They carried on up the hill and eventually reached the top.

Matty pointed at the two things sat at the top of the hill.

Ta-da, he said.

Sat on the snow was a wooden sledge and what looked like a car bonnet.

What are those? asked the Womblecheep.

Matty sat on his wooden sledge and explained what it was. He then told the Womblecheep that he had borrowed the car bonnet from Mr Rusts scrap yard.

The Womblecheeps eyes widened. He couldnt believe it.

It all sounds very exciting, he said. What do I have to do?

The Womblecheep studied Matty very carefully. Within seconds he had thrust himself forward and was making his way down the hill at speed.

The Womblecheep danced as best an eight foot giant would dance. He was just a little bit excited.

He sat on his car bonnet which crunched under his weight. He dug his hands into the ground and pulled himself forward.

Slowly at first, the Womblecheep made his way down the hill. He started to gain speed, at this point the Womblecheep screamed like a little schoolgirl, except he wasnt.

Faster and faster he went, Matty waving from the bottom of the hill.

The womblecheep was going too fast. By now, even the big, brave womblecheep was beginning to panic.

How do I stop it? he screamed.

Matty pointed to his feet and shouted back. Dig your feet into the ground.

The Womblecheep did as Matty said and dug his feet into the ground.

With that he lurched forward. He had been going so fast the sudden stop had catapulted him into the air.

He landed and did a little forward summersault. But he didnt stop.

He kept rolling, all the while gathering snow and turning into a huge snowball.

The further he went, the more snow clung to him.

Matty gave chase. He didnt know whether to laugh or panic. He laughed, but thats just Matty.

He ran as fast as he could after the huge Womblcheep shaped snowball heading for the village.

The Womblecheep shaped snow ball was now just on the edge of town.

Miss Potter had to look twice as the huge white blur whizzed by the library. She could have sworn it had arms.

The Womblecheep rumbled on, with Matty in close pursuit.

Children in the village clapped and cheered. The adults didnt.

Mr Poots the postman only just saw the Womblcheep in time and dived head first into a mound of snow by the road.

The womblecheep rolled on.

He whizzed by old Miss Greenway, who lost her balance and fell on her bottom, waving her stick furiously. All the children laughed. Some adults too.

The Womblcheep was by now very dizzy, all that spinning around and around. He just wanted to stop.

He had reached the edge of the village and showed no signs of slowing down. Matty was still chasing him. By now all the children in the village had joined Matty.

The Womblecheep was now headed for the river.

He closed his eyes and prepared to get very wet.

He zoomed up the bank and into the air. He prepared for a splash.

There was no splash. Just a thud. The river had frozen over.

The Womblecheep now skated across the river, bumped into the edge and flipped into the air, landing on the bank on the other side.

All the children caught up and gathered round the womblecheep, who was still trapped inside a huge ball of snow.

The Womblecheep was the right way up though, as he popped his head out the top of the huge snowball.

With his arms sticking out either the side, his legs dangling in front of him and pillow cases for a hat, he looked like a real snowman.

Matty laughed.

Whats funny? asked the Womblcheep.

You look like a snowman, said the children together.

The Womblecheep smiled. Then he frowned.

Whats a snowman? he asked.

All the children laughed.

One by one they climbed onto the Womblecheep and began to dig him out of the huge snowball.

The Womblecheep was very cold. The children tied their scarves together and made one huge scarf for the Womblcheep to wear. His toes were numb and all he wanted was a nice hot bath.

The next day he awoke to hear children playing outside. He hurried downstairs, threw on some clothes and joined them in the snow.

They showed him how to make snowmen, the Womblcheep enjoyed this very much.

He built castles, giant snowmen and even an igloo the children could sit in. They all played happily as the snow fell, having a great time.

The snow continued to fall for many days, so they had plenty of time to build snowmen.

The womblecheep didnt have to worry about being cold anymore.

Mr Taylor, who owned the clothes shop in the village had a friend make him a huge scarf.

Miss Wormbottom, using all the old material she could find made him a splendid winter coat.

Miss Potter knitted the Womblecheep some giant gloves; they were all the colours of the rainbow.

And the Womblecheep wouldnt get cold feet anymore. Mr Rust made him his very own pair of wellies from some old tires. The Womblecheep was so pleased.

So the Womblecheep continued to play in the snow, build huge snowmen and other great things. But, he never once wanted to try a sledge again. But he still occasionally ate the snow.

The end

Copyright 2013 Jason Moody