Bedtime Story (6/7/2016)

I'm writing this on a very warm and sunny day.  Hopefully, this good weather will continue, but just in case, I figured I may as well write a story about it for posterity! ;-)

This week's story is also available as a podcast!

Too Hot!

Sunlight streamed into the garden.  Jenny sat on the steps leading down from the patio.  "My bottom's hot," she groaned.  "Even the floor is too hot, today!"  She leapt to her feet. "I need to cool down!"

Her mum rolled her eyes.  "Honestly Jenny, you moan when it's too cold.  You grumble when it rains because you can't play outside.  And now, it's lovely and warm and you're still not happy!"

"Because it's too hot," Jenny protested.  She rushed to the end of the garden and slumped in the grass, beneath the apple tree she sometimes liked to climb.  The tree provided a little shade and it was a bit cooler under there, but Jenny still wasn't satisfied.  "Muuuuuuum," she moaned.  "I'm burning."

"Don't be silly," Jenny's mum called, glancing up from the magazine she was reading.  "You've got sun cream on.  And if you're really worried, you can always play inside."

"Sun cream!"  Jenny exclaimed.  "That's it!  I need more of that!"

Her mum pulled a face.  "Jenny, sun cream doesn't cool you dow..." she began, but Jenny had already darted past her into the house.  She returned with the bottle of sun cream held triumphantly aloft.

"If I put more on, it'll stop me from getting too hot!"  Jenny squeezed a huge dollop of cream into her hands and smeared it over her arms, legs, face and neck.  She was already wearing sun cream, so her skin soon began to glisten in the light and streaks of white began to show all over.  

"Jenny, that's enough," her mum insisted.  "You're getting all slippery."

Sure enough, as Jenny trotted across the patio to take the sun cream back into the house, the bottle slid out of her hands and her feet slipped on the warm paving slabs, sending her flying.

"This is ridiculous," Jenny howled, sitting on the patio, nursing her bruises.  "I'm still too hot!"

"Why don't you go into the freezer and get an ice pop?"  Her mum suggested.  "Bring the box out; I'll have one, too."

"Good plan," Jenny grinned, rushing into the house.  She returned with a box of ice pops, took out a strawberry one and hurriedly ripped the wrapper off.  Almost immediately, the hot sun began to melt the ice pop.  Jenny had only had a couple of licks of the tasty strawberry ice, before it began to dribble down her hands and onto her clothes.  Before long, there was a wet, pink patch all down her top and her hands were all sugary and sticky.  

"You've gotten yourself into a rather gooey mess," her mum chuckled, nibbling her own ice pop.  "Why don't you find something to play with?"

"It's too hot to play," Jenny huffed.  

"Well, your sandpit's quite close to the apple tree," her mum pointed out.  "It should be a little shady; why not play in there?"

But Jenny was wearing so much sun cream that as soon as she went to play, the sand began to stick to her skin.  It was scratchy and uncomfortable and worst of all, because of her sticky hands, Jenny couldn't even rub it off!  "Mum!"  She cried, wandering back to the top of the garden, looking like a sandy, squelchy mess.  "I can't get this sand off me!"  Before her mum could answer, Jenny slumped down into the grass, looking thoroughly miserable.

"Don't forget I mowed the grass this morning..."  Jenny's mum reminded her.  But it was too late; when Jenny stood up, not only was she covered in sun cream, sugary syrup and sand, but she also had grass cuttings all over her legs.  Her mum clapped a hand to her mouth and tried not to laugh.  "Jenny...  I wish you could see what you look like..."

"I need a bath!"  Jenny exclaimed.

Her mum's eyes widened.  "You can't go in the house like that," she cried.  "You'll get grass and sand and sticky mess everywhere!"  She rose to her feet, shaking her head.  "No, there's only one thing for it.  I'll have to fetch the garden hose."

Jenny glared at her mum as she pointed the hose in her direction and bent to switch on the outside tap.  "Mum," she protested.  "I'm not a plant, I don't need..."

WHOOSH!

The jet of cool water hit Jenny and the grass, sand, sticky syrup and sun cream slowly began to wash away.  

"I'm sorry," her mum chuckled, as she switched the water off, leaving Jenny standing in the middle of the garden, utterly soaked through.  "But you did need to be cleaned."

Jenny beamed.  "Sorry?!  Why would you be sorry?  That's the coolest I've felt all day!  Thanks, Mum!"  And she flung her arms around her mum's neck and enveloped her in a close - and very wet - hug.  

With that, Jenny went rushing around the garden, looking for things to play with, on such a bright, sunny day; leaving her mum slightly damp-clothed, but with a grin on her face all the same.  "It's going to be a long Summer..."

THE END