THE LITTLE VILLAGE SHEEP

Many years ago when I was a little girl, there were lots of shepherds with their flocks of sheep. It was very strange not to find one in each village, for being a shepherd was a very normal job in those times. These days, very few children have seen a flock of sheep, except in stories and photos.

The little sheep in my village lived in an enclosure where they had a basin of water on one side for when they were thirsty, and straw on the other side for when they were hungry. Inside the enclosure was a shed that the sheep used as a shelter on days when it was rainy and cold.

The shepherd looked after them very well. It was he who gave them the straw to eat and water to drink. He also milked them and went out into the fields with them all.

Short stories - The little village sheep

What I remember most about this time was the noise of the little sheep coming back from grazing in the fields, for Nino the shepherd would put a bell on them and you would hear a tinkling “ding ding ding” sound as they trotted by, and all the children would run behind them laughing and jumping around.

The flock of sheep always passed in front of my house, and I have to admit that I was a little scared when I saw the shepherd go with them, for Nino also had a couple of goats and they frightened me a great deal – for these goats had horns. Continue reading…

THE TRAFFIC LIGHT AND THE ZEBRA CROSSING

Once upon a time there was a school situated in the middle of a very big city and surrounded by very busy roads. The children would often run out of school and start playing, not realising how dangerous it was to have a road so close by. There had already been accidents when children crossed the road without looking, or when they ran around near the traffic lights.

To stop this happening again, a local traffic light thought to himself: “Why don’t I warn the children by shouting when cars are coming? Or perhaps I should grab them by the backpack…?”

He thought this would be a very good idea, so he told his friend the zebra crossing. But the zebra crossing said: “If we do that, we will only cause children in a different neighbourhood to have an accident, because they will rely on us to save them. But we won’t be there!” The traffic light thought this through, and realised that the zebra crossing was right.

Short stories - The traffic light and the zebra crossing

So they decided to do something different: “From now on, every day we’ll explain to each child the dangers of crossing the road without looking, and we’ll use videos so they can see the dangers for themselves.” Continue reading…

THE WISE AND PATIENT CAVEMAN

There was once a very, very big mountain where there were lots of trees and bushes. It was also the home of a group of humans that lived in caves dug out of the mountain rock. In fact, there were two families there. One lived in a grey-coloured cave, the other in a greenish cave (which was due to the type of rock). Naturally, they were known as the Greys and the Greens.

The Greys had a father, a mother and a fourteen-year-old son called Peter, while the Greens had a father, a mother, a four-year-old boy and a wise old grandfather.

The two families sometimes ate together, when they would talk about the mountain trees and how to fell them to obtain the wood with which to make fire and heat. One time, Peter felt he was ready to join the conversation. The wise grandfather listened intently to the young man, because Peter believed that the trees were there to be felled, and that it didn’t matter if they were replanted or not because they took so long to grow back.

Short stories - The wise and patient caveman

Once Peter had given his opinion, the wise grandfather told him this: “Nature is patient, and we humans must be patient too,” and he proposed a challenge: “I’m going to shave all my hair off, and we shall see what nature does to maintain the balance on my head. Come and see me in a month.”

Young Peter couldn’t understand what on earth the grandfather meant by this, and went home none the wiser. Continue reading…

ALBERT AND THE TIME MACHINE

Legend has it that there was once a time machine that belonged to an old scientist named Albert. This machine had never been tested, but Albert knew that his dream of travelling to the future would one day come true.

No one had any idea about what experiments old Albert had performed with the machine, but he declared that he was able to travel to the past and future just by sitting in the cabin and typing in the year to which he wanted to go.

The villagers thought that the old scientist had gone mad and that he was losing his mind. In fact, some would say: “Travelling to the future, humph! He doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”

Short stories - Albert and the time machine

Albert ignored these comments and while they were all wondering if he really had gone mad, he kept working on the final details of his time machine. For more than five years, the old scientist had devoted all his time to designing and experimenting with equipment that could make his dream to travel back in time a reality, for he wanted to return to a very special moment in his life, the day his father had let him come into his laboratory to do an experiment together. That day was very special for Albert, for it was at that moment that he knew he wanted to be a great scientist when he grew up. Unfortunately, he still hadn’t achieved it. Continue reading…

TIP THE CURIOUS ANT

It was springtime and, as is usual for this time of year, the ants were coming out of their anthills in search of food to store for the winter. Tip, who was only a few days old, wondered: “Why do we have to collect food in spring and summer to eat it in winter?” However much Tip tried, he couldn’t find an answer, for he had not yet left the anthill and had no other ant to talk to that could shed light on his question.

After a day of hard work, Tip’s mother returned to the anthill. She had barely got through the door when Tip came running out asking: “Mum, why do you have to collect food for winter now?” So Tip’s mother calmly came in, sat on the sofa and said: “Son, we collect food at this time of year because we ants can’t go outside in winter. It becomes very cold then, and sometimes it rains or even snows. If any of us go out in winter, we are in serious danger.” To which Tip answered: “So … the cold, rain and snow are bad?”

“Well, no, Tip. Actually, we need them to live, but just imagine a heavy downpour of rain: we’re so small that if we go outside we could drown because just one drop could kill us,” replied his mother.

Short stories - Tip, the curious ant

But Tip was a very curious ant, and he began to wonder what rain or snow was really like. So he decided to wait for the first rainfall in autumn to see for himself.

Eventually, there came a cold rainy day in autumn. Tip decided it was the perfect opportunity to go outside for the very first time. He waited until his mother had gone out for a cup of tea with her friends, then slipped out of the house towards the anthill exit.

Tip was still very small and didn’t know the dangers he could face. Although deep down, he knew that disobeying his mother was wrong, he still went ahead with his plan. As he approached the anthill exit, a strange thundering noise became louder and louder. “What on earth could that be?” he wondered and grew more and more curious to get outside and see the rain.

Just as he was about to leave the anthill, a guard ant stepped into his path and said: “Where do you think you’re going, little one? Don’t you know it’s raining?” Tip froze, for he didn’t expect to be stopped just as he was about to discover what rain was… Continue reading…

THE GOOD SHARK

There was once a beach plagued by sharks in a land very far away, where no one could go swimming. The few daring humans who did go swimming were eaten by the sharks in a matter of minutes. Naturally, the beach had been closed to the public because it was so dangerous.

However, a brave swimmer, an animal-lover called Alberto, had a plan to fill the beach back up with swimmers who could splash around in the water, safe in the knowledge they wouldn’t be eaten by sharks.

One day, Alberto took a motor boat and set off for a rocky crag near the beach, where he put up his base camp to put his plan into action. The first thing he did was establish contact with the sharks, and observe their behaviour. That was how he was able to discover a shark in the group who stood out for his calm nature and apparent lack of aggression. Alberto named him “Freddy”.

Short stories - the good shark

Alberto stayed at his base camp to learn about the sharks, and above all, to interpret their language. Once he began to understand what they were saying, he began to communicate with the quietest shark called Freddy.

In the beginning, Alberto didn’t really understand him very well, but gradually he began to interpret Freddy’s gestures and movements. Over time he learned lots of things, such as the fact that Freddy didn’t like eating humans and that he usually ate only the diving flippers sometimes worn by reckless swimmers when his group went hunting. Continue reading…

THE BIRD AND MR. RED HEART

There was once a bird called Hawthorn, who loved to flutter about near the electrical cables that exist in lots of towns. In particular he liked to be near the lamp posts, because it was nice and warm there and the birds had somewhere to perch.

On the cables there was a strange red object, which the birds called “Mr Red Heart“. This peculiar red heart was as round as a ball, and as red as a pepper. There were other red hearts scattered across the cable, which attracted the birds’ attention.

One day, another bird called Lucas (who was known to tell lies), told Hawthorn: “You have to be very, very nice to the red heart, for he saves us from hitting the cables.”

Short stories- The bird and mr red heart

Lucas was right about one thing: the red heart told the birds that there was a cable there so they wouldn’t fly into it, for the cable isn’t very visible in the air. In fact, humans call the red heart “bird guards“. Continue reading…

SANTA CLAUS’ SLEEPY REINDEER

Bobble was a little reindeer for Father Christmas, but he had only just turned 3 months old so he still didn’t have any antlers. Bobble was the only one of Santa’s reindeer that couldn’t fly, for if you didn’t already know, the reason why Father Christmas’ reindeer can fly is because their antlers are magic.

Little Bobble was always dreaming that his antlers had grown and that Santa Claus had picked him to pull the sleigh and take the toys to all the children’s houses. But then he would wake up and realise that it was all a dream and that his antlers still hadn’t appeared.

One morning when Bobble woke up from his dream, Father Christmas was sitting beside him: “Santa” cried Bobble, “I had the same dream again. I dreamed my antlers had grown and that I could go with you to deliver the presents, but they still haven’t grown…”

Short stories - santa claus sleepy reindeer

Father Christmas replied: “Don’t worry, Bobble. You’ll see that your dream will soon become reality. You just have to be patient a little longer.”

That same night when Bobble was asleep, Santa Claus crept up to his bed and Continue reading…

LAWRENCE’S TOY

Lawrence was a little boy of 8 years old who loved playing with his toys. On the whole he was a good boy and always got very good marks at school. That’s why one Christmas Santa Claus had arrived loaded with toys for Lawrence, for Lawrence had written to tell Santa that his school results were better than last year’s and that was why he wanted more toys.

Among the presents Santa gave Lawrence was a magic blackboard where you could write or draw anything you liked, but which erased everything when you shook it. Without a doubt, it was the Christmas present he liked most of all, for he spent hours and hours playing with it.

After the holiday was over, Lawrence decided to take the magic blackboard to school to show his classmates. But Liam, the naughtiest boy in the class, ran off with Lawrence’s board and teased him all through break.

Short stories - Lawrences-toy

“Liam, give me my board back!” shouted Lawrence. But Liam was taller than Lawrence and held it above his head so that Lawrence couldn’t reach it.

“Go on Lawrence, jump!” teased Liam. Continue reading…

THE PICTURE OF THE BEACH

Once upon a time there was a village called Benidorm in Spain, which had a very big beach that got very busy every summer. It was also the home of Julian and Florrie, who originally came from the Spanish capital city of Madrid. They loved the beach, and they knew they would never leave Benidorm.

One day, they decided that when they grew old and could no longer travel, they would like their future grandchildren to come and spend time with them. And as they believed in magic, they thought up a plan to make their dream come true.

Julian was a good artist so he painted a picture of Benidorm beach. On the back, Julian and Florrie left a message for their future grandchildren, which was: “Think of your grandparents and you will appear on Benidorm beach with us.”

Shortstories-the-picture-of-the-beach

Julian and Florrie gave the picture to their children to pass down the generations, and told them to show it to future grandchildren and hang it in their room.

And years later, Continue reading…