There was once a green swing in a very big playground, which was inside a school. It was a very special swing, for adults couldn’t see it. But the children would play on it every day. They could see it from anywhere in the playground, for it shone a radiant green even at night-time.

One day, twelve-year-old Joshua decided to go and play on the swing as he did every day, but this afternoon he felt rather an odd sensation as he walked nearer. It was almost like he didn’t feel like playing…

The next day, to his horror, he could no longer see the swing. And even though he wasn’t sure what had happened to it, he began to cry…

Joshua was so worried about this turn of events that he went to tell his friends, but none of them knew what had happened either. They tried to reassure him: “We don’t know what’s wrong with you, but we can see the swing…Maybe it’s because you’ve got older…“

Joshua thought about this and it began to dawn on him that lately he had been enjoying doing grown-up things and was spending more time than usual watching TV.

“I’ve grown up!” he thought. But after a few days, he realised that all he had to do to see the swing again was to stop watching so much television. So that’s what he did. He started to spend more time reading children’s stories and playing with his friends again, and that was how he came to see the green swing again.

THE END