Make Up a Story
Stories from Around the World
Me and My Mate in a Pickle on the Beach
These two boys are cousins. Well they may have been friends once but not any more. They are called Laurel and Hardy, Tom and Jerry, – Let’s call them Michael and Richard. The boy in the middle, called Arthur, is the father and he is refereeing the fight, “Come on, show me what you can do!” He’s egging them on and is going to throw a stone, or a conker. The boys are on a beach, and having fisticuffs over a sandcastle. Richard pushed Michael’s younger brother, Toby, on top of it! One of them will feel a bit sick in a mo when the first punch is thrown. Richard is saying, “You stole my girlfriend”. But they are only seven or eight. More likely they are practicing Taekwondo. It’s just a bit of banter to get them psyched. They will be all smiles soon. Michael is posh, probably from Eton and Richard is from the workhouse. Well, they are wearing different garb. Richard is a street boy. Maybe the rest are all from one family on a Sunday school outing to Penzance. They’ll sing the old Sunday School song: “Jesus wants me for a sunbeam, To shine for Him each day; In every way try to please Him, At home, at school, at play. A sunbeam, a sunbeam, Jesus wants me for a sunbeam; a sunbeam, a sunbeam, I’ll be a sunbeam for Him.” Arthur has lost his surfboard. He’s thinking, “Someone’s drowned my flippin’ goldfish!” So he’s going to have an ice-cream to cheer himself up. The beach is in front of a prison – there are people shut out – segregated. They are gladiators behind bars. They are waiting for their turn, to kill lions. Then they are going to eat the boys. The boys are going to have a picnic. They won’t go hungry because they can have a sandwich! That’ll finish the fight – they’ll go off arm-in-arm, and build another sandcastle together. And they’ll sing: “Oh! I do like to be beside the seaside, I do like to be beside the sea! I do like to stroll upon the Prom, Prom, Prom! Where the brass bands play, "Tiddely-om-pom-pom!" When they grow up they’ll both be solicitors, or boxers. And they’ll get hot under the collar about other things, and let off steam another way. Story created by: Pam, Barbara, Elizabeth, Hazel, June, Dot, John, Tony, Mervyn, Dudley – St Thomas Memory Café, Exeter, 21st September 2015.
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