I believe it was around this time (spring of 1994) that the long-anticipated sequel to The Very Interesting Advenchors of Ted, Fred, and Sarah! was penned. Although the spelling and grammar is improved (thanks, Mrs. Alldaffer!), there is an unfortunate lack of dramatic action. Critics may wonder why the author sacrificed the salty character of the nightwatchman for two new, bland (though chocolatey) characters. Wonder away.
Here Comes, TED, FRED, & SARAH!
And 2 new characters!
Chapter One
Mrs. Harmon quikly put in Pete's sandwich, 2 quarters for a soda a peach and two brownies.
"Pete!" She called.
"Com'en," called Pete.
Later Pete was strutting on the sidewalk wisling a merry tune on his way to school. He swung his paper sack lunch, he had used to have a lunch-box, but had lost in by the dump. It was strange, he knew exactly where he put it, but when he came back for it next day, it wasen't there!
But what he didn't know, and you know if you've read my first book, "Ted, Fred, & Sarah," is that the lunchbox opened somehow and a good fary came along and turned the sandwichs and cookies alive with hands and arms and a preasent of each giving them some roller-blades.
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| Sadly, the illustrations for this story are in black and white. Maybe I was going for artsy? |
Chapter Two
Arabiscus the fairy, which turned Ted, Fred, and Sarah into live was having a casul "fly" along the street. She saw a little boy leaning against the fence of a dump. She smiled, this was the dump which she had turned two sandwiches and cookie alive, she grinned wider at the memory.
"Boy, am I hungrey!" She heard the boy say. "I missed breakfast!"
The fairy remembered her breakfast, cloud biscets and dew-juice.
"I'll have something from my lunch." Said Pete (for it was,) "I'll have my brownies." Pete pulled them out. "Ew! Nuts! Whatd'd mom pack brownies with nuts" Muttered Pete, dangling the brownies in his hands.
Arabiscus frowned. She liked brownies with nuts.
Pete's fried Josh walked by.
"Hey Josh!" Called Pete
"What?" Josh said stopping.
"Want some brownies?"
"Uh, sure..." Said Josh; Pete usaly didn't give away desserts, he shrugged.
"Here." Said Pete, stuffing them into Josh's hands.
The bell rang. "I better go." Said Pete. And ran off.
Josh didn't care if he was late or not, so he unwrapped the brownies.
"EW! NUTS! What a tricker, Pete knows I hate nuts." Josh grumbled. He looked over at the dump. "Hey, what are dumps for?"
He shrugged, and threw the brownies over the fence.
Chapter Three
"Sigh. This must be a habit!" Said Arabiscus softly as she watched Josh walk away. She flew down to the brownies and toched them lightly with her wand. Slowly they sprouted arms, hands, less, feet, and a face.
"Who are you?" They asked Arabiscus at the same time.
She laughed, her laugh was like the tinckle of bells.
"You," she said, pointing to the boy brownie, "are Mr. Nut, and you," she said pointing to the girl, "Are Mrs. Nut."
Quickly she told them their past, and gave them each a pair of roller blades. "You'll find friends if you go there." She said, pointing to a little red lunchbox.
Chapter Four
Ted was singing at the top of his voice, "Fiagarol, Figarollll! Figarol, Figarolll," (etc) It was something he had heard on a old broken radio. "TED!" Screamed Sarah, stopping from ploishing the quarter on the wall with a bit of rag.
"You have sung that, figural enough! You..." She stopped dead, then her face turned scarlet, Ted looked up from snickering, and Fred raised his head from reading a corner of newspaper, Mr. and Mrs. Nut stood in the doorway.
"I...I...who are you?" Asked Sarah, stunned.
"I'm Julie Nut," Said Mrs. Nut shyly.
"And I'm Matt Nut." Said Mr. Nut.
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| Note the decorative quarter on the wall. |
Fred got up, taking everything calmly, as usaly, as stuck out his hand, Mr. Nut shook it. "I'm Fred, she's Sarah, having a little trouble with Ted over there. Have a seat."
Fred waved his hand to two rusted thimbles covered in white linen from a napkin.
"Yes, tell us about yourselves." Said Sarah, feeling she ought to put a word or two in. So Mr. and Mrs. Nut realated how they had come to life and how the fairy gave them rollerblades.
"Was the fairy's name Arabiscus?" Asked Ted when they were through.
"Yes, how'd you know?" Asked Mrs. Nut.
"That's what happened to us!" Said all three at the same time.
So the five talked deep into the night untill it was 12:00am.
Chapter Five
Next morning Mr. and Mrs. Nut, Ted, Fred, and Sarah, got up to walk around the dump to find a home for the Nuts.
The night before Sarah had fished out some ugly, holey, pea-green leg warmers from a pile of junk, cut off a square, and the Nuts, slept cosily on that, that night.
Soon Ted pealed off a newspaper from a lump and found a telephone.
"Hey! I tell you what," said Fred, looking thoughtfuly at the phone. "See this hole in the phone? Let's go in it and clear away all the wire and junk, and ya'll can live here!"
Mr. and Mrs. Nut looked each other then nodded. So next morning Ted, Fred, and Mr. Nut set to work on the telephone.
Sarah and Mrs. Nut sat on thimbles and made house supplies. Sarah was teaching Mrs. Nut how to make pillows out of a few strands of yarn.
"Cris-cross, twist, pull ugh! Oh Sarah! How do you do it?"
Sarah smilied proudly. "Well, Mrs. Nut,"
"Do call me Julie."
"Well, Julie. Pretty soon you'll be doing as good as me, just, criss-cross, twist, pull, gently, criss-cross, twist, pull. Now when your at the end of the piece, tie it onto the next and continu."
"Sigh. Sarah, I'll never make a pillow out of this!"
"Did you see the pillows you slept on?"
"Yes."
"This was how I made them!"
"Sigh. Criss-cross, twist, pull, criss-cross, twist, pull."
In a few days Ted, Fred, and Matt Nut, stood proudly in frount of the telephone survaing their work. The telephone was cleared of wires and junk. I's shiny black reciver leaned against the polished phone. They where done with their work, but the girls still had some, no, a LOT of work, they had to, set up furniture, clean the cloths, set up important things, and every which-way and which-thing you could think of!
(Note: Apparently Ted, Fred, and Matt Nut were not progressive enough to help the ladies? Or vice-versa? Hmm...I'm seeing a paper titled Gender Roles in the Junk Yard..)
Finly everything was finished.
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| The lads calmly observing the ladies rushing about. |
Chapter Six
On quiet, rainy afternoon Sarah sat on a thimble drawing on a slightly battered piece of white leather with charcoal. "What are you doing, Sarah?" Asked Fred.
"Drawing a map of our house and the Nuts house."
"Can I see it when your done?"
"Sure."
Later a new picture was hanging on the wall.
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| Who wouldn't want a ground plan of their own house and their neighbor's house hanging on the wall? |
Chapter Seven
(Note: In true classical form, we end with a rhyming verse....sorta)
On sunny day in the mounth of May,
Sarah, the Nuts, Ted, and Fred went to the back of the dump where the poppies are red.
They had a picnic and the grass was green.
Oh! The prettyest sight you ever seen.
THey lived peacefully in the telephone and old lunch box.
But they had lots of adventures, LOTS!
But know it's time to go,
Oh HO,
Next time they have an adventure I'll write about it.
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| Matt Nut, Sarah, and Ted (or Fred) |
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| Fred (or Ted) and Julie Nut. "Orvio" = my approximation of "Au Revoir" |
Sadly, this is the last story of Ted, Fred, Sarah, and their boring neighbors the Nuts. Unless I write another one called The Return of the Nightwatchman.
