Magic Quilt - part 3

The Magic Quilt

PART 3

Forgetting that they were kneeling on a magic flying quilt that was hovering about 10 centimetres off the ground, Sam and Lee tumbled off the edge onto the grass. They dashed indoors to find a pencil and paper. "Where are you two going at such a speed?" shouted Sam's Mum. The two of them were in far too much of a hurry to reply as they charged up to Sam's bedroom. Seconds later, they clattered down the stairs and dashed outside again. As they jumped onto the carpet, neither of them realised that it had settled back down onto the ground.
Sam	Right. A poem. How do you start?
Lee	First of all, I suppose we should think of a place we'd like to go.
Sam	That's easy. I want to go to Spain. We went there once for a holiday and it was terrific.
Lee	O.K. That sounds good. I'll write down "Spain".
Sam	What next?
Lee	Well, when we did a poem at school we had to make a list of words that had a connection to the title.
Sam	What do you mean?
Lee	Well ... what was Spain like?
Sam	Hot. Sunny. There was a beach. Everyone was friendly.
Lee	O.K. I've written those words down. Now - try to think of words that rhyme with "Spain", "hot", "sunny", "beach" and "friendly".
Sam	"Plane" rhymes with "Spain" - and so does "Wayne" ...
Lee	And "funny" rhymes with "sunny" ...
Sam	I can't think of anything that rhymes with "friendly".
Lee	Never mind. What about "hot"?
Sam	There's "lot" and "cot" and "dot" and "not" and "pot" and "spot" and ...
Lee	I think we've got enough words now.
Sam	So - do you think we've got enough to write our poem?
Lee	Maybe. Let's see what we can do.
For a minute or two, Sam and Lee muttered to themselves and shared ideas with each other. Lee quickly wrote their ideas down - then scribbled some out again. Finally, they were happy with their efforts.
Sam	Finished! Read it out loud and see if the quilt takes us there.
Lee	Take me on a plane To a beach in Spain, Where the weather is sunny And the people are funny.	This poem was written by Francesca, Jonathan, Keisha, Mark, Scott and Stephen from Maybury Primary School
Sam	Why haven't we gone anywhere?
Lee	Oh no! The quilt isn't flying any more!
Sam	That's not fair! I wanted to go to Spain.
Lee	Wait a minute! I think I know how to get it going again.
Sam	Of course! Say the magic words!

Once again, the quilt shook and shivered. The shaking gradually increased in speed until the quilt seemed to be humming quietly. Sam and Lee felt their knees sinking gently into the quilt as it lifted slowly from the ground. They looked at each other with wide eyes. It worked!
Sam	Quick! Read the poem. Tell it where we want to go!
Lee	Take me on a plane To a beach in Spain, Where the weather is sunny And the people are funny.
Sam and Lee had been so busy trying to write their poem that they had not even thought what might happen when they had finished it and read it to the quilt. So what actually happened came as a big surprise. Before they read their poem, the quilt had been hovering about 10 centimetres off the ground. As soon as they finished reading it the quilt began to rise. Within seconds it was as high as the shed. A few more seconds and it was as high as the house. Then as high as the tree in the garden at the end of the terrace. Then even higher. Sam and Lee clutched at the edges of the quilt to stop from swaying around. Suddenly, with a kind of gentle, rippling whoosh, the quilt set off.
Sam	Wow! This is great! It's like a fairground ride.
Lee	Yes - but there's nothing holding us up!
Sam	Look down there! There's our school.
Lee	And there's the railway station.
Sam	We're going ever so fast!
Lee	I hope we don't crash into anything.
Sam	Don't be silly! We are too high to hit the buildings and too low to hit an aeroplane.
Lee	Look! We are heading out to sea! I hope we don't come down in the water: I can't swim very well!
Sam	Stop worrying. Nothing nasty can happen to us. This is a magic quilt.
Lee	But I am worried. We seem to be losing height.
Sam	I think you're right. We do seem a lot lower down than when we started.
Lee	What are we going to do?
Sam	I don't know.
Lee	Look! The quilt is jiggling again. That patch near the front is trying to tell us something.
Sam	You're right. What does it say?

Sam	What do you think that means?
Lee	I think we have to keep saying words to keep the quilt flying. The words are like the fuel in a plane or the petrol in a car.
Sam	Words? What kind of words?
Lee	I don't know! Try anything! Quickly ... because we are flying even lower
Sam	Wait a minute! The quilt's jiggling again. Over there!
Lee	Let's read it ... quickly. We are nearly touching the water!

Lee	We've got to say words that are connected with Spain!
Sam	That's not going to help. I don't know anything about Spain.
Lee	But you said you went there on holiday!
Sam	I did! But I only went in the hotel and on the beach.
Lee	Didn't you learn anything at all about the country?
Sam	No, not really.
Lee	Hold on! There's another "jiggly" patch.
Sam	Take a look at it, quick.

It was obvious that the quilt was trying to help them; showing them pictures about Spain to jog their memories and give them ideas. Realising that the quilt was losing height rapidly, Sam and Lee started to shout out everything they knew about Spain. Sam tried hard to remember what the holiday had been like ... but could not remember much. Lee tried to describe everything on the patch and for a while it looked like the quilt might manage to keep flying. Looking up from the patch, Sam and Lee could just make out in the distance what must be the shores of Spain. They could see the white surf breaking on a golden beach. They could almost hear the waves crashing on the sand. Almost, but not quite. Despite their best efforts at thinking of words connected with Spain, the quilt seemed to be running out of energy. It appeared to be travelling slower and slower, getting lower and lower. Every now and then the back end of the quilt dipped into the water, flicking up spray onto its two panicking travellers. Then there was the sound of a mighty splash and a crash - and Sam and Lee were tossed forward as the quilt could stay aloft no more!

	What will happen next? Click here for PART FOUR of the story
	Click here for main MAGIC QUILT page