Tuesday, 13 August 2013

The fantastical Miss Kinderfoot...




"Please, have a seat, Mrs. Kinderfoot," said Mr.Cameron.

Alice knew her mum never liked being called in for school meetings.


"What incident was Alice involved in today?" asked Mrs.Kinderfoot.

Mr.Cameron folded his hands and took a deep breath.

"Not incident, but incidents, Mrs.Kinderfoot," replied Mr.Cameron.

"We all know Alice is a very special girl with a very active imagination. The school likes to

encourage imagination amongst all our students..."


Mr.Cameron glared at Alice.

"Sometimes Alice's imagination goes a bit too far."

"What happened today?" asked Mrs.Kinderfoot, dreading the response.

"I'll explain, mum!" interrupted Alice.

"I was sitting in Ms.Murphy's class, when Miguel got hungry."

"Miguel?" asked Mr.Cameron.

"Yes, Miguel - he's a griffin!" replied Alice, rather cheerfully.

 Mrs.Kinderfoot shook her head and let out a big sigh.

Taking no notice of her mum's dismay, Alice continued to explain what happened.



"You can't come out yet." 

"I don't care if you're hungry - eat some paper then!"


Alice looked up to see Ms.Murphy looking quite annoyed. 

"Is there any reason why you are talking to your school bag?"

Alice could see Ms.Murphy's nostrils flaring - this was bad.

"Well, it was lonely, Miss," chirped Alice.

The class burst into laughter.

"I see," replied Ms.Murphy, with the tightest of grins.

She slowly walked around to the front of her desk.

"Miss Kinderfoot,since you're holding court, you can be the first to bring up your home work."

"Yes, Miss," replied Alice.

She started to rifle through her school bag - the most disorganised bag in the world according to
Alice's best friend, Eric.

Alice began to pull out bits of paper, lint, sweets wrappers and something that either looked like
dried fruit or a mummified insect.  

"Just a minute, Ms.Murphy," Alice said, waving her hand in the air. 


Alice held up a piece of soggy chewed up paper. Ms.Murphy gazed down at the soggy, torn paper. 

"What.On.EARTH.Is.That?" she said, horrified.

"My home work, Miss," grinned Alice.

Ms.Murphy pursed her lips and crossed her arms.

"Up front now, Miss Kinderfoot!" she shouted. 

Alice could hear muffled laughter as she slowly made her way to the front.

"Is this some sort of joke?"

"No, Miss," replied Alice, shaking her head.

"Then explain... this,"said Mrs.Murphy, holding the soggy paper by two fingers.

"It was eaten, Miss," Alice said.

"Oh really?" said Ms.Murphy "Let me guess, by a dog?"

"Oh no, Miss, that would be ridiculous!" laughed Alice. "It was Miguel, the griffin!"

Laughter broke out around the class.

"He's a bit scruffy looking and sometimes smells a bit like cheese, but he's very funny!"



Ms.Murphy's eyes became wide like saucers.

"Griffin?" she replied, "You mean, like the mythical creature?"

"Yes, Miss, although, they're very real," said Alice. "They like eating anything - kind of like a goat!"

"You expect me to believe a SCRUFFY, SMELLY GRIFFIN ate your homework last night?" asked Ms.Murphy, incredulously.

"No, Miss, not last night," said Alice, shaking her head. "Just right now in my school bag."

The class was in hysterics.

"It's commonly known that griffins love eating paper above anything else. I mean, only a complete
idiot wouldn't know that! Isn't that right, Miss?"

"Get out," whispered Ms.Murphy, who was slightly trembling.

"What was that, Miss?" asked Alice.

"OUT OF MY CLASS!" snarled Ms.Murphy.

"But.." pleaded Alice.


"So, that's what happened, mum," said Alice, "Just a complete misunderstanding."

"Then explain why Damien Waddle ended up in a tree at break?" asked Mr.Cameron.

"What?" said Mrs.Kinderfoot, shocked.

"That was Abner," sighed Alice.

"Another griffin?" asked Mr.Cameron.

"Oh no, he's a Bigfoot, but I think they prefer to be called sasquatch," replied Alice.


"Of course they do," said Mr.Cameron, rolling his eyes. "And let me guess, he smells of CHEESE, too?"

"Oh no, Sir," Alice laughed, "He smells of MAPLE SYRUP!"

Mr.Cameron buried  his head in his hands.

"Now, about Damien. He was throwing food at me and calling me names..."


"...And Abner doesn't like bullies, so he picked up Damien and put him in a tree!"


"Yes, Alice, next time tell a teacher if he bothers you," said Mr.Cameron, clearly annoyed. "But for
heavens sake, don't CHASE children into TREES!"

Mr.Cameron then turned to Mrs.Kinderfoot

"Blaming imaginary creatures on bad behaviour is not acceptable."  

"But they're real, Sir!" cried Alice. "I found them in an old tea box in a antique shop a few

weeks ago - Isn't that right, mum?" 

Mrs.Kinderfoot dropped her head and let out a big sigh.

"And there's MORE creatures, too! You should meet my sprite, Marigold..."

"THANK YOU, Alice," interrupted Mr.Cameron, pointing to the front door. "Could you kindly wait
outside while I talk to your mum?"

Alice sulked out of the office and sat on a bench.

She blew out her cheeks and said, "Well, looks like you got me in real trouble this time."

Two furry heads popped out from the back of the bench.

"Sorry, Alice," said Miguel, sheepishly.

"It's okay," replied Alice.

"I'm not," grunted Abner.

Alice laughed, "Thanks!"

She then heard a soft voice from above her head say, "Excuse me, Miss..."

It was Marigold.


"Well, you guys better find her - remember PE on Monday?"

"Right away, Miss," said Marigold, "We wouldn't want that AGAIN!"
 _

"There is to be NO MORE Miguel or Abner in school!" cried Mrs.Kinderfoot,"You're very lucky you
haven't been kicked out! I already had to ban Gretchen after Monday's incident - I can't BELIEVE
I'm talking like she's REAL!"

"Okay, mum,"replied Alice.


"...I think Gretchen may have snuck into my bag this morning," said Alice, rather sheepishly.


"Oh, Alice," gasped Mrs.Kinderfoot.
The Fantastical Miss Kinderfoot book is in the works! (Book news will appear on this site)

Other work by Antonio Papaleo:

'The kite who was scared of heights'

"A great story about overcoming your fears" Coldplay's Chris Martin.

Out NOW on fierce panda books...

Buy it on Amazon.

or
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The fantastical Easter...

Alice crept down stairs.

"4:00am - maybe a bit early," she thought, looking at the enormous clock on the wall.

"Just one little peek wouldn't hurt."

How could Alice contain her excitement? It was Easter morning after all.


Alice was a big fan of the Easter Bunny ever since they met once on holiday in Florida.

He was big, yellow and for some reason, lived in a rather large shopping mall.



Alice made her way to the dinning room hoping to find the table laden with colourful chocolate gifts from the Easter Bunny. She turned on her flashlight and peeked around the dinning room door hoping to catch the Easter Bunny laying the table with treats.

"That's odd," said Alice, staring at an empty table. "He should of been here by now."

Alice decided to give up and head back up stairs when she heard a low noise emanating from
the room.

"Ohhhh..."

It was the sound of something in pain. Alice swung the dinning room door open and flicked on the light switch.


"What on earth are you doing on the floor, Nero?" she asked, slightly confused.

Nero, was supposed to be asleep with the other creatures upstairs.

"Ohhhh!" shouted Nero, clucthing his belly.

Alice noticed his belly was slightly bigger than normal.

"You ate all the chocolate didn't you?" she snapped.

Nero shook his head and pointed to a big colourful sack in the corner of the room.

Alice peeked inside to discover it filled with about every type of chocolate known to humankind.

"Well if you didn't eat this..." then it dawned on Alice.


"You didn't? Did you?"

Nero nodded. He had eaten the EASTER BUNNY!

"How could you?!? Remember how bad it was having to explain to the police where all of Mrs.Jenkins cats went? This is a ZILLION times worse!"

Alice pressed her face against Nero's belly, "Are you okay, Mr.Easter Bunny, sir?"

But there was no response. Alice feared the worse.

"Help!"said a muffled voice from the belly of the troll.

"He's alive!" cried Alice.


All the commotion had woken up Abner, Miguel and Gretchen.

"What's wrong?" grunted Abner. "Can't a Sasquatch get some sleep around here!"


"Nero ate the Easter Bunny!" replied Alice.

"That's terrible!" exclaimed Miguel. "I LOVE rabbit!"

"And what about the chocolate?" asked Gretchen.

"Luckily no, it's in the sack in the corner," replied Alice.

"Excellent, I'm starving!" said Gretchen.

"No time for food now!" cried Alice, "He's still alive!"

The creatures groaned.

"Suppose you want us to free him, right?" complained Gretchen. "At 4am!"

"Oh Nero, you really must learn to chew your food," grunted Abner. "I'd expect better from a troll."

"Send for the Minotaur, Alice," said Miguel. "So we can go back to bed."

"No one is going back to bed!" cried Alice. "I'll just send Marigold to get him."
_

"Where is that naughty troll, Alice?" moaned the Minotaur. "I was in the middle of an important game of cards with a chupacabra."


Alice pointed to Nero,who was still sprawled out on the floor.

The Minotaur knelt down and examined Nero's belly.

"I think this is the worst case of indigestion I've EVER seen."

"This is NOT a laughing matter!" said Alice, rather firmly.

"Yes, of course," replied the Minotaur, sheepishly.

He leant his face near Nero's stomach, "Hello, Mr.Bunny, my name the Minotaur and i'm going to have you out shortly."

"You can call him Minnie," squawked Miguel.

"I told you NEVER to call me THAT!" growled the Minotaur.

"Can you get him out?" interrupted Alice.

"Two hours Alice, and your Easter creature will be regurgitated in one piece...mostly," replied the Minotaur, wryly.

Alice frowned.

"What's wrong, Alice?"asked Miguel, "That's good news, right?"

"Wrong, Miguel," said Alice,"There's going to be children who will miss out on chocolate this Easter!
I mean, he's got to deliver treats to the rest of this country - probably the rest of western Europe and the Americas! It's a DISASTER!"

"Then we must help the Easter thingy out!" chirped Gretchen, "We'll eat up all the chocolate, and it won't go to waste!"

"That's it, Gretchen! Genius!" cried Alice.

"Really?" said Gretchen, surprised.

"Yes, well, except eating all the chocolate part," replied Alice, "We'll deliver the chocolate!"

Nero's belly started to jiggle as the Easter Bunny tried to speak.

"What's the Easter critter saying, Minotaur?" grunted Abner.

"Something about a book... and a sack, I believe," he replied.

Alice pulled out a big yellow book from the sack.

"It's his address book," said Alice,"This means we can deliver the chocolate!"

"Let's do this!" cried Miguel.


"Well,we may need to fix one thing first" said Alice.

She cusped her hands to her face and called, "MARIGOLD!"

In an instant, a very groggy looking sprite appeared.

Marigold let out a BIG yawn and said, "What is it this time, Miss?"

"Sorry to wake you again, Marigold," replied Alice, "I've got a favour to ask you."


She whispered into Marigold's ear.

"Straight away, Miss!" exclaimed Marigold.

...



"I don't know about you two, but I feel like pink fluffy vomit," fussed Gretchen.

"What are you on about, Gretchen," said Alice,"You three look great!"

"Marigold knows green isn't my colour!" whined Miguel, "And WHY do I have a basket?"

"Stop your fussing, guys," replied Alice, "Now, anyone know how this thing works?"



 The Fantastical Miss Kinderfoot book is in the works! (Book news will appear on this site)

Other work by Antonio Papaleo:

'The kite who was scared of heights'

"A great story about overcoming your fears" Coldplay's Chris Martin.

Out NOW on fierce panda books...

Buy it on Amazon.

or
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The fantastical Downing Street...


"Now look this way, kids!" shouted one of the various photographers.

The barrage of flashing lights made Alice's eyes feel funny, but she didn't mind - it's not every day you're invited for a meeting with the Prime Minister.



"Thank you, gentlemen," said Richard, the press officer.

"We really must get the children inside - this way please!"

Alice and the five other children were ushered under the iron lamp archway onto the steps of Number 10.

Alice couldn't resist using the lion head door knocker.

"Thank you, little girl," said Richard, with a nervous chuckle.


The door opened and  everyone filed inside.

"Welcome to Downing Street!"

"So wonderful," Alice said, staring at the huge regal paintings and black and white chequerboard floor.

It was the poshest house she had ever seen.

"It's like the entrance to Wonderland," said a messy haired boy .

"And you're the white rabbit!" said another child, pointing at Richard.



"Charming," He smirked. "Now, we must move on as we're running late."

Alice giggled.

"I'm Felix," said the messy haired boy.

"Alice," she replied as they shook hands.

Ms.Murphy leaned over Alice and frowned, "Quiet please! Alice, you're not here to make friends - now move along!"

The group followed Richard around the stately house to the entrance of the Pillared room.

"Before you enter, we need to ask that you leave your bags with security," said Richard.

One by one the group handed their bags in.

Alice held her bag close to her face and whispered, "Now, you guys need to stay inside, okay!"


Ms.Murphy rolled her eyes.

The children waited nervously for a few minutes and then stood dumbstruck as the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister entered the room.

After the meet and greet session, it was question time.

"We're very proud to have with us today," began the Prime Minister to the hordes of press crammed into the room, "The winners of the UK young artists competition. It is our belief that the arts plays a very important role in shaping the young people of Britain."


While the Prime Minister continued his rather long speech, Alice couldn't help notice all the funny hand gestures he made while talking.

She leaned in to Felix and whispered, "He sure likes to give thumbs up a lot!"

Felix giggled.

"We as a Government always strive to make things better," continued the Prime Minister.

"Which is why we would like to know from the students, what we can do to improve the arts in school. Let's start with the young gentleman to my left, Billy, who is the Eastern England 'street dance' champion.

"Can I just say," interrupted the Deputy Prime Minsiter, "I used to do a bit of 'street dancing' myself when I was young. I was, as the kids say, EPIC!

The room broke out into half hearted laughter. Richard stared at the Prime Minister, closed his eyes and shook his head.

"Right, very funny," said the Prime Minister, moving the event along. "Let's begin."

"Thank you, Prime Minister," said Billy, and began to waffle on with some pre-rehearsed speech.


As Alice watched Billy speak, she felt some thing pinch her ear.

"I'm terribly sorry to bother you, Miss," said Marigold, the sprite. "There's been an incident around the halls of Number 10."

"How bad?" Asked Alice.

 Marigold replied,


Alice rolled her eyes.

"Excuse me, Richard," whispered Alice.

"I need the toilet REALLY bad!"

"Of course, young lady," replied Richard, "Ask security to point you in the right direction, but do hurry back."

Alice got up and crept out of the room.

"Now what happened, Marigold?" asked Alice.

Marigold pointed to the walls.

"Oh no..."


The entire corridor , walls and ceiling, had been scribbled on in different coloured pens.

 It was everywhere - even on the paintings!

Alice shook her head, "This is isn't happening!"

"We tried to stop him, Alice," grunted Abner, appearing from nowhere.



"But you know Jack, he's just too quick."

"I knew I should of left Springheeled Jack at home," replied Alice, rather crossly.

"Well, we need everyone's help to find him, and what happened to the security?"

"About that," grunted Abner, pointing down the hall.

Alice could see Gretchen making her way towards them.

She appeared to be holding three guns in her arms.



"All clear Alice," said Gretchen.

"They were everywhere. I think they must of been after the Prime Minister."

Alice shook her head.

"No, Gretchen! They're his security!" cried Alice.

Gretchen blushed.

"Er, sorry, Alice," said Gretchen.

"Now, where's Miguel?" asked Alice.

"I'm here," said Miguel.

He appeared to be chewing a piece of paper.

"What are you eating?" asked Alice.

"Oh, some old piece of paper - Manga Carta, or something to that effect," replied Miguel.

"Well, none of you touch anything else!" cried Alice.

"Abner, come with me to find Jack. The rest of you, tidy up please!"

Alice and Abner followed the trail of colourful scribblings around the halls of Number 10, until they found Springheeled Jack.

He was decorating the walls in green and red pens.


"Stop, Jack!" cried Alice.

"No!No!No!" squeaked Jack.

"I've got some more pens for you," replied Alice.

Jack's high pitched laugh echoed around the halls as he skipped towards Alice.

"Mine!" cried Jack, as he reached out for the pens.

"Now!" shouted Alice.

Quick as a flash, Abner's fist connected to the top of Jack's head - BONK!

"Out like a light," grunted Abner.

"Put him back in the bag," said Alice.


"The rest of you stay put, please!"

When Alice returned to the Pillared Room, the Prime Minister had time for one more question.

He pointed to Alice.

"You, young lady....Alice Kinderfoot."

Alice stood up. Ms.Murphy held her breathe.

"Thank you, Mr.Prime Minister, sir."

"Um, is the Magna Carta an important piece of paper?"

"Why yes, Alice, it's probably one of the most important documents in the world. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, no reason," said Alice with a nervous laugh.

"Right, well I think that's all the time we have for today,." said the Prime Minister. As he started his thank you speech, the room suddenly went pitch black!



Amongst the screams and calls for calm, Alice heard a faint high pitched laugh.

"Oh, no." She thought.

When the lights finally came back on, the whole room erupted into laughter at the sight of the two statesmen.


Jack had drawn on both their faces! (A cracking job, too)

Alice giggled and then felt another pinch on her ear.

"Sorry to bother again, Miss," said Marigold.

"I know that Jack got out again," replied Alice.

"Oh, it's not that, Miss, it's Nero," said Marigold.

"He's eaten the Chancellor..."



The Fantastical Miss Kinderfoot book is in the works! (Book news will appear on this site)

Other work by Antonio Papaleo:

'The kite who was scared of heights'

"A great story about overcoming your fears" Coldplay's Chris Martin.

Out NOW on fierce panda books...

Buy it on Amazon.

or


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The fantastical Halloween...


It was dark outside, and a little bit damp. The neighbourhood glowed a street lamp orange.

"I love this time of year," said Alice.

What was not to like? It was Halloween after all.

"Can we walk up the path now?" asked Abner.

"I REALLY want some sweets already!" cried Gretchen.

Alice nodded and opened the front gate. The path was lined with twinkling jack-o'-lanterns and a vibrating tombstone that blasted spooky disneyfied sounds.

"You ready?" asked Alice.

Grecthen and Abner nodded.



"Alright. One...two...three!"

The trio, in unison, knocked on the front door.

"Trick-or-treat!" they cried.

The door slowly creaked open to reveal pitch black.

Alice's heart began to race.

"Mrs.Bertrand?"

Without warning, the pitch black doorway lit up with rapid flashing.

"Ah, the strobe light," grinned Gretchen, nodding in approval.

The rapid flashing revealed a ghostly long haired figure creeping down the hall.


"Nice touch," grunted Abner.

The trio were so mesmerised by the spooky spectacle, that they were caught unawares by the screaming monster who jumped out from behind the door.


"Arghhh!" it screamed.

Alice jolted straight back, almost knocking Abner over in the process. They began to laugh.

"Great one, Mrs.Bertrand!" said Alice, shaking.

Mrs.Bertrand pulled off her grotesque mask.

"Thanks, Alice," replied Mrs.Bertrand, "You're the first trick-or-treaters to my house this evening - I even got my daughter down from uni to help!"

They waved at the ghostly figure.

"The first you say?" asked Alice, puzzled.


"There's usually lots of children cuing up and down the road to come here!"

"I know, it's been VERY quite so far, Alice," replied Mrs.Bertrand. "Now, time for some TREATS!"

She began to pass out the sweets.

"One for Alice and one for...you know, I'm sorry, but I always forget your cousins' names?"

"Abner and Gretchen," said Alice.

"That's right!" exclaimed Mrs.Bertrand. "You must really like those costumes because you wear them every year!"

"I know, right?" laughed Gretchen. "We just love them too much!"

"You three have fun now!" cried Mrs.Bertrand.

"Thank you!" replied Alice

The trio made their way down the road. Abner and Gretchen started taking stock of their sugary haul.

"You know guys," began Alice, kicking up a few leaves. "A costume wouldn't be a bad idea for next Halloween."

"What do you mean?" replied Gretchen.


"This is the ONLY time of the year we are allowed to be seen in public, and not cause mass hysteria!"

"And, we get SWEETS!" added Abner.

"Nevermind," said Alice. "Now, I seem to have more sweets in my bag this year, and it's not even late!"

"Same with us," replied Abner.

"Have you noticed how quiet the neighbourhood is?" asked Gretchen.

It suddenly dawned on Alice that they were the only beings about.

"Too quiet," said Alice, suspiciously.

That quiet was soon interrupted. The trio could hear the sound of heavy foot steps and shouting, emanating from the bottom of the road. Through the faint mist emerged a beige figure, running at full pelt.

"Miguel?" Alice said, surprised.


"Alice!" cried Miguel, slightly out of breath.

"Don't worry, Miguel," replied Gretchen. "We'll give you the sweetie wrappers to eat - like we do every year!"

Miguel shook his head "No, something happened!"

"What?" replied Alice, concerned. "And why aren't you handing out sweets like we agreed?"

"That's the problem," said Miguel, with a nervous laugh. "I got bored and wanted to be out trick-or-treating...So I got someone to cover for me."

"Who?" replied Alice.

"Um,well, everyone else was out, and she was SO eager to help," continued Miguel.

"Who, Miguel?" Alice repeated, this time a bit firmer.

Miguel lowered his head and mumbled.

"Sorry, say that again?"

"MEDUSA!" cried Miguel.

Abner shook his head. Gretchen laughed.

"Oh, that's alright, Miguel," said Alice, relieved, "It's not like she wasn't wearing her sunglasses!"

"Hahaha - er, she wasn't," Miguel whimpered.

"WHAT!" cried Alice, "You let her pass out sweets WITHOUT her sunglasses!"


"Well, Alice, it's an American holiday, so we should technically say 'candy'," quipped Miguel.

"Timing, Miguel," whispered Abner, giving him a good nudge in the ribs.

"That explains the slow night," giggled Gretchen.

Alice rolled her eyes and pulled out her phone.


"Hi, Marigold, we got a code grey" said Alice, annoyed, "Meet us at the rendezvous point in ten minutes, and gather the whole gang."
_

Alice and the Kinderfoot creatures gathered out front of her house.

"I take it this is not your choice of Halloween décor, Miss?" asked Marigold.

"It is not - but it's pretty awesome!" winked Alice.

The whole front garden, up and down the pathway too, was littered with stone statues of terrified
trick-or-treaters.


Alice took a deep breath, shook her head and exhaled.

"Could be worse, Marigold - does everyone have a hammer and chisel?"

"Yes, Miss," replied Marigold.

"Great," continued Alice


"Remember guys, it's just like that trip to the zoo, when Medusa got out and had a look at the monkey enclosure. Only this time can we not chisel the heads off - I'm looking at you Jack! And please, Nero, there are children inside the statues, so NO gobbling up!"

Alice held out her hand.

"Marigold, reflective glasses please. Right guys, you know what to do."

Abner, Gretchen and Miguel held open a giant duffel bag.

"On the count of three. One...two...three!"


Alice knocked on the door.

"Trick-or-treat!"

The front door whooshed open to reveal Medusa in all her reptilian glory.

"The trick's on you!" hissed Medusa, eyes dancing wildly.


Her terrifying grin vanished as she saw her reflection in the glasses.

"Oh, damn..."

In flash, Medusa's skin started to tighten and crack. Every inch of her turned stone grey.
Marigold flew over and knocked on Medusa's head.

"Rock hard,"chirped Marigold.

"Bag her!" cried Alice.

Abner,Gretchen and Miguel bundled Medusa into the bag and dragged her upstairs. Alice walked back outside to survey the carnage. She took a deep breathe and exhaled.

"Another eventful Halloween, wouldn't you agree, Miss?" asked Marigold.

Alice smiled.

"Wouldn't have it any other way," replied Alice.



 The Fantastical Miss Kinderfoot book is in the works! (Book news will appear on this site)


Other work by Antonio Papaleo:

'The kite who was scared of heights'

"A great story about overcoming your fears" Coldplay's Chris Martin.

Out NOW on fierce panda books...

Buy it on Amazon.

or







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