An Extraordinary Adventure by Clara

“Will! How would you like to walk around Little Weirwold today and explore the area?” Zach ran up to Willie and excitably cried.

“Erm…alright,” Willie muttered.

“Or…I could teach you how to cycle! I could borrow Mrs Fletcher’s bikes. Let’s go and ask her now!”

“I need to get my gas mask,” Willie mumbled.

“You don’t need that! There won’t be an air raid. We will be completely fine.” Zach reassured Willie.

“O-OK.” The pair walked to Mrs Fletcher’s house, which was only down the road, and by the time they arrived, Willie’s legs were aching after walking around the blackberry-picking field all day yesterday.

Mrs Fletcher was in the back garden. Hanging up wet pieces of clothing along a line that stretched from either side of the garden. Zach coughed to signal his presence. Mrs Fletcher turned to face Willie and Zach and exclaimed, “Ah! Hello, boys. Excuse me. I was just letting some clothes dry.”

“Hello, Mrs Fletcher! Willie and I were wondering if you had any bicycles you could kindly let us borrow?” Zach beamed, his curly hair tumbling over his eyes.

“Why, yes, I have! You can borrow George and David’s bikes if you want. They have grown out of them, and I think my older one’s bikes will be too big for you two.” Mrs Fletcher led them to a large door. Bracing her muscles, she lifted it straight up into the roof, revealing a room cluttered with bikes, boxes and broken toys. “There you go, boys,” Mrs Fletcher gestured to the closest two bikes, “They should be in a fine condition.”

A few minutes later, Willie and Zach were walking around an empty street, bikes beside them. Willie’s bicycle kept falling down until Zach told him, “No, don’t tip it away from you, keep it straight up.” By the time they t had reached an empty cobbled road far away from the village, Willie’s entire body was aching. “Watch me, Will.” Zach instructed, hopping onto the bike and pushing his legs onto the pedals. Willie watched as Zach turned the handlebars to switch directions. Willie tried to mimic Zach, but his legs could not reach the pedals. “It’s alright, I’m sure Mrs Fletcher won’t mind if we change how low the pedals are.” Willie found what Zach did next very confusing. First, Zach twisted a knob to the right of the pedals, and, after that, he lifted the pedals straight up the bicycle. Standing back to consider the placement of the pedals, he cheerfully exclaimed, “There! Now try that, Will.” Willie anxiously clambered onto the bike, not wanting to cause trouble for Zach, the first friend he had ever had. However, he found that the pedals now fit perfectly. Feeling happy, Willie tried to mimic Zach’s demonstration, only to fall off the bike again, adding another injury to his collection on his body.

This continued for a couple of hours, until Zach, frustrated at how Willie still could not even learn the basics of bicycle riding, exasperatedly sighed, “Maybe we should stop with this for today? I know, we could cloud gaze in the field next to us!” Wheeling the bikes through a gate to a green field filled with wildflowers every colour of the rainbow. Willie was reluctant, thinking of the worms in the grass but was fascinated by the clouds that swirled in abstract patterns above his head. “Look, that one’s like a rabbit!” Willie remarked.

“I think it looks like a dolphin,” Zach replied.

“What’s a dolphin?”

“It’s a thing that lives in the sea. It looks like a shark, but it has a round fin on its back and it makes these adorable clicking noises.”

“Have you been to the seaside, Zach?”

“I’ve lived there for a few months a couple of times.”

“What does the sea look like?”

“It’s blue and shimmery most of the time, but on sunny days it can look green, and on cloudy days it can look grey. I love going to the beach and building sandcastles.”

“What are sandcastles?”

“They are miniature castles made out of sand. You use a bucket and fill it with wet sand and when you turn the bucket upside-down, the sand slides out and makes a cylinder. You can do this a few times and it looks so spectacular when it’s done.”

“What’s that thing in the air?”

“That’s-That’s an aeroplane. It looks awfully low to the ground. It’s getting lower- look!” The plane swerved and whirled until it landed on the ground with a sudden CRASH!

The boys sprang up and ran up to the plane wreckage. Inside was a man with brown hair and brown eyes. He looked like he was only eighteen or nineteen. “Are you injured?” asked Zach, helping the man out of the cockpit.

“No, I-I think I’m fine. My leg just hurts a little.”

“I’m staying with a doctor. I’ll help you over there,” Zach said,” Willie, could you take both the bicycles back?” Willie nodded, a little worried about how he would carry two bikes. Luckily, Willie was feeling well-rested after lying down in the field, so he was able to take the bikes back. At Dr Little and Nancy’s house, Zach and Willie were told that he man was in good hands, and that they should return the bikes to Mrs Fletcher.

A few minutes later, the boys were in Mrs Fletcher’s garden. They knocked on the back door and asked for Mrs Fletcher to open the garage door. While they were putting the bikes away, Mrs Fletcher asked them, “So, did you have a good day?” Zach replied, “Yes, it was great. We saved a pilot from a plane. Could we have the bikes again tomorrow?”

“Yes, of course you can.” As Mrs Fletcher walked back inside, she muttered to herself, “Boys and their imagination. Saving a pilot, indeed.”

That evening, Tom read Willie a Bible story and another ‘Just So’ story. Willie yawned as he got ready for bed.