Subscribe to updates

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Trumpet nose

Emily Bluster couldn't stop sneezing. She sneezed so many times a day, twelve thousand at the last count, that everyone called her 'trumpet nose'. She had no idea what was causing it but it made her life very difficult. When she brushed her teeth she sneezed foamy toothpaste all over the bathroom mirror, at breakfast she sneezed corn hoops and milk from her bowl across the kitchen table, she sneezed over the dog when she petted him, over her teachers when she handed her homework in, and over the sweet counter at Mrs Brown's grocery store. She sneezed so much that her brother, and mum and dad wore ponchos whenever Emily was near so they didn't get drenched in snot.
But one day Emily's sneezes suddenly stopped. Everyone that knew her was bamboozled, except Emily. As each day passed by without even a hint of a sneeze Emily grew more anxious. She could feel a growing tightness in her chest and nose. On the last day of term, when the entire school was sat in the auditorium for the annual prize giving, Emily felt a little tickle in her nose. It soon passed but when she was called to the stage to receive her prize for Best Artist of the Year, the tickle returned. She took the silver trophy from Mrs Taylor, the Headteacher, and just as she began to thank her she let out the most gigantic of sneezes. The gust of wind that blew from her nose was so strong it blew all the teachers of the stage. They clattered against drumkits and cymbols, into stage curtains and the orchestra pit. But Emily wasn't done. She let out another, even stronger, even louder sneeze across and all the rows of pupils sat below her toppled backwards, like stacked dominoes. Emily couldn't help but find it rather amusing as stunned pupils and teachers gradually took to their feet.
After that day Emily never sneezed again. And what's more nobody called her 'trumpet nose'.

No comments:

Post a Comment