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Ollie and the Magic Workshop. Alison Knowles
Читать онлайн.Название Ollie and the Magic Workshop
Год выпуска 0
isbn 9781784505196
Автор произведения Alison Knowles
Жанр Учебная литература
Издательство Ingram
“Oh, I see,” said Mr Wilcox, looking at the two very grumpy children. “Looks like you two are getting on well,” he chuckled.
“Urm,” said Ollie’s mum, “Mollie dear, why don’t you and I go and see if there is any cake left in the kitchen? We can have it with a nice cup of tea.” Mollie and Ollie’s mum wandered off to the kitchen.
“Right, lad, what’s bothering you and making you all grumpy?”
“She’s a girl!” snapped Ollie.
“Well yes, I think you are right there,” said Mr Wilcox, laughing. “What’s so wrong with that?”
“Girls are stupid, and she is really grumpy,” said Ollie.
“Now, now, lad, your mum’s a girl, well, a woman, but it’s the same thing. She’s not stupid or grumpy, is she?”
Ollie just shrugged.
“Come on, lad, I think you need to use your Empathy superpower. I bet Mollie’s not really grumpy, I bet she’s sad and a bit scared.”
“Why would she be?” said Ollie. “She gets to spend summer with us and use my special mug and have my special duvet!”
“Come with me, lad,” said Mr Wilcox, and he got up and walked over to the kitchen window.
Ollie’s mum was making tea, and Mollie was stood head down looking grumpy. Mr Wilcox tapped Ollie on the shoulder, and before Ollie knew what was happening, he was wearing Mollie’s trainers!
“Wow,” said Ollie, looking at his feet. “Get these off me!” And he tried to kick Mollie’s trainers off, but they would not budge.
“Look,” said Mr Wilcox. Ollie looked to where Mr Wilcox was pointing. Mollie was standing, head down being grumpy, but now Ollie could see Mollie’s superpowers!
There was Sad, and she was in tears, Frightened was hiding behind Mollie’s knee, and there was Grumpy being very grumpy.
“Hello, little ones,” said Mr Wilcox and Mollie’s superpowers all looked up in shock. They had never been seen by anyone before!
“Hello,” said Sad, wiping tears from her eyes. “Who are you, and how come you can see us?”
“Ah,” said Mr Wilcox. “My name is Mr Wilcox, and this fine lad is young Ollie. We both have superpowers too. That’s how we can see you. Now why are you three all upset?”
“We don’t want to be here,” said Sad. “Our foster mum is in hospital, and we really like being with her, and she might not get better, so now we have to stay with Ollie’s mum, and it’s really scary when we have to keep staying with new people all the time. Especially when we know that no one really wants us.”
Ollie felt a tickle, and suddenly his Sad superpower appeared and began to cry with Mollie’s superpower!
“Now, now,” said Mr Wilcox, pulling a big hanky out of his pocket that both Mollie and Ollie’s sad superpowers shared and blew their noses into. “You don’t need to be sad, frightened or grumpy. Ollie’s mum is a lovely lady, and I know she wants you to stay with her and Ollie, and I am really glad you are staying too, because we can all be friends and have a lovely summer together. Isn’t that right, Ollie?” said Mr Wilcox, nudging a rather shocked Ollie.
“Urm, urm, yes, I guess so,” said Ollie as Ashamed appeared beside him and gave him that look that his mum often gave him when Ollie was being naughty. Ollie suddenly felt really bad for being grumpy about Mollie now that he saw how sad and frightened she was. He couldn’t imagine how frightened and sad he would be if his mummy was in hospital.
“Meet some more of my superpowers,” said Mr Wilcox, and out popped Happy and Brave. Both of them started to get bigger and, as they did, Ollie’s Happy and Brave appeared and started to get bigger and, of course, when Happy gets bigger you can’t help but start to giggle, then laugh, then roll around laughing with them!
Mollie’s superpowers began to laugh too, louder and louder!
In that instance Mollie started to laugh, but she did not know why. She could not help herself! She could not see any of her,
Ollie’s or Mr Wilcox’s superpowers. All she could see was Ollie rolling on the floor laughing and Mr Wilcox chuckling away too! In that instant Ollie caught Mollie’s eye. He stopped laughing and stood up.
“Hello,” he said. “My name is Ollie, and I am really glad you’re going to spend the summer with me and my mum.”
Mollie smiled for the first time.
Ollie learns about
forever homes
That night Ollie could not sleep. He could hear Mollie crying in the spare room. This made Ollie sad, and Sad would not settle no matter how much Happy told him jokes to try to cheer him up. The next morning Mollie was very quiet at breakfast.
“Right, Ollie, today I am going to take Mollie into the hospital to see her foster mummy, so Mr Wilcox and Mrs Bowler are going to look after you till we get back.”
“OK,” said Ollie, looking at a very sad Mollie.
While Mollie was brushing her teeth, Ollie asked his mum what a foster mum was.
“Well, she is a very special lady who looks after children when they don’t have a mummy of their own, or if their mummy can’t look after them for some reason.”
“Doesn’t Mollie have a mummy of her own?” asked Ollie.
“Everyone has a mummy, Ollie, but sometimes a mummy can’t look after them for grown-up reasons, and so special people called foster mums and dads look after them until they can find forever homes.”
“What’s a forever home?” asked Ollie.
“A forever home is like what we have, Ollie. It’s where you stay forever with the same mummy and daddy.”
“Oh,” said Ollie, not really sure he understood. “So is Mollie’s foster mum Mollie’s forever home now?”
“Well, sadly not. You see, some lovely people just look after children while the people in charge can find them forever homes, but they haven’t found Mollie a forever home yet.”
“Why not?” Ollie asked. “Is it because she is so sad and grumpy all the time?”
Ollie’s mum laughed. “Oh, Ollie, in a way yes and in a way no. You see, Mollie is sad and, yes, a little grumpy because she doesn’t have a forever home, somewhere she can call home with a new mummy and daddy who will always be there for her. The fact she is sad and grumpy might not be helping her find that home because some parents that might like a little girl to be their daughter might be worried that she will always be sad and grumpy, and they might not want a daughter like that.”
“Well, she had best stop being sad and grumpy then!” said Ollie.
“It’s not that easy, Ollie. How would you feel if we did not have each other and you were moved from house to house all the time, having to make new friends and get to know new people? It’s very hard for Mollie, you know.”
“I wouldn’t like it very much,” said Ollie, “but I would be happy all the time, so that someone would want me to be their forever Ollie!”
“Well, Ollie, I think you and I should do all we can to try to help Mollie feel safe and happy while she is with