and the Skating Contest  
         
One cold winter afternoon while Snuffles and Daisy were walking through Warren Hill Wood, they noticed a large poster stuck on a tree. Curious, they wandered over to take a closer look. The poster said there was to be an ice dancing competition the following afternoon, and anyone wishing to take part should report at the stream by the old oak tree at two o'clock.
"Oh how exciting!" cried Daisy, "shall we enter?" "Of course" said Snuffles.
They had both spent a lot of time skating, making the most of the thick ice before it began to melt, and Snuffles thought to himself they stood a good chance of winning a prize.

The following morning Snuffles called for Daisy and they made their way through the frost covered woodland towards the stream, where they spent a couple of hours practising their skating before returning to Snuffles home for some warm acorn soup and toast.

At a quarter to two they returned to the stream. They were surprised to find that quite a few others had also entered the

  

competition. There was a great deal of excited chatter and even more animals from the wood were still arriving.

"Goodness, I didn't think it would be so popular" said Snuffles, "I do hope the ice is strong enough to hold us all".

It was obvious that Mr Badger, the organiser of the competition, was also surprised at the amount of entrants, and trying to sort everyone out with numbers and make himself heard above the squeals of excitement was proving to be a difficult task. However, at long last everyone was ready and Mrs Owl, who had volunteered to judge the competition, blew a whistle which signalled the start.

The skaters swirled around on the ice while Mrs Owl hopped up and down the bank making notes in a little book. Snuffles and Daisy were thoroughly enjoying themselves and were just about to launch into their grand finale when out of the corner of her eye Daisy noticed Mr Mole, notorious for his short-sightedness, heading towards the far end of the stream, where the ice was very thin.

"Oh Snuffles, look at Mr Mole!"cried Daisy, "doesn't he realise how thin the
ice is down there!"

"We'd better try and stop him!" said Snuffles, grasping hold of Daisy's paw.
Unfortunately, they were too late. To their horror they watched as the ice cracked, and Mr Mole sank through the ice before their very eyes. Snuffles and Daisy jumped on to the bank and tried to reach across to him, but it was no good, the gap was just too wide. Then Snuffles had an idea. He pulled off the long scarf he had been wearing and threw one end over to Mr Mole. This did the trick, Mr Mole was able to grab hold of the scarf and with Daisy's help Snuffles was able to pull a very cold and wet Mr Mole onto the bank.
 Suddenly there was a loud burst of applause. Snuffles, Daisy and Mr Mole all looked up in surprise to see that the rescue had been watched in silence by
all the competitors. As the applause died down Mrs. Owl stepped forward.
"I have an announcement to make" she declared importantly. "the first prize in the skating competition goes to Mr Badger," everyone started to clap again, "wait," said Mrs Owl, "I have also decided to award two special prizes to Snuffles and Daisy for their brave rescue of Mr Mole." Everyone heartily approved of this and Snuffles and Daisy were the heroes of the day, which more than made up for not winning the skating competition.
As for Mr Mole, he promised to have his glasses checked first thing next day!

 

 

.........More next week!!!!
     
©Mike James Limited.