The crow at the top of the chestnut tree
Cawed twice mournfully.
He cawed in fog
He cawed in rain
He cawed in hope
He cawed in pain.
He cawed for friends he would
never see again.
He remembered playing in the sun
He remembered flying through the snow.
Memories treasured in the
Heart of a little black crow.
Autumn woke up, yawned widely, showing off all of her sharp teeth, and peeked out of the window.
“Oh no! The world has disappeared!” She cried.
The young fox ran downstairs to tell her Mummy.
“Mummy, the world has gone, look outside!”
She pointed to what used to be the back garden.
Mummy put down her cup of coffee and looked outside the kitchen window. Autumn was right. The back garden was gone. Instead, everything was all white.
“That’s ok Autumn, it’s only fog.” Smiled Mummy Fox.
“What’s fog and why did it eat our garden?” Asked Autumn, feeling concerned.
“It’s cloud. Thick cloud that is very low. Our back garden and the world is still there. It’s just that you can’t see it.” Explained Mummy.
“Ok. I am going to wake Fluffy, to show him the fog.” Replied Autumn.
Autumn ran up the two flights of stairs to the attic, where Fluffy and her family lived. Fluffy was a hedgehog.
“Fluffly, wake up! There’s fog!” She shouted into the attic room.
Fluffy sat up in her tiny bed, looking confused.
“What’s fog? Where’s fog?” She asked, rubbing her eyes.
“The fog is outside of course!” Said Autumn.
Fluffy crept to the window and looked outside cautiously.
“Where has everything gone? Why is it so white?” She asked.
“I told you, it’s fog!” Laughed Autumn. “But don’t worry, it’s not eaten the whole world! It’s just a cloud.”
“Oh.” Replied Fluffy. “I thought that clouds lived in the sky.”
“They do live in the sky usually,” replied Mr Hedgehog, who had put his slippers on, and was now looking out of the window too.
“But fog is low cloud. It sits on the ground and makes it difficult to see anything.” He explained.
“Fog, like a stratus cloud, is a cloud which forms when cool, still air is trapped underneath a warm air. Fog normally occurs at a relative humidity near 100%…”
“Daddy, that sounds incredibly complicated.” Interrupted Fluffy politely.
“Oh, sorry kids. Sometimes I forget that you are still young and don’t have your science degrees yet.”
“That’s ok, Mr Hedgehog. We like to learn all of the facts that you teach us.” Smiled Autumn.
“I have a great idea!” Said Fluffy. “Let’s go and play hide and seek in the fog.”
“Ok but only after we had breakfast.” Said Autumn. “I’m hungry.”
The friends went downstairs and enjoyed their breakfast.
Fluffy had slugs and snails on toast and Autumn had pickles and chicken on toast. Yum.
Then the friends went outside to play hide and seek. The fog was swirly and white. They couldn’t see much. Autumn held up her paw in front of her face.
“Oh, I can’t see my paw properly.” She said. “I know it’s there, but it looks… smudgy. Like I am a pencil drawing and the artist started to rub me out!”
Autumn giggled. Imagine her being a drawing? Wasn’t that a silly thought? She was a real fox, not just a picture!
“You hide first, I’ll seek.” Said Fluffy.
“Ok, good luck finding me in this fog!” Laughed Autumn.
“10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, ready or not here I come!” Shouted Fluffy.
Where could his friend be? He couldn’t see a thing. Maybe she was behind the shed? No. Perhaps Autumn was in the gazebo? Fluffy looked all around it. No, she wasn’t there. Maybe behind the apple tree? Fluffy crept close to the tree and peeked behind it.
“There you are!” He cried happily.
“It was so easy to hide,” smiled Autumn. “The fog is so thick that I bet you didn’t see me until you got really close, did you?”
“No, not until I was right next to the tree.” Agreed Fluffy.
“Now it’s my turn to seek.” Said Autumn.
The friends played hide and seek for the rest of the morning, until they got too cold and had to go inside to ask for hot chocolate.
Later, they looked out of the window, and the fog had gone. The sun was beautiful and shining.
“Where has the fog gone?” Fluffy asked his Dad.
“The sun warmed up the air and so the fog went. We only get fog if the temperature of the air cools to the dew point, or if the dew point rises to be the same as the temperature of the air, fog will form.” Said Mr Hedgehog.
“Ok, thanks for all of the facts Daddy. Replied Fluffy.
“I do hope that the fog doesn’t go on holiday for long.” Muttured Autumn sadly.
“Oh, I’m sure that it will come back soon.” Said Mr Hedgehog.
The end.
My daughter Bethany and I wrote and illustrated this story.
Reading, writing and drawing builds confidence in kids, as well as developing their literacy and imagination.
To listen to stories, and access a great selection of educational activities, have a look at the National literacy trust’s website: https://literacytrust.org.uk
Autumn and Fluffy have an adventure in the forest and make some new friends. 🍁🦔🦊
Just another blog 