Little Ted and the mud monster

Little Ted was jumping in puddles and laughing out loud as the water splattered and splashed everywhere. He was wearing his dinosaur wellies and raincoat which stopped him from getting too wet, although the way he was going for it that may change soon.

“I like jumping in puddles” Little Ted said “it’s fun.”

“You’re definitely a champion puddle jumper” agreed his Daddy “and for a boy who doesn’t like having a bath because it’s too wet, you don’t seem to mind when it comes to puddles.”

“That’s because you can splish and you can splash and get very messy. And if I jump really high, all the water flies out of the puddle.”

Little Ted carried on splishing, splashing and sploshing his way through the pools of water as they walked home.  

“Let’s make up a story about jumping in puddles so we can tell Mummy what you’ve been up to. What words do you think we should use?” asked his Daddy.

“Wellies, muddy and wet” Little Ted said.

“That’s a good start, what else.”

“Puddles, splash and fun”

“Perfect” said his Daddy and he began the story.

“One day after it had been raining, a little boy put on his dinosaur wellingtons. He had an important mission to complete and it might be dangerous, so he also put on his raincoat for added protection. The mission involved jumping in lots of muddy puddles, testing how deep they were and risked the little boy stepping in a puddle so deep that he might disappear altogether. The little boy and his Daddy set out. At first the boy was scared to make a very big splash in case he got wet. But then he realised that the more he splished and splashed, the more he laughed and laughed and the more fun he had. Soon the little boy was running up to puddles and jumping in with both feet, but then something happened” said his Daddy pausing for dramatic effect.

“What happened Daddy” Little Ted asked “Did the boy disappear?”

“No, he didn’t disappear... instead the little boy turned into a mud monster. He was covered in mud from head to toe and even his ears had mud on them. If the little boy’s Mummy had seen him she wouldn’t have recognised him. It was a hideous sight.”

“I wouldn’t mind being a mud monster” Little Ted said “I like having muddy hands” and he held up his hands to show how dirty they were. 

“In that case my little mud monster, when we get home and before you wash them, let’s make a picture for Mummy using your muddy handprints. Press them carefully on some paper and once they’re dry you can add some eyes, ears and a mouth to your mud monster. We’ll call it a self portrait!”

So when they got back, and before he took off all his wet, muddy clothes in the hall, his Daddy fetched a large piece of white paper, laid it on the table and Little Ted carefully pressed down as hard as he could. When he had finished it looked like a big brown splodge of worms. His Daddy put it on a shelf to dry and sent Little Ted upstairs to put on some dry clothes, while he heated up soup for lunch.

Later when his Mummy came home, Little Ted ran to meet her holding his picture.

“Look Mummy, I’ve made you a picture – it’s a mud monster and he’s laughing because he loves playing in puddles. “

“Lovely Little Ted” said his Mummy “Let’s put it on the fridge.”

The End