Little Ted was feeling cold. Little Ted didn’t like being cold and he was beginning to complain about it.
“My hands are cold” Little Ted said “and my feet.”
“Don’t worry Little Ted, we’ll be back at our house soon” replied his Daddy. “Try stamping your feet up and down to see if that warms them up. And give me your hands and I’ll rub them and try to cosy them up.”
“My nose is cold as well” Little Ted continued “and my ears.”
Little Ted and his Daddy were walking home. They had gone shopping to buy his Granny a present, but the weather had turned very cold while they were out and Little Ted didn’t have his hat or gloves with him.
“Why don’t we pretend we’re great explorers, battling to get back to the safety of our tent” suggested his Daddy, trying to take Little Ted’s mind off being cold. “You can be David Attenborough and I’ll be the cameraman. They go all over the world including to very cold places so are used to working in difficult conditions. Do you see anything interesting to report?”
Little Ted looked around. It was early afternoon so there was plenty of daylight but not much seemed to be happening. Then he spotted a cat, jumping onto a wall.
“Look Mr Cameraman, over there – a ginger furry creature with whiskers and a stripy tail. Do you think it’s looking for food? “
“Perhaps Little Ted. I hope it doesn’t eat small boys or their Daddy’s. I don’t want to end up as tea for a miniature tiger.”
“That’s not a tiger Daddy, it’s a cat.”
“Well cats and tigers are part of the same family of animals and have many of the same traits. Cats are just a smaller, more domesticated version of tigers.
Little Ted started giggling. “If the cat really was a tiger and it ate us, then we would be the tea the tiger ate, rather than the tiger coming to tea.”
“Very true, but let’s try to avoid getting eaten for tea today. What else do you see?”
Little Ted had a good look around him once again. There didn’t seem to be anything of interest happening until...
“Quick Mr Cameraman, over there. Its a zebra and its crossing the road.”
“Clever Little Ted, I see the zebra crossing. Did you know that an animal which is a cross between a zebra and a horse is called a zorse. Now can you remember what to do when you want to cross the road using a zebra crossing?”
“Yes” replied Little Ted “I have to stop and wait on the pavement until the cars have stopped and then I can go across. But I should keep a lookout in case another car comes from the other direction to make sure they stop too.”
As he was telling his Daddy about how to cross the road safely Little Ted realised that he had forgotten all about being cold and they were almost home.
“Daddy” Little Ted said “can I have hot chocolate when we get home.”
“Yes Little Ted, I think hot chocolate is exactly what intrepid explorers need when they get back after dangerous expedition to the shops especially if they’ve avoided being eaten by a tiger or crossed with a zebra.”
The End