Marvellous Max and The Choccy Whoccy Woof Bar Read online

  Marvellous Max and

  The Choccy Whoccy Woof Bar

  By Erin Ellis

  Winner of Oxfordshire Libraries’

  eBook Short Story Competition

  in the Children’s category

  Let me introduce you to Max. He is small with short black curly hair, a fluffy tail and a rather dashing grey moustache. He loves long walks and gravy bones. Max is a dog. But not any ordinary dog. Max has a secret…. He is the most powerful and talented magician in the world. There is only one other living creature that knows about Max’s secret and that is Erin, his best friend, master trickster and partner in magical crime. Together they cause no ends of magical mischief in their otherwise quiet little village. This is the story of one of their particularly naughty adventures.

  It is a beautiful sunny day, not a cloud in the sky, not a puddle on the ground, not a drop of rain… well you get the picture! Erin has been waiting for this day all week as Friday is when she gets her pocket money. A brand new, limited edition Caramel Fudge, Choccy Whoccy Woof Bar has just hit the shelves and she has been absolutely (and I mean really, really, really) dying to try one. But the problem is they have been selling out everywhere and she is so nervous she will miss out! So today, Erin gets up super early, so she gets to the shop as soon as it opens. She sees it immediately; the golden box of Choccy Whoccy Woof bars is right next to the till and there is one left. She races to the box and grabs the chocolate bar, finally it is hers…. The CHOCCY WHOCCY WOOF BAR!! But then suddenly, out of nowhere Mr Thomason (the meanest shop keeper ever), snatches it out of her hand.

  “Hah!!” says Mr Thomason, “Look who has it now!”

  “Hey” says Erin in confusion, “I was just about to buy that!”

  “Well, this one is mine! Go and get another one!” he chuckles.

  “But it’s the last one left” Erin says sadly.

  “Oh, what a shame for you!! Next time you’ll have to be quicker!” and with that he turns away with the chocolate bar in his hand. Erin stands there, shocked, with tears forming in her eyes.

  “Come on Max, let’s go home” she sobs.

  Max, who has been watching all this time, is not very happy with Mr Thomason’s behaviour. In fact, he is furious. He whips out his wand, and quietly chants out a magical spell and casts it upon the chocolate bar that Mr Thomason has in his hands.

  “Max!” shouts Erin, “come on”. With that Max puts away his wand and happily trots out of the door.

  ***

  Early the next morning Erin’s mum sends her to the shop to buy bread for breakfast even though she doesn’t want to see Mr Thomason again. The shop is unexpectedly quiet, no one is there at all. I bet Mr Thomason has scared all the customers away, thinks Erin. With Max at her feet she grabs the loaf of bread and heads over to the till, still no one. After a couple of minutes Erin starts to feel impatient as she just wants to leave as quickly as possible.

  “Hello, Mr Thomason” she calls. There is no answer.

  She walks to the back of the shop thinking that Mr Thomason could be in the stock room. Hesitating, Erin pushes the old creaky door open and peers into the dull and dusty stock room.

  “Mr Thomason?” she calls, “Are you there?”

  No answer. But she can see movement towards the back of the room so she edges forwards, and she can hear mumbling…

  “What am I going to do? How can I go out there like this? There must be something here that can help”.

  “Mr Thomason?” Erin says quietly again, “is that you?”

  Then, not believing her eyes, Erin watches as a box rises into the air completely on its own and starts moving closer and closer to her. How is this possible? What on earth is happening? Erin feels fear running through her veins and in a panic grabs the first thing she can find, which is a very large bag of white flour. Screaming at the top of her voice she throws the flour towards the box, and to her surprise it hits something hard, right in the empty space above the box and explodes. The flour goes everywhere, and she hears coughing and spluttering as slowly the flour dust starts settling. Right in front of her an outline of a person starts to appear.

  “Mr Thomason?” Erin squints to be sure what she is seeing is real. “Is that you?”

  “Yes, of course it’s me” he booms.

  Erin is very shocked. “You, you are…. Well… you are… invisible!” she stammers. “What on earth happened?”

  “How am I supposed to know?” Mr Thomason says angrily. “Last night, after I ate that chocolate bar, I started to feel a bit strange, so I headed to bed. Then this morning I woke up like this!”

  Erin thinks to herself, the chocolate bar… She turns around and looks down at Max, who is by her feet.

  “MAX!!?” she says knowingly, “don’t give me those puppy dog eyes. You did this didn’t you?” Max just keeps looking at her with an innocent look and wags his tail.

  “Turn Mr Thomason visible again this very instance” she demands. But Max just grins, turns around and as quick as that he is gone!

  “Wait here” Erin says sternly to Mr Thomason while turning to leave in a panic.

  “Please don’t leave me” he yells.

  “You have to trust me” she calls as she races out of the door “I have to find Max” and quickly she thinks.

  You see, Erin knows from experience that Max’s magic must be reversed before the sun sets that very evening, otherwise Mr Thomason will be invisible…… forever.

  ***

  Outside, Erin frantically looks both left and right to see which way Max has gone. Out of the corner of her eye, she spots a flash of black as Max’s tail disappears around the corner at the end of the street. With her head down she sprints up the street, but her foot hits the mud at the edge of some grass then everything goes into slow motion. Simultaneously, Erin’s feet fly up to the sky as her head drops towards the floor. Erin floats in mid-air for a few long seconds before time speeds back up and she hits the ground with a massive thump. A shrill scream escapes Erin’s lips as the pain of the impact moves up her body.

  Getting over the shock her thoughts immediately go back to Max. She looks around in a panic trying to see any sign of the dog, but Max is nowhere in sight.

  Erin picks herself off the floor, brushes herself down and gently prods herself on the bottom which took most of the fall. “Ow!!” she yelps.

  “What am I going to do now?” she thinks. Erin walks towards home with a slight hobble hoping he will be there.

  At home, she looks everywhere but no Max. She leaves the house and checks in all his favourite spots. The farmhouse, the playing field, the church: NO MAX! She even trudges up the hill to the windmill which sits peacefully looking over the village – a place that Erin and Max love – but NO MAX! Where can he be?

  Erin heads back to the shop slouching, and with a frown on her face. As she gets to the corner just before the shop, Erin hears voices. She peeks round and sees a massive queue of people tailing its way out of the shop. Oh no! She thinks.

  Walking down the side of the queue, Erin can hear the mumbles of the customers.

  “Where is Mr Thomason? How rude to leave us waiting like this!

  “I’ve said for years that he should hire some help but he’s too mean and tight to do it”.

  “I know, although who on earth would work for him?” they giggle.

  She gets to the door and stands on her tiptoes to see into the shop. There are wall-to-wall people all the way to the counter.

  “Sorry, excuse me, please can I get through”. Erin apologises as she starts weaving her way through the crowd. She ducks under arms, manoeuvres over shopping baskets and even craw
ls through the legs of Terry Gilmore (a very tall boy in the sixth form of her school).

  She frees herself from the crowd, makes her way to the back of the shop and sneaks in through the door of the storeroom.

  “Mr Thomason” she whispers as loud as she dares. “Mr Thomason, are you still here?”

  “Thank goodness you are back!” Mr Thomason booms, not more than a few inches from Erin’s ear. Erin jumps in surprise and only just manages to keep herself from toppling over and back onto her very sore bottom!

  “Blimey Mr Thomason! You scared me!! Don’t forget I can’t see you!”

  “Of course I haven’t forgotten!” he snaps “Just look at me!” he pauses… “um well, you can’t… but that’s the point isn’t it!”

  “Mr Thomason, there is a massive queue of people in the shop, and outside too.”

  “I know, I’ve been watching them arrive. I don’t know what to do. I really need the money as I have a big rent payment due and if I can’t pay it I I’ll have to close the shop for good. It’s been such a hard year, ever since the big superstore opened, I have lost so many customers but the bills I have to pay have stayed the same. It’s so stressful, I just feel on edge and worried all the time”.

  “Maybe that’s why he’s so grumpy” wonders Erin.

  “So, when I saw all the customers, I was very happy and walked into the shop to serve them. It wasn’t until I saw my lack of reflection in the fridge door that I remembered no one can see me so I came back in here. What should I do Erin? I can’t think of anything”.

  Erin lets her mind wander… what to do… what to do…. Then suddenly, “Got it! I have an idea, it’s a bit crazy but if we work together, we might just pull it off”.

  ***

  Erin looks around the stockroom for things she needs. She runs to the coat stand and unhooks Mr Thomason’s jacket, puts it on and feels in the pockets. Just as she hoped she finds some gloves and puts them on too. She picks up a scarf and hat that were hanging there too, puts the hat on and wraps the scarf around her neck and face so only her eyes can be seen. “I need some sunglasses” she says.

  “I think I have some here somewhere ready for the summer sale” says Mr Thomason.

  Erin hears a rustle and turns around to see the flaps of a box open seemingly on their own and the contents flying out onto the floor. Then a pair of bright yellow sunglasses float out the box, the plastic wrapper peels itself off and the glasses come floating towards her. “That’s cool” thinks Erin.

  Erin puts on the sunglasses and looks in the dusty mirror hanging on the wall. “Perfect” she says.

  “I need one more thing, a stool or something to stand on so I look as tall as you do”.

  “Ah, ok” says Mr Thomason starting to follow Erin’s plan. “There’s a stool behind the counter that you can stand on.”

  “Great. Now, to make this work you’re going to have to do the talking and whisper instructions in my ear. All I have to do is get to the till without anyone seeing how short I look.”

  “I have an idea” says Mr Thomason as a crisp display stand stuffed full of crunchy tasty snacks starts rolling across the floor.

  “Stand on the bottom at the back and hold onto the top like you’re pushing it. I’ll push you up to the side of the counter and you can step straight on to the stool”.

  Erin does as he suggests and before she knows it, she is rolling down the aisle of the shop toward the till.

  “Hello everyone” says Mr Thomason from behind Erin, “I’m so sorry to keep you waiting. I woke up with a terrible cold and headache, so I needed to get some medicine, wrap up warmly and get some sunglasses to shade my eyes.”

  As the crisp stand comes to a stop next to the counter, Erin steps carefully onto the stool and peers at the big line of people in front of her. Suddenly nerves kick in and she automatically turns to leave.

  “You can do this” a calm whisper tells her “I’m right here. We can do this together. You’re going to be great”.

  At this Erin turns back to the customers, takes a deep breath, and starts to serve the first person. Mr Thomason talks Erin through every activity she has to do with a kind, patient voice. He makes it seem effortless, going between a whisper and his normal voice when talking to the customers. He explains over again how he wasn’t feeling well which is why he’s wrapped up and apologises to each customer in turn.

  The customers are slightly baffled. Not by his appearance, but by his kind and polite words.

  “How are you today Mrs Potts, is your leg feeling any better?” and “be careful to only use one teaspoon of the curry paste Mr Todd, this one is particularly spicy”. They’ve never heard him being so talkative and so, well, nice.

  “I wish he’d get ill more often” Mr Todd whispers to his friend as he leaves the shop. “Does good things to him. Don’t think I’ve ever had such a nice experience shopping here”.

  It goes on like this for the rest of the day. Erin keeps serving and Mr Thomason continues to be wonderfully kind and grateful. As 5 o’clock comes and the door “magically” shuts and the open sign turns over to read closed, Erin has totally forgotten what a horrid man he was and feels happy and content that she has helped a friend.

  Erin takes off the costume with a sigh and looks out of the window. “We did it” she says with pride and satisfaction. “We sure did” says Mr Thomason. “Thank you so much Erin, you really have saved me, and please, call me Peter”.

  “No problem Mr Thom…. I mean, Peter. We make a good team, don’t we?” she says as she gazes at the beautiful sunset….

  “OH NO!!!!!” she shouts, and tears immediately fill her eyes, shocked at her own stupidity! Her mind is racing. Poor Peter. Just as she has got to know him, she’s ruined his life forever. The sun is setting, and she hasn’t found Max to reverse the spell! Now there is no time left and there is nothing she can do!

  “I’m so, so sorry Peter” she sobs, still staring out of the window. “I didn’t tell you earlier, but I know what happened. It was magic that turned you invisible. The type of magic that must be reversed before the sun sets otherwise it’s…. permanent”. Tears are streaming down her face as she feels a hand gently land on her shoulder.

  “It’s ok Erin” Peter’s kind voice replies, “it’s ok. Please don’t blame yourself. After today, I realise what a horrible person I have become. Working together with you has been one of the best days I’ve had in years because I have found a friend. You helped me even when I had given you no reason to and reminded me how important friends are.”

  Erin continues to stare out of the window watching as the sun starts disappearing behind a hill. Her vision is so blurred by the tears that she doesn’t see the door nudge open and a swish of a tail. Neither does she hear the murmurs of a spell being chanted. You see, Max has been just outside the door for the last ten minutes and he has been listening intently to the conversation. He is pleased to hear his plan has worked. They have worked together and brought the best out of each other, that’s what friendship is all about. Satisfied and content Max reverses the spell.

  A bright light appears, piercing through Erin’s tears and making her turn quickly. She stares in disbelief as standing there with tears in his eyes, is Peter.

  “Peter!” Erin gasps “I can see you”.

  “What?” he says in shock and stares down at his hands. Sure enough, they are there, as clear as day! “I can’t believe it! It’s amazing! Oh, thank you Erin, thank you!”

  And with that he scoops her up in his arms and twirls her round and round.

  ***

  Later that evening, after hot chocolates, biscuits and many laughs about the day Peter says “Erin, I have something I’d like to give you”. He gets up and opens a drawer in the kitchen, to Erin’s surprise he pulls out a Choccy Whoccy Woof Bar!

  “Here” he says “this is for you. I saved it when I first got them as I knew they would sell out fast. I never should have stolen that one from you”.

  “Thank
you, Peter, so much”. She rips it open and bites off a big piece of the chocolate. A massive grin spreads across her face. It is absolutely delicious. The best chocolate bar she has EVER tasted.

  ***

  The next morning, Erin wakes up early, still buzzing from the excitement of the previous day, what an adventure it was! She stretches, puts on her slippers, and walks into the bathroom. She turns on the tap, scoops big handfuls of water on to her face, then opens her eyes and looks in the mirror.

  “AHHHHHHHHH!!!” she screams! Erin is invisible.

  THE END

 

 

  Erin Ellis, Marvellous Max and The Choccy Whoccy Woof Bar

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