A Day with Daddy

[The following story is dedicated to the memory of a wonderful father, Paul Floyd.]

Early one sunny morning, in a little house on Horncastle road, Gavin, Peter and John were fast asleep.  That was until Daddy appeared and woke each of them up with an explosive aeroplane tickle!  Peter smiled as he watched Daddy wiggle his eyebrows.

Then Daddy said, ‘Keep your pyjamas on, we’re going to the car!’  

‘Hurray!’ shouted the boys as Daddy took them one-by-one to the car on his shoulders!  In the back of the car, Daddy had prepared the most wonderful, exciting and cosy bed for the boys.  

‘Settle down now, we have a long journey ahead of us!’  Then Daddy said a prayer before starting the car and beginning the adventure.  Gavin, Peter and John were so comfortable they instantly fell fast asleep!

BEEP-BEEP! went the horn on the car as the boys awoke to find they had arrived at their destination.  

‘Here we are!’ said Daddy looking at Gavin, Peter and John with a great big smile on his face!  

‘We’re at the woods!’ shouted John excitedly!  

‘Yes we are!’ said Daddy, as he opened up the boot for the boys to get out.  ‘But watch out, there may be fierce creatures in these woods!’ Then, before they knew it, Gavin, Peter and John were being chased into the forest by a great big lion!!  But they didn’t mind, as they knew Daddy wasn’t a dangerous lion.  When he caught the boys he tickled them till their tummies hurt with laugher! 

Suddenly, they all heard a strange scratching noise coming from behind one of the trees.  They looked over to where the noise was coming from and out jumped a great big rabbit!

‘Hello, I’m Mr. Rabbit!’ he said as he cheerfully bounced towards the boys.  ‘Who would like to play a game of hide and seek?’

‘Me!’ All the boys yelled together at once.  

‘Okay then!  Close your eyes and count to ten!’  

After counting to ten the boys opened their eyes, but could not see Mr. Rabbit anywhere.  

‘This way!’ shouted Gavin.  Peter and John followed as Gavin lead them on a high-speed chase through the woods.  They looked high, they looked low, they looked up trees and they looked around trees.  Eventually Gavin spotted some bouncing legs going through some bushes.  As the boys followed they found themselves in the middle of a great big glade. 

Mr. Rabbit turned around and said to the boys ‘Ta da!’  Gavin, Peter and John were amazed to look around and see a gallery of wonderful paintings and sculptures.  

‘Who did all these?’ asked Peter.  

‘Why, don’t you know?’ replied Mr. Rabbit.  ‘Your Daddy did of course!’ 

 ‘I love them!’ said John.  

‘I want make pictures just like these!’ whispered Gavin.  

‘But where is Daddy?’ questioned Peter.  

Mr. Rabbit pointed to a ladder on a tree.  Gavin, Peter and John said goodbye to Mr. Rabbit as they left him and climbed the ladder.  

When they reached the top the boys found themselves in a wonderfully big tree house.  They stood still for a moment.  Suddenly out jumped Daddy from behind a curtain.  He was dressed as a brightly coloured clown.  

‘Daddy, you’re so silly!’ said John.  

Daddy grinned back at him then said to the boys, ‘Come on, follow me!’  and he ran through the door, out onto a wooden bridge.  The boys excitedly chased after him. 

They ran across many bridges between the trees.  Daddy made great big ‘whooping’ noises, which echoed through the forest.  The boys copied him, ‘Whoop! Whoop! Whoop!’ as they ran along!  Then they came to a sudden halt! 

‘Ready?” asked Daddy.  

‘Ready!’ said the boys.  

They all held hands, then jumped down the gigantic slide.  ‘Wheeeeeeeeeee!!!’ They landed in a big pile of leaves, right next to the car!  

Gavin, Peter and John laughed hysterically as they threw the leaves up in the air.  They looked around for Daddy.  ‘Where are you Daddy?’ shouted Peter.  

‘I’m right here!’ he said as he appeared from behind the car, back in his usual Daddy clothes.  He brought a picnic over to them containing all sorts of wonderful treats made by Mummy.  They gobbled them up as quickly as they had flown down the slide!  

‘Okay, let’s go home!’ said Daddy.  The boys happily jumped back into their cosy bed in the back of the car.  Then Daddy said a prayer, started the car and set off for home.  The boys chatted excitedly about the fun they had on their day with Daddy, before falling fast asleep!

When they arrived home, in the evening, the boys were all so tired they did not even wake up.  One-by-one Daddy carried Gavin, Peter and John to their beds.  Mummy smiled when she saw her happy and sleepy boys!  Together, Mummy and Daddy tucked up the boys.  

As they watched them sleep Mummy said to Daddy, ‘Aren’t you a wonderful Daddy!’