Jasper leapt off the ship and ran with renewed curiosity as he followed the boy and the boots. They went past a sign, which read Welcome to Great Hootsville! They continued through a colourful town. Then, upon reaching a narrow lane, the boy encouraged Jasper, ‘Come on! It’s just down here now!’
The lane was dusty and deserted and, as they reached the end, they came to an old wooden shed. The boy opened the door as the pair of boots and Jasper quickly followed behind.
‘We made it!’ panted the boy as he opened a drawer and pulled out a tube of superglue.
‘What have we made it to? An old shed? Will you tell me what is going on?’ asked the ever more impatient dog.
‘Of course,’ replied the boy. ‘But first, let me introduce myself. My name is Lewis and these are my grandpa’s boots.’
‘Your grandpa’s boots?’
‘Yes, they’ve been helping me!’ said Lewis with a big grin on his face.
‘Helping you with what?’ asked Jasper.
‘Come and see for yourself!’ he replied as he opened the door and skipped round to the back of the shed.
There before them was the most magnificent looking hot air balloon. The balloon was red and yellow and stood so high it ached Jasper’s neck just to look up to the top of it.
‘Wow!’ remarked Jasper. ‘That is incredible! Where did it come from?’
‘I made it!’ Lewis replied.
‘You made it? But… how and why?’ There was so much for Jasper to take in that his brain was now finding it hard to keep up.
‘When I was younger my grandpa and I lived here together in the town of Great Hootsville. My grandpa never had much money, but he always looked after me well. He lived here, with me, in this shed. But it wasn’t boring! My grandpa is an inventor and he would always be making things. I loved watching him at work! He would tell me about a wonderful home he was going make for us in the cliffs at the top of the clouds. Then, one day, he decided it was time to stop talking about it and do it. He made a hot air balloon and told me we were going to leave Great Hootsville and make our new home!’
‘You must have been excited!’ said Jasper a he wagged his tale.
‘Yes, I was very excited. But then, something unexpected happened. As grandpa got into the balloon to make the final preparations the ropes came loose and the balloon began to rise. Grandpa called out to me, but as I ran out of the shed it was too late! Grandpa was already high in the sky. He called out to me, ‘Come and find me Lewis! Use my boots! They will help you to build your own balloon!’ He threw his old black boots down to me…’
‘And they’ve been helping you ever since!’ said Jasper, completing Lewis’s sentence.
‘Yes, they have! Each day since grandpa gave them to me his boots have been out to collect all the pieces I need to create a balloon just like his. And now I am nearly finished!’
Lewis then pulled an object out from inside the left boot. It was a compass. He used his superglue to fix it to the inside of the basket.
‘That’s it we’re ready to go!’ shouted Lewis with great joy as he jumped into the basket.
Jasper stood back and watched as the boots hopped in to join Lewis.
‘It’s time for us to go!’ Lewis said as he released the ropes, which held the balloon down.
As the hot air balloon rose into the sky Lewis shouted down some important words to Jasper.
Perhaps this is cheating, but I couldn't resist suggesting an idea here!
ReplyDeleteLewis could say, 'In the shed, under the chair! You can keep it!'