A story for five-year olds
Written by Professor Azeem Majeed
Sophie the dragon was sad. Why was Sophie sad? Because the children in the nearby village wouldn’t play with her. Each time Sophie approached the children, they would run away screaming. She often asked her mother why the children would not play with her.
“It’s because the people of the village are afraid of dragons.” Her mother said. “The village chief, Donald, has told the villagers that dragons are terrible creatures; that we will burn down their houses, eat their farm animals, and carry off their children.”
“That’s a horrible thing to say.” Said Sophie. “We dragons are kind and gentle, and want to help others”.
“True.” Said Sophie’s mother. “But Donald is their chief and the other villagers believe what he says.”
One day, Sophie could see the villagers collecting wood and placing it into a big pile in the middle of the village green.
“What are they doing?” Sophie asked her mother. “It will be bonfire night soon.” Replied Sophie’s mother. “The villagers light a big fire, let off fireworks, and eat toffee apples.” It made Sophie very sad to think that she would not be able to attend this wonderful event.
A few days later, the day of bonfire night came. But during the day, it rained and rained. It rained so long and so hard, it made the wood for the bonfire very wet. The wood was so wet, that when the rain eventually stopped, no matter how hard the villagers tried, they could not light the bonfire.
The children of the village were very sad to see this because bonfire night was one of their favourite days. The only other days that compared to it were Christmas Day and their birthdays.
Sophie saw what was happening and thought to herself, I can help set the wood on fire. She slowly crept up to the bonfire. She was so quiet, the villagers didn’t see her until she was next to the bonfire. The children became very afraid when they saw Sophie and ran to hide behind their parents.
“Please don’t be frightened of me.” Said Sophie. “I only want to help.” Sophie opened her mouth, breathed out, and ball of very hot fire flew out. When the ball of fire hit the bonfire, the wood burst into flames.
The people of the village cheered and clapped when they saw their bonfire alight. They were no longer afraid of Sophie because they now knew that Sophie was a kind, gentle dragon who only wanted to be helpful. They gave Sophie some of their toffee apples to eat and invited her to join them for the firework display.
Sophie had a lovely evening and from that day onwards, she and the village children were best friends.
As for Donald, the village chief, what became of him? When the village people realized how wrong he was about dragons, they made sure that chose a more sensible chief when it came time to pick a new one.
THE END
Copyright Notice
Written by Professor Azeem Majeed
“It’s because the people of the village are afraid of dragons.” Her mother said. “The village chief, Donald, has told the villagers that dragons are terrible creatures; that we will burn down their houses, eat their farm animals, and carry off their children.”
“That’s a horrible thing to say.” Said Sophie. “We dragons are kind and gentle, and want to help others”.
“True.” Said Sophie’s mother. “But Donald is their chief and the other villagers believe what he says.”
One day, Sophie could see the villagers collecting wood and placing it into a big pile in the middle of the village green.
“What are they doing?” Sophie asked her mother. “It will be bonfire night soon.” Replied Sophie’s mother. “The villagers light a big fire, let off fireworks, and eat toffee apples.” It made Sophie very sad to think that she would not be able to attend this wonderful event.
A few days later, the day of bonfire night came. But during the day, it rained and rained. It rained so long and so hard, it made the wood for the bonfire very wet. The wood was so wet, that when the rain eventually stopped, no matter how hard the villagers tried, they could not light the bonfire.
The children of the village were very sad to see this because bonfire night was one of their favourite days. The only other days that compared to it were Christmas Day and their birthdays.
Sophie saw what was happening and thought to herself, I can help set the wood on fire. She slowly crept up to the bonfire. She was so quiet, the villagers didn’t see her until she was next to the bonfire. The children became very afraid when they saw Sophie and ran to hide behind their parents.
“Please don’t be frightened of me.” Said Sophie. “I only want to help.” Sophie opened her mouth, breathed out, and ball of very hot fire flew out. When the ball of fire hit the bonfire, the wood burst into flames.
The people of the village cheered and clapped when they saw their bonfire alight. They were no longer afraid of Sophie because they now knew that Sophie was a kind, gentle dragon who only wanted to be helpful. They gave Sophie some of their toffee apples to eat and invited her to join them for the firework display.
Sophie had a lovely evening and from that day onwards, she and the village children were best friends.
As for Donald, the village chief, what became of him? When the village people realized how wrong he was about dragons, they made sure that chose a more sensible chief when it came time to pick a new one.
THE END
Copyright Notice
© Azeem Majeed. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
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