Little Windy Town

By Pati Duyckers

Mr and Mrs Wind lived up in the mountains, and every day they practised swirling and twirling over the hills and over the Little Windy Town.

Mr Wind was big and blustery and could whistle quite loudly and make a lot of noise as he zipped around corners. The townsfolk had a habit of holding on to their hats as they walked about because he blew their hats right off. Mrs Wind often joined in the fun, making the hats skip and jump and bump away down the street.

The Winds laughed to see the people running after their belongings. Not only did the townsfolk lose their hats, the peg baskets on the clotheslines were whirled around and around spilling the coloured pegs all over the grass. And the cut grass that had been carefully piled up to use on the flower gardens was spread far and wide. And the chairs that had been placed under the trees for afternoon tea ended up against the fence. Because of the mischievous winds, the town was known far away and nearby as Little Windy Town.

Mr and Mrs Wind also had proper jobs to do. In the summertime, they were kept very busy blowing away the hot air that settled over the town. Up, up, up into the sky, they would race until they reached the coolest air. Then down, down, down they would come chasing the hot air away and draping the cool air all over the little town.

Then the townsfolk opened their doors and windows and welcomed the cool air inside.

One very hot summer’s day as the townsfolk waited for the cool air to arrive, a flock of galahs flew in and settled down in the town square. And as galahs do, they hung upside down and downside up from the wires that hung between the telephone poles.

Then their leader, Danniboi, flew down on to the grass and waddled over to the door of the Mayor’s office.

‘Excuse me mate,’ he said to the Mayor, ‘we have a message for you from  Mr and Mrs Wind, they will be here this afternoon at 3 o’clock with a friend. ‘ Then the whole flock of galahs shrieked ‘3 o’clock, 3 o’clock, 3 o’clock’ and rising into the sky, flew away.

The Mayor hurried from house to house.

‘The Winds are coming with a friend,’ he said, ‘we must get ready.’

So everyone ran around, opening all the doors and windows.

At exactly 3 o’clock they felt the first breeze. This was much colder than usual because Mr and Mrs Wind had brought Icey to help. He had come over the ice and snow that covered the land at the South Pole and was very cold indeed, so cold in fact that the townsfolk had to put on their jumpers and find their woolly gloves.

The Winds loved playing with the rain clouds, sticking them together, pulling them apart and tumbling them over and over until they looked like puffy cotton wool. In the winter they made sure the cold rain clouds piled up over Little Windy Town so that the water tanks were filled and the farmers could plough the land ready for sowing in the Spring.

But one cold winter’s day the cold rain clouds would not go away. They kept rolling in and over Little Windy Town. Everyone was shivery and stayed indoors and lit the fires and pulled the curtains across the windows.

The Mayor was closing his curtains when he saw the flock of galahs sitting on the wires that hung between the telephone poles. And they were playing heads down, tails up as galahs do. The Mayor rushed out and started looking for Danniboi. He looked up and the to the left and then to the right and then …

‘I’m down here, mate.’ The Mayor looked down to his feet. ‘We have a message from Mr and Mrs Wind,’ said Daniboi. ‘ They will be here this afternoon at 3 o’clock with a friend.’ Then all the galahs shrieked ‘3 o’clock, 3 o’clock, 3 o’clock’, and flew away.

The Mayor hurried to tell the townsfolk that the Winds were coming with a friend.

‘Get ready, the winds are coming, make sure your houses are ready.’

Then, at  3 o’clock precisely, Mr and Mrs Wind arrived with their very wild and woolly friend Turbo. He was furious to see that the cold rain clouds were still sitting over Little Windy Town. As he sped and stormed across the town, he pushed cold winter clouds so hard that they broke up into pieces.

Before you could say ‘Jack Robinson’ he had pushed them a long way away over the hills to a place called Somewhere Else.

Then the sun came out, Little Windy Town got ready for Spring, and Mr and Mrs Wind got ready to make mischief again. Soon all the townsfolk were again chasing their hats down the road.

- Total nr. of readings: 1,658 Copyright © The author [2020] All Rights Reserved. This story may not be reproduced without the express written permission of the author except for personal use.