Mr Wootles

By Tanya Fillbrook

Mr Wootles was a lovable owl with large bat-like ears.

He tried to make friends with everyone.
Smaller birds were afraid of him, and children were terrified of him.
Mr Wootles would perch on the highest of branches ‘’woo, wooing,’’ in the hope of finding a friend.

Everyone ignored his calls. Until…

In a garden close to a beautiful forest in which all the birds and other creatures lived, a little boy called Pete would climb the tallest of trees that crossed through to the lush forest, grasping at his camera every step of the way in the hope of catching the wildest of animals, insects, and minibeasts on his camera.

The trouble was, Pete always started his adventure as it began to get dark because he believed the weirdest of creatures would come out then.
Mum always told him to be careful and to go no further than the large fence that enclosed the garden.

He didn’t always listen because he wanted to explore all the animals and their habitat.

‘’Woo woo!’’

‘’Woo woo!’’

What’s that?

Pete heard the loud calls of what he thought must have been some kind of dinosaur.

‘’It’s a flying dinosaur,” said Pete to himself. ‘’Where is it?’’

Pete aimed his camera at where the call came from but didn’t see anything apart from the tree branches that blocked his view.

Pete scrambled further up the tree when his foot suddenly slipped, and he landed, suspended from one of the thick branches.

‘’Help!’’

‘’Someone help me!’’

‘’Woo woo!’’

‘’Woo woo!’’

Pete could see the dinosaur emerging from the trees in the distance. This was a huge dinosaur.

Pete was scared. He thought he would fall off the tree and that he would break his camera.

Wings so large embraced Pete and the dinosaur-bird called louder, and louder. Pete yelled out at the dinosaur-bird, he thought the bird was going to hurt him.

‘’Help!’’

‘’Pete!’’

Pete’s mum and dad came rushing out to help and found him clinging on to the tree over the fence, with a large owl at his side pecking at the boy’s hood which was caught on one of the smaller branches of the tree.

‘’Mum, the big dinosaur saved me.’’

The large bird stayed on the tree, as Pete was taken down.

‘’Mum, I’ve got to get a picture of this big bird.’’

Pete was so excited about his find, and he took a photo of his new friend. The large owl flew down to Pete, resting on his shoulder.

‘’I will call him Mr Wootles!’’

Mr Wootles never left his side, and he stayed close to Pete and his family. Mr Wootles also made friends with the other birds that came to feed in the garden.Nobody was afraid of the dinosaur-bird anymore.

Mr Wootles became a hero.

- Total nr. of readings: 1,159 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.