november 2020

a missed phone call

4th November 2020

Tom is still away at the seaside.

I’m his friend Teddy, with the latest news.

I’m afraid I missed a phone call from Tom.

I didn’t hear the phone ringing, because I was hoovering. Lopsy often tells me I hoover too much, and I think she’s right. If I hadn’t been hoovering, I could have spoken to Tom himself.

At least he has left a message, but it would have been good to talk to him.

Lopsy! Tom’s phoned! Come and listen to the message!

Tom’s home

12th November 2020

I can reassure Tom’s friends that he is now safely back at home.

You may not hear from him straight away, because he was extremely tired when I left him.

I think he’s likely to sleep for several days.

So I thought I’d give you a quick report of how I got him home from the seaside.

I’m the Invisible Friend.

Jenny asked me to go and find him.

She told me exactly where he’d last been, on the north Norfolk coast.

We knew that he’d set off home, but he was pushing his bike, so obviously he wouldn’t be travelling very fast.

Lockdown was due to start at one minute past midnight on Thursday morning, and we didn’t want Tom to be picked up by the police, so I set off straight away.

I was tempted to use my old moon rocket (it’s a second-hand one). It’s always fun to travel at 25,000 mph.

But I knew that Greta wouldn’t approve of my using it for such a short journey. Or at all.

So I got out my Tesla Roadster (second generation – all electric).

Its top speed is supposed to be 250 mph, but because I’m so light I can go a little faster than that.

Don’t worry, I’m a very careful driver.

The Roadster seats four, but it doesn’t have a lot of room for luggage, so I planned to swap for something bigger once I knew exactly what, or who, Tom was bringing home with him.

I was soon at the seaside.

I found the place Jenny had directed me to, and got rid of the Roadster.

Then, still thinking of Greta, I refrained from using any of my aircraft, even the lightest ones, and made a quick kite from which to survey the surrounding roads and lanes.

Wednesday had been quite sunny, if you remember, and it was a fairly clear night.

There was a waning gibbous moon, and after a while my eyes got accustomed to the dark.

I launched the kite, tied it to the branch of a tree, and shimmied up the string.

Flying in rockets and aeroplanes and so on is a blast, but sailing quietly up there, no engine noise, no damage to the environment…

I think I could get to like this green thing.

Having no temperature of my own, I’m sensitive to heat changes around me, and I soon spotted a patch of warmth down below.

It was moving very slowly away from the sea.

I took on some ballast (luckily there’s always spare water in the air, even on a dry night) and lowered the kite till I could see more clearly.

There was Tom, pushing his bicycle along with a lot of luggage on it, and a big bundle on his back as well.

A friend was following him. Jenny had warned me that there might be a friend.

I jumped off the kite and left it for some child to find in the morning. Except perhaps children aren’t allowed to touch things that they find any more?

Tom introduced me to his friend, but she didn’t look well at all, so we didn’t try to have a conversation.

I think her name is Um. Perhaps it’s short for something.

Tom’s looking quite thin, but very cheerful.

After the kite experiment, I’d have liked to try some green way of getting them home, but I decided I’d better not keep Tom’s friend waiting while I experimented with folded paper.

Besides, the moment of Lockdown was approaching.

So I fetched my school bus. I thought it would be inconspicuous if we happened to be still on the road after Lockdown had officially started.

Tom and I loaded all his things.

All that cycling seems to have got him fit.

He had no problem heaving everything into the bus.

I used my invisible cap lamp to help us see what we were doing.

I was afraid I should have brought a bigger vehicle, but after we’d tied the bicycle to the back of the bus, it looked as though everything would just about squeeze in.

Tom said the luggage would make a comfortable nest for him and Um to sit in.

Then I had a surprise – Tom untied his backpack and in it was a baby!

Um had been too tired to carry it in her pouch.

I’d brought a flask of Ayurvedic Energy Tea, and I found some biscuits under the driver’s seat.

We all sat on Tom’s blanket, and Tom fed the baby on biscuit crumbs.

I was all set to hurry them back to Tom’s place, but Tom asked if we could just make a quick detour.

Nearly all the lights on the rides were switched off, but the baby did seem to enjoy gazing at the few that were still flashing and twinkling.

Um had fallen asleep, and we didn’t wake her, but we gave the baby a slow, careful ride on the roundabout.

I thought the baby looked a bit scared, but Tom says that’s just its normal look.

Then we had a last look at the sea, and got back into the bus.

Tom was tired too. He was asleep almost before I’d hit 100 mph.

We got back to his house just before lockdown started.

Then I had to hurry back to my own invisible house.

I could probably get away with being out of doors during lockdown, but research is still ongoing about whether invisible people can catch or transmit the Virus, so I’d better not risk it.

To get home in less than no time, I had to use my time machine.

I’m not quite ready to give up altogether on hi-tech travel.

Do feel free to call on me any time you need me.

I’m home

22nd November 2020

It’s me, Tom.

My friends say they’ve been keeping you up to date with my travels, and I think the Invisible Friend has already told you that I’m safe home, but I thought I’d better let you know that it really is true.

I’ve been on the road for more than two months.

Some of it was hard going, but it’s been a wonderful trip.

I never thought it would take me so long to find the seaside.

Now I am very very very tired.

I’ve just waved to all my friends on the Book Club Zoom call, and next I’m going to have a sleep.

See you when I wake up.

books about lost bears and other people

We’ll see.

Tom’s friend and the baby

29th November 2020

This is Ruffy again.

We were hoping that Tom would be up and about by now, and would get back to doing the blogging himself.

But he doesn’t seem to have woken up yet.

Of course his expedition must have been very tiring. I felt tired just looking at the map that Ellie made of his travels.

You can’t see much of the map itself, under all those postcards and sticky labels, but he cycled hundreds of miles.

Somehow he didn’t manage to find the seaside in Hampshire, Dorset, Devon, Cornwall, Somerset, Sir Fynwy, or Glamorgan, but eventually he did reach a lovely beach in Norfolk.

He camped in the dunes, and swam in the sea, and dug in the sand, so finally he’d achieved his aim, and was able to set off home again.

You can see that that would all be quite tiring.

But he seems to have acquired new responsibilities, so he’d better wake up soon.

He’s brought home a friend and her baby. He met them at the seaside.

The friend isn’t very well, but what with Covid, and the lockdown, it’s difficult to find out what she might need, or how to help her.

Strawberry took some spinach round to Tom’s house.

I thought I’d give Jenny a ring. Being Tom’s sister, she may feel less awkward than little Strawberry about going into his house without being invited.

Jenny said she’d go round and see what she could do.

So I got on with sorting the music for my musical-box.