Harold the horse lived in a field all by himself. Sometimes he felt a bit lonely. It didn’t bother him too much because he loved making up games.
He would pretend he was the captain of a ship that was being attacked by pirates, waving his sword around to fend off the naughty pirates that were trying to board.
Other times he was lost in a desert and dying of thirst. He would drag himself along the grass pretending to be desperate for water. This game in particular made all the other animals laugh out loud.
Everyone loved to watch Harold play his games. They would sit by the side of the field and cheer and clap whenever he finished. But the game they loved the most was when he pretended to be a race horse.
This usually happened when he felt a nice warm breeze on his face. He would look up, sniff the air and begin trotting, then galloping as fast as he could towards the bottom of the field where there was a very high fence. “Come on Harold, you can do it” the animals would shout as Harold raced at top speed to the bottom of the field. Then they would cheer and clap when he jumped over the big fence and landed safely on the other side.
Harold's favourite day was every other Wednesday, and this Wednesday was no different. He raced to the top of the field as he heard the sound of the bus engine getting closer. He waited by the gate patiently as all the children were getting off the bus one by one.
"Hi Harold we've got something for you". The children took apples from their bags. “We really missed you Harold” said Sarah as she stroked him on the neck.
“I really missed you all too” said Harold as he munched through the delicious apples.
Before he could say anything else, Harold felt someone climb onto his back. He looked round to see Ben sitting on him
“Come on Harold, take me for a ride” he said kicking Harold to try and make him go.
“You must get off at once!” said a worried looking Harold.
“Oh please, just a little ride” pleaded Ben.
“NO” said Harold firmly. “You are not allowed on my back and you must get off right now”
“Harold is scared, Harold is scared” sang Ben as he continued to kick at Harold.
“You have to get off Ben” shouted the children. “Harold will get into trouble if you don’t”
“Ok I promise to get off if you just walk around in a small circle for me” said Ben looking down at Harold.
“Only if you promise to get off my back” said Harold.
“Yes of course I will” said Ben
Slowly Harold starting walking,
“FASTER FASTER” shouted Ben as he jumped up and down, hitting Harold with his feet. “HAROLD CAN’T RUN, HAROLD IS TOO OLD” sang Ben at the top of his voice.
Without thinking Harold broke into a trot.
“YEE HAA” screamed Ben as he bounced up and down.
Just as Harold turned to go back, a warm breeze came over his face. He lifted his neck and sniffed the air and before long began to canter.
“Eh you can stop now Harold” said Ben nervously.
Harold was so excited he couldn’t hear Ben. In fact he forgot Ben was there altogether as he very quickly broke into a fast gallop.
“HELP HELP” screamed Ben as Harold raced at top speed towards the bottom of the field.
“Come on Harold, you can do it” shouted the animals at the edge of the field as he got even faster heading towards the high fence.
He flew up and over the fence before crashing down on the other side.
“BEN!” thought Harold suddenly. “Are you okay Ben?”
Ben didn’t say a word.
By now, all the children had run down to the bottom of the field and squeezed through a hole in the fence.
“It’s okay, you can come off now, Harold has stopped” said Sarah in a concerned voice.
Ben was still vey quiet. His knuckles were white as he gripped onto Harold’s mane and just sat there shaking from head to toe.
Carefully Sarah and one of the other boys helped Ben to the ground. Without saying a word Ben walked back up the field and onto the bus.
“I hope he’s okay” said Harold looking down at the children with a very worried expression on his face.
“Yes I’m sure he is” said Sarah. “It wasn’t your fault, you did ask him to get off he just wouldn’t listen” she continued.
Harold spent the following days worrying about Ben and whether the children would be allowed to visit him again. He felt more lonely than ever, just sitting and counting the days until the children returned.
Wednesday came and went and there was no sign of the children. Harold just lay in the field with his head on the grass not wanting to do anything.
“Come on Harold, let’s see you play the pirate game” shouted Rabbit.
“Yeah let’s see you jump the bottom fence” shouted Cow.
Harold didn’t even look up. His head just stayed where it was on the grass. All the animals felt sorry for Him. As the weeks passed and the children never returned, Harold just got sadder and sadder.
One beautiful morning as the sun was rising and the birds started to sing, Harold’s head lifted up from the grass for the first time in a long while. He shot up and galloped to the top of the field where he could hear the sound of an engine approaching. A truck was pulling up close to the gate and the driver got out of his cabin whistling a merry tune.
Harold bowed his head and turned away when he realised it wasn’t the children’s
bus -
“NEEEAAAGH”
A beautiful white mare came out of the truck and into Harold’s field.
“Here’s a friend for you Harold” said the truck driver smiling.
“You must be Harold, my name is Jane, would you like to be friends?” asked the mare politely.
“Yes, Yes of course” said Harold smiling the biggest smile ever as they walked side by side down the field.
From then on, they spent many days playing games and having fun together. Even Ben and all the other children came back to visit which made Harold even happier.
The End
Copyright H Marrocco 2009 “Harold the Horse” Children Story Time
By Helen Marrocco
