A modern fairytale
Once, not very long ago, a little girl called Greta skipped through a beautiful woodland.
It was a lovely summer day and trees blossomed, flowers bloomed and bunny rabbits bounced.
Imagine her surprise when without warning the sun went out. It was just like turning off a light switch. It was dark everywhere. But, it wasn’t like nighttime because Greta couldn’t see any stars in the sky.
Little Greta was very afraid.
Then, out of the wood came a soft, friendly sound, ‘twit-twoo, twit-twoo’. It was a wise old owl. ‘Hello Greta,’ the owl said. Greta wasn’t afraid even though she knew owls could not talk.
‘Why did the sun go out, Mr Owl?’ Greta asked. ‘Look, I’ll show you,’ the owl replied. He flapped his wings to magic-up a Tablet. He tapped the keyboard with his beak and in the darkness a screen flickered into life.
‘Read what’s happening to our planet,’ the owl implored. Greta was a clever girl and she read and she read, even though some of the words were long and complicated.
She was very upset and because she was the cleverest girl in all the world, she started a campaign: Global Warning. Soon girls and boys everywhere were leaving school and marching in the streets. ‘Save our Sun,’ they demanded.
It took nearly forever, but at last the sun shone again brighter than ever. They all lived happily ever after. Except for those who died from lack of water, heat exhaustion and skin cancer.
Words: Richard Rooney
Illustration: A.I.
Flash Fiction 250
Flash Fiction 250 