1

Alex and the Little People of the Rock

Alex was feeling bored. It was the summer holidays and he was staying at his Grandma’s while his Mum and Dad were away for a few days. He liked staying at his Grandma’s but he was beginning to miss his friends. “Why don’t you go and play on the Bolehills” said his Grandma “you’ll probably find someone to play with on there. “Alex jumped up quickly from the chair where he’d been reading a book. “Yes, that’s a good idea” he said “I’ll take my football with me” and off he went. The Bolehills was a big hilly open space of rough ground, just over the fields from his Grandma’s. There were always lots of children playing there. There was a big football field, a playground with swings, slides and roundabouts. But best of all, further down the other side were lots of rocks that all the children liked to play on. The biggest rock was the one that looked like a big ship and all the children loved climbing onto the top of it and standing on the very edge looking down, pretending they were sailing on the sea.

Alex loved playing on this particular rock and as he came closer to the Bolehills, he decided to go and play on the rocks first before he went to the football field. With his football under his arm, he made his way towards the rock. As he started to climb onto the top of it, the football slipped from under his arm and rolled under the rock. Alex climbed back down to get it. He could see the ball stuck in a corner between the rock and a clump of nettles. He would have to be careful or he would nettle himself. He laid on the floor and tried to reach the ball.He was just about to touch it when the ground beneath him suddenly gave way and he fell down a huge hole. He could see the ball in front of him rolling faster and faster and Alex just kept on falling further and further down the hole. He suddenly stopped with a bump. He wasn’t hurt and quickly jumped to his feet. He could see the light shining from the hole he had just fallen through and was just about to climb back out when something caught his eye.

2

In front of him was a huge open space, shaped just like the rock above him. As he looked closer into the narrow pointed part of the space, he could see what looked like rows of cigarette packets all neatly lined up and tiny little tables made out of lollipop sticks with acorn cups on them. In another part were old newspapers laying on the floor and oranges cut in half but just empty. Old tins were stood up and when Alex went over to look, they were all filled with water. Old pop bottles, old shoes, broken dog leads, pieces of string, plastic spoons and old plastic cups, feathers, leaves, sticks, all sort of things were piled up at the other side.

As Alex stood looking at all these things, he suddenly heard a noise. He stood very still and waited. Whatever was it. Then, right in front of him walked three little people. Yes, little people. They were so tiny he had to look very hard to make sure. But he was right. The little people only looked as big as Alex’s fingers and they were dressed in leaves. The little people hadn’t seen Alex. He stood very still and watched. The little people went over to the tiny tables, picked up the acorn cups and went over to the tin cans. They dipped the acorn cups inside the water and all had a drink. Alex could hear them talking to each other, but didn’t know what they were saying.Their voices sounded just like little mice squeaking. They went over to the little tables and all sat down on little stones. As Alex stood watching, three more little people came in and gotinside the cigarette packets. Alex could just see their tiny heads popping out at the top, they had gone to sleep. More tiny people appeared, pulling an old packet of fish and chips. The tiny people sitting at the tables jumped up and went over to help them. There was now about ten tiny people all pulling at the old packet of fish and chips. They finally managed to open the paper up and all started to eat the old fish and chips. They looked really hungry. “So that’s why it smells so fishy in here” thought Alex to himself. As he stood watching even more little people appeared. Some sat at the tables, others sat in the half orange peels, some climbed in and out of the old tin cans which were filled with water, and had a wash. Others started laying more newspapers down on the floor for carpets. The cave was now full of hundreds of tiny people, all so busy talking and laughing together, none of them had even noticed Alex.

3

Alex didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t stand there much longer he had to get out of the cave, but he didn’t want to make a noise as he moved or he would frighten them. Just as he was wondering what to do, a noise above him made him jump. He looked up and could see a big black cat creeping very slowly down the tunnel he had just fallen down. Before he could do anything, the black cat ran into the cave and pounced on the little people. They tried to run away and hide, but the cat was much bigger and faster and soon caught hold of three little people all at the same time. The cat was just about to eat them when Alex picked up one of the sticks that was lying on the floor and whacked the cat as hard as he could. The cat dropped the little people and ran back up the tunnel.

Alex looked down at the little people all running around and trying to hide. They were all so frightened. They thought that Alex was going to hurt them. Alex kneeled down so he could see them better. “I haven’t come to hurt you,” he told them “I fell through the ground trying to get my football. Look, there it is” and he pointed to his football that was lying in the corner.He walked over and picked it up, waved goodbye and started to make his way back out of the tunnel. He could hear all their little squeaky voices as he was walking away. He turned back round and said “The cat won’t get back in again because I’ll put a big stone over the hole in the ground and tomorrow I’ll bring you lots of nice things to eat”.

Alex climbed back out of the tunnel. He could see the big black cat sitting on the top of the rock waiting to get back down the hole. Alex went over to it and chased it away. Then he looked round for a big stone. Yes, he could see one which would cover the entrance to the tunnel. He must make sure that nothing else got down the tunnel to eat the little people. He pushed and pushed at the big stone. It was really heavy but he finallymanaged to block up the hole. He picked up his football and ran back to his Grandma’s. He didn’t feel like playing football now.He couldn’t stop thinking about the little people who lived under the rock. How many more were there? How long had they been there? Where had they come from and what were they doing?He must go back tomorrow and find out.

4

The next day Alex went back to the big rock again with some more food for the little people. The ground was very wet because it had been raining hard during the night and as he lifted the big stone away to the entrance of the tunnel he could hear the little people down below all squeaking like little mice.He climbed down and as he got to the bottom he could see that the rainwater had flooded the cave. The water had poured in through the hole at the top and some of the little people were floating on top of the water unable to get to safety. As fast as he could, Alex picked them up from out of the water and took them all to a dry part of the cave where they would be safe.Then he sat down and shared out all the food he had brought for them.

When they had eaten everything, Alex decided to ask them a few questions. “Who are you, why are you here and how long have you lived here?” He couldn’t wait to find out all about them. But the little men just shook their heads. “It’s a secret, and we can’t tell anybody” one of them said in a squeaky little voice. “Oh please tell me, I won’t tell anybody else” said Alex feeling very disappointed. “No, only the little people are allowed to keep the secret” said the little man. Alex got up looking very sad. “I’m your friend, you can trust me with your secret” but the little people still shook their heads. “O.K” said Alex “I’ll bring you some more food tomorrow. Don’t worry about the water it will soon dry up”. Alex waved to the little people and went back up the tunnel. He felt happy now that they weren’t frightened of him, but wished they would tell him their secret.

Alex went back to the big rock every day and shared his picnic with the little people. They were always waiting for him and they knew he was their friend and wasn’t going to hurt them.He tried many times to find out their secret but every time he asked, the little people just shook their heads and wouldn’t tell him. Your Mum and Dad will be back tomorrow Alex” said his Grandma “shall we do something special because this is your last day?” “No” replied Alex “I’ve made lots of friends on the Bolehills, so I would rather take a picnic and go and say goodbye to them”. His Grandma made him some sandwiches as usual and put lots of other nice things into his lunch box.

5

Alex set off once gain for the last time to say goodbye to all the little people who lived under the rock. As he climbed down the tunnel again he felt sad that he wasn’t going to see the little people anymore. He still didn’t know who they were and what they were doing under the rock, and now he would never find out what the secret was. The little people were waiting for him as usual. Alex gave them the food he had brought and when they had eaten it he told them he wouldn’t be able to see them anymore because he was going home the next day. The little people all looked very sad and started squeaking at each other. They were talking for a long time amongst themselves.Alex couldn’t hear what they were saying but after a while one of them climbed up Alex’s leg, up his arm, onto his shoulders and jumped onto the top of his ear and whispered “Do you still want to know our secret?” “Yes, I do, please tell me” said Alex feeling very excited.

The little man told him he must promise not to tell anybody else. “I promise I won’t tell anybody at all” said Alex. Then the little man whispered again. “We are the people of the rock. We have lived here hundreds of years. We are as old as the rock and we never die”. “But how did you get here?” asked Alex.The little man carried on talking “Well, you know how the rock above us is shaped like a ship and all the boys and girls climb up onto it and pretend they are on a ship out at sea?” “Yes, I do that” said Alex “it’s really good fun” “Every time someone pretends they are on a ship, a new little person is created under the rock and that is why we are here” Alex listened as the little man kept on talking. “At night when everybody is asleep, we all climb onto the rock and when the moon shines and the stars come out the rock turns into a real ship and we all ride on the waves”. “What waves” laughed Alex “its all grass and how can a rock turn into a ship?” “If you come back in the middle of the night, you will see for yourself” said the little man. Alex was really excited now “I will, I’ll come back tonight” he shouted. Then he waved to all the little people and climbed back out of the tunnel.

He looked around, no one was about. He carefully placed the big stone back over the hole and then climbed on top of the rock. He stood at the very end of the rock and looked down.

6

How could this rock turn into a ship and the grass turn into waves. Alex knew he had often imagined that the rock was a ship on the sea, but didn’t think for one minute that it could really turn into a ship. He must come back in the dead of night and see for himself.

That night when Alex went to bed he made sure he had set the alarm clock to ring in the middle of the night and put it under his pillow so as not to wake up anyone else. He had found an old torch from out of the hut and got into bed fully dressed ready for his adventure. He was feeling very excited and found it hard to go to sleep. He hadn’t been asleep very long when the alarm clock woke him back up again. Alex quickly turned the alarm off and got out of bed. He put on his coat and shoes and by the light of the torch made his way very, very quietly down the stairs and out of the door. Everything was in darkness, just the moon and stars shining. Alex began to feel very nervous being outside in the dark and nearly went back inside, but he must go to the rock and see for himself if it was true what the little man had told him.

He quickly made his way over the fields towards the Bolehills. By the light of his torch, he could just make out the shape of the rock in the darkness. As he got nearer, he could see hundreds and hundreds of little people, all climbing onto the rock. He hurried over the join them. When the little people saw Alex they all started squeaking and waving to him. He climbed up onto the rock and stood on top of it surrounded by all the little people. The moon was behind the clouds, but as it came back out an amazing thing happened, the rock suddenly started to move. Very, very slowly at first from side to side and Alex could hear the sound of waves. “No, it couldn’t be real, he must be dreaming” he started to think. But he wasn’t dreaming. As the moon shone onto the rock, Alex could see it was no longer just a rock but a huge sailing ship with giant sails. The wind started to blow and as Alex held onto the ship’s rail and looked down, he could see all the grass below had turned into waves and they were sailing on the sea.

The ship was now gathering up speed, as the full force of the wind blew the giant sails and the ship rolled from side to side.

7

The little people were jumping up and down and screaming withexcitement. Alex had never seen anything like it. It was true.The big rock did turn into a ship at night and sailed on the sea.All night long Alex sailed on the ship with the little people passing unknown islands and other ships sailing in the darkness. Alex looked up and could see by the light of the moon that on the mast was a flag with a picture of the rock on it. The sea was getting rougher and Alex held on tightly as the ship sailed on and on. Suddenly, a bright light flashed out from the road above the fields. It was a police car that was patrolling the roads. As soon as it came near to were the rocks were, the ship stopped moving and became a rock again and the waves turned back into grass.

Alex waited until the police car had gone and then climbed back down the rock. He must get back before daylight broke and his Grandma noticed he was missing. As he jumped down his shoes and trouser bottoms got soaking wet because the grass was wet through. He waved to all the little people and when he looked back he could see that the rock had once more turned into a ship and was sailing on the sea. Alex ran back home, opened the door and crept back upstairs. What an adventure he had been on. He must go back again the next time he came to his Grandma’s and visit all the little people again. He got into bed and tried to sleep but he couldn’t stop thinking about how the rock turned into a ship and all the little people sailed on the sea every night.

The next morning when he woke up, at first he thought he must have been dreaming but when he saw his wet shoes and trousers, he knew that it wasn’t a dream. It had really happened. After he had eaten his breakfast he sat and waited for his Mum and Dad to arrive. He didn’t really want to go home. He wished he could stay longer and sail on the sea with all the little people in the dead of night. But it was time to go, so he would have to wait until the next time he came to stay with his Grandma. He said goodbye and got into the car. As the car passed the Bolehills, Alex could see lots of children playing on the big rock pretending it was a ship. Alex started to smile. He didn’t need to pretend anymore. He knew the secret of the little people and couldn’t wait to come back again.