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My name is Stuart Wilkins. I am five and a half years old, and I live with my mum and my sister. She is nine but almost ten. I like football but she likes horses. I support Arsenal. They are the best team in The World. I don't like Chelsea. John likes Chelsea, but my dad liked Arsenal. My dad is gone now, and mum's boyfriend is John, but I still like Arsenal. I am building a space rocket to fly away to another planet with my mum and sister. I started building it on Saturday, and want to finish it soon before the summer holidays start next month. I want to leave The Earth when it's hot, so we don't get cold in space. This is my first year at school and I don't have much time for building the rocket, but every day I think about it and sometimes make something for it. My school has some books about space with some cool pictures of astronauts and stars and planets. I'm making my rocket in our garden shed, so I can't make a big one. But it'll be big enough for us and Pip. Pip is our cat, but I don't know how old Pip is. There is no room in the rocket for John, so he can't come with us. But there is room for the photos of Dad, and my Arsenal scarf and pictures of the team.
...........................
It is Friday afternoon, and I
am
watching the telly.
My mum is in the kitchen. 'Stuart!' my mum shouts,
'Come
here, please.' She is angry. I walk into the kitchen. She is standing
by the cupboard. 'Stuart. Where is the Sellotape?'
'I didn't take it,' I tell her.
'Stuart. Please ask before you take things. And where are all the
carrier
bags?'
'I don't know. Maybe John took them.'
My mum looks at me crossly.
'You are driving
me mad! I don't know what
you're doing, but if I find out you're doing something naughty,
you'll
be in very big trouble.'
'Yes, mum. But I didn't take anything. Can I go and watch telly again?'
'All right. But dinner will be ready in ten minutes. So go upstairs and
wake John up, please.'
'Okay,' I say and return to the living room. I don't want to wake John
up. He gets angry.
'Stuart!' my mum shouts, 'Go upstairs and wake John up. Be a good boy
for once... please.'
I walk out into the hallway
and look up the stairs. I can hear him
snoring.
I don't want to go into their room. He should wake up himself.
He's a grown-up
not a baby.
I am standing by Mum's bed. The
picture of Dad that used to be by her bed had gone. John is lying in
her bed.
He is still asleep. He always goes to bed in the afternoon. 'John,' I
say to him, 'wake up, it's dinnertime.
Dinner's ready, John.' He doesn't move. 'John!' I say a bit louder,
'it's time for dinner. Wake up, John.' I put my hand on his shoulder
and push him a bit. He wakes up.
'What do you want? Get out and leave me alone.' He says sounding angry.
'Mum says it's dinner time in ten minutes.' I try to leave,
but as I start to walk out of the bedroom, he grabs
my arm and pulls me back towards
him. 'Ten
minutes?' he says. I nod.
He smiles at me. I don't like it when he
smiles at me. 'Come here.'
...........................
Today, I found a big cardboard
box in the street. Inside, I am going to put the plastic bags. That
will keep the air inside the box. I am going to fill up some more bags
with air
because
we might need them in space,
and tape
them to the outside of the
rocket. Paul Jeffers, in my class, said that there is no air in space.
He
said that people can't breathe, and your eyes will get sucked out of
your head, and your head will explode.
So we need to find a new planet
really quickly. I think Pip will be okay. She is tiny
and so doesn't
need much air. And her eyes are small too. And her head. So I think her
head won't explode.
I have been thinking about fuel for the rocket. Cars use petrol,
but I can't get petrol. On the telly I saw the Space Shuttle and I
think our rocket can take off
if I stick a lot of candles upside
down
on the outside. But my mum tells me
off
if I touch her lighter
or matches. So, on the day we leave Earth, I'll tell her about the
rocket and
tell her to bring the matches and she can light the candles. I
hope it works. I think
we need ten candles. Maybe more, maybe twenty or fifty. But in
our shed I could only find three old ones. Maybe, if we visit my uncle
Steve, I can find some more at his house.
...........................
Last night Mum and John were fighting. I woke up in the middle of the night and could hear them. It was dark and Mum was crying and making noises. They fight all the time, but mostly in the night. I don't like it. And I don't like it when John hurts Denise or me. And I don't like it when Mum goes out and leaves us with John alone. I want my dad, but he has gone to the sky. I need to finish my rocket soon. I need to help my mum. I need to find Dad in the sky.
Adjectives
naughty:
Behaving badly, especially children.
tiny:
Very small.
Adverbs
crossly:
In an angry way.
towards:
Going in a particular direction.
upside
down:
Having the part which is usually at the top turned to be at the bottom.
Verbs
drive
sb.
mad:
To make somebody very angry by your behaviour.
snore:
To make loud noises when you are asleep, because you are breathing
heavily.
grab:
To hold something quickly and with force.
nod:
To move your head up and down to say 'yes'.
tape:
To use tape to join two things together.
explode:
To break into pieces violently. Similar to a bomb.
take
off:
Here meaning 'to leave the ground'.
tell
sb.
off:
To scold somebody. To tell them you are angry with something they did
or said.
fight:
To argue with someone, or use physical force.
Nouns
Arsenal:
A famous football team from London.
Chelsea:
A famous football team from London.
an
astronaut:
Someone who goes into space using a rocket.
a
garden shed:
A small building in a garden used to store tools.
a
telly:
A word from Britain meaning 'television'.
Sellotape:
A brand of Sticky tape famous in Britain.
a
carrier bag:
A thin plastic bag with handles, given at supermarkets to put shopping
in.
a
hallway:
An entrance to a house near the front door.
a
grown-up:
Meaning 'an adult'. Used when talking to children, or used by children.
petrol:
Fuel for a car. Gasoline.
a
lighter:
A small device that makes a fire using gas or another fuel.