It was a rainy, gloomy day in Horsmarlonerpool, and nobody was playing outside - even though it was a Sunday and there wasn’t any school until tomorrow.
To Alison, it felt like a waste. This was her day for playing with her best friend Steve and their friends Amechi and Asha. But none of their mummies and daddies liked them playing outside when it was wet —
“You bring mud and yuk back into the house and it goes all over the carpets - there’s plenty for you to do inside…”
But Alison didn’t think so. She’d read her all her books and she’d played with her toys already. As she stared out of the window at the drenched garden and countryside beyond, she thought of all the fun she could be having if it wasn’t so soaking wet.
She stared at the raindrops making their way down the window. And then she looked closely at one particular raindrop. It wasn’t moving downwards, but to the side, and then up a little bit… Raindrops couldn’t move UP a window, surely? She watched some others, and they all seemed to be moving in different directions. They seemed to be moving… in groups. In fact, she counted five groups of raindrops all moving in different patterns to the others.
Now, she was fascinated. This was weird.
The two groups of raindrops in the middle seemed to be making circles. The group to the left seemed to me making two lines, one going down, and one across at the bototom. Like a ‘L’.
The group of raindrops to the right of the two circles seemed to be making one line down and two small lines off from the middle. Almost like a ‘K’.
As it rained harder on the windows, the raindrops began to look like lines of marching ants - and now she could see the first four groups were spelling out letters. The ‘L’, the two circles for ‘O’s, and the one on the right was a ‘K’.
L. O. O. K.
“Look!” It spelt “Look!”
The raindrops were telling her to look!
But I told you there were five groups. What was the fifth group of raindrops doing? Well, beneath the four letters that spelt LOOK another group seemed to be making… it wasn’t a letter… it had one long, long line and then, at the end, there were two short lines either side… it was an ARROW!
“LOOK!” It said! And then an arrow!
Alison looked thought the glass at where the end of the arrow was pointing. It was straight at her sandpit!
And not only that, as she stared out into the grey, wet garden she saw that there was a patch of sunlight right in the middle of her sandpit - as if it had been beamed down from Space!
“LOOK!” The raindrops were saying. “Look at your sandpit!”
Alison raced down the stairs to the backdoor, grabbing her boots and raincoat.
“You’re not going out in THIS sort of weather!” said her daddy.
“But I’m wearing my raincoat and my rain boots! What else are they for?,” said Alison and her daddy didn’t really know what to say. She was right, after all.
Alison ran over the lawn to her sandpit. And what she saw made her gasp.
Whilst the rain battered down all around her, the middle of her sandpit looked not only dry, but bright and sunny. She carefully stepped onto the dry sand and bent down to touch it. It wasn’t just a bit dry, it was COMPLETELY dry, even deep down, and it was warm! It was like the sand on the beach on a summer’s holiday.
Alison sat down on the welcoming yellow sand and took off her coat. She felt the warm sun on her face, but above her were only grey clouds, and all around her the rain still fell! It was as if she was in a forcefield!
But it was then that an even more extraordinary thing began to happen. Around her, the sand began to move and swirl - rising up and forming blocks and shapes. Alison sat very still and watched, and soon a magnificent castle has forming, with battlements and turrets, a large door at the front and a drawbridge over a deep moat that went all the way around. It was perfect, and as she looked closer, she saw a small boy walk out of one of the turrets and stand facing her.
He wasn’t made of sand. He wore a smart blue tunic, and a tiny golden crown.
“Who are you?,” asked Alison.
“My name is Prince Shoreline,” said the boy, and looking closer Alison saw that he did look very much like a Prince.
“I was worried,” continued the Prince, “that nobody would come out and play in the rain”.
“Well no-one will!” replied Alison, “except for me! You see this is the only place in the whole town where it’s warm and sunny. It’s like magic!”
“Well of course it’s magic!” said Prince Shoreline. “I asked Zanclap, the court magician, to make one spot of sunshine on one sandpit in town so I might play with a friend.”
“We’re friends?,” asked Alison.
“Well,” said the Prince. “If we’re together making castles together in a sandpit then I propose that we must be friends.”
Alison agreed, and then had a thought. “Prince, I mean, your Highness…”
“Oh please call me Ben.”
“Prince Ben. Can Zanclap make it sunny in any sandpit?”
“But of course. He’s the most powerful court magician anyone can remember.”
“Then I have an idea,” said Alison.
On the other side of Horsmarlonerpool, Steve was in his bedroom staring out of the window at the wind and the rain. But then, the raindrops on the glass began to move and form shapes. Can you guess what they said?
L - O - O - K.
“Look!” It spelt “Look.” And there was an arrow pointing towards his sandpit, which seemed, all of a sudden, to be sunny and bright.
A mile away, in the Old Town, Amechi and Asha were sat watching TV as the rain suddenly began beating as hard as fingers on the window. They looked over to see letters forming. There was a ‘G’ and an ‘O’..
G’… ‘O’…
“GO!” And a long mysterious arrow underneath.
Steve ran outside and straight for the sandpit. He felt the warmth of the invisible sun on his face, and dug his hands down into the dry sand. It was a miracle!
But then, the sand began to move and shift, and up through it came…
“Alison?!” said Steve. “How did you…?”
“Wait!” laughed Alison, and as the sand rose and twisted it formed a castle. And who appeared from one of the turrets - Prince Shoreline! Or Ben, as he was now known.
Then, through the garden gate came Amechi and Asha, sheltering under an umbrella.
“Quick!” Said Steve and Alison. “Over here!”
Soon, the four friends, well, five friends with Prince Ben, were all playing in the warm sandpit together.
“This has worked out better than I could have ever wished,” said the Prince.
“It certainly has,” said Alison. And the best thing is, it’s supposed to rain next weekend, too.
