A truly rambling Orin story!

Orin visits the jungle with Eva, Amy, Sophie, Luke,
Sizzles, Twinkle, Rabbity and Eddie the Driver.

A truly rambling Orin story!

By

Granddad Skarzynski
March 2010 (updated with Luke)

Sisters Eva and Sophie plus their cousins Amy and Luke were on holiday with Grandma Mardi and Granddad at their ski chalet in La Clusaz, in Franceland. They brought with them their most favourite friends Sizzles, Twinkle, Rabbity, Molly Dolly and Eddie the Driver. It was raining outside that morning so Grandma suggested that the girls make tiny fairy cakes so that they could have a picnic when Mr. Sun came out with his hat on. Luke played with building bricks making a large fort.

The tops of the cakes were covered in coloured sweet icing sugar. There were YELLOW ones, RED ones, GREEN ones, PINK ones and the bestest of all… CHOCOLATE BROWN ones. They were quite tiny so there were lots of them, neatly arranged on a large round tray. Sophie cried, “BOO HOO, I want my cake and I want it now!” but Amy explained kindly that they were for a picnic outside when the Sun came out to play. Eva said that Grandma was making drinks with straws and that they would have TWO straws each. Sophie stopped crying and ran to the window and shouted, “Grandma, can we go outside now. It’s stopped raining, so can I have my orange drink with two straws and all the CHOCOLATE BROWN fairy cakes?” Luke was more interested in his fort than in cakes.

Grandma set the tray on the table out in the garden and went to collect six glasses of ORANGE drink, each with two straws.
“Grandma why are there SIX glasses?” asked Amy.
“Please count with me,” said Grandma. “ONE for Eva, TWO for Sophie, THREE for Amy, FOUR for Luke, FIVE for Grandma and SIX for Granddad. Now who is going to count up all the straws?” asked Grandma with a smile as she went back inside.





Eva set FOUR chairs out around the table and AMY and EVA knelt on them but Sophie and Luke, being the smallest, had to stand on their chairs. Suddenly there was a massive CRASH, BANG, WALLOP, the loudest noise that you have ever, ever, ever heard.
“What is that?” cried Sophie. “I don’t like it. I’m frightened!” Luke was too busy blowing bubbles in his drink to notice.
“Don’t cry Sophie, it can only be one thing. It’s, it’s, it’s ORIN and he must have found us in Franceland,” shouted Eva with much delight.
“But we can’t see him,” said Amy looking very worried.
“No,” replied Eva, “because he is in his INVISIBLE space ship.”
“Come on everybody, shout, ‘ORIN, WHERE ARE YOU?’ and he will appear,” said Eva, holding onto Sizzles. So they all shouted loudly.

“ORIN, WHERE ARE YOU?”

“ORIN, WHERE ARE YOU?”

“ORIN, WHERE ARE YOU?”

“ORIN, WHERE ARE YOU?”







No, this isn’t Orin




“What is all this noise?” said a grumpy voice. “And who put these flower pots here? I have landed on top of them and maybe damaged my time machine.”
“I hope you haven’t damaged Granddad’s flower pots Orin. He likes to plant colourful pansies in them,” replied Amy looking very concerned. Orin set the fallen pots straight again and all was well.
“Orin, we are having a picnic out on the terrace. We have made lots of fairy cakes and Grandma has given us orange drinks with two straws in them,” said Eva.
“Those cakes look yummy, yummy, yummy. Can I have three please?”
“No Orin, don’t be greedy,” said Eva looking crossly at him. “You can take us to the jungle Orin and then we can share the cakes.”
“Oh, goody, goody, goody,” shouted Sophie, jumping up and down with excitement. “Amy, Orin is going to the jungle. Orin, can I take Rabbity please?”
“Of course you can Sophie. He is always welcome. Are you going to bring Eddie the Driver, Luke? Eva, if you bring Sizzles tell him not to bark at the animals and scare them away?” Orin then stepped into his machine and disappeared from sight. He then put his hand out and with his pointing finger he beckoned them to join him. Eva grabbed his finger first and was pulled into the machine.










If we could see then it might be like this

Eva then put her pointing finger out and beckoned. Amy grabbed her finger and also disappeared inside the travel machine leaving Sophie looking worried.
“BOO HOO!” cried Sophie, “Where is everybody? They have left me behind. BOO HOO!”
“Don’t cry Sophie,” shouted Amy, “we are in the invisible spaceship so look out for my beckoning finger and grab it and I will pull you in.” Sophie stopped crying, grabbed hold of Rabbity in one hand and Amy’s hand in the other and was gently pulled into the spaceship.
“Luke!” shouted Amy, “Come on grab my hand and I’ll pull you into the space ship. No leave your drink behind Luke. That’s it, climb in.”
“Now girls and boys please sit down and strap yourselves in. It could be a bumpy take off,” said Orin kindly.
“Orin, Orin, we have left the fairy cakes behind on the garden table,” cried Eva. “The birds will gobble them up if we leave them there.”
“Fairy cakes, Fairy cakes. Have we left them behind?” asked Orin. “Don’t worry girls, just sit tight and I’ll get them.” Orin darted out and soon came back with the tray of fairy cakes.
“Orin, you have cake crumbs in your beard. Have you been eating our cakes Orin?”
“Sorry, I only had two but they were DEEEEE…LICIOUS.”

Orin put down the tray on a shelf. He then pressed a few buttons and pulled a few levers. With a bump, whoosh and lots of gurgling noises the time machine flew off.
“Won’t be long now children, hold tight, this is going to be a bumpy landing,” shouted Orin over the noise. With a bump, crash and more wallops the machine landed. “OK girls and Luke, you can unbuckle your straps and follow me out. I’ll take the tray of cakes,” said Orin with a grin.
“Don’t eat all my CHOCOLATE BROWN ones Orin!” cried Sophie as she followed Eva, Luke and Amy out of the time machine.






There were lots of coloured parrots flying about chirping away. Suddenly a shower of nuts fell on them, then another.
“BOO HOO!” cried Sophie, “Somebody is throwing stones at us and one has hit me on the nose, BOO HOO!”
“It’s those pesky monkeys in the branches, throwing nuts at us,” said Eva.
“Pesky monkeys, pesky monkeys!” shouted Amy and Luke. “Stop throwing nuts at us and come down. We have brought some fairy cakes for you to share.”
“SORRY, SORRY, VERY, VERY SORRY,” shouted the monkeys and came down to join Orin and the children on the jungle floor. Orin shared out the fairy cakes and do you know what? There was one left over and Orin gobbled it up.
“Sorry girls but those cakes were DEEEE…..LICIOUS.” said Orin as the monkeys piled the tray full of nuts. Orin carried them back to his machine.

“Be careful of that great big snake as you walk through the jungle,” said the pesky monkeys as they jumped back up into the branches of the tall trees.
“We have to be careful where we tread,” warned Eva. “Snozzles the snake doesn’t like to be trodden on. He only bites if anyone steps on his tail so we have to be careful where we walk.”




Suddenly they heard a loud hissssssssssssssssssssssssssing from up in the branches and a long green fat snake slithered down to the ground in front of them.
“Hello girls and boys,” hissed the snake. “It is nice to see you. I have a surprise for you. I have six little baby snakes for you to see. Would you like to play with them?” hissed Snozzles.
“Oh, yes please Snozzles,” shouted Sophie in delight. What do you call them Snozzles?”
“I have named them SNIP, SNAP, SNOP and TIP, TAP, TOP,” hissed Snozzles. “Come on my babies, go and play with the children.” The little baby snakes slithered about, slipping down the neck of the children’s tee shirts, tickling the girls and reappearing from a sleeve or from the bottom of their trouser leg. There was a lot of laughter and giggling as Amy, Eva and especially Sophie enjoyed playing with the little slithering snakes. Luke had three of the little babies slithering and snaking about under his T-shirt. They tickled him and he couldn’t stop giggling.
“SNIP, SNAP, SNOP and TIP, TAP, TOP!” hissed Snozzles. “It is time for your nap. Say goodbye to the children!” They slithered and slipped away, into the trees, following their mother, Snozzles.
“That was fun,” said Sophie. Eve, Luke and Amy agreed.




Eva and Amy walked ahead, kicking the leaves in front of them, careful not to stand on Snozzles or any of his friends. Orin walked on behind holding Sophie’s and Luke’s hand when they heard a loud ‘Meeiow’ and another long ‘Meeiooooow.’
“Somebody doesn’t sound very happy,” said Orin.
“It sounds like a cat and it’s crying,” said Sophie.
“It must be a lion or a tiger,” mumbled Luke.
“Come on Amy,” said Eva. “Let’s look around and see if we can find this poor cat that’s crying.”
Behind a large tree they found a little lion cub, looking very sorry for its self.
“Meeiow, meeioooow,” cried the lion cub. “I’ve lost my mummy and I can’t find her.”
“Oh you poor thing. We will help you to find her,” said Amy stroking the little cub to make him feel better.
“Meeiow, Meeiow. I was playing hide and seek with my brothers and sisters and I think I went too far into the jungle and I’m lost now. Meeiow, meeiow.”
"Don’t worry. Orin will help us to find your mummy,” said Sophie. “What is your name little lion cub?”
“Meeiow, my name is Peter, meeiow. Please find my mummy.”
“Don’t cry Peter,” said Luke kindly, “We will find your mummy and daddy.”
Suddenly there was such a loud ROAR that the children and Orin wanted to hide under their bedclothes because they were so frightened by the terrifying noise.



BOO HOO, I’m frightened,” cried Sophie.
“Meeiow, don’t be frightened my friends. That is Leo the Lion, my dad. He roars like that to frighten away the pesky monkeys that come to annoy him. Mummy should be close by.”
“Come along all of you,” said Orin. “If we follow Leo’s roar we will find Peter’s mummy.” Soon they came to an opening in the jungle and under the shade of a tree they saw Leo the Lion, sitting there with his huge, hairy mane.
“Hello boys and girls, nice to see you ,” said Leo in a deep gruff voice. “I hope I didn’t frighten you too much with my deep roar?”
“It was a little bit frightening,” admitted Sophie clinging onto Orin’s hand, “but we hid under the bedclothes and it was OK then.”
“I wasn’t frightened,” said Luke boastfully, “Maybe a little.”
“Oh there you are Peter. Lost again,” said the large lioness, Peter’s mummy, slinking over and gently lifting Peter by the nape of his neck in her mouth and carrying him away. “It’s feeding time for you Peter.”
“Well children, it’s time for me to go down to the water hole and have a drink,” said Leo in a deep voice. “Would you like to come with me?”
“Yes please,” said Amy and Eva. Sophie wasn’t so sure. She was still a little frightened of huge Leo. Luke was more interested in following Peter and his mummy but he decided to go with the girls.
“Don’t be frightened Sophie, I only roar like that to show that I’m the King of this Jungle. Now children, I shall lie down and I want you to climb on my back and hang on tightly to my hairy mane. I will then slowly wander to the watering hole.” said Leo in the gentlest of voices. They climbed up onto Leo’s front paw and then onto his back and held on tightly as he rose up and padded gently to the waterhole.
Suddenly a large fly zuzzzzzed and landed on Leo’s back. Leo swung his tail and knocked the fly off but also knocked Eva off.
“Sorry Eva, it’s those troublesome flies that keep annoying me,” said Leo. “Climb up again and hold on tight.” A little while later another naughty fly zuzzzzzzzed and landed on Leo’s back. Leo swished his tail again to knock it off. This time Eva and Sophie ducked their heads to miss the swishing tail but this time poor Amy got knocked off. Luke laughed.
“Oh dear,” said Leo. “I’ve done it again. Sorry Amy. We are here at the water hole at last. Get down and say hello to all the animals.”

There were lots of different animals drinking at the water hole. There was ONE large Elephant, TWO stripy zebras, THREE fawn antelopes, FOUR pesky monkeys and FIVE white storks standing in the water, at the edge, trying to catch fish. In the middle of the water hole, which was a big round pond, TWO large eyes appeared, then a huge, huge mouth opened into a big, big, big yawn.
“Hello Potamus,” shouted Eva,
“Hello Hippo,” shouted Amy. “We have come to see you!”
“Hello Hippo Potamus,” shouted Sophie and Luke together, “Leo the Lion brought us.”
“Nice to see you again all,” replied Hippopotamus. “Be careful of those snappy crocodiles swimming about in the water. They are a bit grumpy this morning and could bite you. I will chase them away for you.”




“Hello friends,” bellowed the big elephant. “I’m here to have a drink and splash about to cool down a little.”
“Elli, can you give us a ride on your back please?” asked Eva nicely.
“Of course you can but I have to finish my washing first,” said Elli the Elephant as she sucked lots of water up in her trunk from the water hole. She lifted her trunk high and sprayed the water all over her back and also all over the girls. Luke escaped the drenching because he was playing with the pesky monkeys.
“Oh dear, look what you have done Elli,” said Sophie crossly. “You have soaked us all. We are all drenched!”













“Sorry girls. You will dry out in a jiffy in the heat of the sun,” said Elli. “Now come over here and I will lift you one by one onto my back with my trunk. Make sure you hold tightly onto my ears. It’s very high up there and I wouldn’t want you to fall.” Elli lifted the girls and Luke gently onto her back and they held on tightly as she lumbered off, back to her friends. They had a super view from the top of the elephant’s back. They saw a large giraffe, eating leaves from the top of a tree.
“Hello Giro!” shouted the children, waving to the giraffe.
“Hello, Amy, hello Eva, hello Sophie, hello Luke. You are so high up there on Elli’s back. Hang on tight and don’t fall off. I’m having my lunch on these juicy leaves that grow high up here. I can reach them easily with my long neck.”



Elli lumbered on and they came in sight of a small herd of elephants which were part of Elli’s family group.
“I think it’s time we got you home boys and girls,” said Orin. “Grandma and Granddad will be missing you and you will want to tell them of your little adventure in the Jungle.” Elli set them down gently onto the ground with her trunk, said goodbye and lumbered off to see her friends and family.
“Orin,” asked Sophie. “Where is your travel machine?”
“Oh, it’s just here,” answered Orin. “You can’t see it because it is ….”
“INVISIBLE,” shouted Amy, Luke and Eva together as they watched Orin disappear from sight.
“Orin, where are you?” shouted Sophie and she saw Orin’s hand appear, with his pointing finger beckoning her. Sophie gripped the finger and was pulled into the spaceship. Sophie then put her hand out and with her pointing finger beckoned Amy into the space ship. Amy then pulled Eva into the spaceship with her pointing finger beckoning and Eva stuck her hand out and pulled Luke in. They were all now safely inside.
“Oh dear,” said Sophie. “I think I have left Rabbity outside.”
“Don’t worry Sophie,” said Orin kindly. “I shall get Rabbity for you. Now children make sure your seat belts are fastened and then we will be ready to take you home.” Orin popped out and brought Rabbity back for Sophie and then started pushing buttons and pulling on levers.

With lots of bangs, crashes and wollops Orin started the space ship and off it whooshed back to Granddad and Grandma’s chalet in La Clusaz. Orin landed the spaceship just missing Granddad’s flower pots but squashing one of the little people toys lying on the decking.
“Where have you children been? I was getting worried,” said Grandma. “I couldn’t find you anywhere and you haven’t finished your orange drinks with the two straws in each glass. You look hot and tired. Drink up your orange.”
“We’ve been with Orin to the jungle to see our friendly animals,” replied Eva.
“Yes, Yes and we found Peter the Lion cub crying. We found his mummy for him,” said Sophie.
‘And we had a ride on a lion’s back and also on an elephants back,” shouted Luke all excited. “We had to hold on to the elephant’s ears so that we didn’t fall off.”
“And the pesky monkeys shared our fairy cakes and have filled our tray with nuts,” said Amy holding the tray in front of her to show Grandma.
“You had better wake Granddad up from his snooze and ask him to crack open the nuts for us all,” said Grandma as Sophie ran indoors to find Granddad.



“I’ve got a hammer here. Now, where are those nuts?” asked Granddad as Amy placed the full tray carefully on the table. Even so, a few nuts spilled to the ground. Granddad cracked the nuts with his hammer and they all ate them up and said they were…..

DEEE……LICIOUS!