Noodle the Doodle Steals the Show
Page 3
“Ooooooooooooooh!” sang the audience. Everyone looked around as they tried to work out who it was.
“There are no judges here tonight,” Mr Reed went on. “No prizes. No winners and losers. Tonight, everyone’s a winner!”
The audience clapped again.
“But there’s one person who deserves an extra-big Wigley welcome tonight,” said Mr Reed. “Because this person has only been at the school for a very short time. So let’s hear it for the one and only … Samir!”
There was a great big cheer as Samir walked onto the stage. He stopped in the middle. He turned and looked at the audience. Everyone wondered what he was going to do. Was he going to sing? Was he going to dance? Was he going to tell jokes? The hall had gone silent.
Then a small voice shouted, “Samir! Samir! Samir!”
Samir looked down from the stage. He saw his little sister in the front row, sitting with his mum. She waved. Samir smiled. He waved back.
“Awwwwwwwwwwww!” sang the audience.
Samir took something out of his pocket. It was a small plastic container. He opened it and took something out. It was a blueberry. Samir held out his hand.
“Here, boy!” said Samir.
Noodle the doodle trotted onto the stage. His tail was wagging. Everyone cheered.
“Sit,” said Samir.
Noodle sat.
“Good boy,” said Samir. He gave the blueberry to Noodle.
“High five,” said Samir.
Noodle held up one of his front paws. Samir bent down and touched Noodle’s paw with his hand. Everyone clapped. Samir gave Noodle another blueberry. But that was just the start of the act.
“Spin,” said Samir.
Noodle spun around in a circle. First one way. Then the other way.
“Lie down,” said Samir.
Noodle lay down.
“Roll over,” said Samir.
Noodle rolled over. His paws were sticking up in the air. Samir tickled his tummy.
The other pupils were watching from the side of the stage. They were enjoying Samir’s act just as much as the audience.
“Aw!” said Callum.
“So cute!” said Lou.
“So clever!” said Nora.
But Samir and Noodle hadn’t finished yet. They still had one more trick to perform.
“Sit,” said Samir.
Noodle sat.
Samir turned. He looked at Marty.
“Hoop, please,” said Samir.
Marty rolled a large plastic hoop across the stage. Samir stopped it. He walked away from Noodle and held the hoop up.
“Drum roll, please,” said Samir.
Marty pressed a button. There was the sound of a drum roll.
“Here, boy!” said Samir.
Noodle ran forward and jumped. He flew through the hoop like a furry rocket. The audience clapped and cheered. Noodle turned around and ran back. He jumped through the hoop again.
“Sit,” said Samir.
Noodle sat.
“Good boy,” said Samir. He gave Noodle one last blueberry. Then Samir turned to the audience and bowed. Noodle was panting. His tongue was hanging out. It looked like a slice of wet pink ham. He looked very happy. And so did Samir.
The audience all clapped and cheered again. Samir and Noodle trotted off the stage. Noodle stopped next to the curtain. He sniffed it. Then he lifted his leg and did a pee. Everyone laughed. No one minded. Noodle had been such a good dog. And it was only a tiny bit of pee.
Mr Reed walked back out onto the stage. “Thank you all for coming tonight,” he said. “Let’s hear it one more time for our wonderful acts!”
The audience clapped again as the children appeared one by one. They stood in a line across the stage.
“Josh!” said Mr Reed. “Sol! Lou! Abdul! Shakira, Lou and Callum! And of course – Samir and Noodle!”
“WOOF!” said Noodle. “WOOF! WOOF! WOOF! WOOF!”
“What’s that, Noodle?” said Mr Reed. “We’ve forgotten someone very important?”
“WOOF! WOOF!” said Noodle. “WOOF! WOOF! WOOF!”
“Someone who’s been working very hard tonight?” said Mr Reed.
“WOOF!” said Noodle. “WOOF! WOOF!”
“Of course!” said Mr Reed. “Thank you for reminding me, Noodle! Everyone please give a great big clap to Marty!”
Marty appeared from the side of the stage and joined the end of the line. The audience burst into more claps and cheers. Then all the pupils bowed. The show was over.
CHAPTER 9
A Nice Problem
“Good morning, everyone,” said Mr Reed.
It was the day after the show. Everyone was very tired.
“Goooooooooooood mooooooooooooooorning, Mis-ter Reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeed!” sang the children. They stretched out all the words even more than normal.
“Woof!” said Noodle. He tried to woof again. But the woof turned into a yawn. Then Noodle tried to wag his tail. But even his tail was tired. All that whizzing about the night before had been exhausting.
Mr Reed smiled. “Well done, everyone,” he said. “Last night was fantastic. You were all amazing! Did everyone have fun?”
“Yeeeeeeeeeeeees, Mis-ter Reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeed!” sang the children.
“Woof!” said Noodle. But the woof turned into another yawn. Noodle closed his eyes and fell asleep.
“I had no idea that you were all so talented!” said Mr Reed. “You should be very proud of yourselves.”
The children looked pleased. They were proud of themselves. They’d worked very hard.
“And do you know what the best thing about the show is?” said Mr Reed.
Everyone thought for a moment. Then Sol put his hand up. He was grinning.
“Yes, Sol?” said Mr Reed.
“We don’t have to do any work today?” Sol said.
Mr Reed laughed. “Very funny, Sol!” he said. “Anyone else?”
Shakira put her hand up.
“Yes, Shakira?” said Mr Reed.
“Does it mean that it’s macaroni cheese for lunch?” she said.
“Yum, yum,” said Mr Reed. “That would be nice, wouldn’t it? But no, Shakira. That’s not what I was thinking.”
“Ooh!” said Lou. She put her hand up. “I know!”
“Yes, Lou?” said Mr Reed.
“All the money’s going to charity?” Lou said.
“Exactly!” said Mr Reed. “Well done, Lou! All the money we raised last night is going to charity! And we raised a lot of money! Or I should say, you guys raised a lot of money!”
“Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaah!” sang all the children.
Mr Reed stopped smiling. He looked more serious. “There’s just one problem,” he said.
Everyone was surprised. What kind of problem could it be?
Mr Reed smiled again.
“Don’t worry,” he said. “It’s a nice problem.”
Callum looked confused. “A nice problem?” he said. “What do you mean, Mr Reed?”
Mr Reed looked around. He wondered if anyone had guessed what the nice problem was. Marty put his hand up.
“Yes, Marty?” said Mr Reed.
“Is the problem that we need to decide which charity to give the money to?” said Marty.
“Correct!” said Mr Reed. “Well done, Marty! Because there are all sorts of wonderful charities. So, which one should we give the money to?”
“Oh!” said Callum. “Now I see why it’s a nice problem!”
“Exactly, Callum,” said Mr Reed. “So, come on, then? Any ideas?”
Everyone did some more thinking. Nora was the first to put her hand up.
“Yes, Nora?” said Mr Reed.
“How about a charity that has something to do with climate change?” said Nora.
“Oooooh!” said Josh in a funny voice. He was making fun of Nora. “Something to do with climate change. Get you!”
Nora glared at Josh. “It’s not funny!” she said. “Climate change is ve
ry important!”
“You’re right, Nora,” said Mr Reed. “Climate change is very important. Any other ideas?”
“My grandma’s not very well,” said Lou.
Sol looked at Lou. “What?” he said. “So you think we should give all the money to your grandma?”
“No!” said Lou. “I think we should give it to a charity which helps people with the same illness.”
“Oh, right,” said Sol. “Sorry about your grandma, by the way.”
Mr Reed smiled. “That’s a good idea, Lou,” he said. “Anyone else?”
Abdul put his hand up. “We could give it to a charity that helps homeless people?” he said.
“Ooh, yes!” said Shakira. “That’s a fantastic idea, Abdul.”
“They’re all wonderful ideas, Shakira,” said Mr Reed. “But how about something a bit closer to home?”
The children looked puzzled. Closer to home? They wondered what that meant.
There was a sudden crashing noise in the kitchen. Noodle woke up and shot under Samir’s chair. He was shaking. He thought something bad had happened. But it hadn’t. Shakira’s mum had just dropped another pot.
Samir reached down and stroked Noodle.
“It’s OK, boy,” said Samir in a quiet voice. Noodle soon stopped shaking. He rolled onto his back. Samir tickled his tummy.
“Samir,” said Mr Reed. “Do you have an idea which charity we could give the money to?”
Samir thought for a moment.
“WOOF!” said Noodle the doodle. “WOOF! WOOF! WOOF! WOOF!”
“What’s that, Noodle?” said Samir. “A charity which helps look after animals?”
“YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAH!” sang all the other children. Now they knew what Mr Reed had meant by “closer to home”. He meant an animal charity! It was a fantastic idea!
“WOOF!” said Noodle the doodle. His tail wagged like crazy. “WOOF! WOOF! WOOF! WOOF! WOOF!”
Because Noodle the doodle thought it was a fantastic idea too
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COPYRIGHT
First published in 2021 in Great Britain by
Barrington Stoke Ltd
18 Walker Street, Edinburgh, EH3 7LP
This ebook edition first published in 2021
www.barringtonstoke.co.uk
Text © 2021 Jonathan Meres
Illustrations © 2021 Katy Halford
The moral right of Jonathan Meres and Katy Halford to be identified as the author and illustrator of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in any part in any form without the written permission of the publisher
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available
from the British Library upon request
eISBN: 978–1–80090–102–5