The Naughtiest Unicorn at Christmas

by Pip Bird

  Glancing at Darcy, Mira saw she was attaching a selfie of her and Star to her wish. One by one, all the children from the other classes went to put their wishes under the tree. Raheem walked past looking more anxious than ever. Mira chewed her pen.

  She turned back to her wish sheet. She knew exactly what her wish should be.

  Mira woke up on the morning of the Snow Unicorn celebrations feeling more excited than she’d ever been. It was the day of the play, her mum and dad would see it, and afterwards everyone was going to enjoy the fun with their unicorns. And maybe, just maybe, they’d catch a glimpse of the Snow Unicorn – and see if their wishes had been granted!

  The rest of Class Red were excited too, except Raheem. And as they walked out into the paddock, they saw some of the parents had arrived already.

  ‘THERE’S MY BOY!’ shouted a voice. A woman was waving and pointing to Raheem.

  ‘Hi Mum!’ Raheem said, waving back.

  ‘Is your mum wearing a T-shirt with a picture of your face?’ said Darcy.

  ‘Yes. Yes she is,’ said Raheem, his eyes wide.

  ‘Actors!’ called Ms Dazzleflank, throwing her arms in the air and staring into the distance. ‘A spirit approaches!’

  The class all looked round.

  ‘Oh that’s just Miss Hind,’ said Freya, pointing at their PE teacher who was walking along the path. Miss Hind, who was always quite grumpy, scowled at them.

  ‘No,’ said Ms Dazzleflank. ‘I meant the Spirit of Theatre. It is arriving to take hold of us, and light the dramatic fire.’

  ‘It definitely is Miss Hind,’ said Seb. ‘I think she’s putting out the mats for Festive Unicorn yoga.’

  ‘Never mind,’ said the drama teacher. ‘Everyone close your eyes and focus on the voice within yourself.’

  They were standing backstage behind the Perfect Massive Christmas Tree. Mira closed her eyes. She could hear the chatter of the parents and the other Unicorn School classes as they took their seats on the other side of the tree. And she could hear something else . . .

  Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.

  Mira tried to ignore it and focus on her inner Worm.

  ‘Remember my three golden rules,’ said Ms Dazzleflank. ‘Believe. Be Brave. Is someone eating biscuits?’

  ‘That’s a weird third rule,’ said Darcy.

  Mira opened her eyes. Dave was already halfway through a plate of ginger unicorn-shaped biscuits that he must have swiped from one of the stalls.

  ‘Dave!’ She snatched the plate away, and then realised that Dave was hiding something else behind his back. ‘What’s that? A lunchbox! Why does a pebble need a lunchbox?!’

  She made a grab for the lunchbox, but Dave dodged out of the way and stuck out his tongue. Mira narrowed her eyes. She was NOT going to let Dave’s snacking ruin the play AND ruin her chances of winning the Star of the Show medal!

  Mira ran at Dave and rugby-tackled him. She tried to pin him to the ground so she could get the lunchbox, but he was too wriggly.

  ‘Give . . . me . . . the . . . SNACKS!’

  They rolled over and over in the snow. Every time Mira got hold of the lunchbox, Dave twisted it out of her grip. Mira made an extra big lunge. As Dave jerked the lunchbox away, it flew out of his hoof and tumbled along the snow. Mira and Dave both dived for it, but Mira was quicker.

  ‘YES!’ she cried triumphantly, waving the lunchbox above her head.

  ‘MIRA AND DAVE!’ thundered a voice. It was their head teacher, Madame Shetland.

  Mira looked up. They’d rolled out from behind the stage and the audience could see them.

  ‘Is this part of the show?’ said one of the parents.

  Someone started clapping, but then they stopped.

  ‘Hi, darling!’ called Mira’s dad.

  ‘Unicorn School Rule Number 67: no wrestling!’ said Madame Shetland, as she ushered them off the stage.

  Dave snorted. He took the lunchbox out of Mira’s hands and put it down carefully at the side of the stage, and then stood with his back to Mira. Mira folded her arms.

  ‘Wonderful energy from the Worm and the Pebble!’ said Ms Dazzleflank. ‘You must channel it into your performance. Now, let us begin!’

  The play opened with all the characters on stage, walking around and miming being in a forest, as Ms Dazzleflank had said this would ‘set the scene’.

  They could immediately hear Raheem’s mum. ‘THERE’S MY BABY!’ and ‘GREAT JOB, SWEETIE!’ Raheem shuffled nearer the back of the stage.

  A trumpet blast from the Class Indigo orchestra signalled the end of the first scene.

  Mira wiggled to the side of the stage, and Dave rolled after her. They still hadn’t made eye contact since the play began. Mira was feeling a bit bad about wrestling him for the snacks.

  Freya the Prince appeared at the castle window, and Flo marched out in front of the castle door. Her unicorn Sparkles followed her.

  ‘Excellent weird scabby old donkey costume,’ said someone in the audience.

  Raheem stepped forward to the front of the stage.

  His mum gave him a round of applause.

  Raheem swallowed, and took a deep breath.

  ‘Once upon a time there was a girl.’

  People in the audience leaned forward, trying to hear him.

  Raheem cleared his throat and tried again, but all that came out was a whisper.

  ‘I can’t hear anything he’s saying,’ said a boy from Class Green, who was quickly shushed by a teacher.

  ‘You can do it, Raheem,’ Mira muttered under her breath. ‘Once upon a time there was a girl, and the girl . . .’ Then she realised something. The Worm and the Pebble were in the background of every scene, plus Mira knew ALL of the lines. And that gave her an idea . . .

  Mira wiggled behind Dave, so she wouldn’t be visible from the audience. Then she started to speak.

  ‘Once upon a time there was a girl.’

  Raheem turned to look at her.

  ‘And the girl lived in a tiny cottage,’ Mira continued.

  Raheem grinned at Mira. He’d worked out her plan! He turned to face the audience, and began to say his lines, just as quietly as before, but this time Mira was saying them too so the audience could hear.

  They reached the end of his first speech and his mum cheered wildly. Mira saw that she was filming it all. That gave her another idea . . .

  ‘I AM SO LONELY I WISH I HAD SOME FRIENDS THE CHILD POINTS AT THE DONKEY I ONLY HAVE THIS DONKEY,’ yelled Flo at the top of her voice.

  Soon it was the interval, and Mira decided to put her plan into action. She saw Madame Shetland waiting at the snow-floss stand. Mira hoped she would have enough time, but just in case, she went to find Darcy, who was waiting in the wings and adjusting her Wizard’s hat.

  ‘Darcy, when you go back on, can you make your scene a bit longer so that there’s a gap before Raheem’s next bit?’

  ‘Of COURSE!’ said Darcy gleefully. ‘Leave it with me.’

  Mira saw Dave looking at her in confusion. ‘I’ll be back in a moment, Dave!’ she said.

  By the time Mira got back, the second half had begun – but Raheem hadn’t come on yet and Darcy and Jake were on stage. Freya whispered to Mira that Jake had been annoyed at first when Darcy had interrupted his scene by shouting, ‘I am the Grand High Wizard and I am going to take over the world!’ but now he was enjoying making up lines and pretending to be the Big Evil Wizard who was going to defeat her.

  Mira headed back on to the stage. As she wiggled through the wings, Jake and Darcy were being dragged off by Ms Dazzleflank in the middle of doing a Wizard dance.

  Then Raheem walked on stage. Mira got back into position just in time, as Raheem looked over nervously to check she was there.

  ‘One day the girl was standing outside the castle when it started to snow,’ said Mira, and Raheem mouthed along.

  ‘LOOK AT THE SN,’ shouted Flo.

  ‘The snow made the world even more . . .’ Mira stopped, and Raheem l
ooked over at her. She pointed into the crowd, and Raheem turned back. His mum was on the front row now, and standing next to her was . . .

  ‘Tia!’ said Raheem.

  ‘Big bro!’ shouted Tia. She waved and Raheem waved back.

  ‘The snow made the world even more . . .’ Mira started again.

  ‘. . . magical than usual,’ said Raheem clearly. ‘And as the girl walked through the forest, she had the feeling that something quite special might happen that day.’

  He was saying the lines, and everyone could hear! Raheem continued to speak clearly, always staring straight at his little sister, who grinned back at him.

  Mira felt so happy as she wiggled back into her position. She’d managed to persuade Madame Shetland to bend the rules just this once, and let Tia come to the show so that Raheem could enjoy his role. Raheem’s mum had raced back through the portal to get her!

  The play carried on, and the audience were loving it. They cheered each time Jake and Darcy sneaked back on stage. And they booed and hissed when the Prince chased them away. When it was revealed that the Weird Scabby Old Donkey was magic, a man (who Mira thought was Flo and Freya’s dad) stood on his seat and shouted, ‘YAY!’ Madame Shetland asked him to sit down.

  But then, when they got to the part where the Donkey told the Girl to go away and think about her wish, Raheem stopped.

  Oh no! He’s got stage fright again! Mira thought. But Raheem raised his hand.

  ‘Now, this is a really exciting part of the story,’ he said. ‘And there’s someone here who tells it better than anyone I know. Everyone please give a big clap for . . . the Worm!’

  Mira stared at him open-mouthed as the crowd burst into applause.

  ‘Come on!’ said Raheem.

  Mira felt something on her elbow and realised that Dave was giving her a nudge with his nose. She wiggled up to the front of the stage.

  ‘This was the bit of the story you got to in the drama lesson,’ said Raheem. ‘So I thought it would be nice for you to get to finish it.’

  THE LEGEND OF THE SNOW UNICORN

  (part 2):

  The Girl walked around having a think about what her wish should be. As she was thinking, she walked past the castle and she thought she would have another look, just to make definitely sure that she did want that wish. But when she looked in the castle window again, she saw that the Prince’s toys were actually games for two people so he couldn’t play them, and all the eighty million horses did stuff together and didn’t involve the Prince, and also it was his birthday and no one had shown up. The Donkey was right! thought the Girl and then just like that the Donkey EXPLODED out of the air and appeared on the path in front of her. And the Girl said, ‘I have a new wish. My wish is that the Prince could have some friends of his own.’ The Donkey smiled and he granted the wish with a clop of his hooves and loads of peasant kids from the village turned up to the party and the Prince was like, ‘Argh they’re all dirty and they are mucking up my toys!’ but secretly he was pleased. And all the horses turned into unicorns. And the Girl was looking through the window and she thought, that’s so nice, I’m glad I changed my wish. And she turned to walk away and go back home to her sad life. BUT then the Prince came running out of the castle shouting, ‘WAIT!’ and he caught up with her and he said, ‘You can come into the castle and play with the unicorns.’ Which is all the Girl had ever wanted, so she said ‘Yay!’ and ran towards the castle. But then she remembered something. The Donkey was turning to go and the Girl was like, ‘What about you?’ And the Donkey said, ‘I just live alone in a magic hole.’

  So the Girl said, ‘I wish you had a special friend.’ And then the Donkey transformed and he turned white and glittery as snow and a horn grew at the top of his head. And he said, ‘I am the Snow Unicorn. I’ll be your new Unicorn Best Friend Forever.’

  When Mira finished the story the audience was on its feet and the applause was deafening. Class Red did five bows and still everyone was clapping and cheering!

  ‘Hey, look – Dave’s still in character!’ said Raheem as they finally left the stage.

  Sure enough, the plump little unicorn was now curled up and barely moving. Just like a pebble.

  Mira looked over and grinned. ‘I’ll bet you anything he’s asleep.’

  Dave gave a massive snore.

  ‘Come on, Dave,’ said Mira, giving him a shove. It was time to go and enjoy the Snow Unicorn celebrations, and she didn’t want to do it without her UBFF by her side!

  ‘Have you tried the snow-floss?’ said Darcy. ‘Yum-arama.’

  ‘Can I have some?’ said a voice from under Raheem’s arm. Tia wanted her brother to take her round every single stall so she didn’t miss a THING.

  It was dusk now and the paddock was lit by the lanterns and by the twinkling fairy lights on the Perfect Massive Christmas Tree.

  ‘The ice-skating is so fun!’ called Flo, running over in a strange, lolloping way because she still had the ice skates on.

  ‘I’m not doing that,’ said Raheem firmly.

  ‘I am!’ said Tia, and she ran off with Flo.

  ‘This is NOT a drill,’ said Darcy. ‘There are presents under the tree!’

  The friends all looked at each other. That could only mean one thing. The Snow Unicorn had visited and the Christmas wishes had been granted!

  The children crowded round the tree, searching for the presents with their names on. Flo unwrapped her present, which was a chocolate-making kit. ‘My wish came true! Now I can have chocolate forever!’ she whooped.

  Freya, who had wished she could fly, was super-excited to unwrap a hoverboard. There was one for her unicorn, Princess, too.

  Seb unwrapped rainbow hair-dye and a pair of shades. ‘I’m going to be just like Firework!’ he said.

  ‘Does it wash out?’ said his mum.

  ‘There’s nothing with my name on,’ said Darcy, looking confused.

  ‘Excuse me?’ said a voice. It was a girl from Class Orange, with her friends standing nervously behind.

  ‘Yes?’ said Darcy, still looking around for her present.

  ‘Can we have your autograph?’ said the girl.

  ‘Can I have a selfie?’ called a boy standing at the back of the group.

  ‘Uh, sure?’ said Darcy.

  ‘We just think you’re SO amazing,’ said the girl. ‘We’ve already learnt the Wizard dance.’

  And then Darcy realised that there was a long line of people waiting to talk to her. There were children from all the other classes, a couple of parents and one of the teachers.

  ‘Darcy, you’re famous!’ said Raheem, grinning.

  ‘I’m NEVER washing my hand again!’ said one boy after Darcy had high-fived him.

  ‘Aren’t you going to have a look under the tree?’ said Raheem to Mira as they left Darcy talking to her fans.

  ‘My present’s not under there,’ said Mira.

  ‘I don’t think mine is either,’ said Raheem. ‘I wished that my sister could visit me at Unicorn School, and she has!’

  It was time to award the Star of the Show medal, so they returned to the seats by the stage. This time Class Red sat in the audience with their parents.

  ‘You were a brilliant worm, darling!’ said Mira’s mum, and her dad gave her a hug and a kiss on the head.

  ‘You were quite good,’ said Rani, and Mira sat down beside her sister, a big smile on her face.

  ‘This medal goes to someone who has given a real stand-out performance in our Legend of the Snow Unicorn play,’ said Madame Shetland from the stage. ‘And while all the performances were very special . . .’

  ‘DARCY! DARCY! DARCY!’ shouted Darcy’s fans.

  ‘. . . this person overcame his fear, created a special moment for his friend, and for us all,’ said Madame Shetland. ‘The Star of the Show medal goes to . . . Raheem!’

  The crowd erupted into cheers. The loudest cheers came from Raheem’s mum, of course. She covered Raheem with kisses while he tried to wriggle away
.

  Raheem looked over at Mira worriedly. He knew how much Mira had wanted the Star of the Show medal. But Mira grinned back at him. She’d changed her wish at the last minute, wishing that Raheem would find his voice and enjoy the play. And although she was sorry not to have won the special medal, she’d still had an absolutely brilliant time AND got to play one of the main parts, at least for a bit!

  ‘And now it’s time to party!’ said a boy from Class Violet, who had set up some DJ decks on the stage.

  ‘Yes, quite,’ said Madame Shetland, and Mira realised that she’d put a little Santa hat on.

  The head teacher asked everyone to help move the chairs to the side to create a dancefloor. The speakers began to blast out Christmas songs.

  ‘YES!’ shouted Rani, running to the middle of the dancefloor. Darcy followed her, and so did Darcy’s fans, and they all did the Wizard dance.

  ‘Hey, wait! There’s another present under the tree,’ said Freya. She picked it up. ‘Oh, actually it’s a lunchbox,’ she said in surprise. ‘It’s for you, Mira.’

  Mira took the box from Freya. It was very familiar, except for one thing – it had ribbon around it and a tag that said, MiRA.

  Mira looked at Dave, who gazed at the ground and started scuffing his hoof in the snow.

  She untied the ribbon and opened the box. Inside was something round, made of silver foil with more ribbon. It was a home-made medal! And on the medal it said MiRA No.  1.

  Raheem grinned at Mira. ‘I think Dave made you your own special medal.’ Dave shrugged and scuffed his hoof again. So that was why he’d tried so hard to keep her away from the lunchbox! Mira looked at her plump, grumpy, naughty UBFF and she thought she might cry.

  ‘Dave,’ said Mira. ‘It’s the best present ever.’

  ‘Awesome medal!’ said Darcy, wheeling over. ‘Hey, and this is the best Christmas song!’