by Kes Gray
“I know, Daisy,” said my mum. “Aren’t you lucky!”
“Guess what else!” I said, as we walked to our car. “Gabby’s Nana Pru has got BLUE HAIR!”
“I know that too, Daisy,” Mum said. “I’ve just been talking to her in the lounge!”
“You noticed it then!” I said.
“Of course I noticed it,” she sighed. “It wasn’t hard to miss.”
“Why do you think she’s turned her hair blue?” I asked, doing up Hughnicorn’s seat belt first and then fastening mine up second.
“Because she’s a lady of a certain age,” said my mum.
“What’s a lady of a certain age?” I asked, blowing Gabby a kiss as we drove away.
“It’s a lady in her later years who decides she wants to add a little something extra to the way she looks,” said my mum.
“To make her look bluer?” I said.
“To make her look younger,” Mum said.
“When are you going to do that?” I asked.
“I’m not going to do it,” said Mum, “and before you tell me all the reasons I should do it, just remember it’s a very long walk home!”
When we got back to my house I couldn’t wait to go to bed. Neither could Hughnicorn. We’d been whispering to each other all the way home without my mum being able to hear. That’s right, all the way home in the car, in actual human language, all the way up my garden path and all the way into my house!
How magical is that!
As soon as we got indoors my mum said that before I did anything I needed to put Hughnicorn down, take her silver necklace off and put it safely back on the dressing table in her bedroom. She said that she was really, really pleased that I hadn’t broken it. So pleased in fact, she was going to read me an extra bedtime story that night!
Except I didn’t want Mum to read me a bedtime story that night. I just wanted to talk to Hughnicorn.
“I’m too tired for bedtime stories, thanks Mum,” I fibbed. “Being guest of honour at Gabby’s party has really worn me out!”
Mum was so surprised to hear how tired I was, she put her hand on my forehead to see if I had a temperature.
“Do you feel all right?”
“Yes,” I said.
“But you can’t be all right.”
“Why can’t I be all right?” I asked.
“Because you never want to go to bed.”
“I do tonight,” I said. “So does my unicorn.”
“Are you sure you haven’t done something to my silver necklace?” she frowned.
“Positive,” I said, undoing it right in front of her and putting it into her hands.
“And you’re positive you don’t want me to read you two bedtime stories instead of one?” she said, looking at every single bit of silver necklace really closely.
“Yes,” I said.
“Or even one bedtime story?” she said.
“Yes,” I said, “I don’t want you to read me any bedtime stories tonight at all, thank you.”
“You just want to go to bed?” she said.
“Yes,” I said.
“By yourself?”
“With my unicorn,” I said.
“And you don’t mind putting your pyjamas on by yourself?”
“No, I don’t mind putting my pyjamas on by myself,” I said.
“And you don’t mind washing your face and hands by yourself?”
“That’s right,” I said.
“And you will clean your teeth as well?” she said.
“I will clean my teeth as well.” I nodded.
“Up and down and all around and not just side to side?”
“Up and down and all around and not just side to side.”
“Without me having to watch?”
“Without you having to watch.”
And I did!
Well, me and Hughnicorn did.
“I’ll get you a drink of water,” said Mum as she tucked me into bed.
“I don’t need a drink of water tonight, thanks,” I said.
“But you always have a drink of water when you go to bed.” Mum frowned.
“I don’t need one tonight, thanks,” I said.
“Can I still give you a goodnight kiss?” she asked.
“Of course you can!” I said, leaning forward and giving my mum a big kiss. “And then can you close my bedroom door when you go, please?”
“Pardon?” Mum gulped, standing in the doorway of my bedroom and looking a bit stiff.
“Can you close the door of my bedroom when you go, please?” I asked.
“But you always sleep with your bedroom door open!” said my mum.
“Not tonight,” I said, snuggling Hughnicorn into my pillow.
“Are you absolutely sure you’re feeling all right, Daisy?” said my mum.
“I’m absolutely sure,” I smiled.
“And you’re sure you have got everything you need?” she asked.
“I’m absolutely sure I have everything I need,” I said, stroking Hughnicorn’s hair with my finger.
My mum ran out of words after that.
CHAPTER 12
When I woke up the next morning I was absolutely bursting with things to tell Gabby about unicorns, things that even Barry Morely wouldn’t have known! Things that the whole wide actual world wouldn’t have known! Because guess what, without my mum even knowing I had been talking to HUGHNICORN ALL NIGHT! Well until my mum came back into my bedroom and took my three-colour torch off me, and that was midnight at least!
Even in the dark, Hughnicorn and me had kept on whispering. We talked about all the things unicorns did, all the places unicorns went, the things unicorns liked – Hughnicorn told me stories about unicorns that no one even knows existed!
Wait till you hear this!
Unicorns who wore shoes were called SHOENICORNS!
Unicorns who were blue were called BLUENICORNS!
And unicorns who told the truth were called TRUENICORNS!
Hughnicorn was definitely telling the truth, which made him a BALLOONICORNHONEYMOONICORN-BLUENICORNTRUENICORN!
If he’d had shoes on his feet instead of hooves he would have been a BALLOONICORN HONEYMOONICORNBLUENICORN-TRUENICORNSHOENICORN!
How magical would THAT have been!!!
I was absolutely desperate to tell Gabby all of my unicorn news! In fact I rang her up and told her not to even bother having breakfast and get round to my house straight away. Oh and not to forget to bring Prunicorn either!
Gabby was absolutely desperate to see me too! She still didn’t arrive until ten past ten though, because her dad had made her try out her new bike before she came to play.
That’s the trouble with new bikes, sometimes they can really get in the way of having fun.
It didn’t matter though, because guess what! Gabby had spent all night under the covers talking to Prunicorn too! And double guess what?? Prunicorn had told her things about unicorns that Hughnicorn hadn’t even told me!
Did you know a unicorn that wakes you up in the morning is called a COCKADOODLEDOONICORN!
Did you know a unicorn with a red bottom is called a BABOONICORN?
And did you know that a unicorn who is very polite is called a HOWDOYOUDONICORN?
I didn’t. BUT I DID NOW!
As soon as Gabby told me about COCKADOODLEDOONICORNS I fell on to my bed and started laughing all over the place. I was laughing so much I could hardly breathe! I was still on my back when she said HOWDOYOUDONICORN!
It was the start of something MASSIVE!
“Let’s ask Hughnicorn and Prunicorn loads more questions about unicorns!” I said, picking Hughnicorn up and pressing my lips to his ear. “Let’s find out every single thing about unicorns that there is to know!”
“We could write a book!” squealed Gabby. “We could call it the WHO’SWHONICORN OF UNICORNS!” she squealed.
There was no stopping us after that. Well, there wasn’t once we had finally managed to stop giggling and start breathing ag
ain!
For the next five days of the summer holiday Gabby and I met up in each other’s bedrooms and found out everything about unicorns there is to know. Starting with the very first unicorn ever invented!
Here it is then! THE WHO’s-WHONICORN OF UNICORNS by DAISY BUTTERS AND GABRIELLA SUMMERS!!!!!!! (With a lot of help from Hughnicorn and Prunicorn!)
I HOPE YOU LIKE OUR BOOK!
THE WHO’SWHONICORN OF UNICORNS!
By Daisy Butters
and
Gabriella Summers
IN THE BEGINNING there was only one single unicorn in the whole wide universe.
He was called NEWNICORN because he was very new. He was also very lonely.
So TWONICORNS were invented as well. TWONICORNS went everywhere in twos …
until FEWNICORNS were invented too.
Before long there were unicorns of all shapes and sizes!
Baby unicorns were called GAGGAGOONICORNS.
BLUENICORNS were blue.
MAROONICORNS were maroon.
ANYCOLOURYOULIKEIT’SUPTOYOUNICORNS were any colour or colours they wanted to be.
All unicorns loved having their hair done.
The ones that did the hair-washing were called SHAMPOONICORNS.
The ones who did the hair-cutting were called HAIRDONICORNS.
CANOENICORNS lived on the river. They went everywhere by canoe.
Living on the river was really good fun unless there was a HARPOONICORN hiding in the reeds, trying to get you.
BALLOONICORNS had to watch out for HARPOONICORNS too.
LOONICORNS lived down the loo.
Smelly LOONICORNS were called POONICORNS.
Extremely smelly ones were called STINKYPOONICORNS.
Most unicorns weren’t smelly at all.
The scariest unicorns were called BOO!NICORNS. BOO!NICORNS hid behind trees and lampposts and jumped out on other unicorns all the time.
MOONICORNS only came out at night.
MOONICORNS who came out when there was a full moon were called FULLMOONICORNS.
The clumsiest unicorns were called BUMPINTONICORNS. BUMPINTONICORNS bumped into things everywhere they went. They were always covered in plasters and bruises.
CUCKOONICORNS lived in trees and went “Cuckoo!” all day. And all night.
LOOPYLOONICORNS were a bit bonkers. Their horn was on their bottom instead of on their head.
Invisible unicorns were called SEETHROUGHNICORNS. Sometimes SEETHROUGHNICORNS would creep up on BOO!NICORNS and make them jump instead!
The happiest unicorns were called YAHOONICORNS.
The UNhappiest were called BOOHOONICORNS.
Their best friends were TISSUENICORNS.
The best unicorn fighters were called KUNGFUNICORNS. KUNGFUNICORNS were black belts in everything!
PUNYCORNS were really weedy.
GLUENICORNS stuck together.
SUPERGLUENICORNS stuck together even more.
Unicorns who ate really hot curry were called VINDALOONICORNS.
Unicorns who preferred stew were called STEWNICORNS.
There were three types of STEWNICORN; CHICKENSTEWNICORNS, BEEFSTEWNICORNS and LAMBSTEWNICORNS.
HOWDOYOUDONICORNS were very polite.
THANKYOUNICORNS were very grateful.
AFTERYOUNICORNS had really good manners.
NO, AFTERYOUNICORNS had even better manners.
QUEUENICORNS loved standing in long lines.
SNOOKERCUENICORNS were really good at snooker.
POOLCUENICORNS were really good at pool.
Unicorns who lived on the top of really high mountains were called LOOKATTHATVIEW!NICORNS.
NOTHINGTODONICORNS got bored really easily.
Really noisy unicorns were called HULLABALLOONICORNS.
GREWNICORNS never stopped growing. They just grew and grew and grew.
(Until they exploded.)
THE END
(Unless you can think of some more!)
CHAPTER 13
If you’d told me at the beginning of the school holiday that Gabby and me were going to be able to write a book all about unicorns I’d never have believed you! But suddenly, thanks to Hughnicorn and Prunicorn, we had gone from knowing nothing about unicorns to knowing ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING about unicorns! Me and Gabby were total absolute world unicorn experts!!!
Gabby decided she loved unicorns so much she spent all her birthday money on unicorn things. She bought a unicorn duvet for her bed and unicorn covers for her pillows. She chose unicorn wallpaper for her bedroom and a unicorn lampshade for her bedside light. She even bought a unicorn hot water bottle to warm her toes up with. IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SUMMER!
Gabby’s bedroom looked amazing!
I didn’t have any birthday money to spend on my bedroom because it wasn’t my birthday, so my bedroom ended up looking pretty much the same. Apart from when Hughnicorn was in it.
I did ask my mum if I could have next year’s birthday money early, but she said no. I even asked her if we could have Christmas early this year instead. But she still said no.
So I decided to dye my hair unicorn colours instead.
The trouble with dying your hair unicorn colours is it should really be totally up to you, because it’s your hair, not your mum’s. Especially if you really, really want to do it.
When I saw Gabby yesterday and told her that I had decided to dye my hair unicorn colours she thought it was a brilliant idea!
“What colour are you going to go for?” asked Gabby.
“Sparkly red,” I said, “with maybe some pinky-purple.”
“Where will you get the colours from?” she asked.
“I’ll have a look in the bathroom,” I said, changing my mind again to sparkly red and shimmery orange. Or maybe just shimmery orange.
That’s the trouble with unicorn colours. There are so many to choose from.
“Have you told your mum you’re going to dye your hair?” she said.
“She’s sunbathing,” I said, “she won’t want me to disturb her. And in any case, my mum dyes her hair all the time.”
“REALLY?” gasped Gabby.
“REALLY!” I nodded. “She’d look about a hundred if she didn’t.”
Gabby and me grabbed Hughnicorn and Prunicorn from my bed and raced to the bathroom to see what colour hair dye we could find.
“SEE!” I said, taking a packet out of the bathroom cabinet. “Actual hair dye!”
“It doesn’t look very unicorny,” said Gabby, frowning at the colour on the packet.
Gabby was right. My mum’s hair dye was called “URBAN TEMPTRESS” and it was the colour of a sucked toffee.
The trouble with sucked toffee is no unicorn wants their hair to look like sucked toffee. Sucked toffees aren’t in the slightest bit magical at all.
So we had to think of another way of doing the colour.
“What about colouring pens?” said Gabby.
“Mine are mostly running out,” I said.
“The ones in my pencil case are too,” said Gabby.
That’s the trouble with colouring pens. They don’t put enough colour inside the pens.
“Has your mum got any hair dye I can borrow?” I asked.
“I don’t think so,” said Gabby. “She always gets her hair done at the hairdressers. The only thing in our bathroom cabinet that has colour in it is toothpaste.”
“That’s a shame,” I said. “I can’t colour my hair with toothpaste, unless we can get the blue bit out of the stripes.”
“What about food colouring!” Gabby said. “My mum has got loads of different food colourings in her kitchen drawer. She used them to colour the rainbow on my birthday cake!”
As soon as Gabby said “food colouring” I knew we were really on to something!
“My mum’s got food colourings too!” I said. “Well, she’s definitely got green and red because we used them to do our Christmas cake last Christmas!”
“My mum’s got loads of colours,” said G
abby. “Not just rainbow colours either!”
“Has she got shimmery orange?” I asked.
“She’s definitely got orange!” she said. “I’m not sure how shimmery it is.”
“What about sparkly red?” I asked. “I’d really like my hair to sparkle!”
“She might have,” said Gabby. “I won’t know until I get home and look in my kitchen drawer.”
“OK! Then that’s what we’ll do,” I said. “We’ll spend the rest of the day playing with Hughnicorn and Prunicorn and then when your mum takes you home later, we can both get as many different colourings out of our kitchen drawers as we can!”
“Without our mums seeing,” said Gabby.
“DEFINITELY without our mums seeing.” I nodded.
“Otherwise it won’t be a surprise!” said Gabby.
“ABSOLUTELY.” I nodded again. “I absolutely definitely want it to be a surprise!”
CHAPTER 14