Geronimo Goes on a Picnic.

One summer our Geronimo,

Was staying down in Devon,

He sighed "I really like this place,

It must be close to heaven!"

Smiling very, very broadly,

He went down on the beach,

Where lots of pretty seashells,

Were all in easy reach!

As he put some in his bucket,

He sniffed the seaside air,

"That felt so good," he murmured,

"I’m such a lucky Bear!"

Our Chum continued walking,

But then he turned around,

For somewhere in the distance,

He heard a whirring sound.

"I spoke too soon," he grunted,

"It was peaceful as can be,

Now it seems that someone somewhere,

Has got it in for me."

"I’ll have to go and tell them,

That they’ve spoiled my feel good factor,"

But suddenly he noticed,

A shiny, bright red tractor!

On the top sat several children,

Who were laughing merrily,

"We’re about to have a picnic,

And very glad are we!"

Geronimo thought "Golly,

They seem a jolly bunch,

Just look at all the goodies,

That they have got to munch."

"I’m feeling rather peckish,

So if I said hello,

They might just let me join them,

You never, ever know!"

So when the tractor halted.

He walked up to it at speed,

Beaming "Hello everybody,

Is there anything you need?"

A little girl soon raised her hand,

"You’re very kind," smiled she,

"So come and make some sandcastles,

With all my friends and me."

The kindly bear looked at her,

And replied "That sounds like fun,

I’ve collected lots of sea shells,

So patterns can be done!"

"I’ll help you down," he added,

"Then we can make a start,

Because in this great plan of yours,

I’d love to play my part."

"Oh thank you," smiled his new found friend,

"And by the way I’m Viv,

Let’s go and make our castle,

The ideal place to live!"

Then she called to those behind her,

"Oh come on Debs and Mandy,

Right now a little help from you,

Would come in very handy!"

Her classmates quickly took the hint,

And sat down on the sand,

Soon they were making sandcastles,

Exactly as they planned!

When the master piece was finished,

Our Hero made a moat,

He laughed "It looks outrageous,

But I love to act the goat!"

"Oh that’s all right!" Debs giggled,

"Those shells look rather pretty,

And not to use each one of them,

Would be a dreadful pity!"

"Shall we go down to the water?"

She added with a smile,

"We need a bit of exercise,

It’s tea time in a while!"

They raced down to the water’s edge,

And made a giant splash,

They also squealed so loudly,

As the waves began to crash!

The fun and games continued,

Until at five to three,

Mr Gates called out to everyone,

"It’s time to have your tea!"

"Oh goody!" squealed the little girls,

"We ‘re all so hungry now,

Let’s go and fill our bellies,

As only we know how!"

"Hang on!" cried our Geronimo,

"I’m feeling peckish too,

But your teacher hasn’t met me,

So I don’t know what to do!"

Viv looked at his expression,

And smiled "Oh never mind,

You’ve got no need to worry,

Mr. Gates is very kind!"

"Just come with us," she added,

"And agree with all we say,

Then you’ll have the perfect ending,

To a really lovely day!"

They ran towards the picnic,

As quickly as they could,

"Oh yum, yum yum!" thought Teddy,

"That food looks jolly good!"

"In all my life I’ve never seen,

So many things to eat,

Those raspberries with cream on,

Would go down such a treat!"

But as he stood there dreaming,

A jolly man appeared,

His eyes were bright and sparkly,

And he had a bushy beard!

He grinned at all the little girls,

And then he said "Come on,

You’d better sit down now or else,

The food will all be gone!"

"We know sir," Viv said sadly,

"But we found this stranded Bear,

He was wandering along the beach,

In absolute despair!"

"She’s right you know," sighed Mandy,

"He looked so weather beaten,

And when we got to talk to him,

He said he hadn’t eaten!"

Debs sniffed into her handkerchief,

"Oh please sir let him stay,

He needs to have a decent meal,

Or else he’ll fade away!"

"Oh dear me," said the teacher,

(With a twinkle in his eye,)

"To help this special friend of yours,

I think I’d better try!"

He looked up at Our Hero,

And gave a cheeky grin.

"Thanks to these soppy girls," he laughed,

"I think your luck is in!"

Geronimo was thrilled to bits,

He giggled "I can stay!

Oh this is just fantastic,

And you’ve really made my day!"

He sat down next to Mandy,

And they all began to eat,

"It seems that I was right," he beamed,

"This food is hard to beat!"

At last the plates were empty,

And all the food had gone,

Mr Gates smiled very sadly,

"We should be moving on!"

As he finished off his sentence,

The tractor came in sight,

"Oh no!" the girls groaned miserably,

"It’s time to say goodnight!"

Bear gently kissed each one of them,

Then grinned from ear to ear,

"It’s no big deal," he chuckled,

"I’ll see you all next year!"

When his little chums had disappeared,

He gazed out to the sea,

"My charm has worked again," he beamed,

"Oh lucky, lucky me!"

THE END.