by Rachel BradburyAmelia and her mum were watching the Christmas Parade by the sea. Dazzling costumes, flashing lights and glittery tinsel sparkled.
“Would you like a sweet?” a ballerina fairy asked Amelia, holding out a basket.
“Yes please,” said Amelia, taking a bright pink sweet and popping it into her mouth. “Mmm, squish-a-licious!” she said.
“What’s squish-a-licious?” asked Mum.
“This raspberry bubblegum,” replied Amelia.
“Hmm, but what does it mean?”
“Squishy and delicious,” Amelia said.
“Like a marshmallow?” said Mum.
Amelia giggled. “Yes, or gooey chocolate pudding.”
“Stop it, you’re making me hungry,” said Mum.
Santa’s sleigh came to a halt in the middle of the road. An elf spoke into the loud speaker.
“Attention boys and girls. We have a problem. Santa has discovered a hole in the bottom of his sack. Can anybody help?”
The crowd fell silent.
“I can!” yelled Amelia, putting up her hand.
“Come on up young lady,” the elf said.
Amelia climbed up onto the sleigh.
“How are you going to fix Santa’s sack?” asked the elf.
“I’ll need some sweets please,” she said to Santa.
“Take what you need,” said Santa.
First, she chewed on a Mintie, but it was too hard and got stuck in her teeth. Next she sucked on a sherbet stick. But the sherbet tickled her tongue, and disappeared! She bit into a toffee, snapping it in half. That was no good. She gobbled a handful of jellybeans. Delicious, soft and sticky, but they wouldn’t do.
Amelia sighed. “I’m sorry Santa. I can’t fix your sack. Not one of these sweets is stretchy enough.”
“Perhaps there’s a squish-a-licious sweet you haven’t tried?” whispered Santa.
Amelia thought for a minute. She picked up the loud speaker.
“Fairies, I need bubblegum!”
With a flutter and a shimmer, a sparkle and a glimmer, the fairies brought her the gum. Amelia stuffed five pieces into her mouth. She mashed the gum between her teeth. She pushed it with her tongue and she chewed and chewed and chewed, until her jaws ached and her cheeks bulged.
Then, she took out the huge ball of soft, squishy gum and twisted it round and round her fingers. She squashed it flat. And then she stretched it over the hole in Santa’s sack.
But there was still a gap. A rumble echoed through the crowd. What could be done?
A boy on his father’s shoulders, shouted, “You can have my piece!”
“And mine,” said a girl, walking towards the sleigh.
“Thank you,” said Amelia, kneading the two pieces of gum together and sealing the gap.
Santa winked at her. “What a squish-a-licious idea. That will definitely do the trick. Now I’ll be able to deliver all these presents on Christmas Eve without losing any. And it’s all thanks to you, Amelia.”
Amelia grinned. This was the most squish-a-licious Christmas Parade ever!
Rachel Bradbury enjoys reading and writing children's picture books. She blogs at Rachel's Book Nook.
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