Ozzie is left in charge!

Dear reader,

I hope this new post finds you well and comfortable. I have written my first proper story about a very charming family in my village, the Waddle family. 

This family are utterly adorable; I love their round bodies and little beaks. I was setting up a home for them and it sprung into my mind that I wanted to write a story, a story about the father, Ozzie, being left in charge of the triplets. 

I hope you enjoy!

Ozzie Waddle scuffed the grand with his flipper. Every other moment he glanced back at his three chicks that were rolling their go-kart. They were quite happily entertaining themselves while they waited for the bus. Ozzie had been slightly dreading this day. 

You see, his wife went away each year for a few days to see her sister. This was the only time that Polly left her family behind but the trek was quite long to the cold country that her family lived in. Plus, Polly liked to have some peace and quiet. Her sister was younger and did not have chicks of her own. She looked forward to the peaceful bus rides she would take where she could get lost in her book. 

On the other flipper, Ozzie was quite panic stricken. He was a hands on kind of penguin, he loved being active and loved being with his children. It was just being on his own, without his other teammate to help tackle the three rascals. He reflected on their past antics. Now they were 4 years old and were now fast, curious and they asked oh so many questions. Looking back, when they were just a year old the constant feeding and sleeping felt like light work now. 

He looked back again and his daughter Pearl and his son Kippie smiled at him. They were excited because "Daddy lets us do what we like". This had not gone down well with Polly. 

Polly turned to her husband. "Ozzie, you know that you will be fine, you are a great father." She said this with a serious face so he knew that it was a genuine complement. "But you can't let them run a riot, be clear with boundaries and they will follow them". She advised him and this was not the first iteration of those words either. 

"I know Polly, we'll have a blast but without you they just sense that I am the weak one". Ozzie sighed. Polly thought for a moment before pecking her husband "you're not weak Ozzie, you just can't say no to them as they are so...". Before she could finish a mighty crash erupted from behind them both. A cry was also let out. 

Both penguins spun around, wandering what had just happened. 

Poor Rupert Fairing at his mother had stepped out of an alley between the haberdashery and the pizza place only to be met by the end of the chicks' go-kart. "You were speeding!" moaned Rupert as he rubbed his toes. "No we weren't, I was only running at half my maximum speed" Pearl retorted. 

Ozzie stepped between his children and Rupert. "I am very sorry Rupert and Francesca, they are quite a handful and" "Ozzie, they are just having fun, Rupert will be fine. He's quite dramatic these days". Ozzie took a step back, amazed at how things hadn't gone the way he'd imagined they would. Rupert stayed sat down so Ozzie decided it was time for the chicks to say goodbye. 

They wandered back to the bus stop where Polly was holding her basket of belongings. She kissed each chick on the head. 

"Be good for your father now, I know you like to mess around with him" said Polly. "He can't keep up with us" replied Kippie. "Not at the speed I plan to drive that kart at" added Rocky. Polly sighed. Perhaps buying that kart was a mistake. Well, she couldn't take it back now. 

The children waved goodbye, Rocky kept his googles on to hide his tears. 

"Well" said Ozzie. He kissed each of his children on the head. "Time to blow off some steam?" The children spun around to him with their big eyes glowing. "We want to drive that kart as fast as we can!"

Ozzie decided the best place was the play park. There was lots of space away from the play equipment and the children could then see their friends. 

Holly and Ginny were there, so was the Osbourne children and little Monty and Digger had ventured out from their underground home to play. 

Although Toby was not sharing the climbing frame when his father was not looking. 

Monty was happily grabbing at the sand and running it through his hands, thinking of how far he could dig  in the sand. He heard a faint rumble and turned his dead. "Daddy, what's that sound" he asked. "Ah nothing my boy, now let's dig another hole, all this sun is making me tired" "But look" and he pointed to a rather starting image. 

"WAIT!" Squawked Ozzie. He was not built for speed on land. He tried to keep pace but the chicks were fast. Kippie was running at a flat out pace and Pearl was veering her away around the obstacles that were in fact children. "Right here!" Called Rocky as he stood on the sandpit. 

 

Ozzie stood, feeling quite helpless. He ran even faster but it was not fast enough. 

The go-kart scraped into the sand pit, with Pearl bracing for impact. The crash left everyone staring. They were also looking at a rather sweaty Ozzie who was trying to keep pace. 

"Oh Monty!" Ozzie rushed to see Monty who was squeaking by the sand pit. "It's okay Monts" said Digger as he stroked his son's head. "Are you okay!" Asked Ozzie, ignoring his children as they tried to reverse the kart.

"He's fine" smiled Digger. Ozzie was again dumbstruck at how kind he was being. "Are you sure, my children just crashing their kart into him". Digger looked at Ozzie, "it's a play park, children are bound to crash their karts into things". 

"My, my..." Monty did not seem okay. Then he saw that Pearl was leaving the kart so they could pull it out. "Maybe, I can have a turn?" Monty asked. 

Before a short sighted mole could drive the kart Ozzie decided that it was time for some lunch. The children drove the kart back to their cottage. They lived near Evergreen River as Ozzie was a fisherman. The kart trundled along the pavement and Ozzie enjoying the quiet. 

"Dad, what's for lunch?"

"Did Mum leave leftovers?"

"Dad your cooking isn't nice"

"Can we have a biscuit" 

Ozzie took a deep breath, "We can make some soup together?" 

"I like trying to use knives" replied Rocky. 

Ozzie shook his head, "Mummy lets you use knives?" Ozzie had clearly missed something. 

"Oh yeah" said Kippie. 

"All the time" added Pearl. 

"We are experts" said Rocky. 

"Hmm" thought Ozzie. 

Inside, the chicks put their goggles on the floor and went into the kitchen. 

"Is it time to start Daddy?" asked Kippie. 

"I'm hungry now!" Sang Pearl. 

"Well yes I'm hungry too actually" and Ozzie rubbed his tummy. Perhaps it was all the running this morning. He glanced Pearl out the corner of his eye who was dancing on their table. Kippie tried to join her. 

Ozzie tried to think of what his wife would do. "Oh yes" he thought. The thing that even made him stop in his tracks. He turned to his children, stood up, with his chest proud and and and...

Stared at them. 

Ozzie was panicking, he had never done this before. He was not even sure he was qualified for the "mum stare". He was, at best, in training. But he had seen it enough times to at least attempt it. 

Quietly, the chicks climbed down and stood at their father's side. 

"1-0" thought Ozzie, smiling internally. 

 

After that, he got out their big pot. 

Kippie collected the utensils. 

And Pearl sat on a chair. 

Ozzie brought over a chopping knife of the children to prepare the corn. He planed to make a fish and corn  chowder. He knew he was good at making chowder, even his wife didn't intervene when he cooked this recipe. 

As he saw Kippie reach the blade, he instinctively thought they had over-egged their abilities. 

Instead, he set the table. 

And let the children pull apart the corn in the pot. That kept them entertained. 

Before long, the kitchen smelt of fish. To a penguin this is quite delightful. The children didn't complain and were quiet as they ate. 

Ozzie felt like a weight was off his shoulders. No one had been seriously harmed, they ate their food and didn't spit it back out and now they were playing while he cleaned up. 

Upstairs, the triplets were trying to make a tent. "This is my castle!" Declared Rocky as he laid out his blanket between his and Kippie's bed. 

Kippie loved the idea and dove under the blanket. 

It was all quite peaceful. The chicks were feeling tired and they had full bellies. 

That was until Pearl remembered what she had seen in a book. 

"Hey, did you know castles have cannons?"...

As soon as Ozzie sat his plump bottom into his favourite chair he heard a sound no parent likes to hear...

"Fire in the hole!" Shouted Kippie. 

Kippie had his flipper gripped around a book as he was about to launch it at his sister. Pearl pushed over the table, created a defence to her brother's cannon attack. 

Ozzie practically flew up the stairs before the cannon was released. 

"What in the!"

"We are playing castles Daddy" said Rocky. 

Ozzie wasn't sure what to say. He had to defuse the situation as he didn't want anything thrown. 

"I thought Kings and Queens napped after their dinner?" Ozzie improvised. 

The triplets paused, mulling over the point. 

"I think you are right" said Pearl. 

"That was definitely in our book" retorted Rocky. 

Kippie was already in bed. 

Quickly, Ozzie returned the room to how it was. "2-0" thought Ozzie. 

As the children drifted off the sleep, Ozzie picked up their things from the living room. 

Made a cup of tea. 

And left the tea because he fell asleep too. 

Not long after that, there was a soft tap on the door. 

Ozzie felt rather dazed and confused. He was hoping to get some sleep when the children were. He needed all the rest he could get. 

To his surprise Gerald and Hope Alpine were at the door. They are close friends of Ozzie and Polly; they often had catch ups over coffee. 

“Gerald! How are you my friend?” Ozzie beamed at him. 

“Ozzie, more importantly how are you? You versus the triplets?” Gerald looked mildly concerned at the house being so quiet, he peered around Ozzie to see if the chicks were there. 

“I’m actually okay thanks, did we schedule a meet up today? Polly is away with her sister”

“No we didn’t, well, Polly”

Hope chimed in “Polly asked if we could come over with Lala and Lumi for dinner. She thought you might appreciate our extra paws”.

Ozzie was taken aback by their kindness. 

“Oh and! Gerald turned round. “I brought my grill. I was hoping you have some fresh fish for dinner?”

Ozzie smiled even more. He loved nothing more than a barbecue dinner. 

“This is such a lovely idea. I love Polly, she thinks of me even when she’s meant to be with her sister”. 

Gerald and Hope smiled too. 

Outside Ozzie admired their grill. He envisioned some sea bass lightly charred with a hint of lemon. He was grateful for the abundant fish he had caught over the last few days. 

He brought out the sea bass, Gerald looked rather pleased as well. 

Hope laid out a blanket for the girls. 

They had brought some toys round.

The hum of chatter awoke the chicks who quickly darted down the stairs. 

Pearl stopped. She could smell fish being grilled. She realised that her dad actually was quite a good cook. 

While Gerald and Ozzie watched the fish grilling, 

Hope entertained the children. The chicks loved Lala and Lumi.

After lots more grilling the family sat down to their food. Ozzie made some kebabs, squash and corn. He brought out some butter as well, the chicks loved butter on their corn. 

After many hours of chatting and playing with the children, the Alpine’s decided it was time to head home. 

Hope picked up little Lumi as they said their goodbyes. 

As Ozzie watched them walk down the track he heard some rustling behind him. The chicks had covered themselves in the picnic blanket. “Time for a cuddle Daddy?” Asked Rocky. Ozzie smiled, perhaps these next few days weren’t going to be so difficult. 

After tucking the children into their cots; Ozzie put on his sleep shorts and got into bed. He was feeling tired but relieved at what a great day he’d had. 

He was about to shut off his light when he felt a wiggle under the covers. “What the…”

“Hello Daddy” said Rocky. 

“Daddy we missed you” said Kippie as he climbed up his dad’s shoulder. 

“Perhaps we can sleep with you, we miss Mummy”

Ozzie smiled at them. “I miss Mummy too” he said as he pulled Kippie and Rocky in for a cuddle. 

“Where’s Pearl though?” Ozzie asked. 

“Wait for me, I miss Mummy too!”

I hope you liked this story I wrote. I have no idea whether this is long or short. I know that I took plenty of images though! I took 58 for this story, it probably doesn’t feel that much when you’re reading it though. 

These are the kind of imaginings I have all the time with my little village. It’s very calming to share this snippet of my mind with you. I plan to share more stories as well as updates to my village. 

Best wishes, 

Helly