The Pirates and the Shopping Mall

The Pirates and the Shopping Mall(Anthony Colombo) THE PIRATES AND THE SHOPPING MALL


Once upon a time there was a boy named Andrew.

One-day Andrew’s father asked, “Would you like to go to the mall with me?” This made Andrew very happy.

While Andrew’s father went to get the car, Andrew got busy and dressed himself. He put on his shoes and socks. He picked out his nicest shirt and pants, and put them on. When he had finished, he looked at himself in the mirror. What he saw pleased him and he said; “Now I am ready to go to the mall with dad.”

Andrew then went out of the house to the driveway to meet his father. He had no sooner closed the door than he heard, “Help me!”

It was such a tiny voice. Andrew could not be sure where to look first. He looked around and saw nothing. There was no one to be seen except his father sitting in the car, in the driveway, waiting for him.

Andrew started to walk to his father’s car when he heard the little voice again, “Please help me! I am down here!” Andrew looked down at the flowers in his mother’s flower garden. There, trapped in the sticky goo of a spider’s web, was this most beautiful fairy princess.

Andrew looked closely at the web and saw a big spider moving slowly down the web toward the fairy princess.

The princess was very frightened and trying very hard to get loose, but the web held her fast.

Andrew quickly picked up a stick and broke the web between the fairy princess and the spider, which freed the princess and made the spider very angry.

Very carefully, Andrew picked up the princess and put her into his shirt pocket.

Andrew walked to his father’s car and sat in the back seat. He likes to sit here because he could see the houses and cars on the way to the mall. Today was going to be different.

As Andrew’s father drove to the mall, Andrew took the princess from his pocket and very carefully cleaned the last of the web from her wings. She was very grateful.

When Andrew’s father got to the mall both he and Andrew could see that it was very crowded. Andrew’s father had to drive up and down the rows of cars to find a place to park.

Andrew’s father finally found a parking place. He pulled into it and they got out. Andrew’s father took hold of Andrew’s hand and said, “We have to be careful so that we won’t be hit by another driver looking for a place to park.”

Once inside the mall, there were many places to go, and many things to see.

The fairy princess had never seen such a place, and she looked at everything by peaking over the edge of Andrew’s shirt pocket.

Andrew and his father walked past many different shops. Andrew stopped at as many as he could so that the princess could look inside and see all the things being sold there.

When Andrew’s father reached the store he wanted, they went in. The store was called a hardware store because it sold things that could be used in the house, on cars and in business. There were many things to look at, and the princess wanted to see them all.

There were tools for the yard.

There were tools to make things.

There were even tools that could be used to fix other tools.

Andrew and the princess were so busy looking at the things in this store that they almost didn’t hear the noise outside the store. There were people yelling and running in all directions in the mall.

When the two finally heard the noise, they went to the door of the hardware store to see what had happened.

Andrew could see men dressed like pirates in the mall. They were chasing all the people. They were very ugly and mean looking.

As the pirates caught the people, they tied them up so that they could not get away.

The pirates went from store to store until they had caught everyone, even Andrew and his father.

When the pirates had everyone in the mall, the pirate captain said, “I know she is here, and I want the fairy princess!”

The pirates began to check everyone, one at a time. Andrew told the princess to hide in the bottom of his pocket. He told her to stay very still. He was sure the pirates would not find here there.

The pirates said they would take everyone to their secret island if they couldn’t find the princess.

Andrew asked the princess if there wasn’t something she could do to help all the people. The fairy princess thought and thought as the pirates got closer. Soon the princess began to smile. She said, “I can cast a spell over them. Each one of the pirates will think that he is handsomer than all the others.”

The fairy princess slid down deep into Andrew’s pocket, and whispered some secret words. No sooner had she finished than the pirates began to tell one another how handsome they were. To the people in the mall, however, the pirates looked just as ugly as they were when they first came into the mall.

The pirates looked at one another and said, “I’m better looking than you!” And, the other pirate would answer, “No you’re not. I’m better looking than you.” The pirates became very angry with one another, and began to fight among themselves. Soon there were no more pirates left. Now all the people were free.

While everyone was talking, Andrew took the fairy princess out of his pocket. She looked so pretty. Andrew asked her where she would go now that she was free. She told him, “Back to the kingdom of imagination where everyday is an adventure.”

Ever since that day, when Andrew feels sad, the fairy princess comes to him in his dreams to cheer him up. That is her way of saying thanks for the time he saved her from the pirates in the mall.