By Lyn Funnell
Owl Summoned all his friends to a Very Important Meeting in the Hundred Acre Wood.
He sat on a branch in the oak tree where he lived so that he could see everyone.
Piglet, Tigger, Eeyore, Rabbit, Kanga, and Roo gathered round the tree, wondering what Owl was going to say.
Clearing his throat, Owl announced, ‘It’s Winnie the Pooh’s Hundredth Birthday on Thursday and I think we should all make it a VERY SPECIAL DAY!’
Everyone agreed with him, then Eeyore asked, ‘Where is Pooh now? He’s not here, is he?’
‘No,’ said Piglet, ‘He’s gone to spend some time outside Christopher Robin’s house.’
‘Ooh,’ all the friends said.
Unfortunately although Pooh and his friends all stayed the same, young boys don’t last for ever.
Sometimes Pooh would visit Christopher Robin’s house to have a Big Think.
‘Let’s have a party!’ Roo cried, bouncing up and down.
Everyone thought that was an Excellent Idea.
‘We could have it on Thursday at midnight, when all the visitors have gone home and the Hundred Acre Wood is quiet and peaceful,’ Kanga suggested.
‘No, that’s silly,’ Rabbit said.
‘Why is it silly?’ Kanga demanded.
Rabbit stood up on his hind legs. ‘Because when it’s one minute past midnight, Pooh won’t be a hundred; he’ll be a hundred and one minute.’
‘Oh,’ answered Kanga.
‘Let’s hold it at ten o’clock!’ Piglet cried.
‘Good idea!’ everyone agreed.
‘Can we give him a present?’ asked Eeyore.
Tigger held up a paw and growled to attract attention. ‘I know where there’s a Hunny Tree in the wood. I could climb up it when the bees are out buzzing round the flowers and take some.’
‘And I could have a bowl in my pouch and I’ll jump up and down to catch it,’ added Kanga.
‘Excellent idea,’ Owl said, ‘Now we must tell all the other animals in the wood and invite them to the party.’
‘I’ll tell Badger, Fox, Squirrel, the other rabbits and the deer,’ said Rabbit, ‘And the deer will tell the sheep and cows.’
Owl turned his head to the right and then to the left. ‘I’ll tell all the birds. Most of them go to sleep early. But I’m sure they’ll stay awake a bit longer so they can come to the Party.’
‘How are we going to keep Pooh away until the Party starts? Asked Tigger with a worried growl.
‘That’s easy,’ Piglet said. ‘I’ll tell him that a Heffalump has been heard making Heffalump noises right over the other side of the Hundred Acre Wood and we ought to go and find out if we can see him.’
‘Good idea!’ everyone chorused.
‘And on the way back, I’ll suggest a game of Blind Man’s Bluff and I’ll lead him back here at exactly ten o’clock.’
‘So that’s that then. Everything’s arranged,’ Rabbit said, turning to leave. ‘Now I’m off to spread the word amongst the other animals.’
‘Do make them all promise to keep it a secret,’ Owl reminded him.
‘I will,’ called Rabbit as he hopped away.
The following day was a Very Busy Day in the Hundred Acre Wood.
Piglet had to take Pooh away while Tigger and Kanga went to collect some Hunny from the Hunny Tree and then hide it.
‘Come on, Pooh,’ Piglet said to his friend, ‘Let’s go and play Pooh Sticks. We haven’t played that for ages and ages!’
‘Good idea!’ Pooh enthused, ‘And let’s go and hunt for some good Pooh Sticks on the way!’
So off went Pooh and Piglet to collect some good Pooh Sticks.
When they had collected enough, they walked along to the Pooh Stick Bridge and they spent ages throwing them over the side.
First, Piglet won and then Pooh won.
In the end, they declared it a tie, and they strolled home with Piglet walking slowly and pointing things out to Pooh to make the walk last longer.
Meanwhile, Tigger and Kanga went to find the Hunny Tree to collect Pooh’s birthday present.
Tigger hauled himself up to the Hunny Hive, which luckily wasn’t very high up in the tree.
‘Ooh, I haven’t climbed a tree for AGES!’ Tigger puffed and growled, digging his claws into the bark.
At last he reached the Hunny Hive and he checked that all the bees were out visiting the flowers.
He pulled out one of the Hunny Combs and called down, ‘Are you ready down there, Kanga?’
‘Yes, I’m ready, Tigger!’ Kanga shouted, jumping up and down as high as she could.
Tigger let some of the Hunny drip into Kanga’s bowl until Kanga called, ‘That’s enough, Tigger. The bowl’s nearly full!’
Replacing the Hunny Comb in the hive, Tigger slid down the Hunny Tree’s trunk, leaving two lines of claw marks which puzzled the bees when they returned home to their Hunny Hive.
Tigger and Kanga hid the bowl in the Wood and covered it with leaves so that it couldn’t be seen.
On the day of Pooh’s Secret Party, Piglet said to Pooh, ‘I’ve heard that a Heffalump has been heard several times lately.’
‘A Heffalump?’ asked Pooh, all excited, ‘Where?’
‘Right over the other side of the Wood,’ Piglet told him. ‘I know, let’s go over there now and see if we can find him!’
‘Good idea’ shouted Pooh, ‘Come on, let’s go!’
Well that was easy, Piglet thought as they made their way through the Wood.
‘We haven’t heard the Heffalump,’ Pooh said later.
‘Sshh,’ Piglet whispered, ‘I thought I heard something. Let’s go further along and listen again.’
The Heffalump listening took up quite a lot of the day, which was Piglet’s plan, of course.
Meanwhile, the guests were beginning to gather for Pooh’s Party.
They were all excited as they’d never been to a Party in the Hundred Acre Wood before, and Owl had to keep shushing them.
Tigger carefully carried the bowl of Hunny and placed it in front of Pooh’s home, so that Pooh wouldn’t tread in it.
Finally Pooh said to Piglet, ‘Well I can’t hear a Heffalump. I give up. Let’s go home now.’
‘Okay,’ Piglet agreed, ‘But let’s play Blind Man’s Bluff on the way, shall we?’
‘Good idea. Tigger! Can I go first?’ Pooh asked, just as Piglet had hoped.
Tigger blindfolded the bear and spun him round three times. Then he led Pooh a long way home, dodging from side to side.
Rabbit was on guard and he spotted the two friends coming up the hill with Piglet in the lead.
Bounding back to the Party, he called to Owl, ‘They’re on their way!’
‘Shush everybody!’ Owl called. He had to tell the birds again as some of them weren’t used to being awake so late and they were excited.
But gradually complete silence fell and everybody kept very still.
As Pooh and Piglet approached all the guests, Piglet said, ‘Hang on for a minute, Pooh!’ and he whipped off Pooh’s blindfold.
‘Oh my goodness me!’ gasped Pooh, staring at all the animals, ‘Wha-what’s going on?’
Everyone began to sing ‘Happy Birthday to Pooh!’ with Owl conducting them by flapping his wings.
There were many different voices, from the lowing cows to the twittering birds.
But they all knew the words and their voices blended together, rising above the treetops and spreading over the Hundred Acre Wood.
A full moon lit up the Party scene.
They all stopped singing at the end and Tigger presented Pooh with the bowl of Hunny.
‘Ooh!’ gasped Pooh, sticking his nose in it.
Midnight was approaching. The birds were the first to leave. They wished Pooh a final Happy Hundredth Birthday but it was way past their sleep time.
Then the other animals gradually drifted away until just Pooh and his friends were left.
‘Have you had a lovely day, Pooh?’ Eeore asked him.
‘’Oh yes I have,’ Pooh sighed, ‘It’s been the Bestest Hundredth Birthday that anyone could ever have!’
Author Bio:
Lyn had very successful careers as an Air Hostess, Sales Rep, (she was one of only a couple of women. She beat all the men regularly, becoming the Top Rep in the UK, and 2nd in the world.) And then Catering took over. She did everything from the washing-up, to Silver Service Waitress, and Chef. A few times, she had to cook the meal, dash round the other side and Silver Serve it! She collected all interesting recipes while she worked.
In between all this, she wrote as often as she could, building up a reputation as a published short story writer, (Horror and a twist in the tale,) and a Poet. She has appeared as a Performing Poet, and a Demo Chef. Then she discovered the world of the Food & Travel Writer. And that’s what she has continued doing to this day. She has continued to collect interesting recipes from different countries.
She enjoys entering Competitions, submitting her original recipes. She was first in many Competitions, including the Good Housekeeping Millenium Menu, Fruits of France, Bernard Matthews Turkey Recipe, and appeared on BBC’s The One Show Spag Bol contest. She was one of three Finalists, coming 2nd, which makes her Britain’s Spag Bol Queen!
After several years of being messed around by Editors, and having loads of contacts, Lyn formed her own online Magazine, vowing to treat her writers fairly, and to do everything possible to further their careers, publicise their books, etc. She had a band of excellent regular writers, and the Magazine went from strength to strength!
Lyn has several books published on Amazon including the hilarious, Fat Hope and Willy The Whizz and the Wormhole.
Her publishers are Michael Terence Publishing: www.mtp.agency
