Jonathan wore his tattered Welsh rugby shirt and scratched his brown stubble with one hand. The other paw was very consciously thrust into his pocket. Thin mousey brown hair covered his disproportionately large head. He tried to suck his big belly in but could not as he waddled gracelessly along along the street. He strove to thrust his chest out and swagger intimdatingly. Try as he might: he did not manage to be macho. His big bug eyes were watery and icy blue. He was below average height and his skin was unusually palid. He wore blue jeans that had seen better days and a cheap pair of market bought trainers.
The man was on leisure bent. He was on his way to a pub where beer would be his only companion. Jonathan muttered bitterly to himself in his baritone voice about all the slights and humiliations that had been inflicted on him.
Jonathan’s face was as round as the moon and totally lacking in sophistication – he had ruddy cheeks. At least his teeth were all straight but they could use brushing. He could not wait till he went fishing. Fishing on his own was his one hobby. At least then he did not have to interact with people who all seemed to treat him so unjustly.

CIRCUS
”The circus is in town!”, everyone shouted. The band struck up a fast and merry melody as we piled into our seats in a tizzy of anticipation. The red coated foxy whiskered ringmaster spoke with breathless panache, ”You are about to see the most death defying tricks – do not try this at home!”
Just then a high wire artist started to walk across the taut wire 10 metres above us. All eyes were fixed on him. But he was blindfold.
”Oh my God; there is no safety net!” cried mum.
”I can’t look!”, said Isabel with sweaty palms.
”We paid good money for this – you have to look”, said dad annoyedly.
”Don’t do it; you can fall and die!”, I shouted.
But the high wire artist took no notice. Once he wobbled and a hundred voices screeched in terror. But he recovered his balance. We breathed a sigh of relief.
After a minute of baby steps he got to the other side. The band played a triumphal tune. We spontaneously broke into raucous applause.
Then the high wire artist announced, ”Now I am going to walk across the wire backwards!”

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A BAD MAN

The man had almond shaped, black eyes, glinting maliciously like stars in the night sky. He had cropped hair, dyed ginger like a fox’s thick coat. His cracked lips contorted to reveal a mouth, full of loathing. His nose was hooked like a peg and he had coppery coloured skin. His tall stature radiated hatred and no warmth. He wore a musty grey cardigan, lined with black checks, a pair of torn, tattered denim jeans and dusty, unpolished black shoes. And by his side hung a sword, made of a material as black as a nightmare. The sword was dripping with a dark red substance. And it kept dripping.

We all went to the park one splendiferously sublime sunny Sunday. It was idyllic T shirt weather with not a cloud speck sailed the cerulean sky. It was a rare day when Mother Nature proclaimed her fullest glory. My dad always jokes that, ‘In England summer is the best week of the year.’ The plants were all the perfect shade of a rich but bright viridescence. All of nature was wild and free. I gazed all around me in wonderment. It was a visual feast.
We took a blanket to put on the soft, balmy grass and had a Lucullan picnic. We had all our favourite food but it was not hot because you cannot cook in a park. We had delectable strawberry jam sandwiches and every fresh fruit you can imagine. We took some time to digest this sumptupous feast on the greensward. Then we played an energetic game of cricket. The sun smiled on our sport. But big bottles of coke had to be the stumps! My brother Victor scored loads of runs. Every time my dad bowled he would shout ‘Howzat?’ with exhilaration. But there was no umpire. But when we got dad out we were exultant but he stroked his beard reflectively. We did not keep count of which side won because we did not care. We all had a whale of a time playing. At the end we held out caps aloft and gave each other three resounding cheers.
The horse chestnut trees boasted full canopies of verdant leaves complete with pink or yellow candles. A gust of wind made them shake their handsome leaves cheerily.
There were lots of people in the paradisical park. We got some other kids to join in. It is fantastic the way that you can make instant friends in the park. We also went to the playground. The playground was alive with joyful shouts. The odd thing is you ask another kid, ‘how old are you?’ and not, ‘what is your name?’ when you meet. The grownups were lying around sunbathing docilely.
Athletic youths strivings strained the sports field hundreds of meters from where I stood. Comely girls urged them on with strong cries. A brawny limb booted a ball skyward and a second later I heard the loud report of the dull thud. The greasy leather orb flew through the blazing light like a heavy bird.
There was a shady little greenwood grove there that was ringing with dulcet and jocund birdsong. There was a kaleidoscope of resplendent flowers that were all in brightest bloom with bees busily buzzing about and the air was heavy with the sharpest scents of summertime. It was an olfactory banquet. Beyond the bee loud glade, I espied an array wildflowers. It thrilled my heart to see a zephyr make the fragrant flowers do a sprightly dance. Harlequin butterflies fluttered carelessly from one plant to the next. Not being a lepidopterist, I could not tell which species they were. Lint floated blissfully down like cotton from the trees. Everyone was cheerful and even the dogs barked musically.
There was a little lake with snow white white swans blithely and effortlessly swimming the deep, dark water. Mother swan was followed by half a dozen downy, tawny cygents. Myriad reflections gamboled on the water’s silvery skin. We hired a pedal boat and had a tranquil cruise around the pleasant lake. I felt a deep calm as as we plied the waters. At the corner of the lake the water flowed over a slimy moss grown rocks into a burbling brook.
We had heavenly ice-cream before going home after that marvellous day.

A day at the beach

We went by bus to the seaside. I was with my mum , my dad and my sister Munira. It was a nice and sunny summer’s day. We got off the bus at a sandy beach. I went swimming in the sea. The waves were not too big. I saw people sailing out at the horizon. I built a really enormous sandcastle. We had hotdogs at the beach.

My sister caught a crab and brought it home in a plastic box with water in it.
It was a fun but tiring day. I slept very well.

=======================

A sports match

We were playing cricket against Crawford School. We were quite confident because we practise a lot and we have a great coach. They went into bat first. They scored a lot of runs against us. I overheard one of our dads say it was ‘demoralising.’ They had some fantastic players but they were very risky in their playing. Eventually we got them all out. I managed to catch one of them out.

Then we went into bat. We scored ok but maybe we were too cautious. We were not scoring that many runs. It was my turn to go in. I was quite nervous at first. But after hitting a few balls I became more sure of myself. I started to take bigger risks. I made some big hits and scored quite a few runs. But finally I was run out.
In the end we did not quite catch up with the other team’s score. We lost but we still enjoyed it and felt proud.

==================

A holiday

My parents announced that we were going to Mexico. It is a hot country so we had to take summer clothes even though it was wintertime. I was enthusiastic and I read up about Mexico and looked at it on the map and found out what its flag looks like. There is no such langauge as Mexican. They speak Spanish.

The flight was very long but there was a fabulous in flight entertainment system so the flight passed quickly. I was exhausted when we got there because Mexico is in a different time zone.
The hotel was lovely and it was overlooking what seemed like the longest beach in the world. I learnt a few Spanish phrases and tried them out on the hotel staff even though they spoke English.
We went to the beach every day and did water activities. We went on sailing boats and lilos. There was a kids’ club and I made from friends from America.
I tried Mexican food but I did not like it very much. It is too dry and too spicy.
We listened to a band at the hotel each night. I quite like Mexican music which is called mariachi.
In the airport we bought souvenirs on the way home. I purchased a massive Mexican hat called a sombrero. It means ‘shade.’

==========================

A day at the beach

We went by bus to the seaside. I was with my mum , my dad and my sister Munira. It was a nice and sunny summer’s day. We got off the bus at a sandy beach. I went swimming in the sea. The waves were not too big. I saw people sailing out at the horizon. I built a really enormous sandcastle. We had hotdogs at the beach.

My sister caught a crab and brought it home in a plastic box with water in it.
It was a fun but tiring day. I slept very well.

===============

A sports match

We were playing cricket against Crawford School. We were quite confident because we practise a lot and we have a great coach. They went into bat first. They scored a lot of runs against us. I overheard one of our dads say it was ‘demoralising.’ They had some fantastic players but they were very risky in their playing. Eventually we got them all out. I managed to catch one of them out.

Then we went into bat. We scored ok but maybe we were too cautious. We were not scoring that many runs. It was my turn to go in. I was quite nervous at first. But after hitting a few balls I became more sure of myself. I started to take bigger risks. I made some big hits and scored quite a few runs. But finally I was run out.
In the end we did not quite catch up with the other team’s score. We lost but we still enjoyed it and felt proud.

========================

A holiday

My parents announced that we were going to Mexico. It is a hot country so we had to take summer clothes even though it was wintertime. I was enthusiastic and I read up about Mexico and looked at it on the map and found out what its flag looks like. There is no such langauge as Mexican. They speak Spanish.

The flight was very long but there was a fabulous in flight entertainment system so the flight passed quickly. I was exhausted when we got there because Mexico is in a different time zone.
The hotel was lovely and it was overlooking what seemed like the longest beach in the world. I learnt a few Spanish phrases and tried them out on the hotel staff even though they spoke English.
We went to the beach every day and did water activities. We went on sailing boats and lilos. There was a kids’ club and I made from friends from America.
I tried Mexican food but I did not like it very much. It is too dry and too spicy.
We listened to a band at the hotel each night. I quite like Mexican music which is called mariachi.
In the airport we bought souvenirs on the way home. I purchased a massive Mexican hat called a sombrero. It means ‘shade.’

What is the significance of Easter?

Easter is the holiest festival in Christianity. It is celebrated in April usually. Before it comes Lent which last for 40 days. In Lent Christians give up some tasty food. A Christian can choose to give up chocolate, or meat or alcohol or anything. Instead some Christians gives money to charity and do not give up any tasty food. In Lent Christians are remembered how Jesus Christ fasted in the wild for 40 days.

Pancake Tuesday comes right before Lent. The proper name for this is Shrove Tuesday as in people were shriven as in purged of their sins. On Pancake Tuesday people ate all the tasty and fatty foods in the house that they would not be allowed to eat for the next 40 days. But not that Sundays do not count as Lent. So if you give up sugar for Lent for example you are allowed to eat it on Sundays during Lent.

Some countries celebrate carnival before lent. It comes from the Latin words carne vale meaning ”goodbye meat”. People would enjoy all the good things they were not going to be allowed during Lent. In the old days you could not get married during Lent.

Palm Sunday is the Sunday before Easter. Christians carry branches to represent palm trees. It commemorates the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem and people laying down palm fronds in front of the donkey that Jesus rode.

After Palm Sunday is Holy Week. There are big parades in Spain in that week. It is used to be a very Catholic Christian country.

Western Churches (Catholic and Protestant) celebrated Easter a week before Eastern Orthodox Churches.

People go to church on Good Friday. It is a sad day and the church has all decoration removed. Good Friday is the only day of the year on which Christians are supposed to fast: adults are to eat only one small meal and there should be no meat. But a lot of Christians do not keep to this.

Good Friday is the day that Jesus was crucified. He died about 4 o clock in the afternoon. On Easter Saturday Jesus is dead. On Easter Sunday he rose from the dead about dawn. Jesus rose from the dead on the 3rd day. But he was dead for about 36 hours before he came back to life. Some people think he eas dead for 3 days: i.e. 72 hours.

Easter Monday is a day off school but there is no religious meaning to this.

Some say that when Jesus went to his mother the Virgin Mary she gave him an egg to eat. That is why people eat eggs at Easter. Then people started making chocolate eggs and called them Easter Eggs. People eat all the nice stuff that they did not eat during Lent.

In Orthodox Churches people greet each other with the phrase ‘Christ is risen’ and the reply is ‘he is truly risen.’ They carry on saying this instead of ‘hello’ until Pentecost. Orthodox Christians go to church late on Easter Saturday. When it comes to midnight it turns into Eastern Sunday and the priest joyfully announces ‘Christ is risen’.

The significance of Easter for Christians is that Jesus Christ was resurrected. That means he came back to life and has supernatural power. Christians believe that by dying on the Cross, Jesus paid for the sins of all people. Therefore, people who believe in Christianity can be forgiven for their sins and go to heaven.

Easter is a spring festival. It is about new life. Things are coming back. Lambs are born in April so people eat lamb and wild chickens start laying eggs again. Christianity grafted the festival onto a pagan spring festival.

The Easter Bunny is a later invention to make Easter more popular. Christians do not believe in the Easter Bunny. The idea of the Easter Bunny is a harmless make believe story to tell children to make like Easter. Painting Easter eggs and Easter egg hunts are just to make it fun.

Easter is more important than Christmas but less popular.

Easter is a movable feast. That means it does not take place on the same date each year. Its date is calculated by the lunisolar calendar. It roughly coincides with the Jewish Pesach (Passover) Festival. That is because Jesus was crucified just before Passover.