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Fergus woke up one morning and
decided to go on a haggis hunt. It was winter and he was tired of eating
barley soup and turnips. He wanted to eat a delicious haggis. He made a
roaring fire in the fireplace and put a big black kettle of water on to
simmer. When he brought the haggis home, he could toss it into the pot and
cook it right away. He grabbed his bow and arrow, put on his boots,
gloves, hat, and heavy coat, and headed for the woods.
Fergus walked through the woods. He
saw squirrels, raccoons, and chipmunks running up the trees, but didn’t
see a haggis. "Look at all the thistle. How am I going to get through
them?" he wondered. The path he was walking along was covered with the
prickly purple plants. "I guess I’ll have to get down on my hands and
knees and crawl through them." And that is what he did. "Ouch, ouch, ouch,
ouch." The thistles poked him and scratched his face.
"There, I’m out of the thistles," he
sighed and continued walking through the woods.
"Look at all the heather. It’s so
pretty," Fergus said, seeing the field of purplish-pink flowers. "I guess
I’ll have to run as fast as I can through it, get to the other side, and
find that haggis. Haggis don’t like to play in the heather." He started to
run through the flowers. "Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch. There are bees in here!"
Hundreds of bees were sipping nectar from the heather bells and weren’t
happy about Fergus disturbing them. He swatted them as he ran as fast as
he could.
"There, I’m out of the heather," he
sighed and continued walking through the woods.
"Look at the loch," Fergus said. He
came upon a huge, deep loch. "It’s very wide and a lovely shade of blue.
How will I get across it?" he wondered. "Haggis don’t like to swim. I’m
sure there are a lot of haggises on the other side. Here I go," he said
and jumped into the cold water. "Brrrrr. It’s freezing. He shivered as he
swam across. He’d only gone half way when he heard a noise behind him.
"Yikes! It’s the Loch Ness Monster!" A huge, green monster stuck its head
out of the water and tried to bite Fergus. He swam and swam and swam as
fast as he could.
"There, I’m out of the loch," he
sighed and continued walking through the woods.
"I can’t see any haggis. Maybe if I
climb to the top of this rowan tree, I’ll be able to see one," Fergus
said. He climbed all the way to the top. He looked to the left and he
looked to the right, but he couldn’t see any haggis. He slid down the
tree, "Wheeeeeeeee," and continued walking through the woods.
"Look at that wall. It’s crumbling
in parts, but maybe if I walked across the top of it, I could see a haggis
running about in the grass," Fergus said. He jumped onto Hadrian’s Wall
and started walking across the wobbly stones. "Whoa!" he shouted. He had
to sling the bow and arrow across his shoulder and put his arms out to the
side to balance himself so he wouldn’t fall off the wall. "I can’t see any
haggis." He jumped off the wall and continued walking through the woods.
"Look at the castle," Fergus said.
"It’s got a lot of windows and towers and is made of stone. Maybe if I
climb to the top and look over the edge, I’ll be able to see a haggis." So
he ran up the steps. He climbed to the top. He looked over the edge of the
wall. He looked to the right and then he looked to the left, but he
couldn’t see any haggis. "This is an old castle. I wonder if any dragons
ever lived here?" Just then he heard a roar. "Yikes! It’s a dragon! I
guess he still does live here," he shouted. A big, black dragon came
charging out of one of the towers. Fergus ran down the stairs. The dragon
breathed fire at him, but he ran as fast as he could.
"There, I’ve left the castle and the
dragon behind," he sighed and continued on his walk through the woods.
"Look at all the buttercups! They’re
beautiful and such a pretty buttery-yellow color. I hope there aren’t bees
in here," Fergus said, as he started walking through the field of flowers.
He’d only gone a few yards when he spotted a highland cow. It had
reddish-brown hair that hung down the ground and long, sharp horns that
poked out the side of its huge head. The cow began to snort and ran
towards Fergus. "Yikes! The cow is charging me. I’ve heard music soothes
the savage beast," he remembered. "I’ll pull my bagpipes out of my pocket
and play it a song." Fergus took a deep breath and started playing his
bagpipes. He pumped his arm up and down as he squeezed the bag. It worked.
The highland cow stopped running and started nibbling on the buttercups
once again. Fergus kept playing as he walked quickly out of the field.
"There, I made it safely," he
laughed, and continued on his walk through the woods.
"Look at all the sheep! I’ve never
seen so many wooly creatures in my life," Fergus said. He tiptoed through
the animals, being careful not to disturb them as they ate grasses and
ferns. "I can only imagine how horrible it would be if all these sheep
started to run. I’d be crushed." He tiptoed past all the sheep.
"There, I made it safely," he
breathed a sigh of relief and continued on his walk through the woods.
Something was moving about behind
the yellow gorse growing along the path. "What’s that over there? Why, it
looks like a haggis!" Fergus took out his bow and arrow and crept towards
the haggis. "I can’t wait to taste the haggis after it’s boiled in my pot
with some tatties and turnips." He was about to shoot it when the haggis
turned and saw him. It started to growl and snarl and showed Fergus its
sharp teeth. "Yikes! Maybe I don’t want haggis after all," he shouted in
terror. "I’m getting out of here before it eats me!"
He ran as fast as he could through
the woods. He came to the sheep and tiptoed as quickly and quietly as he
could past them. He ran towards the field of buttercups and saw the
highland cow. It started to snort and chase him, so he grabbed the
bagpipes out of his pocket and started squeezing the bag and played a
tune. The cow stopped chasing him and Fergus kept running. He ran into the
castle, went up the stairs as quickly as he could. He looked to the right
and then to the left, but didn’t see the haggis. The dragon came out and
started to chase him. He ran down the stairs and out of the castle. A roar
of flames shot from the dragon’s mouth as Fergus jumped over the moat and
headed towards home.
He ran until he was out of breath
and soon came to Hadrian’s Wall. He jumped onto the wall and ran,
balancing himself with his arms out to the side. He was so afraid of the
haggis that he jumped from the wall. He stopped to rest for a moment or
two and then ran toward the rowan tree. He climbed to the top, looked to
the left and then to the right. He was still afraid of the haggis, so he
climbed down the tree as fast as he could and ran towards home.
When he got to the loch, he jumped
into the cold water and swam across. The Loch Ness Monster stuck its head
out of the water and tried to bite Fergus, but he swam so quickly that it
didn’t get him. He climbed out of the water and ran through the field of
heather bells. The bees buzzed all around him. Buzz, buzz, buzz. Swat,
swat, swat. They tried to sting him but he was running too quickly.
Finally he came to the thistle. He got down on his hands and knees and
crawled through the prickly plants as fast as he could. "Ouch, eech, ouch,
eech, ouch," he shouted. When he got to the other side, he ran towards his
croft. He ran inside and slammed the door shut.
Fergus took a few deep breaths. "I’m
safe at last. We’ll, I guess tonight I’ll be having barley soup with
turnips again." |
