Tag: the two boys

Ooh, a picnic

Chris Hall63 Comments

Photo Prompts © Dale Rogerson

The two boys were laden with presents as they grinned to each other. Great Aunt Margot was chatting to stallholders while holding her huge basket.
‘It’s a lovely atmosphere when it’s Christmas,’ she said.

‘We can sit down by that useful bench, and we can have a little unprompted picnic. I assume you’re both hungry?’
‘Always,’ they chortled.
‘We’ve crispy baguette, some creamy butter and some pâté.’
They munched for a bit.

Then Great Aunt Margot said, ‘that’s enough for now. All we need is a smallish tree and we can hoist it back home.’
And that’s what they did.

~~~~~

Thanks to Rochelle for hosting Friday Fictioneers
Genre: Historical Fiction
Word Count: 100

12 December 2025

Art Project

Chris Hall54 Comments

Photo Prompt © Dale Rogerson

The two boys had been mooching.
‘Hold on.’ He stopped and pointed.
‘Oh, I see. Interesting.’
They looked at each other, then jumped over the hedge.

‘Ooh, a painting,’ as he peered at it.’
‘It’s a bit dreary.’
‘Here, there’s some sticky paints on the easel.’
‘We could jazz it up a bit.’

Both of them got to business.
‘This looks better. More colour.’
‘Shall I add an animal?’

Then a man appeared. ‘Oi! He strode toward them.
He was wearing a beret!
He glared.
He walked around.
And then he said: ‘Hmm, that’s actually better now, especially that kangaroo.’

~~~~~

Thanks to Rochelle for hosting Friday Fictioneers
Genre: Historical Fiction
Word Count: 100

31 October 2025

That’s a big tree!

Chris Hall78 Comments

Photo Prompt © Lisa Fox

‘We can easily climb that big old tree.’
‘Definitely.’
The two boys dropped their bikes.

They both stared at it, then trotted around.
‘Gosh, it’s so tall, we can hardly see the top.’ ‘No probs though.’
‘Which side shall we try?’
‘Tell you what, I’ll go on the bendy one, and you can go on the straight one.’

The two of them jumped up, and began to climb.
The first one went more quickly on the bendy one, while the straight one was rather slower.
But then they almost met at the top.
‘Well, that proves something,’ as they giggled.|

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

P.S. If you haven’t seen me saying something on your post, I believe it’s gone to spam. I won’t just leave a ‘like’.

Thanks to Rochelle for hosting Friday Fictioneers
Genre: Historical Fiction
Word Count: 100

17 October 2025

Margot and her 2CV

Chris Hall25 Comments

© Ayr/Gray

‘Gosh, this will be fun,’ grinned one of the boys.
‘Yes, we’re all going on an adventure.’
‘We have got everything we need,’ smiled Great Aunt Margot. ‘Now get into the back of my 2CV boys, we are going to the woods, since it’s autumn so we can get some mushrooms, and maybe some truffles.’
‘Truffles? What are those?’
Great Aunt Margot waved a hand as she continued to drive, and rather fast, ‘truffles are very good and very expensive, but we will see.’

The three of them tootled around in that little car for a bit, when suddenly Great Aunt Margot stopped, and then reversed, and stopped again. ‘Look boys, there’s eggs available. You can get out and ask,’ as she gave one of them some notes.

The two boys trotted over to the sign, and then into the little farm.
‘Is anyone here?’ shouted both of them.
For a moment it seemed that no-one was around, but just a little later, a very nice lady appeared.
‘Ah, that would be Madame Margot,’ the nice lady said. ‘Two dozen, I imagine,’ as she waved back.

Soon that was sorted, they were off again. ‘Time to find some mushrooms and do some truffle hunting,’ grinned Great Aunt Margot.

They walked around the woods, and all three of them had lovely mushrooms, although sadly they didn’t find any truffles this time.
But they did see something in the distance…
Yes, that’s right, a couple of unicorns – and yes, they are real.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Posted for The Unicorn Challenge, a magical challenge hosted by Jenne Gray and C E Ayr, where they provide a photo and we, in turn, provide up to 250 words.

A new gallery

Chris Hall37 Comments

© Ayr/Gray

The two boys were back in France, in a small town where Great Aunt Margot lives.
‘What’s the time?’ said one of them, as they both looked up to the big clock outside in the main square.
‘Okay, one more time to walk quickly around the great church – why not?’
‘Shall we do it?’
‘Yes, let’s go.’

Meanwhile, Great Aunt Margot had bought her usual things in the market: a long baguette, some very oozy cheeses and three little patisserie cakes, which she put in her big basket.
She then stopped next to the new gallery.
‘How is it going, my dear?’ said Great Aunt Margot.
A young woman smiled. ‘Anything you would like?’
‘Hmm, something small perhaps,’ as she stepped into the shop.

A couple of minutes later the two boys appeared.
‘What have you got?’ asked one of the boys.
‘Never mind about that, I will show you that back at home. But any way it’s almost lunchtime,’ as she grinned.

The three of them chatted happily, as they walked down to where they stayed, but no one would be able to find what they did after that.

And also in the small town, not far from the woods, you might still see a few unicorns, and their names are: Victor, Wellington, Xena, Yasmine and Zacharia.

So thanks for that Jenne and C .E. Aye, we’ve had a great time, and maybe we will see you around sometime.

So now I must find a new tale, but where?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Posted for The Unicorn Challenge, a magical challenge hosted by Jenne Gray and C E Ayr, where they provide a photo and we, in turn, provide up to 250 words.

It’s a lovely train!

Chris Hall37 Comments

© Ayr/Gray

It was another Sunday afternoon for the two boys.
‘It’s always nice to go on our bikes, isn’t it.’
‘Yes indeed, we are very lucky, especially now it’s a lovely day.’
‘Let’s go faster, and maybe we can see a train, since the tracks are not far from here.’
‘Gosh yes, we can go over the bridge just over there.’
And so the two boys rode off as fast as they could.

They came to a stop, and right in the middle of the bridge.
‘Can’t see a train either on the upline or downline at the moment.’
As they both looked (and twice).
‘Are there trains on Sunday?’
‘I’m sure there are… I think.’
They thought again, and looked again; but nothing.
‘Oh well, let’s ride as close as we can, since there’s a little road over there.’

So they continued for quite a long time, still looking for a train.
‘Gosh, we’re almost in another village, and I don’t know this place.’
‘Me neither, but look…’
‘Oh yes, it’s a level crossing and also a little train station.’
‘And now listen…’
‘They are closing the gates…’

The two boys grinned.
‘Quick, let’s get on the platform.’
‘Are we allowed?’
‘Yes, of course.’

The train stopped and people got out, and in.
The guard glanced over to the two boys and their bikes, and he said: ‘Do you want to go in the last carriage? And there’s no charge for you.’
‘Ooh, thanks a lot,’ as they both grinned.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Posted for The Unicorn Challenge, a magical challenge hosted by Jenne Gray and C E Ayr, where they provide a photo and we, in turn, provide up to 250 words.

Goal!

Chris Hall28 Comments

© Ayr/Gray

The two boys were playing football in the park. It was Sunday afternoon, and very sunny.
‘This is fun, isn’t it?
‘Very much so,’ as he dived and stopped the ball.
‘Shall we ask some of the other boys here in this park?’
‘Good idea, and I would like to be in goal.’
‘Fine. You’re pretty good, aren’t you?’
‘Aww, thanks,’ as he grinned.

A few minutes later, several boys appeared.
‘Now we have enough players to have a good game,’ as they decided who would do what.

It had been great at the start but then there was a problem, since the ball went too far and too high. It glided over to someone’s back garden.

They looked at each other. ‘What are we going to do now?’

Several of them peered over the high wall.
‘Hmm. Not easy, but doable, don’t you think?’
‘Well, it is my ball. I shall try.’
‘Both of us will do it.’
Then a couple of other boys helped them up.

Soon they were both sitting astride.
‘Okay, we can do this. Yes?’
‘Of course we can.’

So they jumped down. Grabbed the ball, and hurled it back to the park.
They could also get back themselves, since a handy shed was close enough to jump from that to the wall.
They managed to get away with that before anyone saw it.
It seemed that everyone else was watching the telly – either Wimbledon or Tour de France.

‘Shall we continue the game then?’

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Posted for The Unicorn Challenge, a magical challenge hosted by Jenne Gray and C E Ayr, where they provide a photo and we, in turn, provide up to 250 words.

Ooh, sheds…

Chris Hall32 Comments

© Ayr/Gray

‘Those aren’t sheds, they’re garages, wouldn’t you say?’
‘Well, I guess so… does it matter?’
‘Probably not.’
The two boys grinned at each other, as they stopped on their mountain bikes.

‘Interesting place.’
‘Certainly is… not been there before, have we?’
‘Nope, never seen this.’
‘I suppose it’s a bit further in the other direction than we usually go.’
‘Still, let’s have a little poke around, since I’m sure no one will bother about us.’
The two boys got off their bikes and wheeled them. They looked around by the little line of garages.

‘Not many people here, are there?’
‘Just a couple of builders…’
‘You mean, roofers, I think?’
‘Well, whatever… they are just up there.’
They craned their heads up.

‘Do you need any help?’ shouted one of the boys.
But there was no response.

‘Oh well, we can see what they are doing, can’t we?’
‘It looks like some of those roofs need new ones.’
‘In fact, most of them have been done.’
‘Well spotted,’ grinned both of them.

‘Maybe we can see if anyone else is around.’
‘All look closed, and they must be dark inside, I suppose.’
‘But there are quite a lot of nice cars on the other side. I wonder where they have gone?’
The two boys had a little look at some of the cars, but nothing obvious, apart from some books inside… the same books.

‘I know what’s going on – they are all twitchers!’
‘What?’
‘Birdwatchers – and look, they’re coming back.’

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Posted for The Unicorn Challenge, a magical challenge hosted by Jenne Gray and C E Ayr, where they provide a photo and we, in turn, provide up to 250 words.

It’s the Ferry

Chris Hall45 Comments

© Ayr/Gray

Great Aunt Margot was having a leisurely breakfast on the ferry. She continued to read as she sipped her fresh orange juice.

Meanwhile the two boys had been running all around the ferry. But they stopped for a bit, they were almost out of breath.
‘It’s so big, isn’t it.’
‘And several decks as well.’
‘It’s lovely day too.’
‘And calm, fortunately.’ ‘Come on, let’s run around again.’
So off they went, again.

Great Aunt Margot had finished her breakfast, but still she was reading her e-book. It was a detective novel, and it was pretty good, and she had no idea who had done the murder… yet.

A moment later, the two boys rushed past. Then they stopped and turned back.
‘Are we still okay to walk around,’ one of them said.

Great Aunt Margot looked up, holding her e-book carefully, ‘I thought your walking was rather more like running, hmm? But no problem, as long as you’re not in the way.’ She grinned now.

‘Actually, we have several things we have found around the decks. Look at these!’ The two boys smiled happily, as they removed their various pockets and put them on the table.

Great Aunt Margot looked at all of those things. ‘Quite a catch, you have,’ she remarked.
But then, several people appeared, and each of them said: ‘that’s mine’ and ‘that’s yours’ and ‘is it his?’… etc.

The two boys looked rather upset, although not for long. ‘Look, the ferry will be docking soon.’

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Posted for The Unicorn Challenge, a magical challenge hosted by Jenne Gray and C E Ayr, where they provide a photo and we, in turn, provide up to 250 words.

(250 words)

Beach

Chris Hall35 Comments

© Ayr/Gray

Great Aunt Margot had her old car outside.
‘We know what this is,’ said the two boys in unison. ‘It’s a 2CV, isn’t it?’
‘That’s right, and you can hop in,’ she grinned. ‘We are going to the coast. It isn’t too far,
I’ve got a big basket here in the front, and you too can sit in the back.’

It was a beautiful day and quite soon they could see the sea.

Great Aunt Margot parked the car. She handed the big basket. ‘You can carry it between you.’ She strode ahead, with one hand holding a large parasol and the other with a big and pretty rug.
Soon much munching went on.
‘Now, off you go,’ said Great Aunt Margot. ‘I’ll have a little nap,’ she smiled. ‘You can go all round here – the sand, the rock pools and even the very tall palm trees.’

After about an hour, the two boys caught up with Great Aunt Margot.
‘Enjoying yourselves?’
They both grinned.
‘I’m going over to the little market just over there,’ she pointed. ‘I will still be able to see you.’

Later, Great Aunt Margot was still chattering in the car park. While the two boys were running around the tall, tall palm trees.
They kept looking at them.
‘I’m sure those trees are getting closer to us, don’t you think?’
‘Weird, isn’t it?’

They were still talking about those trees. And then Great Aunt Margot said: ‘don’t worry, they often move,’ as she winked. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Posted for The Unicorn Challenge, a magical challenge hosted by Jenne Gray and C E Ayr, where they provide a photo and we, in turn, provide up to 250 words.

(250 words)