Kite Flying

The teddy bears love to go on holiday, but are never sure exactly what the weather will be like. So they try to plan for every eventuality - be it rain, snow, wind or sunshine.

The last time the bears were away it seemed as if they had every kind of weather, but one day it was very windy and they had just decided to go for a long, blustery walk, when Charlie stopped them.

"How would you like to do something different in this windy weather?" he asked whilst holding several interesting-looking packages behind his back.

"Yes please!" shouted the bears in unison. They really liked trying out lots of different things, without even knowing what those things were.

"Well, let's get going!" ordered Charlie. "We're going to the beach!"

"But we went to the beach yesterday," complained Vicky. "You said we were going to do something different!" she accused.

"Actually," said Charlie. "It's what we're going to do when we get there that is different." And he smiled a secret smile.

They all ran off towards the beach. There were lots of windsurfers flying along on the water on their surfboards, being pulled along in the wind by giant kites.

"Oooh! Are we going to go windsurfing?" asked Boo.

"Not quite," replied Charlie, who had stopped on the sand and was busy unwrapping his packages. "We're going to fly our own kites! Let me show you!"

Charlie took a very colourful kite out of one of the packages, unwound the string, held the kite aloft in the wind, and then let it go. The kite soared high up into the sky and Charlie skilfully made it dive as if it would hit the ground, and then, pulling the strings again, making it soar back up! He was very good at his kite-flying!

Of course, all the other bears soon wanted a go themselves. "Can I try?" asked Teddy.

"Of course!" replied Charlie, and passed the strings over to Teddy. "Watch out! You need to pull the strings to keep the kite in the air!"

After a few crash dives onto the sand, Teddy soon got the hang of it and managed to keep the kite up in the air for a long time.

"Is it my turn yet?" asked a plaintive Boo. "Yes, of course!" Teddy replied, handing over the strings once more. Boo was a little smaller than Charlie and Teddy and so struggled just a bit in the beginning until Charlie offered to hold the kite up in the air for him first. Then when he let it go, the wind caught the kite and Boo was able to manipulate it up into the sky. He was very pleased.

After flying Charlie's kite for a little while, he offered it on to another bear. "It's a lot harder than it looks," he said. "It's fun - but very tiring on a little bears' arms!" he laughed.

Teddy asked Charlie what was in the other packages he had brought with him. Charlie unwrapped another two of them and pulled out two more kites. These were very colourful and looked like strange people with faces!

"Would you like a go with one of these?" he asked Teddy, and he passed one of the kites over. "Let's see if we can fly them together," he suggested.

Soon both Charlie and Teddy had their kites flying up in the air, dipping and diving in a merry chase across the sky. It was great fun.

"Can I have a go?" asked Tommy.

Richard, who had been flying Charlie's first kite, offered him the strings. "Now be very careful," he said, "the wind pulls at the kite very strongly so you will have to hold on tight!"

Tommy took the strings from Richard who held the kite up for him and then threw it up into the air for the wind to catch it. Suddenly, a huge gust hit the kite and it began to soar at speed, and Tommy, who is of course not very heavy, was taken with it!

"Help!" he shrieked, dangling off the ground. Luckily, Teddy had seen what was happening and passed the strings of his kite over to Charlie and ran over, jumped, and managed to just catch Tommy's tail. "Ouch!" shouted Tommy. Teddy gently pulled him back to the ground and held onto the kite strings with him.

"Gosh! I thought I was going to fly away into the sky!" Tommy exclaimed. "Thankyou so much for catching me, Teddy! My tail might be a bit longer now, but at least I'm safely back on the ground."

Teddy smiled. "My pleasure!" he said. "Maybe I should help you fly the kite next time," he suggested. "That way you will stay grounded!"

The bears spent the rest of the afternoon flying the different kites and decided this was better than windsurfing - they loved making the kites dance in the sky and at least they weren't getting wet!