A story based on an idea suggested by and written for Max 'Awesome' Santer, aged 10¾.
Shadow tripping
Everyone knows, it's just not possible to trip over your own shadow, right?
Well, yes, unless you happen to be Gordy (Short for Gordon, not Bennett!) 'Twinkle toes' Akinsola.
He loves to tap dance and practices every single day, for at least 30 minutes.
Gordy's Nana loves to watch him dance. She says that either her eyes are getting slower or his feet are getting faster. Gordy thinks it is probably a bit of both, after all Nana is 82 years old.
Nana also says that one day he will dance even faster than his shadow. She calls his dancing, 'Tripping the light fantastic!'
Gordy thinks, Hmm, I would really love to be able to dance faster than my shadow, but I think Nana is pulling my leg, or maybe her medicine means she too is 'Tripping the light fantastic'.
Some days when he is dancing, he almost feels as though he really is flying.
Often his speedy feet seem to be working all on their own: it's as if he has no control over them at all. How is that even possible?
Most of the time though he is very excited to be dancing, but, at other times he gets a little worried.
At school he notices his feet twitching when he is supposed to be sitting still in assembly, or he suddenly realises that his feet are tapping out a rhythm whilst he is drawing a map in Geography.
In music lessons he gets into real trouble when his feet refuse to behave and keep playing the wrong beat, when, as the drummer, his job is to keep time and the base beat going! How embarrassing!
Too often he breaks out into a sweat under the sternly raised eyebrows and warning looks of his Music teacher and the threatening looks of his class mates and friends.**
*(Show teachers sheet music with lines of musical beats- 2/4 time for Gordy's feet and 6/8 time for everyone else- with the word ARRGGH next to the 2/4 time/ or an angry smiley face instead alongside the red flashing lights along the edge of her sari.)
** (Show a range of exasperated pupils crowded together in anger. One with the Tuba player -a male Sikh whose headdress is popping with rage, another- a female guitarist whose dreadlocks are straining to get to Gordy, another – a slightly tubby girl, wearing glasses that are popping in disbelief with the 6/8 beat etched in to the lenses as an angry reminder peeping out from her curly black hair, another very tall long haired girl who seems to be pulling it out in sheer dismay, and a wheelchair user shaking his head, on his extended neck, in pity, looking as if he is deciding whether to mow down Gordy, and his drum kit, or just to throw his accordion at him.)
Whilst he is asleep, his shadow takes him on incredible and amazing journeys all over the universe. When he wakes up, his feet are always tingling and keen to get dancing again.
He is always very surprised and very pleased, to find himself at home, lying in his warm comfortable bed.
Lately Gordy has been practicing even more. His Nana has entered him for a local 'Strictly Tap' talent competition, and he wants to make her proud. He isn't only thinking about winning, though that would be great. He really wants to do his best and to dance well.
He just hopes his feet don't do their misbehaving thing.
As the competition gets closer and closer his dream trips become weirder and wilder. One night he remembers tap dancing in the Sahara Desert, of all places. Have you ever tried dancing on sand? It is sooooo cool!
That is the first time he really sees that his shadow has a mind of its own, too.
When the sand slips from under his shadow feet, it tries to stay still and upright. It is still in the way when Gordy, who is also slipping down, reaches the same spot.
They collide and fall together as the shadow trips up Gordy, 'by accident' trying to save itself. Really! Gordy is cross. Shadows aren't supposed to do that sort of thing. Are they?
On another night, he is dancing in the heavens with the stars. It turns out that Saturn is an amusement park with a huge trampoline, at the top, that all the stars use. Gordy feels his shadow brush past him as it rushes to bounce, from the trampoline on to Saturn's outer rings, which the stars are using like a skating ring. Shadow comes unstuck when Saturn shifts suddenly. The stars already know about these shifts so they dig in and giggle, watching shadow as it is catapulted into the air. Eventually it lands at Gordy's feet, knocking Gordy off balance, naturally.
Silly clumsy shadow, Gordy thinks, but what a crease!
Gordy has several turns on the trampoline and the skating ring and loves it. He does not fall or skid once. Awesome!
One autumn afternoon, whilst practicing after school, he thinks he sees a slight but quick movement on the floor. It is as if the floor is winking at him. He carries on dancing and a few minutes later sees other larger movements, more like a series of shudders, on the floor. It reminds him of some break dancing moves he had seen at school that day. Is his shadow break dancing? What a totally silly idea!
A minute later, Dad shouts, calling him in for tea. Gordy quickly changes his shoes and runs up to the house, forgetting the odd movements, as his nose twitches with the smell of his favourite tea, Macaroni cheese with bacon bits and a crunchy herb topping.
Recently Gordy has been feeling very tired and a little strange.
He was not best pleased that he wasn't able to eat as much tea as he would have liked.
He couldn't even explain 'why' to his Mum, either.
When Gordy is telling Nana about his dreams, his Mum says, "I think your imagination is 'running riot' my lad.'' Whatever that means.
Nana smiles then says, "Wait till you hear my 'Blue Milk' tale."
Then she gives him an extra-uber, extra-long Nana hug, and kisses him on his forehead. Gordy's Nana gives the best hugs in the whole wide world and he already feels a bit better.
After tea he decides not to go back, to the shed, with Nana, for more dancing, and goes off to his room to lie down.
As soon as his head hits the pillow, his eyes close and he finds himself tap dancing perfectly on the side of an iceberg. Its size and many many shades of blue are a magnificent surprise. In the light, cast by the moon, he notices a number of shimmers. His shadow seems to be quite a few extra steps behind him. Now that is xtra-uber odd. Perhaps it's because of the magnetic pull of the North Pole.
This has to be his favourite dream trip location so far.
He can't believe how easy it is for him to dance when it should be slippery and possibly dangerous.
He decides to do his whole competition routine and jumps easily from iceberg to iceberg. He can't believe that he hasn't fallen over.
Then, out of the corner of his eye, he senses, rather than sees, his
so-called shadow. It is running, doing some real fancy footwork, 'Tripping the light fantastic', as Nana might say.
It rushes towards him and Gordy watches, mouth open, in shock, as the shadow slides down the side of the iceberg in front of him and then waves. What on earth?
Then he starts slipping, very fast, having tripped over his own sliding shadow, plunging deeply into the freezing cold water. Again! He would shake his head but it is already shaking from the cold.
It all happens so quickly that his feet are still dancing, underneath him in amongst the ice shards, fish and God only knows what else. To put it mildly Gordy is very angry. His whole body is shivering like crazy. He hears his Mums voice and tries but fails to wake up. Wow! These dreams really are getting weirder and weirder. Why do I seem to have the world's only shadow that seems unable to do what I am doing?
Suddenly, everything goes very quiet. He is no longer at the North Pole, yet he is still extremely cold and it is dark, very dark.
(In the almost total dark, we see the slight outline of a bed, Gordy's form and, more definite, the shadow, in reverse mode, as a small white cut out. It is waving and winking/smiling at the reader)
When he thinks he hears his Nana speaking to him, he shrugs, tries to sit up to listen, but can't. He can no longer feel his legs, never mind his feet. In fact, if he didn't think it was completely silly, he would have said that he was floating. Of course, his Nana isn't really in his dream. Is she?
Other voices come and go. Gordy is even more confused and very worried that he cannot see his shadow in…in…wherever it is that he is.
Sometime later, Nana is back and she seems to be reading his Alex Rider books, out loud. This is very strange; she doesn't really like those stories. What is going on?
(Show shadow sitting/lying on the back of the chair, with a pillow under its head, listening to Nana)
Weird turns into seriously ridiculous as he stirs and thinks he hears Mum and Dad whispering with someone else, whose voice he cannot recognise.
What are all these people doing in my dream tonight? Don't they have their own dreams to go to?
Gordy senses that he is much warmer but his comfy bed seems a little less comfy. If only I could wake up: I'm really not enjoying this dream any more.
He forces himself to open his eyes, but like his feet, and clearly his shadow, they too have other, independent, ideas. His eyes shut down and refuse to listen to his brain. He turns over and, finally, falls into a deeper sleep.
When his eyes open again, he knows instantly that he is shadow tripping again. His feet are almost on fire and are tapping furiously. Looking down, he sees himself in Geography class, putting the final touches to a map of China, (Say what!) very carefully making sure that the Great Wall stands out. After all, it can be seen from outer space.
blinks and the next thing he knows is that he is dancing beautifully along the top of the Great Wall of China. On either side there are Terracotta Warrior Soldiers clapping thunderously, their stone faces alight with pleasure.
Taking a sneaky look around, Gordy is comforted to see his shadow
behaving itself, copying his every move.
But wait! Its doing it wearing a Terracotta Warrior Soldier's uniform,
whilst jumping from one soldier's head to the next…. Oh my gosh!
And he is dancing in reverse order to him. IN REVERSE! Oh no!
He looks forward again and is astounded to see that the Great Wall is now the Great Barrier Reef. Oh my days! Why aren't I sinking?
Up ahead, the largest waves he has ever seen, appear to have spotted him, like some beached whale, and are rushing towards him really really fast. Behind him he hears a, "Whoop! Whoop!", and looks on, in dismay, as his shadow, tosses him an empty Chinese take away box, labelled 'Surf and Turf' and slips past him on a surf board shouting, "Surf's up Dude!"
Where does it get this gear from? Gordy puts his head in his hands.
Of course, in the process, Gordy is tipped off the Great Wall or Great Barrier Reef, he isn't really sure which, as the edge of the super cool surf board clips his ankle. No way will Nana believe this one. No way, in a million years, he mumbles.
Suddenly feeling exhausted, he welcomes the dark that comes over him, signalling sleep. Even his feet seem to be in agreement. They aren't even twitching.
A faint voice is heard from somewhere above him, "This is all very good. Very good indeed. Overnight the fever broke. All vitals are returning to normal. We are very confident he will wake in the next 24-72 hours."
Leaning over and checking some charts, at the end of Gordy's bed, the Consultant nods, putting the charts back on the stand, clearly pleased with what he has read.
(Show shadow leaning against the bed and reading the charts too.)
Turning back to Mum, Dad and Nana, he says, "Look! You should all get some rest. As you can see he is much more comfortable now. We were lucky: we caught it in good time. Thanks to you Nana Hewitt."
Nana shrugs, "Ach, it's all in the hugs. All in the hugs. "
"Erm, what about Gordy's Music teacher and the other pupils?" she asks.
"All making good progress and shadowing Gordy's, here, quite nicely."
Wearily Gordy thinks: What on earth are they babbling about? What progress? Look! I'm just trying to get some sleep here guys!
Later he thinks he hears his shadow whispering to him, but using Nana's voice. Oh Man! Will this weirdness ever stop?
"Come on Gordy, We've got a competition to finish getting ready for. Tell your body you are back in charge and to behave itself. And, err…hurry up please. Okay?"
Gordy smiles in his sleep, at the idea of his slippery clumsy shadow sounding like Nana. "Okay! Okay! Fix up and look sharp, body!" he says, in his head. Unknown to Gordy he is talking in his sleep. Nana hears and smiles too.
That night his dream trip takes him to Mount Everest where his shadow is all dressed up, Sherpa like, ready to climb. Gordy follows. As they reach the top, the summit clouds over so they can't take any pictures. When the fog disappears they are sitting in a canoe and about to go over a waterfall: The Niagara Waterfalls. Excuse me?! A blood curdling cry escapes Gordy's mouth as they tip over the edge.
His shadow has chosen this moment to practice his dive moves. This is what Nana and Mum would call 'Beyond the pale'. His shadow is no.1 seriously crazy, for sure. Still, at least it hadn't tripped him up this time. Honestly, where does it get all the gear from?
Gordy blinks several times as the canoe spreads out and becomes the dance floor of the room where the competition will be held. It looks like the room they do 'Strictly Come Dancing' in. 'Strictly' is one of Mum's favourite TV programmes. His shadow is at the microphone speaking in a funny accent and wearing a white tuxedo jacket. "Will Gordy Akinsola please take to the floor?"
Gordy watches as his shadow calls him over to the starting place.
(Both are dressed smartly and tuxedos and in kilts of Nana Hewitt's family tartan.)
Together they dance a perfect routine where no-one is tripped up or falls over. It is a massive relief. Everyone in the audience loves it and the compere, Dessa Taley comes over to congratulate him.
Gordy can hear Nana shouting, "Well done my lovely. Well done!"
Dessa puts the microphone between them so everyone can hear, "So Gordy, what other hobbies do you have?"
With arms wide open, Gordy's shadow knee slides, at breakneck speed, across the floor, from the orchestra where he had been chatting to a man called Bruce something or the other. He pushes Gordy out of the way, with his knees, (You cannot be serious!) and speaks to Dessa in Gordy's voice. (You are killing me!)
"Thanks Dessa, Well, I do spend a lot of my time tap dancing, of course. I also like to go sand dune riding, glacier skiing, white water rafting, diving, travelling, star grazing- sorry star gazing. I love to trampoline, skate and do a little mountain climbing, when I can. I'm just a regular kid, I guess."
Gordy cannot believe his ears. Why doesn't anyone realise, that I am over here and, that she is talking, yes TALKING, to a shadow? Hmm, impressive list of hobbies though. I think I could live with that. Wait! I have lived with that!
(Insert snapshot images of the various dream trip adventures here)
His shadow is giving him the thumbs up and he notices that he is giving shadow the thumbs up sign in return. I think I may have lost my mind or something. Help!
As daylight dawns, the next day, Gordy is very pleased to be able to push himself up in bed. He is even more thankful to see that his eyes and feet are taking instruction from his brain once more. This time his eyes stay open. Machines whirring next to the bed and Nana asleep, snoring musically, in the chair next to his bed, tell him he is in a hospital bed and not at home. Okay, this is unexpected!
The 'music' of Nana's snoring makes him giggle. As he does so, he rolls too far and is tipped out of bed. He looks around to see where his stupid shadow is hiding, this time. Perhaps this is all a dream too? If I could, I would probably wring his shadow neck right now. Wait a minute, would that work? Is that even possible? Hmm, Probs not.
From the floor he can see two dark feet tapping on the other side of the bed. They are soon joined by the upside down head of his mischievous shadow. An upside down smile completes the picture.
"Are we agreed?" the upside down mouth says.
"To doing more than just dancing all the time?"
"Exactly so my friend, exactly so."
"And do you agree to stop tipping and tripping me up, all the time?"
"I do indeed." Shadow says, smiling. (Show shadow crossing his fingers behind his back.)
"Sick!" Gordy replies loudly and beams.
"Well not anymore, clearly!" Nana says, reaching out to lift and to hug Gordy.
Gordy smiles, "No Nana not that kind of …Oh…never mind…" How do I explain that 'sick' doesn't always mean 'sick'?
Freshly hugged and still giggling, Gordy climbs back into bed. Whilst listening to Nana explain what has been happening over the last few days, he watches as his shadow admires itself in the mirror, shakes his head and smiles, as the shadow nods to its reflection and using its own voice this time, says, "Yes, just as I thought. Still pretty awesome."
Shadow turns to Gordy, hands on hips, and says, "Let's go home now, shall we? That bed is killing my back!"
Just two weeks after his is released from hospital…Well, see for yourself…
Image of Shadow running round the dance floor with a large trophy
above his head
Oops sorry, wrong picture.
Insert image of Gordy holding up trophy
Almost the end.
Epilogue or what happens next
As well as a growing number of fascinating hobbies
Gordy continues to 'Trip the light fantastic'.
(Insert image of him, a little older, with a clutch of trophies including trophies for Wild Swimming attempts, Runner up for National spelling competition, Best football beginner, Drama award, 3rd class Regional Hiking troupe award …)
His shadow behaves itself…most of the time.
(Show images of the shadow snorkelling, potholing, abseiling, parachuting, dancing with other shadows, kissing the mirror- yes really!, zip wiring…)
Now. This is your chance to join in.
Please go to .uk to join in with any of the following:
How many shadow images can you match to the hobbies and activities listed?
Upload your own images (pictures or drawings) of hobbies and activities that you would like to spend your time doing.
Write and upload your own short story, no more than 100 words, of a new shadow dream trip.
Upload a picture or drawing of your current favourite hobby. (See below for exceptions)
Share your extra-uber ideas for new stories.
Shadow tripping started with my God son Max saying, "Well you could write a story about a boy that gets tripped up by his shadow…"
Each month one story idea will be selected and then turned into a story. Once finished it will be uploaded on the website. With the permission of your Parents, Guardians, Teachers or Carers, a personalised printed version of the story will also be sent to the person that submitted the idea.
EXTRA-UBER IMPORTANT
ALWAYS ALWAYS check with your Parents, Guardians, Teachers or Carers before submitting ANYTHING ANYWHERE online. (Thank you)
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We hope you enjoyed the Max Santer story and look forward to reading and writing about your brilliant ideas too.
Not quite the end
Erm, this really is the end, now, unless you count the Glossary (the bit that explains the words in blue in the story.), which I guess we should.
(Image of shadow, with shiny teeth (for the first time) waving goodbye & wearing sunglasses with the brand name 'Awesome'.)
Glossary (Explaining some of the words, just in case you are not sure what they mean.)
Word or phrase
What they mean to Gordy and friends
What they mean to everyone else!
Extra-uber/ Uber-extra
(This is a reversible phrase Gordy and his friends made up and use, often.)
Very very very over the top OR very very amazing like Gordy, his friends… and you.
(Parents and so on have no clue)
Saturn
An amusement park in outer space
Just another planet but with rings around it
Crease
Something funny: that makes you laugh so much your tummy hurts
A line made, with a hot iron, in trousers, and even jeans (Oh my days!)
and
"This is what happens to clothes when they are thrown on the floor, Gordy!"
Blue Milk
This is another story all together so we cannot give away any details just now. Sorry.
To wring his shadow's neck
To stop his shadow from being so naughty
Putting children on a naughty step. (Yeah, right!)
Probs
Most likely, probably
When someone has a problem.
Sick
Great, awesome, super amazing.
When someone is not feeling very well. (Lame!)
The true End
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