Fred's Halloween Adventure Part 4

How to Charm a Curious Cat
Almost there, but there was one last major challenge: the cat guardians of the castle entrance.
Fred wondered what he had in his bag that would help him.
He stopped behind a tree whilst he conjured up a plan.
"OK so if they are cats and I'm a bunny, how am I to get past? Would they try to eat me?" Fred had memories of past experiences with cats that hadn't gone too well...
Being a bunny is probably not the best idea in these circumstances...
"I know!" Fred whispered, almost forgetting himself and his location.
Fred took out the big sunglasses he had brought, looked at them thoughtfully and put them on.
"I wish I had the mirror now", he murmured, suspicious of how unconvincing his disguise was.
Hoping for the best Fred snuck out from behind the tree and approached the two cats guarding the entrance to the castle.
"Hey" said Fred, trying to sound relaxed like he was supposed to be there, and also not a bunny.
Fred held his breath as the cats turned to look at him, absolutely cool as cucumbers.
"No one is allowed through," said the blue cat, "Go home."
Just as Fred was about to try to reason, the yellow cat spoke up, "Wait!" she exclaimed.
"I think he's famous!"
"What?" replied the blue cat, then turning to Fred asked him: "who are you?"
"Wait!" said the yellow cat again, "Let me get it!"
"I know you! I'm sure of it!"
Fred just smiled enigmatically and waited whilst the excited little yellow cat rabbited on,
"I know you I'm sure of it! Let me get it, let me get it. I swear I'll remember."
The little yellow cat was bouncing up and down, full of excitement and asking him strange questions trying to work out how she knew him, "Holby, you were in that?" "are you sure?" "Emmerdale! That must be it!" "No? Are you a singer?"
Fred was starting to quail under all this attention, and was not getting any closer to getting into the castle.
Faining apathy, Fred had a look in his bag again, trying desperately to come out with a plan B.
Fred smiles and brings out the harmonica, "Yep I'm a musician, maybe you'll recognise me once you hear one of my songs?"
The Yellow cat practically jumped out of her skin with excitement, "He's gonna play us a song! Us! This is like a world exclusive!"


At this point Fred started to play the mini harmonica,
playing a gentle lullaby.
Slowly but surely, the song lulls them to sleep.
Fred took away the harmonica from his mouth and smiled, hooray! he had charmed the cats and now could finally get past them.
"Bet the pink rabbit is long gone by now though!" said Fred to himself.
Fred gathered his belongings and feeling his stomach squirm and tighten, withdrew the knife he had brought for emergencies.
Fred went over to the big heavy door and tried to open it, but soon discovered that it was shut tight and no matter what he did it wouldn't budge. Fred sighed, "another obstacle! Didn't think it would be this hard..."
Fred looked up at the high outer wall, thinking, and noticed that the wall was rather crumbling with bricks missing here and there. He knocked the wall heavily, but it seemed quite  sturdy still.
"Right!" said Fred "looks like I'm climbing!"
Fred threw his bag over first and then began the climb up the wall, taking his time, aware of the big drop below.
Soon enough Fred reached the top.
Checking the coast was clear on the other side, Fred took a deep breath and climbed down into the dark shadows of the castle.

Fred's Halloween Adventure Part 3

The Climb
With everything prepared Fred left the comfort of his home and headed back towards the castle and the steep cliff.
Standing in front of it, the castle loomed high overhead, burning against the cobalt blue sky, Fred was no longer so nervous, in fact he was rather intrigued by the mysterious castle.
Fred felt the first rushes of adrenaline through his blood and almost relished this challenge.
"Right," whispered Fred, "lets get this done."
Fred moved over to the entrance to the rocky path and came across his first obstacle.
Two rather large owls sat in the way, one perched upon a log on the ground, the other atop a supernaturally large mushroom, both glaring at him with unblinking amber eyes.
Fred approached them and spoke to the white owl, whose feathers seemed to give off a ghostly effervescence in the twilight, "hello?"
The owls just continued to glare, but slowly blinked their eyes at him.
Realising they had no real interest in him, Fred edged past them and began his ascent to the castle.
No sooner than Fred had began clambering up the steep incline, than he was accosted by a colony of bats.
They fluttered around his head and Fred threw himself to the ground, terrified.
It seemed to go on forever and bat after bat flew past Fred's head.
Eventually it grew quiet and Fred saw that the bats were not so big after all, in fact they were cute and fluffy. Fred felt that if he could fly, he could almost be a bat.
So Fred didn't feel so frightened now, but looking around Fred had thrown himself off into a valley and now was not so sure where he was.

"I know!" said Fred, and he hoked about in his bag, looking for...
...a compass! "Brilliant" said Fred, chuffed that he had remembered to bring it.

Fred took a wee seat and studied the compass. "Hmm" thought Fred, "if I can see the well from here, and the castle is north from that, then I must go... in that direction", and he pointed uphill to the left.

Fred started off in that direction, but had to be careful because he came right to the cliff edge and stumbled a little, almost falling in.
At this point Fred looked over the edge and was horrified by what he saw.
A glint of white, little pieces contributing to make up one grotesque reminder of Fred's dangerous journey: a skeleton.
As Fred peered down the cliff to the rocky bottom, he saw two more skeletons splayed out in a violent manner evocative of their untimely death.
But how did they die? thought a shaking Fred.
The cliff was dangerous, yes, but he didn't think anyone'd be silly enough to fall over the edge.
Something far more dark and dangerous was at play here, which filled Fred with a great terror.
Fred froze.
When he had set out to follow the pink rabbit, Fred had been scared but not once thought that he might die.
He didn't want to walk any further.
Fred sat down, opened his bag and looked for something that would comfort him.
Fred's hand slipped across the edge of the mini bible and he pulled it out, wondering if it would help him.
Fred opened the book at a random page, just where it fell open, and read a line, "So death isn't the end?" he said hopefully.
Being only a bunny, Fred didn't know much about religion, but he felt so relieved to be reassured that he would never be just a skeleton lying at the bottom of a cliff.
Phew, he thought, and he steeled himself for the next part of his journey.

Fred's Halloween Adventure Part 2

Fred gathers his courage.

Fred decides that if he is going to attempt to conquer the castle, he would need to be prepared.

So he goes home and gathers together all the things he think will be useful.

Looking over his assemblage, Fred felt daunted by his task, but he took a deep breath, gathering his courage and thought about what he would need each object for.


Weapons: a knife, a giant safety pin and a cheese grater.

Disguises: glasses, a bow-tie and perfume.

Navigation: a compass, mini pegs.

Good luck omens/ weapons against magic: a mysterious key, a mini harmonica, a mirror, a bible and teddy.


Fred planned his itinerary and found a handy bag to put all his objects in, except for the cheese grater and mirror, which were too big anyway and probably more hassle than they'd be worth.

Fred just hoped he wouldn't run into any vampires. At least I have the bible to ward against evil, thought Fred to himself.

Fred gathered himself and his belongings, with teddy careful stowed in the bag for company (and in case it got scary), and he went out into the dark night, breathing in the cold damp air and preparing himself for whatever may lie ahead, and hoping to unravel the mystery before he himself was unravelled.

Fred's Halloween Adventure Part 1

Following the Pink Rabbit
After Fred's strange day at the library, he was fed up of the drama he had got involved in. It wasn't his choice after all, he wasn't even sure really why he was involved.

Fred sat awhile in the library, just thinking it all through, and grumbling to himself "I just want an easy life" he said sadly to himself.

It was starting to get dark, so Fred decided he had better head home and he walked along in silence, his mind full of thoughts.

The evening was still and crisp, the stars glowing brightly in the dark sky, and a light breeze was whispering lightly through the trees, when Fred felt a shiver run up the length if his spine.

Ooh, thought Fred, that's strange.

It was just at this moment when Fred, standing looking at the stars in silence, remembered it was All Hallow's Eve.

A chilling feeling spread through Fred's body, making his heart feel like ice.

I'm not alone, he thought.

Fred, holding his breath, turned silently on the spot and peered through the dark night.

Through the darkness he saw the pink rabbit rush past him, seemingly unaware of Fred.

"The pink rabbit!" Fred whispered. 

It was this same rabbit, or so Fred 

supposed, that he had been told to send a secret message. 

It was also a rabbit that had not been that nice to him before, so Fred felt rather anxious.

Was this a trap, he thought to himself? 

Were the bunnies really rather bad and mean?

But was he not naturally on the bunnies side?

Fred was frozen in awe of the multitude of questions tumbling through his mind, twisting and tangling themselves through all the other unanswered questions he had.

He stood, and watched the pink rabbit clamber up the long hilly path in front of him, bouncing all the way up to the castle on the cliff.

Fred wondered why a bunny rabbit would go into such a creepy castle, up a perilous path, any day, let alone Halloween night.

Not much was known about the castle, mostly people never spoke of it apart from occasional hushed whispers and spooky rumours.

People had heard screams from its basement, and strange stories surrounded it like echoes of fairytales and witches lore. Mostly it stood in disrepair, an old, many towered, brick castle crumbling above a rocky cliff, only reached by an equally crumbling winding path. No one ever went up, because it was too dangerous, but occasionally lights could be seen glowing in the castle's windows.

Tonight, the castle was lit up bright, aglow with flames and light from the full moon and stars bouncing off its high walls. Something was amiss and despite the heavy feeling in his heart and the pit of his stomach, Fred realised the only way he would ever get to the bottom of his questions, was if he followed the pink rabbit right up to that spectre of a castle.

To be continued...

Fred does some research...

After his recent encounter with Bluey, the little blue chick, Fred was very confused. He wasn't sure whose side he should be on! Obviously he felt an affinity with the other bunnies, but he was rather frightened of the chicks, so he didn't really want to get involved. Involved, Fred was though, but he wasn't sure what the whole thing was about. Fred decided that before he did anything, he should do some research. So Fred went to the library.
Fred sat on a shelf and looked at the books, scanning for something that might be relevant.
"Aha!" said Fred aloud, "this looks perfect!" Hare and the Easter Eggs by Alison Uttley, Fred read to himself. "Hmm" mumbled Fred, gazing at the cover, hoping this little book would enlighten him about the whole ongoing Easter battle between chicks and bunnies.

Fred sat down and got comfortable, opened the book and got settled, prepared for a long day's reading.
So he sat and read the book from cover to cover.
At the end Fred closed the book and crossed his arms. Hmm, thought Fred to himself, I think I understand Easter a little better, but I'm not sure this story is true.

It was a cute story. Fred liked the main character, Hare, although Fred could never be so brave as he was, but Fred didn't like how Hare had stolen an egg. "Do bunnies steal eggs with chicks in them?" he whispered to himself. Fred was even more confused!

Despite how frightened he was, Fred was going to have to talk to the bunnies...

Fred goes to the Eden Project

Whilst in Cornwall, Fred decided to go on a day trip to the Eden Project.

Fred was amazed by the biodomes.

There was so much to

see but Fred was very happy when he found a little chair close to his size.

"This is great!" said Fred, "I could sit here all day!"

Fred even made some friends.

Lots of friends

Then he sat beside some flowers and realised it must be a lovely life to be a flower.

Perhaps he could be a flower?

Fred sat and mused over this idea.

His fabricy skin was covered in tiny flowers. "Does that mean that I'm part flower or a relative of flowers?"

But what type of flower?

Lavender?

Which type? Too many!

Or lots of other flowers?

Fred was uncertain, and he wasn't sure he'd liked to be stuck in the one place all the time.

So he discovered a great place, perfect for him, a boat to Fred's size,

the perfect way to feel at home but embark on many an adventure!

Fred's Dream