The Peanut Factory...To hear the sound click the green arrow on the control below...

This tale is based on a real life occurrence. It happened during my Christmas shopping a few years ago. You'll be glad you weren't there. Poor Uncle Tom might wish he hadn't been either, as you will see!

Uncle Tom was invited to stay with Wriggle and Squirm for the Christmas holiday. He was such a lively chap, who had travelled all the way from a farm in Ireland, to bring good cheer to Aunties home this year. Both Wriggle and Squirm were thrilled to know he'd be with them all through the holidays.

Well, Uncle Tom decided to celebrate the festive season with some seriously lengthy discussions over a few drinks. One thing led to another, with many debates on the rights and wrongs of the running of the country, until Tom was really very tipsy. He left his friends and headed for home, turning right by the peanut factory . " Ah, now ," he said, " Will you look at that nice plank of wood. Methinks I'll just take it as a shortcut to Aunties house". So he weaved his way up the plank, until his body could be seen rather high up, swaying from side to side. What he didn't know was the plank of wood led to the top of a huge tub of peanuts , all in their shells, and waiting to be bagged for the supermarkets. It was a rush job for Christmas . Singing at the top of his lungs, Tom went merrily along the plank with the whirring of the machines to be heard in the background.

Just as he reached the verse in his song which went, " Merry Christmas to me, good tidings to you", he hiccupped, lurched sideways, and fell off the plank into the tub of peanuts. He was about to giggle as he raised himself in an effort to climb out of the tub , when the machine which put peanuts into plastic bags , whirred into action.Tom was hurled along amongst peanuts and thrown down a funnel into a plastic bag. Another machine grabbed the top of the bag before Tom could get out of it . The bag was sealed.

Tom didn't last many hours before he could no longer breathe. His disappearance didn't go un-noticed, though . He was posted missing by Auntie. Everyone went searching for him, but to no avail. Noone could find him anywhere.

In the meantime the bags of peanuts were loaded onto a lorry and sent to a big Supermarket, where they were put onto shelves , ready for people to buy for their Christmas treats. That's where I found Uncle Tom. He was dead of course, lying squished, and barely recognisable in between the shells of peanuts. How sad it was for his family when I told them. ! "Still, " said Auntie," At least he saw his friends before he died.

It was a sad day, though, for them all. It was also a surprise for me to see poor Tom in that bag of peanuts. When I showed him to a friend who was shopping with me, we were quite devastated that Tom would not be joining us for the New Year Celebrations we had planned. The supermarket staff were very loathe to touch the bag he was in, not because they were afraid, but because they were so upset that this had happened to Uncle Tom whom they all knew so well. Indeed many of them had joined him in those discussions over a few drinks. It was a chastening thought for them all, when they considered what a few drinks could cause to happen to a poor old mouse who was only out celebrating this festive season with a few friends.

This tale can be downloaded free as an e-book on my downloads page. All E- Books are self extracting zip files, which shouldn't take long to download . Have Fun, Waggy

Don't forget to let me know if you enjoyed this tale. Please pop a note in my guest book:

If you have enjoyed this site and would like to see where the author lives then go to www.askannie.co.uk. Even better take a trip to Gwynedd , North Wales and travel on the steam train from Caernarfon to Snowdon for a wonderful day out amid the mountains and lakes of Snowdonia, where I live.

Some Titles Previously seen online are:

Jacobs Ladder, Wriggle & Squirm, The Peanut factory, How Soon, Flames in the Night, Fly by Night, Santas Helpers, A Christmas Cracker, Eric the Dragon, Farm Favourites, A Pointed Remark, Time 4 Truth.

Contact us for more info