Merry Christmas Loopie Fans,

Remember to check out our Christmas Stories on Loopie World – Story 4 & Story 12!

“Top Secret – Stay Out!” The sign read.

Rufus and Ruff had locked their invention far away from the prying eyes of the Loopies. But today had been an emergency! Dollar D – the richest Loopie in Acersville had enlisted the Mayor’s help, in his militaristic manor, because he had been having trouble sleeping.

It was the middle of the night, but that hadn’t stopped Dollar D from calling Mayor Piney from his gold telephone. Dollar D was Acersville’s very own Millionaire and was of the mistaken impression that because he was rich it meant he could boss other Loopies around and pretty much do whatever else he liked.

“Piney! I need to sleep!” Dollar D had boomed at the sleepy Mayor earlier that morning.

“What can I do about your sleep problems?” asked Piney crossly.

“I don’t know! Think of something!” shouted Dollar D as he banged down the telephone. The Mayor’s wife, Dot, sat up in bed. Mayor Piney yawned.

“What was that all about?” asked Dot.

“Dollar D thinks I can solve his sleep problems.” Piney answered whistfully.

“What? At this hour?” replied an irritable Dot.

“That’s hardly an emergency!” she remarked.

Mayor Piney shrugged, not knowing where to begin, he decided to start at Rufus and Ruff’s house. They always had winning ideas for any emergency. He then got dressed and left for the brothers house. Once there, he apologized for his early visit and told them about Dollar D’s phone call.

“I suppose we could dig it out and test it.” said Rufus matter-of-factly to Ruff, after hearing all that Piney had to say, as he took a sip of tea.

The Mayor wasn’t sure what they were talking about exactly, but was only too glad that they had a plan.

“But it’s not finished yet Rufus! We still don’t have the missing ingredient!” protested Ruff.

They were talking about their secret invention, which they had kept hidden under lock and key, until they had acquired the “missing ingredient”. But despite Ruff’s better judgement and warning, they lugged their heavy creation over to Dollar D’s house for the “so-called” emergency.

Dollar D’s butler opened the front door as Rufus was about to ring the door bell, he had been expecting them.

“Right this way.” he motioned, leading the Mayor, Rufus and Ruff into Dollar D’s ornate bedroom. It had a plush emerald green carpet, with a king sized golden bed in the middle of the room. Dollar D sat there like a stuffed teddy bear waiting to fall asleep.

“Well then! What are you waiting for!” yelled the irritable Millionaire impatiently.

Rufus and Ruff shook off his ill manners and began hooking him up to their creation.

“What does this thing do?” asked Dollar D nervously.

“It’ll help you to sleep.” smiled Ruff.

They strapped him to the sleep monitor and switched it on. Then they stuck straws into his mouth.

“This is preposterous!” mumbled Dollar D. Mayor Piney stood snickering in the corner. That would teach Dollar D not to wake Mayor’s at midnight with trivial problems.

“What is this contraption!” yelled the Millionaire, pulling the straws from his mouth.

“It’s a sleep machine!” offered Ruff, happily.

“Just lie back gently,” explained Rufus calmly.

“Each of these straws leads to a glass of flavoured milk; strawberry, chocolate & vanilla.” He explained, pointing to the glasses on top of the sleep monitor.

Dollar D sat up and followed the curling straws with his eyes, and saw that they did indeed lead to the glasses of flavoured milk. He then took a sip from the straws and enjoyed the taste of the flavoured milk and for the first time that night, smiled. Then, the impatient Dollar D relaxed reluctantly and allowed Rufus and Ruff to continue positioning the “sleep tubes” as Rufus had named them, above his eyes.

“What do these do?” asked Dollar D, nervously, between sips of flavoured milk.

“Gently now.” Reassured Rufus, dimming the lights, as he flicked the switch on the machine, labelled “Lullabyes”

Rufus motioned for Ruff to switch the machine on. Ruff hesitated and looked at Rufus nervously. Rufus gave a thumbs-up to Ruff as he saw Dollar D look straight up the sleep tubes.

“Now!” Rufus whispered ferociously.

Ruff closed his eyes and flicked the switch, which caused the sleep machine to burst into life. The little vacuums leading into the sleep tubes began to suck sand from a huge bucket the brothers had set next to Dollar D’s bed. The vacuums sucked the sand up the tubes and deposited it right into Dollar D’s eyes! Dollar D sprang up from the bed screaming!

“My eyes! My eyes! You idiots have blinded me!” It burns!”

The Sleep Machine spluttered as Ruff switched it off.

Mayor Piney gulped. Rufus smiled as he prepared to settle the infuriated Dollar D.

“Beach Sand is a lot different to sleep sand.” explained Rufus.

“If we knew where to locate Sleep Sand, this beauty would work like a dream!” grinned Rufus as he patted his invention lovingly.

“The missing ingredient.” Ruff whispered to the Mayor.

“Well why didn’t you say so?” said Dollar D as he got out of bed, shaking the sand out of his ears.

“I know where we can find Sleep Sand and that blasted little Sand Man as well!” he shouted angrily.

“You know the Sand Man?” asked Ruff in disbelief.

“Yes! Of course I do! Why a man of my distinction has connections you know!” Dollar D said proudly, as he looked down his nose at Ruff, to further relay the class distinction between himself and the other Loopies in his bedroom.

“But sadly, he has stopped coming to visit me at night.” sighed Dollar D.

“Well why not?” ventured the Mayor.

“He says he wants a payment of some sort.” Dollar D replied.

“So why don’t you pay him?” asked Ruff gingerly.

“Because when I offer him money, he says that’s not what he wants!” said the angry but perplexed Dollar D.

“And that’s why you have trouble sleeping nights.” Rufus summed it up.

Dollar D agreed to lead them to the Sandman’s house, which was a neat little Sandcastle on Brenton beach. The Sandman was tiny, small enough to fit into your ear in fact, and looked a little strange in his night gown and slippers, without his night cap on.

Upon seeing Dollar D at the door he snapped crossly.

“Ahh, here to pay your debt I suppose!”

“I’ve already offered you all the money I have,” began Dollar D, “but you didn’t want that!” he finished in a huff.

The Sandman rolled his eyes.

“Ever heard of being as good as gold?” he asked the bad-tempered Millionaire.

Dollar D spluttered and shuffled a bit. Ruff snickered.

“You think this is a joke do you?” ranted the irate Millionaire.

“You think I enjoy not being able to sleep?”

“No.” smiled Ruff, “It’s just that you don’t understand something so simple.” he smiled.

Rufus nodded in agreement and then turned to Dollar D and explained what they all understood;

“The Sandman would like you to have better manners, he would like you to be as “good as gold”, when you do that, he’ll visit you at night, and you’ll be able to sleep again. Every thing in life can’t always be solved with money or bossing other Loopies around.”

Dollar D looked at the ground in embarrassment. And then whispered the tiniest of thank you’s, under his breath and then he actually smiled.

“You know, being as good as gold feels really good!” he said proudly, beaming from ear to ear, then he turned to the Sandman and asked kindly, “Will you please give me some of your sleep sand so that I will be able to sleep now?”

The Sandman nodded and the Loopies smiled.

From that day on Dollar D became the most well mannered Loopie, well at least most of the time. The last I heard from the Loopies was that he sleeps soundly every night, after having his favourite night time snack – 3 glasses of flavoured milk. Thank you Rufus and Ruff for your sleep machine and thank you Sandman for the lessons you have taught us, I think we will all sleep better tonight.

© 2011 Ingrid Holtshausen. All rights reserved.

It all started one windy day when Granny received a flyer advertising the annual Jamboree. Jamboree time in Acersville got jam lovers especially excited as the best jam makers from all over the country, from near and far gathered together to showcase their most delectable jams.

Granny grinned as she decided to enter her prize winning banana-lade jam. Once home, she got out all her pots and pans along with a truck load of bananas and equal amounts of sugar. The wind teased at her kitchen window and undid the window latch. The wind grinned as it carried the smells of the jam up the mountainside. A Shape who was resting in the long mountain grass smelt the jam, and jumped to its feet!

Now nobody really knows very much about Shapes except that they are one of Acersville’s funniest species, known for their monkey-like behaviour and strangely shaped bodies. They live high up on mount Peakmore and generally don’t come down the mountain, except on rare occasion and today was such an occasion!

The Shape stuck out its head and gave a mighty sniff. It could smell bananas and better yet, Granny’s freshly brewed banana-lade jam! Soon all of the shapes who lived ontop of Mount Peakmore had begun sniffing the wonderous smell of Granny’s jam. Then one by one they began hopping down the side of the mountain as if overcome by some force, compelled to go and seize the jam for themselves!

The Shapes made their way down the mountainside and toward Granny’s home. Now if you know anything about Shapes, you will know that they absolutely have no manners at all.  The How-wheeler monkeys rolled like wheels all over the place killing the neatly planted flowers along the streets.

Leechie shook her paw at them, “You, you villans!” she shouted angrily at them, but they took no notice, none of them did, especially not the Band of Square-illas who had hopped exciteably all the way toward Loopie Hall, followed closely by the Triangle Tangs.

The Babmoons rocked violently on their crescent shaped backs, knocking everyone in their way clean off their feet.

It was a disaster! A complete fiasco! It was so bad that no-body could go out onto the street for fear of coming close to a Shape and being knocked down or rolled over.

Now of all the Loopies in Acresville, none was braver than The Flame. The Flame was better known to the Loopies as Spoof, the quiet and reserved store owner from Spruce Street. He lived a quiet life and nobody would have ever suspected him of being a super hero in his spare time, none excpet for Rufus, Ruff and a few others in Acesrville, but that’s another story entirely! Now on this particular windy and chaotic day, Spoof looked out of his window to find Acersville in ruins. The Shapes had left no stone unturned in their desparate persuit of Granny’s jam.

“Something has to be done!” shouted Mayor Piney to the few Loopies who had braved the mayhem had gathered together in Loopie Hall for the Jamboree.

“But what?” asked Giligan nervously, who secretly wished he had brought along his security blanket, for fear of its safety of course.

“I don’t know, but something!” cried the perplexed Mayor who had to dive beneath a nearby table to avoid being kicked by a Triangle Tang who had been swinging from the light fittings.

“Leave it to me.” thought Spoof as he raced home to put on his Flame disguise.

The Shapes continued to raid Acersville eager to find the jam that had got them so excited in the first place. Petrified Loopies had hid themselves in their homes, with Shapes banging wildly at their doors and trying to enter through the windows.

Suddenly and out of nowhere the Flame came whooshing past! With such speed that the Shapes stopped what they were doing to take a look. As he whooshed the Shapes noticed he had covered his cape in banana-lade jam! Jolly good Flame that’ll get their attention!

The Shapes stopped, smelled the jam and raced after the Flame who ran dripping through the streets! The Shapes followed wildly in pursuit and forgot about Acersville almost instantly. Luckily for Spoof, he could run extra fast and he outran the Shapes with such speed that the jam had difficulty clinging to his cape! Spoof ran all the way back up the mountain, with the Shapes close behind.

The Loopies clapped and cheered.

“Three cheers for The Flame! Hooray!” they shouted.

Later at the Jamboree, Rustaberry was given a gold medal for his Topical Coconut Jam which he’d brought all the way from the Island of Not. But Rustaberry was not the only one to receive a gold medal! Mayor Piney issued the Flame with a gold medal too for the bravery he’d shown in leading the Shapes back to their homes on the mountain side!

That night Spoof smiled as he looked at his gold medal. He chuckled as he thought about those naughty Shapes and tired from the day’s activities, soon fell fast asleep. The moon smiled down on him gently and it watched the Shapes too, as they lay outstretched on the grassy mountainside dreaming of the day’s events and especially Granny’s banana-lade!

Goodnight Spoof, a super hero you are indeed, and may you be close by always, well at least wherever banana-lade jam can be found!

© 2010 Ingrid Holtshausen. All rights reserved.

Toffee smiled as he polished his glass trophy cabinet with a soft cloth. He had won every single trophy from every single car race ever held in Acersville. He looked at his glinting trophies and puffed out his chest with pride. He looked at the empty space on his shelf reserved for this year’s trophy and then up at his clock on the wall.
“Time to leave!” he grinned.

He was leaving for the Race meeting where Mayor Piney would be announcing the theme of this year’s race for all the Loopies wanting to enter. Every year the theme would change, last year the theme of the race was Birds. Toffee chuckled as he remembered his big chicken car driving over the finish line, covering the crowd in a great flurry of feathers. Mayor Piney had been coughing up feathers for a week after that!

Toffee rounded the corner and joined the other Loopies already there eagerly awaiting Mayor Piney’s announcement.

Mayor Piney finally arrived in his big limousine and walked into the centre of the crowd of Loopies, eating a big salami sandwich.

“This year,” he spluttered between chews,

“I’ve decided that the theme,” he continued at he took another bite of his lunch.

“of the race should be food.”

The Loopies smiled as the Mayor waddled off enjoying his sandwich as he went.

“Food,” thought Toffee.

Toffee thought and thought, what type of food car could he possibly build that would beat every other car that entered into the race? Toffee thought a little more and then chuckled to himself as he strolled home. He had an idea, a very wobbly idea in fact, but it would maybe just work!

A few weeks later, the Loopies gathered for the big Car Race.

All the Loopies who had entered drove their food car creations to the starting line. Mango and Sherbet, the twins of Acersville arrived with a sandwich bicycle car. Granny had helped them to paint the wheels of their car with her prize winning Banana-lade jam.

“It will help you stick to the road.” She explained as she slopped it on in huge dollops.

Next to the twins was Pilot’s hot dog car. He was very proud of his car and drove it slowly to the starting line, being very careful not to splash tomato sauce and mustard all over the road as he idled it along gently.

Behind Pilot was Toffee. The twins snickered and giggled from their sandwich perch as they saw his car, it was made entirely of jelly! Toffee waved at the twins and wobbled his car a little to make them laugh out loud. After Toffee was Crumpet’s Banana-spilt car, complete with whipped cream and lashings of chocolate sauce. Behind Crumpet were the Pirates and Wusky in their run barrel car, singing merrily and jo-ho-hoing!

“Ladies and gentlemen!” boomed Mayor Piney’s voice over the microphone.

“It seems we have a late entry.”

As he announced this Cabbage and Brussel-Sprout, the two naughtiest Loopies in Acersville rolled their cabbage motor-cycle to the starting line.

They nodded at Toffee and the other race entrants with naughty gleams in their eyes.

“Start your engines!” boomed the Mayor’s voice.

The robotic lights at the starting line flashed red then yellow and then green.

“And they’re off!” yelled Piney at the top of his voice as the Loopies and their food cars sped off.

Mango and Sherbet raced off, getting into the lead, but as they entered the woods the leaves and twigs littering the pathway stuck to their jam spread wheels! The banana-lade lathered wheels were so sticky, that they became caked in dry leaves in no time, causing the twins to go slower and slower until they stopped! The other racers cheered as they sped past the twins’ sandwich car.

“It will take forever to scrape this amount of junk off our wheels!” exclaimed Mango peering down to have a look.

“So I guess this means we’re out of the race?” asked Sherbet looking disappointed. Mango nodded and then took a bite out of his sandwich car. The twins giggled as they began munching their food car in the middle of the woods.

The race continued for the other Loopie racers as the race track went round a bend towards the mountain. Cabbage chuckled as she looked over her shoulder, the judges couldn’t see her anymore so she signaled her brother to carry out their naughty plan. Brussel-Sprout lifted a cabbage leaf on the back of their car and two hungry hyenas lept out of the Cabbage car and onto the race track.

The hungry hyenas raced towards Pilot’s hotdog car and began munching it up!! Pilot couldn’t believe his eyes as the two hungry dogs ate his car while he was riding in the race! They spotted Crumpet’s Banana-split car next and quick as a flash ate up her car too. Crumpet was cross. She shook her fist at Cabbage and Brussel-Sprout who were laughing and left her and Pilot in a puff of their smelly cabbage car fumes!

Soon Cabbage and Brusel-Sprout caught up to Wusky and the Pirates and past them too, now it was only Toffee that they had to get in front of to win the race. But Toffee was too far ahead and whizzed over the finish line, followed by an angry Cabbage and a not-so-happy-Brussel-Sprout. Last to finish were the Pirates, who were so jolly by now after drinking so much rum that they didn’t mind who won the race!

The Mayor smiled as he handed a shiny gold trophy to Toffee. Cabbage and Brussel-Sprout edged closer hoping to get some sort of second prize. The Mayor only looked them up and down and said,

“No one likes cheaters, or cabbages for that matter.”

The Loopies laughed. Toffee smiled and hugged his trophy, his silly plan had worked. His wobbly car had won the race!

© 2008 Ingrid Holtshausen. All Rights Reserved.

Download “The Wobbly Car” PDF Document

Continued from Story 4….Click here to view Story 4

“There it is it’s so bright I can see it!” shouted Mango.

“Are you sure it’s the Christmas star Mango?” asked Sherbet.

“I’m not sure but I think so! It’s too bright not to be” he shrugged.

Just then they heard a crash! They looked up and to their amazement they saw Santa Clause! His sleigh had just come crashing down onto a nearby roof.

“Oh, ho-no!” cried Santa.

“Rudolph, it must be that nose of yours sonny!”

Rudolph looked at Santa and then shook his head and peered down to have a look at where they had landed. It was then that he spotted the Loopies looking up at him and Santa and the crash landed sleigh. Santa peered down to, to see what had caught Rudolph’s attention and he saw the Loopies too, looking up at him with gaping jaws.

Santa blushed, “Shouldn’t you be in bed?”

The Loopies just continued to stare.

“In all my years of delivering presents,” he said as he began climbing off the roof.

“I’ve never been spotted once! Until now that is!” he said with a twinkle in his eye.

“So you really are Santa?” asked Tubblie in surprise.

“Who’d you think I was, Billy the Kid?” he said with a jolly laugh.

“Not so! Yur beard is too white for ye ta be going by a name like kid.” said Patch.

Santa starred at Patch, “Is he for real? Or have I just entered into a time warp and gone back to Halloween?”

Santa looked very confused.

“Why did you crash Santa?” asked Sherbet in dismay.

“I dunno, I really think I may have hit a time warp as we were following The Star.” He replied, still trying to understand why Patch was dressed up in a Pirate suit.

“He really is a Pirate Mr. Clause!” said Wusky helping to clear Santa’s confusion.

“One of my closest friends too, along with his piratey crew Wallace and Woody here.” He pointed to the other pirates hidden among the other Loopies of Acersville. They had all been on their way home from Granny’s house after their annual Christmas Eve Dinner trying to spot the Christmas Star.

“And you certainly didn’t hit a time warp, our very own Professor Astro would have been aware of that I can assure you!” explained Rufus, as he slapped the Professor on the back.

“You said you were following the Star?” asked Mango, very interested to learn more about Santa’s Christmas travels.

“Yes! You see that very bright, very pointy one, high up there?” he asked.

“Mango! It is the one you spotted, bravo!” cried Sherbet who was very proud of her brother!

“Well done! Maybe I should down load your GPS system and give it to Rudolph; it might make it easier tracking the Star next year.”

Santa edged toward Mango and tugged his nose. Mango giggled.

“What are you doing that for?” he asked.

“Where do you keep your GPS? Rudolph has his in his nose.” He replied.

The Loopies grinned a little. They thought Santa was very funny.

“We don’t have GPS systems but we could always repair Rudolph’s one for you?” offered Rufus.

“Would you be able to do that?” asked Santa a little surprised.

Professor Astro grinned at Rufus.

“Of course, don’t worry a second longer!” replied the Professor, excited at the fact that his scientific knowledge could help at such an important time.

“Well we’ll have to hurry we only have 6 hours till everyone wakes up to open their presents on Christmas morning and my reindeer are fresh out of Brandy.” said Santa.

“Brandy?” said Tubblie, his eyes getting their naughty Tubblie gleam.

“Yes, it keeps them warm in the cold winter air and helps them to run faster so we can deliver all the presents on time. I’m already way off schedule!” he said grimly, looking at his watch.

“We’ll soon have you on your way! Mango and Sherbet, take Santa for Mince pies at Granny’s and we’ll sort out the rest!” said Rufus, eager to get started on repairing Rudolph’s GPS.

So the twins excitedly showed Santa the way to Granny’s house while the other Loopies set to work on fixing Santa’s sleigh and repairing Rudolph’s nose!

The Loopies worked so fast, in no time at all Santa’s sleigh was ready to leave Acersville.

“Here you go Santa.” said Leechie handing the jolly man a remote control.

“That’s for turning Rudolph’s GPS on and off.” explained Rufus.

“I have fitted the GPS with an extra magnet so it’s pull toward the Star will be stronger.” smiled Astro as he patted Rudolph on the nose.

“You’ve all been so kind.” Smiled Santa as a small tear formed in his eye, he then bent down to give them each a gift.

“Now those are for Christmas morning, and sorry I couldn’t place them under your trees and in your stockings, but you do understand, the sun’s nearly up and I still have so many deliveries to make.” He said brushing the tear away with his red glove.

The Loopies nodded and thanked Santa for their gifts.

“Now!” he said taking a deep breath to settle his emotions.

“Who was it that spotted the Christmas Star?” he said smiling a jolly smile.

Mango raised his hand slowly.

“Well then hop aboard son, don’t you want to see it up close?”

Mango could hardly believe it! Santa had chosen him to ride in his sleigh on Christmas Eve!

Mango climbed up and sat on the velvety seat and breathed in the Christmas smells of Santa’s sleigh. It was like being in a Chocolate factory that made gingerbread cookies too! Mango’s experience was interrupted when Santa said, “Don’t you have a sister son?”

“Huh, oh, yes! Yes I do, her name is Sherbet.” blushed Mango.

“Well then Sherbet, up you come too.”

So Sherbet jumped up and ran to the sleigh to join her brother. The twins were so excited!

Santa then took his place at the reigns and cracked his whip.

“On Dasher, on Dancer, on Prancer, on Vixen!” Santa began calling out all of his reindeer by name. The reindeer began to run, faster and faster, until they were moving at the speed of light.

“Oh my!” smiled Santa, “My reindeer don’t usually run this fast!”

Mango and Sherbet looked at one another and grinned. That Tubblie he must have fed the reindeer his Lighter Fluid from the Brandy Bottle he had handed Granny at dinner! That naughty rascal! But still they couldn’t blame him, it was the best way to get the reindeer to run extra fast to help Santa get back on schedule with his present delivering! So on they rode over the frosty sky all the while getting nearer and nearer to the Christmas Star.

© 2007 Ingrid Holtshausen. All Rights Reserved.

Download “The Christmas Star” PDF Document

Sizzle, sizzle, splatter. Pancake was making pancakes. Pancake making is what Pancake did best! That’s why everyone called her Pancake. Today was a special day. Pancake’s brother, Pascal was coming to Acersville for the Surfing Competition to be held at Brenton Beach.

Pancake didn’t see her brother that often so she wanted everything to be just right.

Knock, knock, knock.

“He’s here!” squealed Pancake. She quickly tipped the last of her Pancake batter into the pan and hurried to the door.

“Pancake!” said Pascal, delighted to see his sister. The two Loopies hugged each other and then sat on Pancake’s comfy couches to catch up. They talked about this and that. They talked and talked. In fact they talked so much that Pancake forgot about her pancake, which is very unlike Pancake.

“What’s that burning smell?” asked Pascal after a while.

Pancake’s eyes widened.

“My pancakes!” she exclaimed, and ran to the kitchen. Her last pancake had burnt to a crisp and was as hard as a rock.

“We can’t eat this one,” she despaired to her brother, who was busy eating a pancake from one of her earlier batches, “it’s as hard as a board.”

Pascal’s ears pricked up, “A board?”

Pascal was the best surfer in all the seven seas and all the towns surrounding Acersville. Saying the word ‘board’ to Pascal was like saying the word ‘cheese’ to a mouse.

Pascal took the burnt pancake and hurried out of the house so fast that Pancake could hardly keep up. Pancake followed Pascal all the way to the beach and was just in time to see him floating over the waves on her burnt pancake! He disappeared under a wave and then re-appeared, riding the wave! He was using the pancake as a surfboard! Pancake cheered with glee as Pascal rolled out of the sea, carrying his new surfboard with him.

“Thanks Pancake.” He grinned, “This is the best surfboard I have ever had! And it will be perfect for tomorrow’s competition.”

The following day the beach was full of umbrellas and excited Loopies. They had all come to watch the Surf Competition. Wusky was serving juice in his Beach Cabana Café as fast as his hands could pour! The judges sat under a big shaded area with lots of cool water to drink and lots of scorecards to do their scoring.

The surfers lined up on the shore. One by one they each had a chance to ride the waves. When a surfer finished, the judges would hold up their scorecards, revealing what they thought of that surfer’s efforts in the sea.

Eventually it was Pascal’s turn to surf. He picked up his burnt pancake and headed toward the ocean. All the Loopies were astounded by Pascal’s funny looking surfboard. But they soon forgot about his funny looking board as he surfed, flipped and splashed in the waves. The crowd cheered and the judges gave perfect ten scores! Pascal was overjoyed and so was Pancake!

Later Pascal received a trophy and a medal for the best surfing that day. He smiled when the news crew interviewed him and said, “I couldn’t have done it without Pancake’s pancake!”

© 2007 Ingrid Holtshausen. All Rights Reserved.

Download “Pancake’s Pancake” PDF Document

Professor Astro was the nuttiest Loopie in Acersville. He would talk quickly and scatter his notes everywhere he went. Mango and Sherbet, the twins of Acersville would follow him all over and were always interested in his newest discoveries and latest inventions. This time he had interested them in his space ship. It was very big and could seat seven Loopies.

The Professor let the twins look inside his space craft.

“So when are you going to fly this thing Professor?” asked Mango excitedly.

“Oh yes!” exclaimed Sherbet, “Can we come too?”

“Uh…” Professor Astro looked frightened, “I never actually thought of flying the space ship. I just built it!”

The twins were very disappointed.

“What’s the point in building a space ship if you’re never going to use it?” asked Mango.

Sherbet looked as if she was going to cry. Astro looked nervous.

“If you can find someone to fly the ship, I will let you take it into outer space.” He offered.

Mango and Sherbet jumped and laughed. They were so excited. “Thank you Professor Astro!” They shouted as they ran out of the university. Professor Astro rubbed his head, what had he gotten himself into? He’d never flown anything before, especially not in space!

Later that day Mango and Sherbet returned to the university with Pilot behind them.

“Professor!” they shouted as they ran inside to meet him. “Professor we have found someone to fly your ship!” they panted. “No one can fly better than Pilot can!”

“I suppose you are right.” said Professor Astro, “Well Pilot have you ever flown a space ship before?”

“No I haven’t, but I can try.” he replied.

Professor Astro broke out in a cold sweat.

‘What!” he gasped, “And you want to take my precious invention up into the sky, into space!” Astro began hyperventilating.

“Calm down Mr. Professor sir.” said Sherbet rubbing his arm with her paw.

“Yeah Professor, give Pilot a chance. You don’t get anywhere without a chance!”

Professor Asro sat down and had some tea. He looked up at Pilot, “I’ll give you a chance if you promise to bring the twins safely back to Acersville.” Pilot and the twins cheered.

“Thank you Professor!” chorused the twins.

“I won’t let you down sir.” said Pilot.

Astro smiled, “If you are going up in space,” he said, “there are a few things you are going to need.”

“Like what Professor?” asked Sherbet with wide eyes.

“First you are going to need space suits.”

“That’s easy!” said Sherbet, “Granny can knit them for us!”

Mango and Pilot smiled this was going to be fun!

“Then you will need space helmets!” continued the Professor.

“No problem!” said Mango, “I’m sure Wusky has a few big Brandy glasses he can lend us from his Beach Café for helmets!”

“Or even better, fish bowls!” said Pilot, grinning.

Mango and Sherbet giggled at the thought of wearing fish bowls on their heads!

“Then the last and most important thing of all.” said Astro, very seriously. The Loopies looked intently at the Professor. “You will need four friends to go with you!”

Pilot, Mango and Sherbet cheered again, this was going to be more fun than they imagined.

They said hurries goodbyes to the Professor and rushed off to Granny’s house to ask her to knit seven space suits as fast as she could. Their next stop was Crumpet’s Bakery. They asked if she could pack them a picnic basket to take with them into outer space. Then they stopped at Wusky’s Beach Cabana Café to fit Brandy glasses onto their heads to use as space helmets. Mango’s ‘helmet’ got stuck on his head and Sherbet and Pilot had to get it off. What a commotion!

Eventually they had collected all the goodies they needed for their outer space trip. Now all they had to do was decide on who to take with them. They decided to take Granny because she had knitted their space suits and she had never been on a big adventure before. They also chose Crumpet because she had packed them such a lovely ‘Outer Space Picnic Lunch’. They decided to invite Wusky along too, because he had lent them Brandy glasses and fish bowls to use as ‘Outer Space Helmets’.

“Professor Astro has to come too!” said Sherbet as they walked back to the university to board the space ship with all their friends.
“Most definitely!” agreed the other Loopies.

They all boarded the space ship and waited for Professor Astro to begin the count down. The roof of the university opened slowly as the space ship turned and tilted toward the sky.

“Helmets on?” asked the professor, looking around the space ship at all the excited Loopies.

“Buckled in?” The Professor looked around again. Everyone was safely buckled into their seats and they were all grinning with excitement.

“Then away we go!” he said and began the count down.

The Loopies were so excited they began counting with him, “Five, four, three, two, one, BLAST OFF!” they shouted as their space ship shot through the sky and then hurtled through space. The Loopies gazed out of their windows in amazement at all the stars and planets they saw as they flew passed.

“I thought we could have our picnic on the moon.” smiled the Professor.

Granny giggled. Crumpet squealed. They were so happy that the twins had chosen them to come along into outer space.

With a gentle bump they landed on the moon. The Loopies hopped out of the space ship in their new space suits onto the surface of the moon. They soon discovered that on the moon, gravity is not very strong! So they used moon rocks to weigh down their picnic blanket and laughed as their picnic basket floated in mid-air. The Loopies had fun for the rest of the day and spent their time picnicking and pretending to fly!

Soon it was time to leave the moon and go back to Earth. So the Loopies tidied the moon while Professor Astro took some pictures and gathered some moon rocks to take back to Acersville.

The Loopies had a great time, I’m glad we could go too, aren’t you?

© 2007 Ingrid Holtshausen. All Rights Reserved.

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Air Loopie could always be found Air Gliding close to the top of Mount Peakmore near to where the Great Loopie lived. That’s how he got his name, as you could always count on finding him high up in the air! One day the Great Loopie had to go on a short trip for a few days and he entrusted Air with a special task.

“I’m counting on you to hang rainbows in the sky each time it rains.” said the Great Loopie, picking up his rucksack and heading for the door.

“I will be gone for a few days and I need someone to do it while I’m away.” He explained.

The Great Loopie was the wisest and oldest of all the Loopies. They didn’t know much about Him except that he loved them very much and that it was His job to look after the seasons, making sure they came on time and to put rainbows in the sky after it had rained.

“You can count on me Mr. Great Loopie sir.” Air put his hand to his head and gave the Great Loopie a salute.

“Very well then, I must be off and remember you can’t forget, it’s very important that a rainbow gets up into the sky after each rain storm. With your wind glider I’m sure it won’t be a problem. You’ll find the recipe in my Big Book.”

“I promise!” smiled Air.

The following day there was a huge storm. The rain clouds got big and puffy, lightning flashed and thunder crashed and rain came pouring down and Air Loopie got to work making his very first rainbow!

He found the Great Loopie’s Big Book and set to work following the rainbow Recipe inside. After some mixing he stuck his finger in the bowl and licked it clean. The mixture was sweet and melted away in his mouth, like Candy Floss, just not as sticky.

“Hey that looks like Air!” called Leechie from below, watching him hang the rainbow in the sky.

“You’re right!” Rufus agreed, ‘I wonder where the Great Loopie is? Usually He hangs a rainbow in the sky after the rain.”

So the two friends headed up the steep mountain path to where the Great Loopie lived to find out why the Great Loopie had left such a big job to Air. They found Air dusting off his Wind Glider.

“Looks mighty fine don’t-cha think?” asked Air as he nodded in the direction of his freshly hung rainbow.

“Must have been hard work doing it all by yourself.” said Leechie.

“Why are you doing it anyway?” asked Rufus.

“The Great Loopie is away and He said it’s very important, I can’t forget! He asked me to do it because I’m an Air Glider.” smiled Air.

The friends smiled as they starred at the rainbow for a while, until it began to melt and then headed down the mountain as the sun began to set.

The next day it rained again. It rained again the following day and the next!

Air mixed rainbows until he knew the recipe by heart.

“Whew!” he rubbed his forehead, this was hard work. By nightfall he had managed to hang the last rainbow.

“At last!” he sighed. “Maybe it won’t rain tomorrow and there will be time for me to have some fun on my Wind Glider!” he smiled as he hopped into bed, imagining the wonderful time he would have in the sky the following day.

“Surely it can’t rain again …” he mumbled as he fell fast asleep.

But sure enough, rain it did! The raindrops splattered on the window panes and drummed at the paving. Air felt exasperated! And then he felt plain angry.

“I’m not the Great Loopie,” he shouted, “and it’s not my job to hang rainbows in the sky!” he shook his fist at the rain and decided that today he just was not going to hang a single rainbow, no matter what the consequence!

So he ate his cereal, took his umbrella and went for a walk in the rain, making sure to splash in every puddle he passed! He drank hot chocolate and ate mounds of pancakes at Crumpet’s bakery. Eventually the rain stopped and the sun came bursting through the clouds.

“Looks like it’s time for you to head up into the sky with one of your rainbows!” smiled Crumpet as she cleared the dirty dishes from Air’s table.

“I will be heading into the sky today, but not with any rainbows this time, thank you very much!” he smiled as he paid for his meal.
“It’s time for me to have some fun for a change!”

Crumpet looked confused.

“But the Great Loopie said…”

“I know what he said, but what’s the worst that could happen?” and with that he headed for the mountain with his Wind Glider under his arm forgetting about the promise he had made to the Great Loopie.

So that day, true to his word Air didn’t hang a single rainbow! By nightfall nothing serious had happened.

“Just as I had expected.” He chuckled to himself, “I wonder what the Great Loopie was so worried about?” but Air fell asleep smiling before he could ponder an answer to his question, his rainbow hanging days were over and all that mattered now was having fun!

The following day Air left his house and was heading for his favourite Air Gliding launching spot on Mount Peakmore but found the Loopies to be in an uproar!

Crumpet was angry with Pancake because she had broken her promise and had eaten all the food in Crumpet’s Bakery again!

Wusky was angry because the pirates, who had promised to come in to the Beach Cabana Cafe early that day to learn how to fold cloth napkins had decided to go off looting and plundering instead. Something they had promised that they’d never do again!

Tubblie was up to his old tricks as usual and had forgotten about his promise to Leechie and Chelsea about being a better Loopie! It was a disaster, the whole town seemed to be falling apart.

Air began to slink away as he had some idea this was partly his fault for not hanging the rainbow yesterday after the rain!

“Air!” boomed a loud voice from among the Loopies.

Air gulped and turned around, it was the Great Loopie, He had returned from his trip.

“Why didn’t you hang a rainbow in the sky yesterday after the rain like you promised?” He asked, looking very disappointed.

“I just didn’t feel like it. I was tired and angry with you for giving me such a big responsibility. And I wanted to have some fun!”
Air replied, looking down at the ground.

The Great Loopie smiled, took Air in His arms, kissed him and forgave him.

“Rainbows symbolize promises.” He explained. “I put the first rainbow in the sky as a promise to Noah and his family and ever since then I’ve been putting rainbows in the sky.”

“Is that why everyone in Acersville forgot about keeping their promises?” asked Air.

The Great Loopie nodded.

“Do you think we can fix it?” Air asked, finding it difficult to look the Great Loopie in the eye.

“Maybe if we had an Air Glider around here somewhere we could, otherwise I’m not so sure it can be done.” replied the Great Loopie.

“Aye Aye Mr. Great Loopie Sir!” saluted Air as he ran off to make his biggest rainbow yet.

And from that day on all the promises in Acersville were saved, as the Great Loopie went back to putting His rainbows in the sky! And as for Air? You will still find him Air Gliding close to the top of Mount Peakmore, back flipping and swirling around rainbows after the rain.

© 2007 Ingrid Holtshausen. All Rights Reserved.

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Tap, tap, tap. Tap, tap, tap. Tap, tap, tap.
“That should do it!” said Crumpet, as she tapped the last few nails into her poster.
She was putting up posters on every lamppost in Acersville – and didn’t want any Loopie to miss the opportunity to enter her competition.

Crumpet owned the local bakery in Acersville and was looking for some new recipes to use in her shop. But not just any recipes, these had to be winning recipes!
So Crumpet had come up with a plan to have a baking contest. Her posters invited every Loopie to bake their best creation and bring them to Teak-tree Park the following day. The winning recipe would be used in her bakery and the winning Loopie would receive a gold medal!

The next day the Loopies were buzzing with excitement. They were all curious to see who the winner of Crumpet’s competition would be.
“I never thought so many would enter.” whispered Crumpet to a nearby judge, as Loopie upon Loopie walked by, each carrying a delicious looking cake.

“I think the gold medal did the trick!” he laughed.

“Well, whatever it was, I sure am happy about it.”

The Park had been beautifully decorated by Leechie and some Kinder Loopies, who had hung some festive balloons and streamers in some of the nearby trees. They had also set out huge tables for the cakes, decked with colourful tablecloths and festooned with pretty tea napkins and tiny forks.

All the Loopies that had entered Crumpet’s Contest had gone out of their way with their creations. Everything looked so yummy. The Loopies had made round cakes, square cakes, double-decker cakes and three tiered cakes. Chocolate cream cakes, chocolate fruitcakes, caramel-chocolate cakes and honey-treacle-cocoa cakes. There were big cakes and small cakes and even tiny cupcakes. It was an irresistible sight!

“Ladies and gentlemen and Loopies of all ages. Welcome to the first ever baking contest.” announced the spokesman to the Loopies who had settled down to watch the judging.

“Your wonderful entries will be sampled in just a moment. Then the prize will be given for the best tasting item.”

The Loopies cheered.

“Let the tasting begin!” cried Crumpet as she snipped the bright blue ribbon that held back the judges. The judges rushed forward, grabbed their forks and began tucking into the food.

The Loopies watched, wanting desperately to know who would win the gold medal, along with the title of ‘Best Baker in all Acersville’. Who would it be? Would it be Granny with her ever-popular Carrot-nut-chocolate Delight, or would it be Chelsea’s Chocolate- fudge Cake? The tension and excitement mounted as the judges began tasting, they tasted for hours! There was just so much cake. Layers of cake, piles of cake, towers of cake, mountains of cake!

The Loopie’s mouths watered, watching the judges eat was hard work!

Suddenly one of the judges gave a loud long burp. He looked at Crumpet; he really had had enough to eat. He looked as if he was going to explode!

Soon all the judges began to look like they’d had enough cake and candy to last until Christmas! Crumpet had to think quickly, there was still so much food!

“The tasting will now be open to all Loopies!” she announced quickly in a loud voice.

To the judge’s amazement the Loopies rushed forward. Every single one! They began to munch. They ate so fast that bits of cake, icing and chocolate flew in every direction!

The Loopies dodged the flying bits as they worked their way through the food. It looked like a food fight! Loopies had cream in their eyes and chocolate up their noses, but everyone was having such a good time, no one noticed the mess!

Eventually, there was no cake left, just happy Loopies with full tummies smiling contentedly. Every single scrap of food had been eaten.
Devoured. Every last crumb gone!

“Oh no!” cried the judges.

“What shall we do now? There is no cake left and we still don’t know who the winner is. Every cake we tasted was delicious.”

Crumpet smiled and looked at the Loopies.

“You’re all winners! You all win gold medals!”

So each Loopie got a chance to stand on the first place step of the podium that day to receive their gold medals. What an eventful, exciting, not to mention delicious, day!

And as for Crumpet’s bakery, well let’s just say she won’t be needing any new recipes in a hurry.

© 2007 Ingrid Holtshausen. All Rights Reserved.

Download “The Baking Contest” PDF Document