Norman and Willy Build a Clubhouse

Norman and Willy Build a Clubhouse

By Samantha Duvall & Robert Duvall

                               

          Norman and Willy were best friends.  It was a strange friendship.  Norman was an elephant and really BIG!  Willy was an earthworm and really small.  This is a story about them building a clubhouse.

          Norman and Willy were in the playground at school.  Marcus the monkey, Lola the giraffe, and Sally the panther were playing hide and go seek.

          “Norman, let’s go play hide and go seek with the others,” said Willy.

          “You sure, Willy?” asked Norman.  “They don’t like to play with us.”  Norman looked at his really big body.  “They say I’m fat and might hurt someone.”

          “You’re an elephant and all elephants are big.”  Willy laughed, “I’m the smallest one here.  You haven’t hurt me.”

          “Yeah, but you sit on the top of my head.”

          Norman walked over to the monkey, giraffe, and panther with Willy riding on top of his head.  “Can we play?” asked Norman.

          Marcus the monkey said, “We who?  It’s just you.”

          Willy wiggled his body and shouted, “Hey, I’m on top of Norman’s head!”

          “I can see the worm,” said Lola the giraffe.  “He’s kind of cute up there.”

          “Yeah, but you are tall,” said Sally the panther.  “And no Norman, you cannot play.  You’re too big and might hurt someone.”                              

          Marcus added, “Norman you are chubby.  Too chubby.”

          “Norman, you are as big as a house,” said Lola.

          Willy became angry.  “At least he doesn’t have a neck like a long tree.”

          “Come on Willy.  They don’t want to play with us,” said Norman.  “Let’s go.”

          After school, Norman is walking home with Willy riding on his head.  Marcus, Lola, and Sally are in front of them.

          “Hey guys.  Are we going to start making our clubhouse today?” asked Lola.

          Marcus said as he jumped up and down, “Yeah! Let’s meet at Sally’s house and do it.”

          Marcus, Lola, and Sally walked to the panther’s house to begin building in the backyard.

          Maybe it was from all the bouncing sitting on top of Norman’s head but Willy comes up with a plan.  “Hey Norman, let’s build our own clubhouse.”

          “That’s a good idea.  I have a lot of room at my house,” said Norman.

          The two best friends walked to Norman’s house and into the backyard.  Bushes, branches, and fallen trees were piled up to the side.

          “This is perfect,” said Willy.                     

          Willy hopped off Norman’s head and sat on a fence pole telling Norman what to do.  Norman took one big tree trunk at a time and slammed it straight into the ground.  Willy told Norman they needed wooden walls, so Norman held the planks in place as Willy tied them to the posts.  They left room for two windows and a big door for Norman.  (They also made a little door for Willy.)

          “How are we going to do the roof?” asked Norman.

          “We can use the bushes to lay on top of some wooden limbs,” said Willy.

          By dinner time, the clubhouse was done.  It was solid and really big.

          “We did a good job, Willy,” said Norman.

          “Yes, we did,” replied Willy.

          The next day was Saturday, so there was no school.  Norman and Willy decided to get a peek at the other clubhouse.  They walked over to Sally’s house.

          “Their clubhouse is kind of small,” said Norman. 

          “For you it is, but it also leans to one side like it is going to fall over,” said Willy.  “And there’s a huge hole in the roof.”

          Norman and Willy watched as Marcus, Lola, and Sally argued about how to make their clubhouse better.  They were not getting along very well.

          “Let’s go inside and see what it is like,” said Marcus.  So the monkey, the giraffe, and the panther went into their little, run down clubhouse.  They disappeared inside except for Lola’s head and neck which stuck up through the roofless top.

          Suddenly there was a low rumble.  And it grew. And it grew.  “Get out!” screamed Marcus.  But it was too late.  The whole clubhouse fell on top of them.

          Willy laughed and laughed.  Even Norman snickered and had a smile on his face.

          “Help us!” shouted the three trapped animals.  Norman walked over and began to gently remove the timber and branches.  Soon Marcus, Lola, and Sally were freed.

          “I guess being big isn’t so bad,” said Sally.

          “Yeah,” added Marcus, “you just tossed those big poles like they were toothpicks.”

          Willy whispered in Norman’s ear.  The big elephant nodded his head.  “Hey, you guys want to come over to our clubhouse.  It’s big enough for all of us,” said Norman.  “And then maybe we can play hide-and-go-seek.”

          They huddled up and whispered to each other, and then said all together, “YEAH!”

THE END