Tako's toy story

The ball hit the wall in Tako’s room, bounced
off the train set, crashed into the racing car, rolled across the dinosaurs and came to a halt on the stethoscope. “Oh, no!” cried everyone

Tako, the little chimp, was lucky. He had so many toys that many a time he didn’t know which one to play with. He would take the toys out.

One by one. Then, he would spread them out in his large room. He would play with his toy train for a little while.

He’d place the train tracks in a neat circle. The choo-choo train would huff and puff and go ‘choo-choo’ in circles. But wait, the huge red car was lying there, quietly. Surely, Tako had to get that up and running. “YAY!” Tako would say, excitedly. He’d run to the red race car and pretend to ride it. “Zoom! Zoom! Zoom,” he’d shout.


Who was that big fella peeping out from under the coat. Why, it was a dinosaur! Soon, all the dinosaurs would be on the floor. Little Tako would arrange them in a line. Oh, no! T Rex just suffered a mighty fall. Did he get hurt? Little Tako had no choice but to take his “doctor” set out. He pulled out the huge stethoscope and checked the dino’s heartbeat. “Sorry, T Rex. You need an injection,” said Tako. He pulled out the little orange tube from the set and stuck it on T Rex’s leg.

“Tako!”
He heard Mum call out.

“Yes,” said Tako.
“Dinner time,” called out Mum again.
“In a minute,” said Tako.

Tako pulled out the huge bunny rabbit from under his bed and scampered to the dining table.

Mum had laid out a delicious dinner. Tako had ripe bananas, juicy apples and lots of peanuts for dinner.

“Yum,” said Tako, smacking his lips.
“Will you read me a story before I go to bed?” Tako asked Mum.
Mum was pleased. “I will dear,” she said, hugging Tako.

Mum walked Tako to bed.
She saw Tako’s room.

It was full of wayward toys.
The train was chugging along.

The red race car was lying upside down.
The dinosaurs were lined up near the bed.

Parts of the “doctor” set were scattered all over the room.
Mum was not pleased.

“Tako!” said Mum, “your room is a mess!”
“I was playing,” said Tako.

“But the toys are everywhere! How can you even get to your bed?”  said Mum.
“No problem,” said Tako, “I can hop and skip to bed.”

“Well, how can I get to your bed?” asked Mum.
“No problem,” said Tako, “you can also hop and skip to my bed.”

“But, if one of us trip, we will fall, get hurt and break some of your precious toys,” said Mum.

“No,” said Tako. “We won’t trip, or fall down, or get hurt. And, we won’t break any of my precious toys.”

“Tako, you should clear up before going to bed,” said Mum, “so when you wake up in the night to use the bathroom, you won’t trip and hurt yourself AND break your precious toys.”

“No problem,” said Tako. “I won’t wake up in the middle of the night!”
Tako picked his way across the toy-strewn room and got into bed. “See? It is simple. You just have to follow me,” he said.

Mum, more upset than angry, was about to follow Tako when Missy, Tako’s friend, walked in.

Missy held a huge ball in her hand.
“Tako, want to play?”

Before Mum or Tako could reply, Missy threw the ball at Tako.
“CATCH!” she yelled.

The ball hit the wall in Tako’s room, bounced off the train set, crashed into the racing car, rolled across the dinosaurs and came to a halt on the toy stethoscope.

“Oh, no!” cried Tako.
“Oh, no!” cried Mum.
“Oh, no!” cried Missy.

Tako looked at the mess. The train set was in a shambles. The racing car had lost its handsome flashing light. The dinosaur’s tail lay broken, and the doctor was going to miss his injection needle!

Tako was in tears.
So was Missy.
“Sorry, Tako,” she said in despair.

“Don’t worry, dear,” said Mum to her. “It is a good thing that no one got hurt. I think Tako will agree now that it’s good to clear up.”
“Right, Mum,” smiled Tako.

Mum, Missy and Tako cleared up the room.
Mum read out a lovely story to Tako and Missy.
She hugged and kissed them good night.

From that day onwards, Tako and Missy always cleared up their room after they played with their toys. Do you clear up after yourself?