DIZZY: Rosie? Rosie? Rosie? Hello everyone! I鈥檓 looking for Rosie. She鈥檚 not in her favourite armchair, which she lets Dad borrow from time to time. She鈥檚 not on the roof of the garden shed from where she watches the fish in next door鈥檚 pond. She鈥檚 not curled up next to the boiler. She鈥檚 not鈥 There you are!
ROSIE: Hello, Dizzy. Hello everyone!
DIZZY: Where have you been? I鈥檝e been looking everywhere for you.
ROSIE: You know us cats, Dizzy. We like to wander. I鈥檝e been out for a walk. To my special place. We live at 26 Woodside Lane with the Lucas family. Mum, Dad, and Molly and Noah, the twins. The name of our road gives you a clue as to where my special place is. It鈥檚 a little wood, where the grass is very long and the bushes are overgrown. It鈥檚 the best place around here to sneak up on the mice! Especially at night when my black fur blends in with the dark.
DIZZY: Ooh, that鈥檚 a bit scary, Rosie. Where鈥檚 Dad鈥檚 special place?
ROSIE: The garden, I think. He鈥檚 very happy mowing the lawn or planting flowers.
DIZZY: Or snoozing in the deck chair on a sunny afternoon! Ha, ha! Mum鈥檚 special place is the caf茅 at the park. She takes me there nearly every day. I know all her friends and all her friends鈥 dogs. What about Molly and Noah?
ROSIE: I remember a time when Noah was sad because he didn鈥檛 have a special place. He had come home one afternoon saying his teacher, Miss Fuller, had asked all the children where their special places were. Molly had found that an easy-peasy question to answer. She said it was granny鈥檚 house, because it always smelled of baking and she was allowed to help decorate the fairy cakes with icing and hundreds-and-thousands.
DIZZY: She said her friend Hannah鈥檚 special place was a corner of her bedroom, where she sat on big brightly-coloured cushions and read her favourite books. Jimi鈥檚 special place was the football pitch because he loved scoring goals.
ROSIE: But Noah didn鈥檛 have an answer. He told Mum he had thought about his bedroom with its superhero posters on the wall and the fire engines on his duvet cover. He liked going to bed and snuggling under that duvet鈥ut he couldn鈥檛 say that.
DIZZY: Bathtime was fun. He still enjoyed playing with his action figures and his model sharks in a bath full of warm bubbles. Did that count? Everyone had baths so, no, it wasn鈥檛 special enough. The next afternoon Mum walked me to school to meet Noah and Molly. We stood at the school gates and I wagged my tail at all the children and parents I recognised. Noah ran across the playground to meet us. 鈥榊ou look happy,鈥 said Mum. 鈥榃hen we get home you can tell me all about your day.鈥
ROSIE: Molly and Noah have a glass of squash and a choc-chip cookie when they get home from school.
DIZZY: I lurk under the table on crumb watch!
ROSIE: Noah told us all about his day. In assembly they had sung his favourite hymn. He had got all his spellings right in the test that morning鈥
DIZZY: 鈥t had been curry for lunch 鈥 his favourite school dinner! He had painted a picture in Art of a tropical rainforest, which they were doing in Topic. Towards the end of the day he had looked around the classroom and seen Karl and Morgan and Rageh and Hannah and鈥veryone! He had so many friends at school!
ROSIE: And that鈥檚 when it came to him. He had been thinking so hard about where his special place could be that he hadn鈥檛 realised the answer was right in front of him. Noah鈥檚 special place was school!
DIZZY: Shouldn鈥檛 the family be home by now? I鈥檒l go and sit by the front door and wait for them. Bye bye, everyone!
ROSIE: And I鈥檓 going to have a little nap in another of my special places. Soft and squidgy armchair, here I come. Bye bye!
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