The Adventures of Freya Joy Carter

Chapter 1



On a very sunny day not far from here, a little girl called Freya Joy Carter went for a walk with her mummy and daddy.

They fed the ducks, watched the swans, and went to the beach.

Freya Joy Carter dug a hole.

She dug down all afternoon, only stopping for sandwiches and a swim in the sea.

She climbed into the hole and dug even deeper. She threw the sand out of the hole. Some of it hit daddy. Daddy didn’t mind.

Just as Freya Joy Carter was about to stop digging her hole, she saw something very shiny poking out of the ground.

It was a key!
Chapter 2

Freya Joy Carter tugged at the key.

It wouldn’t move.

She pulled harder...

and harder...

and harder...

and the key came out of the ground!

There was a little letter attached to the key. Here is what the letter said:

I OPEN THE SKY.

Freya Joy Carter climbed carefully out of the hole, and showed the key to mummy.

“It must be a magic key,” said mummy. “Are you going to see if it works?”

Freya Joy Carter reached up into the sky with the key in her hands.

Nothing happened.

Freya Joy Carter was very sad. Suddenly, daddy whisked her up onto his shoulders.

“Come here, FJC,” said daddy.

Freya Joy Carter pushed the key up into the sky again.

It worked!


Chapter 3

Freya Joy Carter unlocked the sky.

The reason we can’t all walk in the sky is because it is locked to us. The lock is about six feet above the ground - a bit taller than daddy.

Freya Joy Carter climbed bravely up into the sky, and daddy handed her a warm scarf.

“Wear this,” he said. “It gets cold in the sky.” He knew he didn’t have to tell her to be careful.

A blonde seagull wearing glasses swooped down to Freya Joy Carter.

“Hello,” it said. “My name is Andy the seagull. You must be Freya Joy Carter. Would you like to come adventuring in the sky?”

“Yes, please,” said Freya Joy Carter, very politely.

The seagull looked at mummy and daddy to make sure, and they smiled.

“Tea is at 5 o-clock,” said daddy.

“Remember to say ‘thank you,’” said mummy.

“Thank you,” said Freya Joy Carter.

Andy the seagull let out a loud shriek, but Freya Joy Carter didn’t mind, because she knew this was how seagulls talked to each other.

Sure enough, soon a whole flock of seagulls appeared in the sky. Behind them they pulled a strange device. It looked like a sledge, but instead of travelling through snow, it travelled through sky. It was a pointy shape, to make it aerodynamic and easy to pull.

Andy the seagull harnessed himself to the sky chariot and Freya Joy Carter climbed carefully in.

Chapter 4

The Sky Chariot climbed higher and higher. Freya Joy Carter sat very sensibly and held on to the rail. She wasn’t frightened but it was a long way down.

In the distance, Freya could see a huge bank of clouds. As they got closer, she could see that the clouds were really a Sky Citadel.

Andy the seagull turned to her.

“We are going to show you our city; it is called Cumulus Nimbus. We named it after the clouds.”

Freya thought the cloud city was very pretty.

“Do you like the city?” asked Andy the seagull.

“Yes, it’s very pretty,” replied Freya.

The Sky Chariot swooped down into the Citadel, pulled by the flock of seagulls.

Inside the Citadel, Freya could see castles made to look like wings, and experimental modern cloud buildings in the shape of aeroplanes.

She could see seagull shops selling free range fishes in giant fish tanks, and feather grooming kits.

She could see a giant stadium where the seagulls practiced ducking and diving and wheeling and whispering.

Andy the seagull took Freya to the seagull library where all the seagull thoughts from the whole Citadel were kept. Andy’s job was to learn about all the thoughts and teach them to other seagulls so no-one had to work everything out for themselves.

Freya spent some happy time in the seagull library, but she liked the seagull stadium best.

After a while, Andy the seagull said he thought it might be time for Freya to go on a different adventure.

“Have a look at that key,” he said.

Freya was surprised to find it had a new letter attached, and this one was written in suspiciously bird-like handwriting. It said this:

I OPEN THE SEA.

Chapter 5

Freya smiled and climbed carefully back into the Sky Chariot. With a swoosh of feathers, the flock pulled the Chariot back into the sky. Freya waved as the Citadel disappeared behind them, and the seagulls in the Citadel waved back.

The Sky Chariot shot across the earth and down and down to the sea again.

Closer and closer it came.

Andy the seagull turned to Freya one last time.

“Use the key, Freya Joy Carter,” he said.

“OK,” said Freya. “Thank you,” she added.

She waited until the Chariot was almost at sea level, then got out her key.

At that moment, a black and white streak shot up from the depths of the ocean.

It was a penguin!

“Hello,” said the penguin. “My name is Pete the Penguin. You must be Freya Joy Carter. Would you like to come adventuring in the sea?”

“Yes, please,” said Freya.

“Just a minute,” said Andy the Seagull.

He gave Freya a beautiful ball.

“This ball is very strong,” he said. It is impossible to break it. This makes it very valuable, in the right hands.”

Andy the seagull gave Freya a firm handshake, fingers to feathers.

“Come on then,” said Pete the Penguin.

Pete the Penguin showed Freya where to hold on to his water-wings, and piggy-backed her all the way down into the sea.

Freya could see...

A coral reef, with a whole school of fishes living inside, nipping between the different rooms to borrow seaweed for their garden fences, and also cuttings of sea-cucumber.

A fishy highway, with thousands of fishes shooting along in all directions, being sure to look where they were going.

A fish gallery, where all the prettiest things were kept. There were shiny tapestries made from reeds, with lots of different colours woven in, and drawings of the tides.

Freya could see a very exciting looking game.

Pete the Penguin took Freya very close to the game so that she could see clearly.

She could see...

All the tallest fishes throwing a Sea Ball around, and trying to get it into a net made of seaweed. They were all riding on sea horses.

“Would you like to play?” asked Pete the Penguin.

“Oh, yes, please!” said Freya. She especially wanted to ride on a sea horse.

Pete the Penguin piggy-backed Freya down to the game. All the fishes stopped the game, and one of the team captains came to talk to her.

The team captain was a Jelly Fish named Julia. When she wanted to score a goal, she would gather the ball up into her back, then send it shooting out again.

Julia the Jelly Fish’s team wore bright orange, because this is one of the easiest colours to see under water.

“Hello”, said Julia the Jelly Fish,” my name is Julia. You must be Freya Joy Carter. Would you like to play on my team?”

“Yes, please,” answered Freya.

Julia the Jelly Fish introduced Freya to her sea horse, who was called Mittens.

Freya climbed onto the sea horse, and the game began again!

Freya raced out onto the pitch, and the water streamed out behind her. She went as fast as she could, and the sea horse turned lots of times to make sure it was an exciting ride.

Freya caught the ball when it was thrown by a nearby eel, and raced off towards the goal.

She scored 15 goals before the referee, who was a pike fish, called half time.

“Well done, Freya Joy Carter” said Julia the Jelly Fish. I think we might win the game now you have scored 15 goals for us.

Pete the Penguin looked thoughtfully at Freya.

“Yes,” he said. “You are very good at playing Water Ball. Maybe you can help us.”

“I’ll try,” replied Freya.

She said “thank you” to Julia the Jelly Fish, and then Pete the Penguin took her to the very edge of the water city.

High up above them was a gap where the air was coming in.

“My friends the fishes can’t breathe the air that is coming in,” said Pete the Penguin. “We need to block up the gap to make sure only water can come into our city. We need something very strong to hold out the air. Air is very good at finding a way in. Can you help us?”

“I’ll try,” said Freya. “I could use my special ball from the Sky Citadel to block the hole.”

Freya concentrated very hard.

She looked very carefully at the gap, and she looked very carefully at her ball. She raised her arm, and threw the ball as hard as she could.

It hit!

There was a thunk as the ball went straight into the hole, and then a sudden silence as the air stopped rushing through.

“Well done, Freya!” said Pete the Penguin. “You have blocked the hole. I am sorry you had to use your special ball. Here is a very useful piece of stone instead.”

Pete the Penguin gave her a black stone with a sharp edge.

“It may look boring,” said Pete the Penguin, “but this is a special sort of stone. It can cut through almost anything.”

“Thank you,” said Freya, and wrapped it up carefully in her scarf.

“You’re welcome,” said Pete the Penguin, “now, have another look at that key of yours.”

Freya took out the key and was not surprised to find another note attached to it, this one in very fishy handwriting.

It said this:

I OPEN THE EARTH.

Chapter 6

“Would you like to visit the earth, Freya Joy Carter?” asked Pete the Penguin.

“Yes, please,” said Freya.

“Right, then!” replied Pete the Penguin, “down we go!”

Freya climbed onto the penguin’s back and gripped tight to his water wings. Pete the Penguin zoomed down deeper into the depths of the water.

Freya could see...

All the strange, darkness-dwelling fish. They peered shyly out from the lairs where they crept along the walls and whispered to each other.

“Don’t be frightened,” said Pete the Penguin.

But Freya wasn’t frightened. She was Interested.

From the penguin’s back, Freya could see the strange pilot fish with their little tiny lights, and she could see all the other fish, the kind that don’t see with their eyes at all.

“They can see using their fins,” explained Pete the Penguin. “They can feel the vibrations of other things moving in the water.”

Freya was very interested.

Freya saw the dark, willowy plants that live at the very bottom of the ocean. Some of them were as tall as trees, and Freya stretched out her hands to touch them because she wanted to see them in the same way that the dark deep fishes see.

Eventually, when they had gone so deeply into the sea that they couldn’t see the sun at all, Pete the Penguin set Freya down.

“Time you used that key,” said Pete the Penguin.

Freya nodded, and took out her key.

At that exact moment, a mole popped her head up from the earth in the bottom of the sea. She was wearing a water-proof bubble on her head.

“Hello,” said the mole, my name is Jo the Mole, You must be Freya Joy Carter. Would you like to come adventuring in the earth?”

“Yes, please,” said Freya.

Freya turned to Pete. “Thank you for my adventure,” she said.

Pete the Penguin smiled, and shook her by the hand, wing to finger.

He winked at the mole, then shot straight up from the sea bed. Freya and Jo the Mole watched until he was out of sight.

“Come along, then,” said Jo the Mole, and disappeared quickly down the hole.

Freya took one last look at the sea, then dived bravely into the hole after the mole.

The hole was velvety on the inside, and Freya slid all the way down it and landed with a soft thwump at the bottom.

She looked up and found she was in an enormous cavern!

It was lit with glowing rocks, and stretched out for miles and miles. There were lots of moles in the cavern, and they were all working together to make it strong and collect food.

But it wasn’t just moles in the cavern. As Freya sat on the ground staring about her, a giant spider ambled past!

It stopped for a moment and turned towards her. The spider smiled vaguely and then wandered on. A few moments later, it was deep in conversation with a worm.

Just then, Jo the Mole reappeared.

“Would you like to see the work we’ve been doing?” she said.

“Yes, please,” replied Freya.

Jo the Mole took Freya across to the far edge of the cavern. On the way across the cavern, Freya saw...

A chess competition between a team of stag beetles and a badger...

A team of worms who had twisted themselves into a very tight net. Freya didn’t understand why they had done this, until she saw that it was a game!

Lots of beetles had queued up to take their turn at jumping into the worm net and being bounced up to the roof and caught again...

A group of earth worms slithering around the floor of the cavern to make it smooth.

Freya and Jo the Mole reached the far end of the cavern.

“We’re making the cavern even bigger,” said Jo the Mole. “There are lots of earth creatures living here.”

Freya could see lots of moles and badgers working very hard at one section of the wall.

“We can’t get through this bit,” Jo the Mole explained, “even though our claws are very sharp.”

Freya thought for a moment, then pulled out her scarf.

She put it on the ground and unwrapped it very carefully until she reached the sharp stone she had been given by Pete the Penguin.

“Maybe you could use this,” said Freya.

Freya took the sharp stone and pushed it into the hard stone. The hard stone cracked.

Jo the Mole beamed. “Thank you, Freya Joy Carter,” she said, “I think you might have solved our problem!”

All of the moles and badgers were so pleased they could get through the wall using Freya’s sharp stone that they decided to take the rest of the day off.

They cleared away the chess to make space, and the worms untangled themselves, and the moles and the badgers took off their hard hats and put their tools away.

They got out their underground musical instruments and played their earthy songs.

Freya danced with all the beetles and the worms and the spiders.

When she was too tired to dance any more, two of the spiders made a special web-hammock for Freya.

“Thank you,” said Freya, and she climbed in and had a nap.

After a while, Jo the Mole woke her up gently.

“Freya Joy Carter,” the mole whispered, “it’s time for you to go home now, or you’ll be late for tea.”

Freya opened her eyes and climbed out of the hammock.

“This way,” said Jo the Mole.

Freya said goodbye to all the earth creatures, and followed the mole down a long, warm tunnel.

Eventually, Jo the Mole stopped, and sniffed at the ceiling.

“This is it,” she said.

Jo the Mole dug quickly straight upwards.

Freya followed her, and found herself in the sunlight again, right in her own back garden!

Freya could see mummy and daddy cooking tea through the kitchen window.

“Look at your key,” said Jo the Mole.

Freya looked for the key, and was very surprised indeed to discover that it had turned into a beautiful necklace.

“You can keep it,” said the mole.

“Thank you,” said Freya.

Mummy and daddy waved from the window. Freya and the mole waved back.

Freya turned back to the mole. “Thank you for my adventures”, she said.

Jo the Mole smiled, and shook Freya’s hand, claws to fingers. Then she disappeared back into her hole.

Freya walked back into her house. She was very hungry after all her adventures.

Luckily, it was time for tea.


This is a children's story (I hope you can tell!) I have written for my friends' baby, who has just been born. Her name is, unsurprisingly, Freya Joy Carter. :-)