Story
Once upon a story, Emile was walking down the forest path. Emile was from South Africa and was not used to the forest path, as it was only his second day in England. He had arrived the day before on a flight to spend some time with his Grandad in England.
Emile now lived with his Grandad, and he was glad. Durban was alright, but he preferred the wooded fields of England. Emile had decided to explore a little today, so he had asked his Grandad if he could walk to the forest park and back. Grandad had said yes, but to be back within an hour. Emile did not have long.
He walked down the path to the swings in the forest park and sat on them. A girl walked down the path to where he sat swinging.
The girl said, "Hello, I see you are on the swings. I'm going to join you on this swing, if that's alright."
Emile said yes in his Durban accent. "I'm Emile," he said, smiling. "What's your name?"
"I'm Joanna," she said, smiling. "I haven't seen you here before. Are you new to the area?"
"Yes, Joanna," said Emile. "I arrived here yesterday from Durban in South Africa. I came to live with my Grandad. He wants me to go back to the house in a few minutes, but I can stay for a little longer."
"Do you need a push?" Emile asked.
Joanna said, "No, I'm alright."
Off she swung, high with her legs in the air. She smiled. Emile started swinging too and was smiling as well. The air was warm, the swing creaked, and it was a good day.
After a few minutes, Emile stopped his swing and said to Joanna, "Do you know the path into the forest? Are there any campsites or anything?"
Joanna said, "Yes, I know the path into the forest. It's easy; it's marked all the way. I can go with you if you like. Tomorrow. We can go tomorrow because I have to go home now."
Emile said, "That's alright. Yes, let's go tomorrow. I will see you here after school, alright? I live over by the bridge with Grandad."
"Alright," said Joanna. "See you tomorrow. Bye."
Emile walked past the swings back to Grandad's house. Grandad was waiting with the door open.
"Grandad, I made a friend! Joanna, and she's going to take me to the forest path, and we can see what's there."
He was really excited.
Grandad smiled. "That's good, I see. In you come."
Emile went inside and said, "What's for dinner?"
Later that evening, after dinner, Emile's Grandad, Paul, said, "Hey, I have something to show you."
Paul came over to where Emile was sitting in his bedroom and brought over a book.
Emile looked at the book and said, "Is that for me?"
"Yes," said Paul. "I saw it in the shop today and thought we could make a scrapbook of your time here. Have you ever kept a scrapbook before?"
"No," said Emile.
"Well, it's easy. Wherever you go, you can pick up clues or mementos of where you have been. So what shall we put on page one?"
"Well, I have your airplane tickets from Durban to England. Shall we start with that? You can stick the airplane ticket in the book and write about how you came to England and how long it took, so you will remember."
"That's so cool!" said Emile. "Yes, let's do that. Do we have glue?"
Paul said, "Yes, we have glue. Let's do it now. Here is the airplane ticket stub. Let me get the glue stick. Ah, here it is. Let's stick it in."
"Alright. Now you can draw your suitcases next to it and write about your journey. That will be day one in England. You can also draw that you had fish and chips as your first dinner here."
Emile said, "That's brilliant, Grandad. What a great idea. Let's do that. Tomorrow I will walk to the forest path with Joanna and pick up some leaves and things from the forest and make a page about that. This is so exciting. Thank you so much, Grandad. I had a good time today finding the forest park."
"Are you missing Durban?" Grandad asked.
Emile sat and thought.
"A little. It's very different to here. But I'm here today and I'm starting this scrapbook with you, and that's fun. So no time to waste. Let me get drawing my suitcase here."
Emile started drawing the suitcase.
"Do we have any photos of Durban, Grandad?"
"Yes. Let's get some of those stuck on the first page too."
"Yes," said Emile. "That's great. I won't be long colouring in the suitcase."
After bath time, Grandad sat with Emile.
Emile said, "Do you mind if I ask you some questions, Grandad?"
"What do you want to know, Emile? I'll answer as much as I know."
"Well, in the forest tomorrow there will be many seeds and plants I won't know because they won't have had them in Durban. Will it be possible to get a book, or have a look online, to find out what they are?"
"Yes," Grandad said. "That's a great idea. We can learn together."
"What's going to happen, Grandad?"
"What do you mean?" Grandad asked. "What's going to happen when?"
Emile looked down.
"Well, Mum stayed in Durban, and it's great to spend time with you, Grandad, but will Mum come to England, or will I go back to Durban? What's going to happen?"
"I see," said Grandad. "Right now, today and for the next two weeks, you will be staying with me here. After that, your mother will come to England from Durban, find a school, and get you settled into a new house. But you can stay with me as long as you like. Does that answer your question?"
"Yes. I miss Mum. Can we call her?"
"It's a little late in Durban. We can talk to her tomorrow before dinner, and then it won't be too late in the evening there."
"Thank you, Grandad. I love you."
"I love you too, Emile. Time for sleep now."
"Grandad, what will happen to Dad?"
"Dad will stay in Durban and live his life. He will visit you here, but your mother and father don't want to live together, so your mum thinks it's best that you and her live near me here in England."
"Any more questions, hey Emile?"
Emile looked up at his Grandad and said, "I will miss Dad very much. Even when he was working hard, he always read me a story."
"Yes, I know. It's very difficult, and of course you will miss your Dad, but you can call and write. You will have me here, along with your Mum. You will make lots of friends. Dad will visit too—he was talking about it the other day already. It will be alright."
"Yes," said Emile. "That's good. Alright, it will be alright."
"Tomorrow you can go and see the forest with Joanna, then bring some items back to stick in your scrapbook. You can draw too."
"Thanks, Grandad, for the scrapbook. It's a great idea. It will help me remember what happened, and I can tell Mum and Dad. Night night."