My Story Book

Boys And Girls Come Out to Play

                      "Come on, come on, come on, come with me tonight~" Jack's eyes shot open as he looked about the bedroom. It was dimly lit by the moon, and he could have sworn he saw a faint shadow glide across.

                       "Boys.... and girls.... come out.... to play~~" a gentle voice sang. It was so calming, as sweet as honey, Jack got out of bed and walked down to the living room, where he saw his brother Caleb sneaking a midnight snack.

                       "Leave your supper.... and leave your sleep.... join your friends.... out in the street~~" the voice continued to sing. Jack and Caleb looked at each other and opened the door to see a small crowd of children slowly walking in the same direction.

                       Curious, the brothers joined the crowd. That's when they saw a young beautiful figure floating in the sky. Her presence reminded them so much of their own mother, they couldn't help but follow her. The young girl kept repeating the lines 'Boys and girls come out to play', first in slow, gentle whispers, then steadily built up to a faster pace, and got louder and louder until all the children were enchanted by her beautiful voice.

                     "Ohhh boys and girls come out to play! The moon does shine as bright as day! Leave your supper, leave your sleep, join your friends out in the streets! Come with a whoop! Come with a call! Come with a goodwill or not at all!" the girl chanted. The children were so mesmerised by her tune that they kept following her as she bobbed along in the sky. Some children however, followed the instructions of the song, as some were naughty, so they broke out of the trance and made their way back home.

                     The others though, continued walking. All the way until they reached a great brick wall. With a simple wave of her hand, the girl conjured up a ladder. "Up the ladder.... down the wall...." she chanted. The children did not hesitate, and immediately began the climb, disappearing over the edge of the wall.

                  Once they were over the wall, they arrived in a beautiful place. It looked just like their homes, but it was like a children's paradise. Giant playgrounds, slides that went round the houses. Toys of all sorts scattered all over the place. What's more, it was so bright, anyone would have thought it was late dawn. But when you looked up, all you could see was the moon, and billions of stars.

                  The children laughed and whooped with joy at the sight. They ran about, happily making the most of their experience. In the distance, Jack could see the girl, smiling fondly.

                    Soon, the moon began to go down, and the sky began to darken. The girl clapped her hands as the children flowed to her like water. "Up the ladder, down the wall~" she sang as the children began to climb.

Jack's eyes blinked open. It was early morning. Caleb was fast asleep in the bed across from him, snoring soundly. The sun shone through the window. So, was it all a dream then? It was so clear. The place, the ladder, the girl. Dream or not, it was definitely an experience he would never forget.

Author's note:

This story is based on the nursery rhyme 'boys and girls come out to play' obviously by the title. I loved this rhyme so much when I was little, and it made me want to just run out into the night and play with my friends. So I just thought I'd write my feelings about it. Hope you enjoy! 😊