Do Fish Wear Pyjamas?
The Quest for The Great Book of Kildare.
This Book was written to be read! Sculpted from the wonderful imaginations of the girls of 3rd Class Scoil Bhride Naofa, Kildare and the boys of 3rd Class Scoil na Mainistreach, Kildare, 2010-2011.
It was written because Aidan McKeown and Sr. Brid Kenny believed it could be and it was brought to life by David Butler.
May the idea behind it prove to be an inspiration to others in the same way the children of Kildare have been an inspiration to us.
M.C.
Dedication
Mario - My wife Colette and our children, Eve and
Jack Corrigan
Kids and Library Goers everywhere All the children of Kildare who will preserve our past in their future.
David Butler wishes to dedicate his work to his partner Marcella and his two wonderful children Erin and Ava. Thanks for the loving support.
Printed in hardcopy in 2011 by Naas Printing Ltd.
Published in ebook format by Mario Corrigan, David Butler and Kildare Library & Arts Services, 2012
ISBNS
EPUB: 978-1-909007-56-7 MOBI: 978-1-909007-57-4
Text © Copyright Mario Corrigan 2011
All illustration + Artwork
© Copyright David Butler 2011
http://www.anithingartist.com
http://www.dofishwearpyjamas.com
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including downloading, photocopying or recording, or by any information storage or retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher. The text and illustrations remain the property of the author, and illustrator respectively.
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment.
Check Out http://www.dofishwearpyjamas.com
Do Fish Wear Pyjamas?
The Quest for The Great Book of Kildare.
Mario Corrigan
illustrated by
David Butler
Kildare Library & Arts Services
CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE
IN TIME FOR BREAKFAST
CHAPTER TWO
GOOLETTA GETS KNOCKED OUT
CHAPTER THREE
GONZO AND THE ALIEN ON THE PIANO
CHAPTER FOUR
THE LAND OF GOO
CHAPTER FIVE
ESCAPE TO ST. BRIGID’S WELL
CHAPTER SIX
GONZO AND BEBOB AT THE BLACK ABBEY
CHAPTER SEVEN
THE DEAD KNIGHT’S TREASURE
CHAPTER EIGHT
THE CHAPEL OF MARY GREY
CHAPTER NINE
THE CROSSKEY!
CHAPTER TEN
TRAPPED!
CHAPTER ELEVEN
BRIDIN’S DISCOVERY AND GONZO’S VISION
CHAPTER TWELVE
A TERRIBLE ENCOUNTER!
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
SANCTUARY
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
A SAD PARTING
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
BY ALL THAT IS GOOD AND TRUE!
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
OLD HABITS
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
TO THE VERY TOP OF THE WORLD
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
BRIGID’S FLAME
CHAPTER NINETEEN
BRIGID’S ARTIFICER
CHAPTER TWENTY
THE FLAME EXTINGUISHED
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
THE ALARM AT ALLEN
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
A QUICK DECISION
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
A FRIEND INDEED!
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
THE FINAL BATTLE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
GOODBYES AND EXPLANATIONS
EPILOGUE
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
FOREWORD
It was a simple idea really – I had a title, Do Fish Wear Pyjamas? and a character’s name, – BebobZippityBob - because they were silly, funny and allowed the kids the freedom to go anywhere. That was it. I arranged with Aidan McKeown and Sr. Brid Kenny, to visit four classes – two third classes in the girls primary school and two in the boy’s primary school, in Kildare Town. Seemed easy – turn up with a title and the name of one character and ask a few questions, give a few directions and write a book.
One intensive day of class visits, note taking, voice recordings and a follow up email from one of the teachers fairly identified key elements which might become plots or subplots as well as the crucial character descriptors and dietary supplements which formed the basis for a draft. Then it was a matter of sitting down and writing the story which developed as I typed. I had produced a walking tour of the town called ‘The Hundred Acres’ which essentially became the backdrop to the story. The kids limitless imaginations and their enthusiasm for the project meant that anything could and indeed should happen so if it became a little ‘unreal’ it was only natural.
Just because you write a story does not mean it is any good. I gave copies to children from 9-13 years and the response was great - all seemed to thoroughly enjoy the story. Hopefully it will prove entertaining to other young readers because that’s why it was written – how it was written is important in that it might prove to young readers and library users that literature is something wonderful, attainable and achievable to us all and maybe we will see a book being written by some of these kids from Kildare in future years. Hopefully others from outside of Kildare will read it and become fascinated by the town and its history and maybe they will write a book of their own about their special town or area.
Mario Corrigan June 2011
Do Fish Wear Pyjamas?
PROLOGUE
Only fragments of the ancient prophecy survived!
And so was it once written:
…
Two strangers and two friends endure
To shake the world, to be but pure
By all that is good and all that is true
From you to me and me to you
…
Brigid’s Cloak, and Cross, and Fire
Conleths’ Crozier, and Friends Perspire
A dark and evil threat to face
A mortal challenge to their race
…
And so the marks must all be read
To turn the tale upon its head
To win the day and save us all
Unlikely heroes heed the call
CHAPTER ONE
IN TIME FOR BREAKFAST
BebobZipptyBob or Bebob for short and Gooletta, better known to her friends as Gooey, had been travelling for a long time. They had hitched a ride on a passing meteor and came to Earth very early in the morning. Jumping off, they had flown down to the surface, finally landing on top of the ruins of the old Castle of Kildare. This seemed like as good a place as any to start their quest — they were a feeling a little weird and a little tired and very hungry but they were both extremely excited.
First things first — they would have some breakfast. They opened their interplanetary space adventure guide book and saw a very long list of what people on this planet ate for food. Making up their minds up to be adventurous, they pressed a button on their space cooker and, BAM! — they had breakfast. Gooey had broccoli porridge with a big dollop of mayonnaise followed by a mixed vegetable smoothie. She knew that the children here would have cheerios, rice crispies, hoops, omelettes, a fry, toast, juice, chocolate snaps, croissants, eggs and such for breakfast but she wanted to try something different. It was certainly different though she was very surprised how well it tasted — a little sour but sweet at the same time. BeBob had a pizza with cabbage, parsnips and mustard and a strawberry carrot squishie �
� WONDERFUL! BeBob liked this place — almost as much as he liked the word squishe. They made a couple of packed lunches for the day, for it would be a day trip, they had to get home before they were missed!
Because Gooey could make herself invisible and Bebob could shapeshift and camouflage himself in to almost anything, they chose to sit on the Market Square benches for breakfast and watch the town as it sprang into life. Everybody seemed to be in a hurry — they had a couple of near misses when someone nearly sat on them but by and large they had a most enjoyable breakfast. By the time they had finished most of the children had already made it to school and they decided to split up and start there. Gooey was later to learn that the girls school which she choose (boys were a little yucky!) was called Scoil Bhride Naofa (pronounced: Skull Vreeda Nay-Fah) — St. Brigid’s School; Bebob went to Scoil na Mainistreach (pronounced: Skull Nah Mon-Ish-trock) or the Monastery School — they had really cool names in Kildare Town, in the County of Kildare, in Ireland.
CHAPTER TWO
GOOLETTA GETS KNOCKED OUT
Gooey was invisible but she let all the other children go into the classroom first — it was 3rd Class, Prefab 4. She chose this classroom because it was set a little bit away from the main school building and the children looked like they might be interesting. Gooey spied an empty chair and went to it and sat down. The children in the class noticed a new, fresh cinnamon smell — they could not see her but a few, unknown to themselves, shifted in their seats. It was almost like they could feel her presence. The girls all sang out a greeting to their teacher and class began.
‘Wow this could be fun,’ thought Gooey, as they began to learn about oceans and the fish who lived beneath the beautiful waves!
At home on her planet, The Land of Goo, the children did not go to school — they learned everything from home. Gooey liked the idea of mixing everyday with a load of other kids. She knew that she was very different than all the children in the class and she was a little scared — so much so that she started breathing heavily and reached for her ‘breathe-easy’ (a type of inhaler) but when she used it something terrible and wonderful happened all at once. She started to shimmer a little and slowly became visible. Well you can just imagine the reaction of everybody in the classroom — they started shouting — “Miss, Miss, Miss,” and screaming all sorts. Gooey became even more frightened and ran for the door but tripped on her overly long dress and came crashing down to the floor. She swiped her head against the door frame and knocked herself out.
Immediately all the girls ran to her side to see if she was OK.
“Are you dead?” asked Bridin (meaning little Bridget), a small blondehaired girl, the first to her side.
‘Of course it was a sort of stupid question,’ she thought, ‘cause if you were then you could not answer and, well, maybe nobody would want you to anyhow!’
Bridin gently shook her, noticing that she was pleasantly warm and a little gooey to the touch.
“We’re sorry we scared you, please be OK,” she said.
Gooey let out a little sigh and the girls relaxed — well at least she was not dead they agreed. They looked back for Miss Fogarty but she was collapsed in the chair — the poor thing had fainted with the fright. Someone got a little water from their schoolbag and placed it to Gooey’s lips, much like they had seen on TV.
“Are you OK?” they were all asking now together.
There was no answer and again the girls became fearful but suddenly, up jumped Gooey with a start and she blurted out the first thing that had been rumbling around in her head — “Do Fish Wear Pyjamas?”
Well it was such an odd and silly question that it brought hysterical fits of laughter from her surrounding admirers. They were no longer anyways afraid of her but curious and protective. She would be their friend — whoever she was, indeed whatever she was, for she was rather strange looking.
Gooletta had long jet black hair in plaits with a thick white stripe running through it and though she looked like a real person she appeared to be made out of goo! The most beautiful fire-coloured eyes shone from her face though she had no nose to speak of, just a couple of nostril holes in the centre of a round face with chubby cheeks. Despite this, she was tall and thin and had a fairly long neck with beautiful orange markings (a little like a giraffe some or more of them thought), small floppy ears and strange looking whiskers on her chin.
Gooey was wonderfully dressed — a kind of grey and white plaid shirt, the kind that boys wore, with a long maroon dress underneath that reached onto the floor and had been responsible for her fall. She wore two shiny red, high-heeled open-toed boots and probably needed to because she had three wonderfully big fluffy toes on each foot. Strangely, her long pointy multicoloured teeth were rather endearing and not at all scary.
Gooey had small powerful wings but they were so well hidden from view that they could not be seen beneath her clothes and it was a secret she would not be sharing — they could only ever be used in an extreme emergency.
She had badges and brooches of all kinds and shapes; a necklace and bracelet with stones that glimmered like diamonds and golden rings on each of her three fingers. Completing her outfit was the most beautiful, multicoloured, baggy handbag-likebag and a large floppy luminous green hat and matching tie.
When she realised how silly her outburst had been — ‘Do Fish Wear Pyjamas?’ indeed, she joined in with the girls and smiled. Her smile lit up the classroom and seemed to wash away the worries of the universe. Bridin pressed on her belly by accident as she tried to help her to her feet and she exploded — great bouts of laughter followed by fits of giggles in a high, squeaky voice. Everybody was laughing now and they all decided in an instant that they would be friends for ever.
CHAPTER THREE
GONZO AND THE ALIEN ON THE PIANO
To get from the Market Square, Bebob had simply taken different shapes so no one would see him. He had morphed into a car, a handcart, the school bus and even a school bin. Then Bebob had simply shapeshifted into Room 9 in Scoil na Mainistreach once the door had been closed. Nobody knew he was there, as he was simply part of the piano at the back of the classroom.
Bebob really enjoyed the class, which was all about dinosaurs and sharks and great big monsters that had roamed this planet, Earth, millions of years ago. It was kind of cool really, though sad to think they had nearly all disappeared except for some strange and wonderful species that still lived in the depths of the oceans or in the rainforests and swamps. He became so comfortable that he was almost asleep when the bell rang for break-time. The bell startled him and he nearly fell out of the piano onto the floor. The boy seated at the back of the class, a quiet studious looking boy with mousey-brown hair, looked around when he heard the noise but could see nothing except for the piano.
‘That was close,’ thought Bebob and he settled back down as the boys emptied out of the classroom to play soccer in the yard. The trouble with shapeshifting was that he became almost visible every 30 minutes or so – you had to look really hard, and you would only be able to roughly make out his shape against whatever background he had melted into, but if you looked hard enough you would notice him.
This was how the boy was looking at him now. It was the quiet boy from the rear of the class, who had only pretended to leave with the others. He was a bit of a loner so wasn’t likely to be missed at break. The boy had sneaked back in and was staring straight at Bebob.
“Wha..a..a..t are you,” stammered the boy, who was more than a little scared of the strange creature that seemed to grow out of the piano.
Bebob had to decide fast on what to do, and, as he considered himself a very fine judge of character, he clicked two of the hairy fingers on his left hand and whispered,
“See me only, see me true, no one else but you.”
Bebob stood clearly before the boy and gently told him not to be afraid, he was a friend.
The boy stood dumfounded for a couple of moments and then suddenly piped up,
&nb
sp; “H..i..i..ii, m..mm..m..my name is John Joe, but everyone calls me J.J. or Gonzo. I was on my way home one evening after school and one of the boys shouted John Joe at the top of his voice but another boy thought he said Gonzo and well it just sort of stuck to me,” he blurted out the origin of his name to this very odd looking creature he had just met.
Bebob smiled, and it was a wonderful disarming smile — he liked the name Gonzo, it sort of reminded him of home.
“Hi Gonzo,” he said cheerily, “I’m BebobZippityBob but you can call me Bebob. I’m here on an adventure with my very best friend Gooey and I think we could do with some help.”
They talked for a few minutes until the bell rang to bring the boys back from the yard. Because Bebob had whispered his little charm into Gonzo’s ear, no one else could see him. Gonzo thought he would burst, with this strange new secret whirling around in his head, but he knew better than to say anything — anyway, nobody would believe him and he doubted that Mrs. Keenan, his teacher, would be too happy to know she had an alien boy at the back of the classroom. So he kept quiet, but would glance, every now and then, behind him to make sure he hadn’t lost his mind. Sure enough, there was Bebob lying lazily on the piano staring back at him with the biggest grin he had ever seen.
The last class before lunch seemed to drag on forever but finally the bell sounded and everybody put away their books and brought out their lunches. Mrs. Keenan stayed a little longer than usual but nothing could be done about that. Eventually she took her own lunch to the staffroom, leaving the door ajar to make sure everybody behaved themselves and no fights or other disturbances started.
It was time.
Gonzo was a quiet sort of a boy normally and it was quite a bit of a surprise to the other boys when he rushed into the centre of the room and told everybody to shut up. He told them that he had a secret and if they would swear not to tell anyone then he would share it with them, but they had to swear as if their lives depended on it. Gonzo explained that he needed their help and promised that what he had to show them was out of this world — literally.
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