Diary of Mr. TDH AKA Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome - Book 1
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watch to bed with me. The history club talk on Pompeii had really interested me, so I decided to see if I could take a closer look.
It was easy, I just thought about Pompeii in AD 79 on the 24 August. I closed my eyes and focused on the location and date. Before long the watch started to heat up and shine. Then I started tumbling through the tunnel and whamo I landed in bale of hay behind a stable full of horses. I had done it again!
I brushed myself off and wandered into the marketplace. There were people selling everything from live ducks to slaves to fine silks. The noises and smells were overwhelming. Imagine horse dung mixed with spices and roasting meat.
Some Roman soldiers were marching through the square. They were carrying a litter with an important looking old man sitting on a chair. Suddenly they came to a halt and lowered the man. He had a heavy gold chain around his neck and was dressed in a perfectly white toga.
As he approached each market stall, the men and women bowed to him and gave him gold coins. He must have been an important government official or maybe even a tax collector.
It was then that the ground shifted. The stalls rattled and pots fell and shattered. But the people just ignored it. They were used to the rumblings, they didn’t know the awful fate that awaited them when the volcano, Mt Vesuvius erupted. The volcano was stirring. This was an earthquake. They needed to escape now before it was too late.
I had to warn them and save as many people as possible. I ran to the official to tell him about the impending doom. The soldiers blocked my way with their spears and told me to go away.
I looked around and found a group of children playing by the well. Grabbing their hands I tried to pull them towards the shoreline where I could see boats that could be used to sail them to safety. One of the boys called out and his father ran at me. He shoved me as hard as he could and I fell backwards hitting a soldier. The soldier also fell backwards and he knocked over the important man in the white toga. It looked like a bad case of dominos! Then the unthinkable happened. The important old man fell into a pile of horse poo. Everyone stopped, there wasn’t a sound to be heard. Then the official climbed to his feet, the horse poo dripping off his formerly white toga. Breaking the silence he yelled, “Seize him!”
The soldiers grabbed me and tied my hands behind my back. Now I really knew I was in trouble. I could not reach my fob watch! I had no way of getting out of here and I knew the volcano was close to erupting.
They threw me in a cell and left me. Not another cell!
The ground shook again and the chains holding the door closed rattled violently. I called out to the guard and he begrudgingly came over. “You have to let me out, the volcano is going to erupt and everyone in Pompeii will die!” I warned.
He looked at me with his mouth hanging wide open. “You speak the same language as me, where do you come from boy?” I wasn’t going to tell him Harper Valley (not after the last time). So I told him I was from Britain. He started to tell me about how he had grown up in Britain and all about his family. He just didn’t get the urgency, but then again, he didn’t know what was about to happen.
“Mt Vesuvius is going to explode!” I yelled at him. He told me not to be silly, it was just the Gods moving their furniture, it happens all the time.
At that very moment…Mt Vesuvius decided to blow her top.
A tremendous boom almost deafened us. We were both thrown off our feet. Villages and soldiers ran past in mass hysteria. Everyone was panicking! The guard stood up and turned to run. “Help me!” I screamed. He turned and quickly unlocked the door. Then he pulled out a long curved knife. He was going to kill me. I lowered my eyes and started to pray, then he spun me around and cut the ropes that had tied my wrists together. He slapped me over the head, smiled at me and ran for his life.
I looked towards the volcano. Smoke was streaming from the top and pieces of pumas were starting to fall on the village. Then the sky started to blacken. Day turned to night as hot burning dust began to cover everything.
In their panic to escape, the adults had left behind the young children who were playing by the well. The ones I had earlier tried to rescue. They huddled together, afraid and crying for someone to help. I ran to them and took their hands telling them to follow me to the seashore. A wooden sailing ship was about to depart. One at a time I threw the children into the arms of a sailor on board the ship, as it started to move away from the shore.
At least they would be safe. Around me there were hundreds of people who would have no boat to escape on. Many of them rushed back under cover. As I wander through the chaos, I see the government official is sitting on his litter chair, demanding that someone take him away. The soldiers and people ignore him.
As the sky grows even darker, I reach for my watch. I have done all I can here. It was time to go home.
Once again I land in my bed with a thump. And once again, Dad comes in. “Richard, you stink! Don’t you ever shower!” yelled Dad.
That was a close call!
Monday
Maddi wasn’t at school today. She has gone to Hawaii for a holiday. Apparently her Dad has moved back in and they have gone for a family get-together. I hope she has an awesome time. I’d love to go to Hawaii. I’ll miss her.
Friday
This has been a very boring week. School’s been boring. Home’s been boring. Sorry diary, I’ve got nothing for you.
Monday
We had a maggot incident at school today. Unfortunately it involved Maddi. Our Deputy Principal (she is really nasty) called Maddi out of class today because she had maggots coming out of her bag. Poor Maddi! She must have left food in her bag before she went to Hawaii. I felt so sorry for her. Imagine being the new girl at school and having that happen to you. To make it even worse, Ted has started calling her maggot. He was so horrible during lunch break. Maddi was just trying to pretend like it didn’t happen, but Ted wouldn’t let it go. She looked at him with absolute loathing. I’m going to talk to Ted tomorrow and tell him to leave her alone.
I tried to talk to her, but she just blushed and kept walking. I wanted to tell her that we had maggots coming out of our rubbish bin in the kitchen last week. At first I thought it was spilled rice, until I saw one move. Yuck! Dad and I have decided to take the rubbish out every day from now on. I just wanted to let her know that these things happen to everyone and she shouldn’t be so embarrassed. I’ll just have a quiet word to Ted and get him to back off.
Today I got my mark for my talk on Ocean Pollution. I got an A! I can’t believe it, I never get an A for a spoken presentation. I always get a C. To be honest, I didn’t think it was possible for me to get higher than a C. Now that I have proved that theory wrong, I plan to get a B or an A next time as well. I just have to be more confident and less nervous.
We also did cooking today and we made muffins. My muffin was delicious. I’m going to make some for Dad on the weekend. I hope Maddi and Gretel had more success this time as well. Miss Moffat must have decided to stick clear of another possible raw meat disaster.
Tuesday
I talked to Ted today. Actually I asked him to lay off Maddi. He told me he just doesn’t like her, but for me he will try to be nicer. However, I did hear him whisper “maggot” as he walked past her on the way to English.
Friday
Something horrible happened to Ted today during class. It was after lunch and he must have had some chocolate cake stashed away somewhere. He was eating it and smiling. Then this terrible look came onto his face. He started spitting and spluttering, the chocolate cake was flying everywhere. And then I saw the problem. There were maggots in the cake.
Twice in one week! What is going on? I felt like throwing up myself. And then I glanced over at Maddi, she had a very smug look on her face. Did she have something to do with the maggots in the chocolate cake? She looked at me and smiled. I mouthed to her, “Did you do this?” Maddi shrugged her shoulders and smiled again.
After school one of the cool girls called
Ted – Maggot Mouth. So cruel, but I suppose he kind of asked for it after calling Maddi, Maggot, all week.
I asked Ted where he got the chocolate cake from and he said his Dad made it. But I don’t believe that, he probably stole it from someone and had it stored away for too long. Maybe I’ll make Ted some muffins on the weekend as well.
History club was interesting again today. The teacher showed us a video on World War 1. Some of the boys who went off to war weren’t much older than me. How frightening it must have been for them! I’m definitely not going anywhere near my fob watch this weekend!
Saturday
Maddi’s mom called me this morning and asked if I would like to come and watch Maddi’s first soccer match. I wasn’t sure what to say and then she said that Gretel was coming as well and it was a surprise, so I gladly accepted the invitation.
I met her family for the first time. Her Mom is pretty cool and really easy going. Her Dad is really enthusiastic and outgoing. He shook my hand and said that he had heard great things about me. Me! What had he heard? Mrs. Bull wanted to know all about my family. I told her about Dad. Then she asked about my Mom…so I told her. She gave me a big cuddle. I was a bit embarrassed, I mean…I’d only just met her. I know my Mom would really like Maddi’s Mom. They are kind of similar, both warm and