Mr Sniffles’ Adventures: How long is a piece of string?

Mr Sniffles was dozing off on the pile of laundry in the sunshine when Lucy picked him up and took him into the living room with her. She put him on the sofa and then climbed up onto it herself.

Mr Sniffles stretched his back and his legs, before he curled up next to Lucy. Staring out of the window near the sofa, Mr Sniffles could see Mr Sweeney from across the street bringing his bins back in. If he listened carefully, Mr Sniffles could also hear Mr Sweeney muttering to himself.

Lucy was watching cartoons and playing with her dolls. Mr Sniffles lay his head down on her leg so he could continue his nap. Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, Mr Sniffles saw the end of something moving on the sofa, on the other side of Lucy. He raised his head quickly, his eyes searching the sofa for the moving mystery. It seemed to be gone.

Just before he laid his head back down, he spotted it again. And again. And again!

He got up and walked over Lucy’s legs to position himself so he could catch it. It looked like a piece of string, but it was moving. And every time he thought he caught it, it moved again! Sometimes it would slow down or stop, but as soon as he went for it, it would move again. After some time and effort trying to catch this moving piece of string, Mr Sniffles started to lose interest. What was the point? He had caught it several times and nothing had happened.

This time when the piece of string slowed down, he turned around to look out of the window. He could see Mr Sweeney trying to shoo away next door’s cat, Buttercup, from his garden. This looked much more exciting now. He hopped off the sofa and trotted outside to help Buttercup annoy Mr Sweeney.