“Where does the water go,” he asked, “When I pull out the plug?”
*
The Little Sumo was playing on the steps outside his home. He lived on the second floor, so the steps did not go so very high. He climbed from the top to the bottom, then stopped on the last step.
“Oh, no!” he shouted. “There’s a vampire coming!”
The Little Sumo quickly bounded up to the top of the steps, and ran into his house. “Daddy! daddy!” he said, breathlessly. “What should I do if there is a vampire outside?”
Daddy was writing at his computer. He turned around. “What’s that? A vampire? Hmmm, why don’t you try throwing some holy water over it?”
Daddy turned back to his computer as the Little Sumo filled his plastic cup with water from the tap at the kitchen sink. Then the Little Sumo ran back out to the steps at the front of his house.
He flung the water out of the cup onto the ground beyond the last step, and imagined it hitting the vampire. “He’s running away, Daddy! The vampire’s running away!”
But a short while later, the Little Sumo started shouting again. “Oh, no! There’s a demon coming now!”
He bounded up the steps and rushed into his house. “Mummy! Mummy!” he said, breathlessly. “What should I do if there is a demon outside?”
Mummy was also working at her computer today. She turned around to look at the Little Sumo. “What’s that? A demon?” she said. “Why don’t you try throwing some holy water over it?
But the Little Sumo shook his head sadly. “No, Mummy,” he said. “That won’t work. I’ve already used all my holy water fighting a vampire.”
“Hmm,” said Mummy. “Then why don’t you throw some dried beans at it? During the Setsubun festival, people in Japan throw beans to scare away demons.”
Mummy stood up and took the Little Sumo’s hand, and led him into the kitchen. Then she took three dried beans from a plastic pouch, and put them into his hand. “Look after these beans carefully,” she said. “They are magic beans which can fight even the strongest demons.”
The Little Sumo ran back outside, and down the stairs to the bottom step. Then he threw the dried beans onto the ground in front of his house. “The demon is running away!” he shouted.
Then he stepped off the bottom step, to pick up his important beans. He stepped past a little wet patch on the ground, where he had thrown his holy water. He found two of his beans easily, but couldn’t find his third one.
He searched to the left, but he could only see Mummy’s bike there. He searched to the right, and could only see Daddy’s plant pot with some basil growing in it. He looked behind the pot, which had not been moved for a long time. There was no bean there. But there was a strange little hole, about the size of his lost bean. The hole was round, and completely black. It looked like a tiny plug-hole in the ground, like he had in his bath tub. “Maybe the bean has fallen in the hole,” he thought.
The Little Sumo bounded back up the steps and ran into his house. “Daddy! Daddy! He said, breathlessly. “What should I do if there is a black hole outside?”
*
Oh, dear! Has the bean fallen into the black hole? What else might start to fall in there? What is on the other side of the black hole? Will Daddy’s advice save the bean, or put the Little Sumo in danger? Find out next time!
Vocabulary:
a plug – a piece of solid material which fits tightly into a hole to block it up
to bound – to leap, or energetically jump
holy water – water which has been blessed by a priest
a tap – something connected to a pipe, which can be opened or closed to allow water (or gas, etc.) to start or stop coming out
to fling something – to forcefully throw something
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