In parts 1 and 2, the Little Sumo lost his
beans inside a tiny black hole. Trying
to get them out again, he stuck his finger in.
But, oh dear! The black hole attached
itself to his finger.
*
The Little Sumo shook his hand back and
forth vigorously, but the black hole didn’t fall off. This did not look good. Hadn’t Daddy said that black holes were
dangerous? He might get really mad if he
found out that the Little Sumo had stuck his finger into one.
I’d better ask Mummy, he thought. Maybe I can get my finger out without anyone
noticing.
So he hid his right hand, the one with a
black hole attached, behind his back.
And he climbed up the steps and entered his house. He had to do everything quite slowly and
carefully, because he was using his weaker left hand. But he opened the door, and found Mummy.
“Mummy, he shouted. “What should you do if you get stuck inside a
black hole?”
*
Part 3:
Mummy was busy working at her computer
again. “What’s that? A black hole?
Hmm, do you mean a hole in space?”
“No, Mummy,” said the Little Sumo. “I mean a hole beside the steps.”
“Ah,” said Mummy. “So you’re playing on the steps outside. Well, I’m a little busy just now. But why don’t you try some magic powder? That might make the black hole disappear.”
Mummy stood up and took the Little Sumo to
the kitchen. She looked a little puzzled
at the way he held one of his arms behind his back, out of her sight, but she
decided not to ask him about it. He’s
probably protecting his magic beans, she thought.
Mummy unhooked a rack of spices from the
wall, and placed it on the ground. These
jars contain magic powder. Why don’t you
try adding just a pinch to the black hole.
Do it outside, so that you don’t make the kitchen messy. And don’t use too much, mind – we need them
for cooking dinner.”
Mummy showed the Little Sumo how to open
the lids of the spice jars. “By the way,
did you manage to fight off the demons?”
“Yes, Mummy,” said the Little Sumo. I used the magic beans.”
“As I said, don’t use too much spice. And come back and tell me when you’re
finished,” Mummy said. “I’ve got to get
back to work now.”
When Mummy left the kitchen, the Little
Sumo relaxed his right arm and took a look at his hand. The ugly black hole was still there. It seemed to have pushed its way a little
further down his finger, pulling more of the Little Sumo inside it. I’d better use the magic powder quickly, he
thought.
Using just one hand, it was very hard to
take the spice rack outside and down the steps.
The Little Sumo had to pick the rack up in one hand and carry it to the
front door. Then he had to put it down
while he opened the door. He then held
the door open with his bum while he bent down to pick up the rack again. Eventually, he made his way down to the bottom
of the steps.
He set the spice rack down beside Daddy’s
basil plant, where all the trouble had started.
Oh, dear, thought the Little Sumo.
I forgot to ask Mummy which jar contained the magic powder.
He sniffed a jar containing some white
crystals. Then he touched a finger to
the top of the jar and licked his finger.
It was salt. It didn’t taste too
bad. Maybe this is the magic powder, he
thought. So he held out his right hand
and tipped some salt over it. The salt
disappeared into the black hole, and the Little Sumo could feel it tickling his
finger inside. He waited for the hole to
disappear. But instead, the black hole
started to get bigger. He felt a pull on
his middle finger, and suddenly it too was pulled into the hole!
Oh, this is not good at all, thought the
Little Sumo. It likes to eat salt!
He quickly looked for another powder, one
which the black hole wouldn’t like eating.
I know, he thought – curry powder!
The Little Sumo wouldn’t eat any of Mummy and Daddy’s curries, because
they were too spicy. So maybe the black
hole would refuse to eat it too. He
found the correct powder. It was yellow,
and he could tell it from the smell. He
held out his hand and poured the curry powder over the hole. The powder disappeared, and the Little Sumo
felt it tickling his fingers. He
waited. But then, as before, the black
hole grew bigger. Suddenly the Little
Sumo’s thumb was pulled into the hole, which had become the size of a tennis
ball.
Oh, no, thought the Little Sumo. It even likes to eat spicy curry! He looked at the space where his thumb should
be. What am I going to suck now when I
am unhappy?
The Little Sumo decided to make one last
try. If this didn’t work, he would have
to tell Mummy and Daddy that he had gotten stuck in the black hole. Maybe Daddy would have a plan. Perhaps he could feed the entire house to the
black hole, and they could all live inside it together. But maybe he could find the right magic
powder by himself.
He started sniffing the tops of all the
jars. Sniffing one of the jars made his
nose and throat suddenly tickly. He
sneezed. Then he sneezed again. This seems to be having a magical effect on
me, thought the Little Sumo. Perhaps
this is the right powder.
He pulled out the jar of the black powder
and started shaking lots of it over the black hole. He felt the powder tickling his thumb and
fingers inside the hole. He waited
breathlessly.
The black hole started trembling on the end
of his hand. The Little Sumo felt that
something big was going to happen. He
wondered what it would be like to live for the rest of his life inside the
black hole. He wished he had fed some
toys to it. He held his hand up high
into the sky, above his head. The black
hole started shaking from side to side.
“Aaaa-Chooo!”
The black hole sneezed incredibly loudly,
and the force of the sneeze shot the hole up into the sky. It kept going higher and higher as the Little
Sumo watched. Perhaps it will fly all
the way off into space, he thought.
The Little Sumo looked at his right hand,
which had all of his fingers and thumb.
They were dirty with various powders.
His four beans had fallen to the ground.
Just then Mummy and Daddy came running out
of the house together.
“What was that noise?” said Daddy.
Mummy came down the steps. “Oh, Little Sumo!” she said. “I told you not to use too much. What have you been doing with all my black
pepper?”
Vocabulary
a rack – a shelf with a frame, for holding
things such as jars or magazines
a pinch – an amount, usually of a powder,
which can be collected by picking it up between two fingers
messy – in a disordered state; not neat and
tidy
to sniff something – to breathe something
in sharply through your nose
to tremble – usually of a part of the body,
to slightly shake due to a loss of control
