The Balaclava Story from The Fib by George Layton - anyone have a copy to hand?

Hi everyone,

I'm just finalising next weeks literacy planning and want to put the first section of The Balaclava Story on my IWB for the kids for tomorrow but left my copy at school as I was ill on the last day. Does anyone know if this is availble anywhere online? It's only the first few lines I need until I can get to my copy tomorrow.

Thanks,
Becky

 

Hi Becky
I have a copy of The Fib. How much do you need? I don't have a scanner but I could write a few sentences for you

 

Wow that would be great if you could. Ideally I'd like the first paragraph but if not the first 4 or 5 sentences would be fab. Thank you

 

The Fib - George Layton

Ooh. I wasn't half snug and warm in bed. I could hear my mum calling me to get up, But it was ever so cold. Every time I breathed, I could see a puff of air. The window was covered with frost. I just couldn't get myself out of bed.
" Are you up? I've called you three times already,"
"Yes, mum, of course I am."
I knew it was a lie, but I just wanted to have a few more minutes in bed. It was so cosy.
"You'd better be because I'm not calling you again."
That was another lie. She was always telling me again.

 

Just reread post and you want the begiining of The Balaclava Story.
Tom and Barry both had one. I reckon half the kids in our class had one. But I didn't. My mum wouldn't even listen to me.
"You're not having a balaclava! What do you want a balaclava for in the middle of summer?"
I must have told her about ten times why I wanted a balaclava.
"I want one so I can join the Balaclava Boys..."
"Go and wash yor hands for tea, and don't be so silly."

Have pmed you.

 

Just did a search and this came up straight away, thank you! Was definitely helpful for that person in the future...me!

 

me too- thanks whoever did this

 

I have just read your post about finding the balaclava story in PDF and am trying in vain to find the The Fib story to download so that I dont have to type it out. But its proving very difficult to find without paying for it or needing passwords to access certin sites.
Any help would be much appreciated

 

Hi - I just copied the link into the address search and it worked - took a minute to load - hope it works fo r you as is most helpful.

 

NOOOOO! It's not available anymore and I needed it for tomorrow

 

Tony and Barry both had one. I reckon half the kids in our class had one. But I didn't. My mum wouldn't even listen to me. 'You're not having a balaclava! What do you want a balaclava for in the middle of summer?' I must've told her about ten times why I wanted a balaclava. 'I want one so's I can join the Balaclava Boys . ..? ?Go and wash your hands for tea, and don't be so silly.? She turned away from me to lay the table, so I put the curse of the middle finger on her. This was pointing both your middle fingers at somebody when they weren't looking. Tony had started it when Miss Taylor gave him a hundred lines for flicking paper pellets at Jennifer Greenwood. He had to write out a hundred times: ?I must not fire missiles because it is dangerous and liable to cause damage to someone's eye.? Tony tried to tell Miss Taylor that he hadn't fired a missile, he'd just flicked a paper pellet, but she threw a piece of chalk at him and told him to shut up. ?Don't just stand there - wash your hands.? ?Eh?,? ?Don't say "eh", say "pardon".? ?What? ?Just hurry up, and make sure the dirt comes off in the water, and not on the towel, do you hear?? Ooh, my mum. She didn't half go on sometimes. ?I don't know what you get up to at school. How do you get so dirty?' I knew exactly the kind of balaclava I wanted. One just like Tony's, a sort of yellowy-brown. His dad had given it to him because of his earache. Mind you, he didn't like wearing it at first. At school he'd given it to Barry to wear and got it back before home-time. But all the other lads started asking if they could have a wear of it, so Tony took it back and said from then on nobody but him could wear it, not even Barry. Barry told him he wasn't bothered because he was going to get a balaclava of his own,, and so did some of the other lads. And that's how it started - the Balaclava Boys. It wasn't a gang really. I mean they didn't have meetings or anything like that. They just went around together wearing their

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balaclavas, and if you didn't have one you couldn't go around with them. Tony and Barry were my best friends, but because I didn't have a balaclava, they wouldn't let me go round with them. I tried. ?Aw, go on, Barry, let us walk round with you.? ?No, you can't. You're not a Balaclava Boy.? ?Aw, go on.? ?No.? ?Please.? I don't know why I wanted to walk round with them anyway. All they did was wander up and down the playground dressed in their rotten balaclavas. It was daft. ?Go on. Barry, be a sport.? ?I've told you. You're not a Balaclava Boy. You've got to have a balaclava. If you get one, you can join.? ?But I can't, Barry. My mum won't let me have one.? ?Hard luck.? ?You're rotten.? Then he went off with the others. I wasn't half fed up. All my friends were in the Balaclava Boys. All the lads in my class except me. Wasn't fair. The bell went for the next lesson - ooh heck, handicraft with the Miseryguts Garnett - then it was hometime. All the Balaclava Boys were going in and I followed them. ?Hey, Tony, do you want to go down the woods after school?? ?No, I'm going round with the Balaclava Boys.? ?Oh.? Blooming Balaclava Boys. Why wouldn't my mum buy me a balaclava? Didn't she realize that I was losing all my friends, and just because she wouldn't buy me one? ?Eh. Tony, we can go goose-gogging - you know, by those great gooseberry bushes at the other end of the woods.? ?I've told you, I can't.? ?Yes, I know, but I thought you might want to go goosegogging.? ?Well, I would, but I can't.? I wondered if Barry would he going as well. ?Is Barry going round with the Balaclava Boys an' all?? ?Course he is.?

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?Oh.? Blooming balaclavas. I wish they'd never been invented. ?Why won't your mum get you one?? ?I don't know. She says it's daft wearing a balaclava in the middle of summer. She won't let me have one.? ?I found mine at home up in our attic.? Tony unwrapped some chewing gum and asked me if I wanted a piece. ?No thanks.? I'd've only had to wrap it in my handkerchief once we got in the classroom. You couldn't get away with anything with Mr Garnett. ?Hey, maybe you could find one in your attic.? For a minute I wasn't sure what he was talking about. ?Find what?? ?A balaclava.? ?No, we haven't even got an attic.? I didn't half find handicraft class boring. All that mucking about with compasses and rulers. Or else it was weaving, and you got all tangled up with balls of wool. I was just no good at handicraft and Mr Garnett agreed with me. Today was worse than ever. We were painting pictures and we had to call it ?My Favourite Story?. Tony was painting Noddy in Toyland. I told him he'd get into trouble. ?Garnett'll do you.? ?Why? It's my favourite story.? ?Yes, but I don't think he'll believe you.? Tony looked ever so hurt. ?But honest. It's my favourite story. Anyway what are you doing?? He leaned over to have a look at my favourite story. ?Have you read it, Tony?? ?I don't know. What is it?? ?It's Robinson Crusoe, what do you think it is?? He just looked at my painting. ?Oh, I see it now. Oh yes, I get it now. I couldn't make it out for a minute. Oh yes, there's Man Friday behind him.? ?Get your finger off, it's still wet. And that isn't Man Friday, it's a coconut tree. And you've smudged it.?

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We were using some stuff called poster paint, and I got covered in it. I was getting it everywhere, so I asked Mr Garnett if I could go for a wash. He gets annoyed when you ask to be excused, but he could see I'd got it all over my hands, so he said I could go, but told me to be quick. The washbasins were in the boys' cloakroom just outside the main hall. I got most of the paint off and as I was drying my hands, that's when it happened. I don't know what came over me. As soon as I saw that balaclava lying there on the floor, I decided to pinch it. I couldn't help it. I just knew that this was my only chance. I've never pinched anything before - I don't think I have - but I didn't think of this as ... well ... I don't even like saying it, but ... well, stealing. I just did it. I picked it up, went to my coat, and put it in the pocket. At least I tried to put it in the pocket but it bulged out, so I pushed it down the inside of the sleeve. My head was throbbing, and even though I'd just dried my hands, they were all wet from sweating. If only I'd thought a bit first. But it all happened so quickly. I went back to the classroom, and as I was going in I began to realize what I'd done. I'd stolen a balaclava. I didn't even know whose it was, but as I stood in the doorway I couldn't believe I'd done it. If only I could go back. In fact I thought I would but then Mr Garnett told me to hurry up and sit down. As I was going back to my desk I felt as if all the lads knew what I'd done. How could they? Maybe somebody had seen me. No! Yes! How could they? They could. Of course they couldn't. No, course not. What if they did though? Oh heck. I thought home-time would never come but when the bell did ring I got out as quick as I could. I was going to put the balaclava back before anybody noticed; but as I got to the cloakroom I heard Norbert Lightowler shout out that someone had pinched his balaclava. Nobody took much notice, thank goodness, and I heard Tony say to him that he'd most likely lost it. Norbert said he hadn't but he went off to make sure it wasn't in the classroom. I tried to be all casual and took my coat, but I didn't dare put it on in case the balaclava popped out of the sleeve. I said tarah to Tony. ?Tarah, Tony, see you tomorrow.? ?Yeh, tarah.?

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Oh, it was good to get out in the open air. I couldn't wait to get home and get rid of that blooming balaclava. Why had I gone and done a stupid thing like that? Norbert Lightowler was sure to report it to the Headmaster, and there'd be an announcement about it at morning assembly and the culprit would be asked to own up. I was running home as fast as I could. I wanted to stop and take out the balaclava and chuck it away, but I didn't dare. The faster I ran, the faster my head was filled with thoughts. I could give it back to Norbert. You know, say I'd taken it by mistake. No, he'd never believe me. None of the lads would believe me. Everybody knew how much I wanted to be a Balaclava Boy. I'd have to get rid of the blooming thing as fast as I could. My mum wasn't back from work when I got home, thank goodness, so as soon as I shut the front door, I put my hand down the sleeve of my coat for the balaclava. There was nothing there. That was funny, I was sure I'd put it down that sleeve. I tried down the other sleeve, and there was still nothing there. Maybe I'd got the wrong coat. No, it was my coat all right. Oh, blimey, I must've lost it while I was running home. I was glad in a way. I was going to have to get rid of it, now it was gone. I only hoped nobody had seen it drop out, but, oh, I was glad to be rid of it. Mind you, I was dreading going to school next morning. Norbert?ll probably have reported it by now. Well, I wasn't going to own up. I didn't mind the cane, it wasn't that, but if you owned up, you had to go up on the stage in front of the whole school. Well, I was going to forget about it now and nobody would ever know that I'd pinched that blooming lousy balaclava. I started to do my homework, but I couldn't concentrate. I kept thinking about assembly next morning. What if I went all red and everybody else noticed? They'd know I'd pinched it then. I tried to think about other things, nice things. I thought about bed. I just wanted to go to sleep. To go to bed and sleep. Then I thought about my mum; what she'd say if she knew I'd been stealing. But I still couldn't forget about assembly next day. I went into the kitchen and peeled some potatoes for my mum. She was ever so pleased when she came in from work

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and said I must've known she'd brought me a present. ?Oh, thanks. What've you got me?? She gave me a paper bag and when I opened it I couldn't believe my eyes - a blooming balaclava. ?There you are, now you won't be left out and you can stop making my life a misery.? ?Thanks, Mum.? If only my mum knew she was making my life a misery. The balaclava she'd bought me was just like the one I'd pinched. I felt sick. I didn't want it. I couldn't wear it now. If I did, everybody would say it was Norbert Lightowler's. Even if they didn't, I just couldn't wear it. I wouldn't feel it was mine. I had to get rid of it. I went outside and put it down the lavatory. I had to pull the chain three times before it went away. It's a good job we've got an outside lavatory or else my mum would have wondered what was wrong with me. I could hardly eat my tea. ?What's wrong with you? Aren't you hungry?? ?No, not much.? ?What've you been eating? You've been eating sweets, haven't you?? ?No, I don't feel hungry.? ?Don't you feel well?? ?I?m all right.? I wasn't, I felt terrible. I told my mum I was going upstairs to work on my model aeroplane. ?Well, it's my bingo night, so make yourself some cocoa before you go to bed.? I went upstairs to bed, and after a while I fell asleep. The last thing I remember was a big balaclava, with a smiling face, and it was the Headmaster's face. I was scared stiff when I went to school next morning. In assembly it seemed different. All the boys were looking at me. Norbert Lightowler pushed past and didn't say anything. When prayers finished I just stood there waiting for the Headmaster to ask for the culprit to own up, but he was talking about the school fete. And then he said he had something very important to announce and I could feel myself going

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red. My cars were burning like anything and I was going hot and cold both at the same time. ?I'm very pleased to announce that the school football team has won the inter-league cup . . .? And that was the end of assembly, except that we were told to go and play in the schoolyard until we were called in, because there was a teachers' meeting. I couldn't understand why I hadn't been found out yet, but I still didn't feel any better, I'd probably be called to the Headmaster's room later on. I went out into the yard. Everybody was happy because we were having extra playtime. I could see all the Balaclava Boys going round together. Then I saw Norbert Lightowler was one of them. I couldn't be sure it was Norbert because he had a balaclava on. so I had to go up close to him. Yes, it was Norbert. He must have bought a new balaclava that morning. ?Have you bought a new one then, Norbert?? ?Y'what?? ?You've bought a new balaclava, have you?? ?What are you talking about?? ?Your balaclava. You've got a new balaclava, haven't you?? ?No, I never lost it at all. Some fool had shoved it down the sleeve of my raincoat.?

 

Sorry for lack of paragraphs! Had it as a random text file when I read it out loud to my class. Hope it helps