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Daisy loved staying with Nan and her dog Sausage in their little white cottage in the country.
‘I have a surprise for you,’ said Nan at breakfast time.
‘What is it?’ asked Daisy.
‘Come outside and see.’
Nan opened the door and Daisy and Sausage raced outside. Flowers, hundreds and thousands of flowers were sprinkled everywhere. They stretched across the grass like stars.
‘Stars!’ cried Daisy. ‘The stars fell down last night.’
Nan laughed. ‘No,’ she said. ‘Daisies, not stars.’
Daisy laughed, too. ‘They have my name,’ she said.
Daisy and Sausage dashed over the grass and rolled in the daisies. Daisy picked a bunch and sprinkled them over Sausage. He shook himself and the daisies flew off in all directions.
‘Look!’ said Daisy, ‘Shooting stars!’
Sausage barked and ran round and round in circles. ‘Crazy daisy dog!’ said Daisy.
‘Come and sit next to me,’ said Nan, ‘And I’ll show you how to make a daisy chain. First make a hole in the stem, not too close to the end. Then thread the next daisy carefully through the hole.’
The sun shone down from an endless blue sky. The grass rippled in the breeze and bees flew low with gold-dipped legs. The daisy chain grew longer and longer. Nan joined the ends up and there it was, a circle of dancing daisies, a necklace for Daisy.
‘When your mother was a little girl, we used to make daisy chains together,’ said Nan, smiling.
They made more daisy chains, a bracelet for Daisy, and a crown.
‘Now you look like a princess,’ said Nan. ‘Princess Daisy.’
‘A princess needs a throne,’ said Princess Daisy.
They decorated the old seat under the apple tree, and Princess Daisy sat on her throne.
‘A princess needs a maid,’ she said.
Nan curtseyed to the princess. ‘I will be your maid,’ she said. ‘What does your royal highness wish for?’
‘Hmm,’ said Princess Daisy, ‘I’d like some ice cream please.’
The maid hurried inside and came back with butterscotch ice cream.
‘This is delicious,’ said Princess Daisy. ‘I like being a princess.’
Daisy was a princess all day. When the sun slipped behind the hill, she had scrambled eggs for tea.
Later the daisy chains began to wilt, and so did Princess Daisy. She yawned.
‘Time for bed your Royal Highness,’ said the maid.
‘Not yet,’ said Princess Daisy. ‘Princesses stay up as late as they like.’
‘Not in my cottage,’ said Nan. ‘Off to bed with you!’
So Daisy took off her priceless jewels, brushed her royal teeth and hopped into bed.
‘We’ll make some more daisy chains tomorrow,’ Nan said, kissing her goodnight.
‘Good night, Nan.’
Daisy gazed out at the night sky. Stars, hundreds and thousands of stars were sprinkled everywhere. They stretched across the sky like daisy chains.
©Yvonne Saw 2011, image Tania McCartney
Bedtime Stories downloadable tales for children are an AWO initiative, run in support of the National Year of Reading 2012. We encourage you to print and read these stories with your kids, and revel in the joy a wonderful story can bring. All stories are original and have been penned by established and emerging Australian authors. Every month, we will publish four stories running to a central theme, each on a Monday morning. See here for more.
