In Australia, where this story is set, a sandbox is known as a "sandpit".

There are a number of native Australian animals referred to in the story, and I will try and find images to include on this page.

 

The story was originally written for pre-school children - but as the saying goes, it is suitable for the child in every one of us!

 

Martha

 

 

 

THE SANDBOX

 

 

Once there was a bushy backyard, full of tall grass and gum trees. It was behind Amanda's house, next door to Katie's house. Amanda and Katie didn't know it, but lots of things lived in that yard: insects and birds, possums and wombats and one very little echidna. Except for the birds and the bugs, the other animals only came out at night, after the girls had gone to bed, when the moon shone instead of the sun.

 

 

Amanda's backyard was so large and hilly that her Mum and Dad had quite a time keeping it from looking like a jungle. Ad the girls had a hard time playing in it. Amanda's cat Clyde could run around in the tall grass, though, and climb the gum trees. When the moon shone, Clyde would chase possums onto the roof of Katie's house, and Katie could hear all the commotion because her roof was made of tin! But Katie and Amanda could not ride their tricycles in the backyard. They couldn't take their teddies for a stroll. They had no room to push their toy trucks along the ground.

 

 

One day, Amanda's Mum had a good idea. She was very clever at building things. She and Amanda's Dad had even built their house! She thought that a sandbox would fit very nicely into the backyard. Very nicely indeed.

 

 

So Katie's Mum and Dad and Amanda's Mum and Dad cleared away a spot in Amanda's garden. Then they all drove in Amanda's Dad's truck to the woods nearby and found some trees that had fallen down. They cut the trees into logs and loaded them onto a trailer he had hitched on to the truck. Then they went to the store and bought lots and lots of sand.

 

 

Once they all got home and had snacks, Amanda's Mum and Dad got out their tools and started banging the logs into place. They made a big square with four logs, and then they put four more logs on top. They even made little benches beside the sandbox. Everybody helped to shovel the sand in. Katie and Amanda, too! No one knew it at the time, but from high up in the gum trees and deep down in the burrows, and from behind the tall grass, possums and wombats and the one little echidna were watching.

 

 

"A sandbox," said the echidna in a whisper. A cockatoo flying heard the echidna.

 

 

"Sandbox!" the cocky called, and the possums heard the cocky.

 

 

They scrambled fast down the trees and peeked into the wombat's hole. "Sandbox!" they yelled down the hole.

 

 

And two kookaburras in the tall grass laughed. "Sandbox! What fun we will have!"

 

 

Katie and Amanda couldn't wait to play, but it was almost dark by the time the sandbox was finished.

 

 

"When you girls wake up tomorrow, we'll go buy some buckets and spades," their parents told them.

 

 

The girls went to bed. Katie's Dad went out to clean up around the sandbox. He thought he saw something in it... something small, fat and ... spiky? But it was dark, and he couldn't be sure. "No," he thought. "It must be Clyde, the cat."

 

 

The next day, the girls had a wonderful time in the sandbox. They shared their toys and didn't fight at all. The cockatoo flew by and saw Katie and Amanda and their bright new sand toys.

 

 

"Buckets and spades and spoons," he called out.

 

 

And the sleepy animals (who only come out in the night time) heard this and said to themselves in sleepy voices, "Buckets and spades and spoons."

 

 

The two kookaburras in the tall grass saw and heard and they just couldn't stop laughing. Buckets and spades and spooons. Oh, they were so excited!

 

 

Amanda and Katie were happy that they had a spot to play in. And the sandbox looked lovely among the gum trees and the tall grass. The animals slept while the girls played in the sunshine and dreamed of the fun they would have, when the moon came out.

 

 

Later, after the girls had emptied sand from their pockets and shoes and had eaten their supper and taken their baths and gone to bed, the one very little echidna, who had already checked out the sandbox firsthand, whispered loudly, "It's time!"

 

 

And one by one, the birds and the animals came out. Very, very quietly. And just as quietly, they started to play with the new toys. They were careful with them, and when they had finished playing, they put the toys back exactly where the girls had left them. When the sky started to get light, they went back to their holes and burrows and nests and trees.

 

 

Katie's Dad woke up early that morning. He peeked outside to see what kind of day it would be. He thought he saw something climbing slowly out of the sandbox, but he was still a little sleepy himself, and he couldn't be sure. But it seemed to be small, fat and ... spiky? the one little echinda thought he heard something, too. he turned around and saw Katie's Dad at the window.

 

 

He winked. And Katie's Dad winked back.

 

 

THE END