The Mystery of
the Upturned Bowl
by Richard
Golding
‘What's
that?’ cried Rodger, ogling the microwave
and its contents. How did that get in there? What
was it for? It must have been left there
overnight because nobody had cooked anything that
morning.
He saw a big,
white, greasy upturned bowl with a crumb
encrusted plate on top. ‘The mystery of the
upturned bowl!’ he laughed and took the
plate off, shoved it in the sink and stared at
the bowl.
Why was it
upside down?
The bowl was
slimy but empty. He took it into the living room,
almost tripping over their dog, Bentley, who lay
like a seal on the rug. Stephen sat on the floor
in front of the television, giggling at the
cartoons. He was dropping crisps into lit candles.
‘Hey,
Steve!’ Rodger put the bowl down, hurried
over and took the candle. Yep - Stephen was still
in his crisp burning phase. Maybe he was
responsible for the upturned bowl.
‘Dad,
give back!’ He reached up. ‘Give back!’
‘Stephen
- no.’ He blew it out and put it on the
mantelpiece.
Stephen
giggled and returned to his cartoon.
Rodger eyed
him. ‘Stephen, what did you do with the bowl?
And how did you reach up that high?’
‘Making
crisp factory, making crisp factory!’ He
grinned.
‘What do
you mean?’
‘Stand on
Bet-ley, climb worktop, put bowl in, put plate on
top, put crisps on plate ... ding!’ He
imitated turning on the microwave before he
relapsed into giggles.
Rodger laughed.
‘What? Why?’
‘Good ...’
his face screwed up with laughter and he rubbed
his stomach. ‘Good shape for crisp factory!
Crisps burn well dad, crisps burn well! Burning
crisps taste nice and have a good smell!’
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