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Grumpy Grandad (3) Delicious Tomatoes

After all the things that had been happening in his garden, Grumpy Grandad was now grumbling more than he had ever done before. He had even started grumbling in his sleep. He kept dreaming about Maurice the Mole digging up his patio and digging into his fish pond and would wake up every night shouting and running around the bedroom in the dark trying to catch Maurice the Mole. But the only thing that he kept catching was Nelly the dog, who was so frightened of Grumpy Granddad shouting and running around the bedroom that she was running around in the dark as well and kept bumping into Grumpy Granddad.

Every day Grumpy Grandad inspected his garden looking for any sign that Maurice might have made his way back. Granddad had mended his pond and put some new fish in it, and his patio was looking great now that the slabs had been concreted down. Yet for all his delight that the garden was looking so nice, he knew that Maurice might be planning to return. And if he did, Grumpy Granddad was ready for him, he wouldn’t escape again.

Now Maurice the Mole had found another new home far away in the fields. But it just wasn’t the same. Maurice had begun missing all the excitement he’d been having digging in Grumpy Granddad’s garden, so one day he decided he would go back and have some more fun. Grumpy Granddad had started to think that maybe Maurice the Mole wouldn’t come back after all. “Perhaps he’s found a better garden to dig in”, thought Grumpy Granddad to himself, “and has forgotten all about my garden”. But Grumpy Granddad was mistaken, because unknown to him not far away Maurice was digging as fast as he could to get back into Grumpy Granddad’s garden.

After digging and digging for a long, long time, Maurice the mole eventually popped his head up in Grumpy Granddad’s garden. Now Maurice was a clever little Mole and this time he wanted to be sure that he didn’t dig into the garden pond again. It had really frightened him before when all the water had suddenly washed him down the tunnel. He knew he couldn’t dig through the patio because Grumpy Granddad had cemented the slabs down. So this time he would have to be very careful about choosing where to dig his tunnel. He decided that the best place to dig was under the greenhouse where he would be out of sight from Grumpy Granddad. So that’s what he did. He started tunnelling with his strong paws until he finally came out into Grumpy Granddad’s greenhouse. Popping his head up out of the hole he had just dug underneath the greenhouse, he took a look around. Whatever were all those little red balls doing hanging on the end of trees

He had better take a closer look. What Maurice didn’t know was that the little red balls were actually tomatoes. Grumpy Granddad loved growing tomatoes and cucumbers every year in his greenhouse. He was really proud of his tomatoes and cucumbers and would walk down to the bottom of his garden everyday to look through the windows of the greenhouse to see if they were ready. “It won’t be long now before they are ripe and ready for picking” he said to himself. “Another few days and I’ll be able to have some for my tea”. Little did he know that Maurice the Mole was in his greenhouse and had already taken a bite out of one of the tomatoes and thought how nice they were. Maurice could see Grumpy Granddad looking through the greenhouse windows and hid behind the tomato plants so Grumpy Granddad couldn’t see him. Everyday Maurice came back to tuck into the tomatoes and nibble at the cucumbers. He thought these vegetables were delicious. He kept really quiet when Grumpy Granddad was around, and then, as soon as Grumpy Granddad had gone back into his house, he jumped down from the shelves holding the plants and ran back down his tunnel. Because Maurice came back every day to eat some more, one by one the tomatoes were disappearing. But Maurice was a clever little Mole and he never ate the ones near the windows, so every time Grumpy Granddad peered in through the windows, he saw lovely red tomatoes growing bigger and bigger. What he didn’t know was that in actual fact it was only the tomatoes in front of the windows that were growing, all the others had been eaten by Maurice. Eating all these tomatoes and cucumbers, however, was beginning to make Maurice fat and he was finding it very difficult to get back down his tunnel. The thing was, he knew there was still a few more lovely ripe tomatoes waiting for him to eat - the ones that were still growing by the windows! So he made up his mind that tomorrow he would eat the last few tomatoes and cucumbers and then return back to his home far away over the fields.

Grumpy Granddad peered through the windows of his greenhouse “Yes”, he said rubbing his hands together, “these tomatoes look lovely and ripe. I’ll go and get a basket and pick some for my tea”. So off he went back into the house to fetch a basket. Now Maurice the Mole had made his way back up the tunnel for the last time. He was going to eat all the tomatoes that were left - the ones that so juicy by the windows - and then go back down into the safety of his tunnel. He saw Grumpy Granddad look through the windows of the greenhouse, before walking back to the house. Now was his chance. He quickly started to eat the lovely juicy tomatoes by the windows. Even though all the tomatoes were making him feel really sick, he still didn’t stop. He was so greedy he ate every last tomato. Maurice then jumped down from the shelves and scurried into the entrance of his tunnel. But oh dear, his tummy was so full of tomatoes he was now too fat to fit through the hole. “Never mind” he thought “I’ll have a sleep at the back of the cucumbers and when I wake up my tummy might have got smaller. And that’s just what he did. Unaware that Grumpy Granddad was about to open the greenhouse door to start picking his tomatoes, Maurice the mole fell fast asleep.

Grumpy Granddad walked down the garden with a spring in his step. He couldn’t wait to pick all those lovely ripe tomatoes. He had been looking forward to eating them for a long time. But as he got nearer to the greenhouse he couldn’t believe his eyes. All the lovely tomatoes that he’d seen just a few minutes ago had gone. Bare plants were the only things to be seen through the window. Whatever had happened to his tomatoes. Opening the greenhouse door in a hurry, he was in for an even bigger shock. There wasn’t a tomato to be seen anywhere. They had all gone, every single one. A bite had been taken out of all the cucumbers and at the back of the greenhouse was a huge hole. Grumpy Granddad stood in amazement looking at what was left of his tomatoes plants.

Try as he might, he just couldn’t understand what had happened. He’d seen the lovely ripe tomatoes that very morning and now they were all gone. But as he looked from plant to empty plant, who do you think Grumpy Granddad should see. Yes, lying in the corner of the greenhouse, fast asleep was Maurice the Mole. He was covered from head to toe in red tomato juice, tomato seeds were caked around his mouth and his tummy was as big as a football. When Grumpy Granddad saw Maurice he started trembling with rage.

Not satisfied with destroying his patio and bursting his garden pond, now Maurice had eaten all his lovely tomatoes. And here he was fast asleep with tomato juice dripping from his mouth. Grumpy Granddad had caught Maurice again and this time he wasn’t going to escape. He picked up a sweeping brush and went over to where Maurice was sleeping. “Got you!” he shouted, and hit Maurice with the brush. Maurice woke up with a start. The little bell around Grumpy Grandad’s neck started to ring, and we all know what happens when Grumpy Grandad gets really angry and the bell starts to ring, don’t we. Yes, Crazy Grandma came running down the garden with a bucket full of cold water to cool Grumpy Grandad down.

When Maurice saw how angry Grumpy Granddad was he tried to get back down his tunnel as quickly as he could. But it was no good, his tummy was still too big and now he was stuck with his head down the tunnel and his back legs sticking out. For all his efforts, he couldn’t move. The next minute Crazy Grandma came running into the greenhouse, threw the water over Grumpy Grandad and soaked him through. “What did you do that for, you crazy old woman!” Grumpy Grandad shouted. “Because you are getting too angry and you’ll make yourself ill” said Crazy Grandma and went back into the house leaving Grumpy Grandad standing in the greenhouse soaking wet through. But Grumpy Grandad had calmed down now and knew that Maurice the Mole wasn’t going to get away this time because he was stuck in the hole.

Grumpy Granddad had caught him and was going to make sure that this time Maurice would never ever come back again. He went back into the house and put on some dry clothes, and then went back down the garden to the greenhouse. Maurice was still stuck in the hole with his back legs sticking out and this time it was Gumpy Granddad’s turn to laugh at Maurice the Mole. He looked so funny struggling to get out of the hole but it was impossible he was well and truly stuck. Grumpy Granddad laughed and laughed, he hadn’t laughed so much in all his life and he was happy that at long last he had caught Maurice the Mole. Crazy Grandma looked out of the window and was just about to run down the garden and throw more water over grumpy granddad when she realized the little bell was ringing because Grumpy Granddad was actually laughing she was really surprised - it had been a long, long time since Grumpy Grandad had laughed.

When Grumpy Granddad finished laughing he decided to put Maurice into his old fishing basket. It was big with a heavy lid on it and Grumpy Granddad always took it with him when he went fishing. He knew that Maurice would be able to escape from the basket. Grumpy Granddad pulled Maurice back out of the tunnel and put him into the basket. His plan was to put the basket into his car and drive for miles and miles. Eventually, he had driven so far that it was going dark outside and he knew that it was safe now to let Maurice free. He opened the lid to the basket and Maurice jumped out. Grumpy Granddad shouted at Maurice as he ran away “and don't ever come back to my garden again if you know what's good for you". Maurice scampered off as fast as he could and Grumpy Granddad got back in to his car feeling very pleased. Good, he thought to himself, that's the last time we’ll be seeing him. And you know boys and girls I think that this time he was probably right.

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