The Adventures of Poachy An Urban Squirrel

by Stephen Aleppo

Overview

Poachy the squirrel lives near the top of the tallest tree in Amelia Riley Gardens. A lush green space in the middle of a big city, surrounded by huge white Georgian houses, which make up Victoria Square. The park is big for an inner city square at about the size of two standard football fields laid end to end. A grand duck pond built on two levels dominates its centre. It has its own footbridge separating the small shallow part where frogs, tadpoles and newts live, from the deeper, much larger part, for bigger fish. According to local rumour it contains at least one giant carp, although no one has ever seen it, let alone caught it. A lot of mature trees surround the pond and many of the spaces between them are occupied by ancient wooden benches dedicated to long past residents of the square. A narrow grey path runs right around the outside edge, just inside the ancient black wrought iron fence. It takes joggers exactly five minutes to complete one circuit of the place and that is generally enough for most of the older residents.
There are four ornate gates, one on each side of the gardens. These are named after important English poets from a bygone age. Browning gate to the North, Hardy gate to the East, Tennyson gate to the South and Wordsworth gate to the West. The longest sides of the square to the West and the East are considered to be the most desirable places to live in the whole of the district. Not everyone can come into the park either. Oh no. Its use is for residents of the square only. They have to have their own key to get in and a yearly fee has to be paid to the residents committee for its upkeep. It is tended by a retired bank manager called Arthur and his friend Murray who live in a basement flat on the narrow North side. For now, Poachy is too young to venture outside of the gardens but there is plenty to be going on with for now within those wrought iron fences.
3 short stories for Spring - Book 1

Product Details

BN ID:	2940164801823
Publisher:	Stephen Aleppo
Publication date:	01/23/2021
Sold by:	Smashwords
Format:	eBook
File size:	284 KB
Age Range:	5 - 11 Years

About the Author

Franz Kafka Prize, European Union Prize for Literature, Goethe Prize, The Hans Christian Anderson Award, …… these are just a few of the awards I'm never likely to win……. But I’m still doing something I love thanks to ebooks and ultimately that’s all that counts.
Born Camberwell London UK 1959 (OMG!!)
Grew up in Mitcham, Tooting and Clapham in London.
Have been writing as a hobby since Primary school. English was about the only thing I ever excelled at and writing for me was always on the cards even if I was generally too lazy to sit down and do it. If the lesson wasn't English I generally gazed out of the nearest window and thought about the universe. I only recently started making a real effort to write in the last five years or so as the mindless grip of the book agent is finally at an end and we all have a second chance.
My other serious Hobby is Photography.
Enjoy writing for the younger Teen Market as I still tend to think like a fourteen year old. Shame I haven’t got the legs to go with the outlook anymore, but it comes to us all. Also have a strong interest in the paranormal, especially out of body experiences. I have been plagued by them since my childhood and am in the process of putting the finishing touches to my new book, A simple Guide to the Out of Body Experience.
If I had the guts I’d like to be a stand up comic.
One of the worst sins in life is to take yourself too seriously.