Aston · Collection 1 · Revised reading
Aston the Axolotl and the Bubble Trouble
Listen: Aston the Axolotl and the Eggy Whiff
Companion recording · 3:17
Open the song directlyRead aloud together. This is a complete draft manuscript, not a printed book offer.
Deep beneath the sparkling blue water, past the waving weeds and the wobbly lily pads, lived a little axolotl called Aston.
Aston was imaginative, unusual and endlessly optimistic.
Every morning he woke up thinking exactly the same thing.
“Today is going to be the BEST day ever!”
Off to School
Aston packed his pencils, his favourite book and his lunch into his little school bag.
“Have a wonderful day!” called Mum.
“I WILL!” said Aston.
He swished his tail and set off towards school.
But halfway there, Aston felt something strange in his tummy.
Gurgle...
Aston stopped.
Rumble...
His eyes grew wide.
“Oh no.”
Prrrrrp!
A tiny stream of bubbles appeared behind him.
Bloop... bloop... bloop...
Aston quickly looked around.
Nobody had seen.
“Phew!”
There was something you should know about Aston.
Just like everybody else, Aston sometimes farted.
But unlike everybody else...
Aston's farts made BUBBLES!
And bubbles were very difficult to hide.
Aston had never heard his friends talk about farting.
Perhaps he was the only one.
What if they found out and didn't want to sit beside him anymore?
The First Bubble
Aston arrived at school and sat down at his desk.
His teacher was telling the class about underwater plants.
Aston tried very hard to concentrate.
But then...
GURRRRGLE.
His tummy was at it again.
“Not now,” Aston whispered.
He squeezed.
He wriggled.
He crossed his legs.
But...
Prrrrrp!
Bloop! Bloop! Bloop!
Three enormous bubbles floated up from underneath Aston's chair.
Aston watched in horror as they drifted towards the ceiling.
POP!
POP!
POP!
The teacher stopped talking.
She sniffed.
Then she sniffed again.
Her nose wrinkled.
The whole classroom went quiet.
“Who has done and eggy whiff?” she asked.
Aston's cheeks turned pink.
“It wasn't me!” he said quickly.
He pointed across the classroom.
“Maybe it was... Ricky the Shrimp!”
Ricky looked astonished.
“ME?!”
More Bubble Trouble
A little while later, everyone gathered on the carpet for story time.
Aston sat very still.
Then...
Gurgle.
“Oh, please don't,” he whispered to his tummy.
GURGLE!
Aston squeezed his bottom as tightly as he could.
But it was no use.
Prrrrrrrrrp!
This time, a whole trail of bubbles escaped.
Bloop-bloop-bloop-bloop-bloop!
Aston tried to catch them.
He grabbed one.
He missed another.
He tried sitting on a third.
But there were too many!
The bubbles floated straight past the teacher's nose.
POP!
She sniffed.
“Oh my goodness!”
Then came the question Aston was beginning to dread.
“Who has done and eggy whiff?”
Everyone looked around.
Aston pointed towards the window.
“It must have been a passing fish!”
A little fish swimming outside stopped and stared at him.
Aston gave it an apologetic wave.
Lunchtime
At lunchtime, Aston sat with his friends.
He had seaweed sandwiches, crunchy kelp sticks and his favourite pudding.
Everyone was laughing and chatting.
Aston started to relax.
Perhaps the bubble trouble was over.
Then...
GURRRRRRRRRGLE.
Aston froze.
His friends froze.
Even his sandwich seemed to freeze.
PRRRRRRRRP!
A HUGE bubble appeared.
It wobbled.
It jiggled.
And then it began floating slowly upwards.
Everyone watched it.
Aston watched it.
The teacher watched it.
BLOOP...
Aston pointed desperately at the other side of the room.
“THE TURTLE!”
Everyone looked at the turtle.
The turtle shook his head.
“THE EEL!”
The eel shook her head.
“THE SNAIL!”
The snail looked particularly offended.
“THE DUCK?”
There wasn't even a duck in the classroom.
Aston was running out of excuses.
Then the enormous bubble reached the ceiling.
POP!
The teacher sniffed.
Her eyes widened.
“Who has done and eggy whiff?”
Aston slowly slid underneath the table.
The Biggest Bubble of All
That afternoon, the class went outside to play.
Aston was having such a wonderful time that he forgot all about his troublesome tummy.
He chased his friends.
He jumped over rocks.
He zoomed through the water.
“This IS the best day ever!” he shouted.
Then he stopped.
His tummy made a noise unlike any noise it had made before.
GURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGLE.
Aston's eyes became enormous.
“Oh dear.”
He squeezed his bottom.
His cheeks puffed out.
His little legs trembled.
But Aston simply couldn't hold it any longer.
PRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRP!
Behind Aston appeared...
the biggest...
roundest...
wobbliest...
bubble...
EVER!
It was nearly as big as Aston!
The playground fell silent.
Everyone stared.
The enormous bubble floated upwards.
BLOOOOOOP!
Aston looked at his friends.
He looked at his teacher.
He thought about blaming the turtle.
Or the eel.
Or the snail.
He could even try blaming the imaginary duck again.
But Aston knew there was no point.
The bubble was floating directly above his head.
POP!
Everyone waited.
The teacher raised an eyebrow.
Aston sighed.
“Okay,” he said.
“It was me.”
There was silence.
Aston stared at his feet.
Ricky came and stood beside him.
“You can still be on my team,” he said.
Aston looked up.
Aston Tells the Truth
Aston's teacher smiled.
“Thank you for telling the truth, Aston.”
Aston looked down.
“I thought I was the only one,” said Aston. “And nobody would want to sit next to me.”
His teacher crouched beside him.
“Everybody farts sometimes.”
“Even teachers?” asked Aston.
The teacher paused.
“Even teachers.”
Aston's eyes widened.
“Do yours make bubbles?”
The teacher smiled.
“That is something you will NEVER find out.”
Aston giggled.
“Sorry I blamed you, Ricky.”
“Thank you,” said Ricky. “I was beginning to wonder if I had made that enormous bubble without noticing.”
Aston laughed. Ricky laughed with him.
“And the duck?” asked the turtle.
“I'm not sure we should ask the duck,” said Aston.
Even the teacher had to smile.
The Best Day Ever
From that day on, Aston stopped blaming everyone else for his bubbles.
Well...
most of the time.
Sometimes a little bubble still escaped during maths.
Bloop!
Sometimes one appeared during story time.
Bloop! Bloop!
And once, during assembly, Aston produced seven bubbles in a row.
Bloop! Bloop! Bloop! Bloop! Bloop! Bloop! Bloop!
But Aston didn't hide.
He didn't blame the turtle.
He didn't blame the eel.
And he definitely didn't blame the imaginary duck.
He simply smiled and said...
“Excuse me.”
Because Aston had discovered something important.
He wasn't the only one who farted.
And a bubble couldn't stop him being someone's friend.
Sometimes it was still embarrassing.
Sometimes it was surprising.
And, when he was ready to laugh with his friends...
it could be very, very funny.
As Aston swam home that afternoon, he thought about everything that had happened.
School.
His friends.
His enormous bubble.
And all the laughter.
Aston smiled.
He had been right all along.
Today really HAD been the best day ever.
Then Aston felt something.
Gurgle...
He looked behind him.
“Oh no...”
PRRRRRP!
Bloop! Bloop! Bloop!
Aston grinned.
“Maybe that one was the duck.”
And somewhere in the distance...
QUACK!
Original song lyrics: Aston the Axolotl's Bubble Trouble
These are the original written lyrics, preserved alongside the companion recording. They are not a timed transcript of the performance.
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