Hoblins

Once upon a time, many years ago, a boy named Georgie Pegg and his family visited Middle England to have a picnic in a village known as Alton, Staffordshire. After travelling for a long time the family found the outskirts of a forest where the sun shone through the trees and the birds sang merrily.

Once the family had eaten they decided to go for a walk through the forest. Georgie gazed up into the trees trying to spot the squirrels he knew were hiding there, but suddenly realised he was alone, having lost his family somewhere within the deep forest. Feeling scared he started to run along the path as it would soon be dark. Hot and tired, Georgie stopped in front of a large oak tree.

The oak was the largest he had ever seen, it seemed to stretch up into the sky, the branches piercing the clouds above. Georgie slumped down by its roots, and before he realised it, had fallen asleep. Not long after he awoke with a start and looked down to see a small spindly creature in rags poking his side with a knobbly finger.

It looked like some sort of goblin or hobbit that he had read about in fairy tales — but they were just stories, weren’t they? The creature was pointing down the path, grinning from pointy ear to pointy ear, and as Georgie looked he saw a trail of acorns leading back the way he had come.

He sensed the creature was trying to help him, so he got up and began to follow the trail until he could see his family in the distance. Georgie wished he could repay the favour — and someone else would see the creature he named the Hoblin…