This story was written with Joseph Edward Addae (known as”Prof”). Prof is an 11 year old who lives in Abofour in the Ashanti region of Ghana. He loves learning and creating as much as any child I’ve met. This is based on a true story – this is just one of Prof’s many creations that are scattered around his home. 

Prof’s Creation

There was a certain boy called Edward, who always liked creating things. His family called him “Prof” because his father wished that he would one day become a professor. Prof was always thinking: thinking about stories, thinking about animals, thinking about building things.

One day, Prof was outside picking up some pieces of wood, when a thought flew into his mind. He had thought of something amazing that he could build. He got some nails, some pieces of wood, some roofing sheets, and some wire gridding.

He first got one of the pieces of wood, and put another one on top of it. Then he banged in the nails – “bang bang bang!” Then he left space for windows, and covered the spaces with metal wiring. Lastly, he got the roofing sheet and used it to cover his creation.

When his mum was buying fruit at the market, and his dad was pounding foo foo, he took his building onto his shoulders, and climbed up onto the kitchen roof. He secured it in place, and climbed back down.

The next day, the sun rose, and shone upon Prof’s creation. His parents woke up. They were confused.

“What is that on the kitchen roof?” asked dad.

“Did the wind blow a box there?” asked mum.

“Is it a chimney?” asked his cousin, Prince.

“It’s Prof’s bird house!” shouted Alex, Prof’s older brother.

“I saw a little bird eaten by the cat, because he had no home of his own. So now I’ve built birds a home.” said Prof.

Every day Prof would stare up at the bird house, waiting for birds to arrive. But no birds came.

One day he painted the house red, green and white to make it more attractive.  But still no birds came.

A week later, Prof was asleep, and he heard a sound: “chweee, chweee!!” He jumped out of bed, like a spring, and saw a glimpse of blue feathers. A bird was in the house!

Another week later, he heard a “chwii, chwii, chwii” and he leapt out of bed like a goat. He quietly climbed onto the roof and saw that there were three newly hatched eggs inside his house.

The dogs heard the birds and kept leaping up with their tongues hanging out. They went “bark, bark, bark!!” But Prof had built the house so high that they could not reach them.

The cat heard the birds, and kept jumping up onto the roof. But Prof covered the roof in cooking oil, so the cat kept sliding off, and falling through the air, going “miaaaaaaow” as she fell.

One night there was a giant storm, and the wind went “gust gust gust!”. But Prof had attached the house with nails into the roof, and not even the strongest gust would move it.

One morning there was a ‘bang, bang, bang!” Prof hopped out of bed like a rabbit, and ran to see what the noise was. But it was his brother, Alex, known as Alexander the Great. He was beating a drum next to the bird house. The birds were going “chweee, chweee!!” in time with the drumming.

Suddenly, Prof saw flashes of blue feathers and flapping wings appeared above the kitchen. The mummy bird could fly, but the baby birds were just learning.  However, with the beat of the drum, they seemed to be inspired, and as Alex went “drum, drum, drum!” they rose higher and as the beater got louder and louder!

Alex picked up the pace of the beat, seeing their reaction, and the birds danced in the air, flying this way and that way, higher and higher into the blue sky. Prof followed them with his eyes, darting this way and that way, sharing their journey until he could no longer see them.

It was morning, the sun rose and shone on the Prof’s birdhouse. Prof was thinking, he was always thinking: thinking about stories, thinking about animals, thinking about building something.

Any comments or suggestions on the story and how it is told are most welcome! Email contact@readingspots.org!