Ashley's camera
It was 12 of June – Ashley Simpson's birthday. As soon as he got up he opened his presents. There was a digital camera from his mum and dad and some money from his grandparents. Ashley normally went to school at half past eight, but today he ate his breakfast quickly and left at eight o'clock. He wanted to try out his new camera.
When he
got off the bus in the High Street, he
met Stephanie and Yvette. They were in his class.
'What are you doing, Ashley?'
asked Stephanie.
'I'm trying out my new camera. Do you want
to be in the photos?'
Stephanie looked at her
watch.
'No, we can't. We have to go to school,' she
said. 'And we can't
late today. We have to help the teacher with the
register.
The girls left and Ashley looked round for something else to snap. He saw a dog outside the Yorkshire Bank. While he was looking, the door of the bank opened and two men came out. They were carrying a bag. Ashley thought it was strange, because the bank didn't open till half past nine. He took some pictures of the dog and then he ran to school.
When he
arrived home
after school, Ashley's mother was in the car.
'I have to go to the shops', she said,
'Have you got your key?'
'Yes, Mum', said Ashley.
Oh, Ashley, the ...' Mrs Simpson didn't
finish her
sentence, because Ashley was
already
going round the
corner of the house to
back door.
'Oh, it doesn't matter', she said.
Indoors, Ashley
sat down he
switched on the radio and
took out his camera. The photos were very good.
A few minutes later, the
news came on the radio:
'There was a robbery at the Yorkshire Bank in
Grangeport High Street this morning. The police are
looking for two men...',
Ashley looked at the
last two photographs
again.
Behind the dog were two men, and they were
coming out of the Yorkshire Bank in Grangeport High Street! Were they the robbers?
Suddenly
someone
knocked at the front door. Ashley looked out of the window and he
couldn't
believe his eyes. At the door was one of the men in his photographs.
'Perhaps they saw me with my camera,' he thought, 'and now they're looking for me!'
Ashley didn't open the door. He
decided to phone the police. He
picked up the phone and
dialled 999, but nothing
happened. The phone
wasn't working. He tried his mobile, but it was no good. The
battery was
dead!
The man knocked again – very loudly this time. Ashley hid behind the sofa. What should he do? Should he open the door? Ashley decided to escape. He crept into the kitchen and ran out of the back door. But the man was now standing outside the back door and Ashley ran straight into him. The man fell backwards onto the garden and Ashley turned to run.
Just at the moment, his mother
came round the corner of the house.
'Ashley, what are you doing?', she said.'He is a robber, Mum!'
shouted Ashley. 'He's in my photos at the bank and he's come
to get me!'
'Don't be silly!' said his mother. 'This man hasn't come to get you. He's come to
repair the telephone!'
'The telephone?' said Ashley.
'Yes', said his mother. 'I tried to
tell you that the phone wasn't working, but
as usual you didn't
listen.'
The
engineer got up, and
brushed off his
clothes.
'But I saw you at the bank this morning,', said Ashley.
'Yes, ha, ha, we were repairing the telephones
before the bank opened.' said the man, and he
laughed.
Ashley's mother laughed, too. They both thought it was very funny. But Ashley didn't. He just thought it was very embarrassing.