Lucy and the cruise ship

Once upon a time there was a little girl called Lucy.

Lucy lived by the sea in a busy port. When she had free time there was nothing she liked better than watching the giant cruise ships come and go. Lucy dreamed of how one day she would be on board one of the great liners sailing the world to interesting and exotic places.

One day Lucy was down by the harbour looking at an especially large cruise ship. She noticed a gangway leading to an open door in the ship's side, so she decided that she'd take a look around.

She climbed the gangway and went through the door. It led to a food storage area. She'd never seen so much food in her life. She made her way through the massive kitchens and started to explore the ship.

All of a sudden the ship's horn made a loud noise and Lucy felt the ship begin to move. Oh no! What would she do?

There wasn't much she could do, so she decided to make the most of her adventure. She remembered some huge empty cupboards in the food store room. They were so big she could easily sleep in them.

She carried on exploring the ship. Inside it was even bigger than it looked from the outside. There were all kinds of shops, and restaurants. There were gymnasiums and cinemas. But best of all Lucy loved the ballroom. It was so big, and so beautiful.

She was just exploring the outside decks when a man in a posh uniform spoke to her.

He was the captain and he asked where her parents were.

Lucy didn't answer.

He asked what cabin number she was staying in.

Again Lucy didn't answer.

Then he started to shout.

Lucy told him she had sneaked aboard and that she was very sorry.

The captain was very angry. At first he said he would throw her overboard to the sharks. But then he took her downstairs and gave her a mop and bucket.

"I want you to scrub the decks on this ship from top to bottom", said the captain. "I want to see my face in the floors. And when you get to the bottom I want you to go back to the top and start again."

Lucy had no choice. She began scrubbing.

The next day Lucy was working hard scrubbing the deck at the front of the ship. She stopped for a moment to look at the beautiful ocean. To her horror she saw the ship was heading straight for some gigantic rocks.

Lucy dropped her mop and ran upstairs to the driver's room. The driver had fallen asleep at the wheel.

"Wake up! Wake up!" shouted Lucy.

The driver woke just in time and managed to steer the ship away from the rocks.

As he turned the wheel so suddenly the ship leaned heavily to one side.

A few moments' later the captain burst into the driver's room and demanded to know what had happened.

The driver told the captain he had fallen asleep and how Lucy had woken him just in time and saved the ship from crashing.

The captain was very pleased with Lucy. He gave her the key to one of the most expensive cabins on the ship and invited her to have dinner at his table for the rest of the cruise.

That evening the captain handed Lucy an envelope. It had tickets for her, Mummy and Daddy, and her brother and sister to all join the ship for a month long cruise.

Next: Aunty Nelly's new house