Save the Socks

Chapter 1

Beebo knew that he was forbidden from going into the Laughing Forest. Ever since Beebo had gotten into trouble and caused the children to disappear, everyone was banned from going into the Laughing Forest. It was a promise that the DeliLand mayor Dr Whoopee had made to Lifewithyou.

For a few months after that disaster, everytime the townsfolk looked at Beebo, they shook their heads. Beebo knew he had done something bad and it was going to be a long time before anyone forgot that.

One day, when Beebo was playing with his cat and dog, the cat ran into Laughing Forest. The dog followed suit.

Beebo paused outside the forest and remembered that nobody was allowed to go in. But he had to save the dog and the cat, so he ran after them. After all, they wouldn't have gone far. He'd have them out of there in no time and nobody would even know that he had gone in.

Beebo ran and ran and ran and ran. Finally he caught up with the cat and dog. He picked up the cat and the dog ran around him in circles. "Now to go home before anyone finds us here," he said aloud.

Just then the sky turned dark and the there was a rustling as the trees seemed to move together and closed in on them.

"Uh-oh," said Beebo.

The cat started meowing and the dog just whimpered as he stopped running in circles and just stayed real close to Beebo.

Luckily Beebo spotted a little cave nearby and decided this was the best place for them to take cover until the storm blew over.

They went into the cave. Luck was again on Beebo's side. There was no wild animal in the cave. It was empty except for a few berry plants.

The cat, by now, had jumped out of Beebo's grasp and started biting on some berries. And the dog followed suit. Thinking it must be safe, Beebo did the same. Anything to stop his stomach from growling!

The wind was blowing strongly now and Beebo, cat and dog all felt sleepy. As they huddled together, all three fell asleep.

Chapter 2

"Who you are? What you are? Where come you from?"

Beebo heard strange voices, even stranger than the voices of Weirdo and Weirdel who were the original Stranges.

Beebo rubbed his eyes. He was alarmed at the sight before him. Would you believe what he saw? They looked like socks ... dirty socks.

And they smelt … BAD!

Cat and dog had woken up too. And they both stayed close to Beebo not daring to let out a peep.

"Who are you?" asked Beebo.

"Who you are?" asked one of the socks.

"I'm Beebo," he answered.

"Bee-boh. Bee-boh. Bee-boh. Bee-boh," chanted the first sock. Soon all the socks were chanting Beebo's name.

Then the first sock raised his eyebrows as if to silence the other socks. He said: "Bee-boh, you are."

Before Beebo could ask the sock who he was, the sock asked another question: "Who funny and furry is?" as he looked at the cat and dog.

"Funny?" asked Beebo. The cat cocked her head at Beebo. "Furry?" and the dog looked at him.

It was so strange. Before Beebo could try and understand why the cat and dog had responded to being called Funny and Furry, the socks started prodding and poking him.

"Ow!" exclaimed Beebo.

Then the socks moved to either side, as if clearing a path, and a big … no, giant … no, humongous boot was seen hopping towards them.

"Arrrrrrrrrggggggggghhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!" screamed Beebo as he tried to run and realised he was surrounded by socks who stood their ground and there was nowhere for him to run.

"Bee-boh?" boomed the big black boot. "Bee-boh you are? Sock you become?" asked the big black boot.

"No, I'm Beebo. I'm not a sock."

"Bee-boh you are. Sock you become."

"No, I'm Beebo. I can't become a sock," said Beebo growing impatient.

"Sock you become," said the big black boot, or BBB for short.

"I CAN'T become a sock," said Beebo adamantly.

"SOCK YOU BECOME!" boomed the BBB.

This did not look good. In addition to being surrounded by hundreds of smelly socks and towered over by a BBB that wanted Beebo to turn into one of the smelly socks, these socks and the BBB clearly spoke bad English!

Beebo thought for a while. Then he said to the BBB: "All right. I'll turn into a sock …"

Meow! purred Funny the cat.

Rowrrrr! barked Furry the dog.

"… if you can solve this puzzle," continued Beebo.

"GASP!" exclaimed all the socks. Beebo knew from their reaction that nobody had dared question or challenge the BBB before.

Chapter 3

The BBB gave out a chortle. "What puzzle it is?" he asked.

"The brother-in-law of my mother's only brother is my close relative. Who is he?"

The BBB sat there stumped. He hopped around, and hopped around and hopped around. Then he went away.

It grew dark and the wind blew strongly and Beebo could smell … all the smelly socks around him.

Finally, the BBB returned.

"I know," he barked. "He is your uncle!"

"Nah! You're wrong. So I don't have to turn into a dirty old sock and I can also go home, right?"

The BBB started growling but the socks had parted the way for Beebo to leave. As he was walking off, Beebo saw the sad looks on the socks' faces.

He turned and faced the BBB.

"One more puzzle!" cried Beebo.

"If you can solve this one, I will change into a sock."

The BBB glowed with happiness.

"If not," continued Beebo, "not only do I walk out of here. But so do the socks. They would all be free to go. Are you game?"

The BBB didn't want to look like a coward in front of the socks so he naturally agreed.

"Win I will this time," said the BBB.

Chapter 4

"OK, here's the next puzzle. A woman was walking with a young man. His mother is her mother's only child. Who was the young man to the woman?"

Again the BBB hopped back and forth and back and forth and back and forth. Beebo was getting hungry. His stomach growled. He wanted to pick more berries but the socks were all in the way and with the smell, Beebo didn't feel like eating ….

"Know I do. Sock you become," said the BBB. "He is her grandmother!" He was so sure he was right.

"WRONG!" said Beebo as all the socks jumped up and down. You can imagine the smell as they jumped up and down!

The BBB stomped around. "No! No! Right I am. Sock you become!"

"No, you are wrong and the socks and I are free to go!"

As Beebo said this, Lifewithyou suddenly appeared at the entrance of the cave.

"You have broken the spell, Beebo," she said.

Beebo looked around him. The smelly socks had turned into berry bushes. Beautiful berry bushes.

"This nasty boot has been casting spells on the berry trees to suit his purposes," said Lifewithyou. "He just wants many socks to keep him warm on cold days. Shoo! Go! Off you go!" said Lifewithyou chasing the BBB away.

Beebo smiled as he yawned. Lifewithyou escorted Beebo, Funny and Furry back home.

Chapter 5

Beebo didn't get into trouble as he expected. In fact nobody noticed he had been gone for so long. It was just a few minutes for them.

They were also curious how Beebo ended up naming his dog and cat who for a long time had been unnamed. Funny and Furry. Now aren't those the funniest names you've heard?

Can you guess what the answers to Beebo's puzzles are?

Find out the answers to the puzzles.