Home Sweet Home

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Ciara opened her eyes slowly. The sun was finally up and shining brightly. Her brother, Dillon, was still fast asleep in the seat next to her. When she looked more carefully, she realised that the streets and houses were familiar.

In fact, they had just driven past her cousin’s house. This meant that they were almost home. It had been a very long drive from the ferry port. A few minutes later, they pulled onto the drive and Dad shut off the engine before stretching and yawning deeply.

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They worked as a team to unpack their holiday luggage from the car. Dad took the suitcases as they were the heaviest by far. Dillon and Ciara helped to carry in the smaller, lighter bags.

They piled all of the things from the car into the middle of the sitting room floor. It was like a mountain!

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Mum took a long look at the pile and shrugged her shoulders. “If we all help, we can get this tidied away in no time!”

“Unpacking is rubbish and I’m hungry and tired!”

“Aww, do we have to?” Ciara moaned.

“Well, how about I make it interesting?” Dad suggested with a smile

“If you two can sort this out without any more grumbles, I’ll fetch us all some fish and chips from

the shop on the corner for our dinner.”

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Ciara and Dillon looked at each other determinedly. They needed a plan!

They decided that the quickest way would be to tidy one room at a time.

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The first bag they opened was full of plastic forks, cups and plates.

“Quick, to the kitchen!” ordered Ciara.

On their holiday, they had enjoyed lots of picnics together. Ciara loaded the cups and plates into the dishwasher. Dillon put the uneaten biscuits in the cupboard and the leftover apples back in the fruit bowl.

“Catch!” shouted Mum, throwing a pile of sandy clothes towards Dillon.

He stuffed them into the washing machine, ready for cleaning.

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The next bag they took from the mountain of luggage was filled with toothbrushes, towels and bottles.

“Up to the bathroom!” Dillon said as he charged towards the stairs. They stood their toothbrushes up in the cup by the clean, white sink and lined up the bottles of shampoo and shower gel on the edge of the bath.

Ciara had missed the bath as they had only had a shower in their holiday apartment. ‘Fish and chips, a relaxing bath and then bed,’ she thought to herself. “Stop daydreaming!” shouted Dillon. “We’ve still got loads to do.” twinkl.com

Next, Dillon took a large stripy bag from the pile. It had bats and balls, buckets and spades and a Frisbee inside.

“These belong in the garden shed,” said Ciara, opening the back door. On their holiday, they had played lots of games on the beach. Dillon and Ciara liked playing rounders best. Quickly, but not very carefully, Ciara threw the items into the shed and forced the door shut.

As she walked back towards the house there was a loud CRASH as the shed door flew open, spilling the shed’s contents onto the lawn! Sighing, she neatly stacked everything away and this time the door shut easily.

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“Are we nearly done yet?” whined Dillon, opening another bag. “Shhh. Don’t let Dad hear you!” Ciara whispered as she peered inside. The bag had neatly folded T-shirts, sandals and toys inside. “These belong in our bedroom,”she

said as they headed back towards the stairs.

She hung the clean clothes in the wardrobe and tossed the dirty ones into their washing basket. The sandals were tucked away under the bed and Dillon put his teddy bear back in its place. Dillon thought about his lovely comfy bed

and wished it was closer to bedtime!

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“Just one bag left,” smiled Dillon, looking proudly at where the mountain had been.

The final bag had books, films and board games inside. “Looks like we don’t need to go far,” chuckled Ciara. “These belong in the sitting room!”

Dillon slid his favourite films back onto the shelf by the television as Ciara put away the board games they had taken.

Ciara had loved being allowed to stay up a little bit later on their holiday to play

games with her family.

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“You missed one,” laughed Dad, pointing at a tiny paper bag on the carpet.

On the last day of the holiday, Mum had allowed them each to buy a magnet as a reminder of their trip. Dillon had chosen a magnetic sunshine and Ciara had picked a magnetic French flag.

“Our souvenirs!” cried Dillon, grabbing the bag and racing for the fridge.

“Now we’re done!” Dillon shouted from

the kitchen.

“That must mean it’s dinner time then!” smiled Mum. Ciara and Dillon cheered and rushed to set the table.

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As they tucked into the delicious fish and chips, Dad smiled.

“I had a wonderful holiday, but it’s always lovely to be home, isn’t it?”

Mum, Ciara and Dillon nodded in agreement, their mouths full of food.

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After they had tidied away, Ciara and Dillon got ready for bed. After a nice, warm bath, they brushed their teeth, pulled on their comfy pyjamas and climbed into their cosy beds.

“Home sweet home,” yawned Ciara as she closed

her heavy eyes.

“Home sweet home,” agreed Dillon. They both drifted off

to sleep in no time.

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