"Where Is Hippi Today?"
He's Home!
He's Home!
This is the story of Hippi the Slippo: he's escaped from his slipper, and went travelling to see Uncle Unndy, to find out why Auntie FeeDee is always talking about him.
Firstly he went straight to Luxembourg, found Uncle Unndy, and gave him a great big kiss!
D'aaaaw, how sweet!
Hippi liked Uncle Unndy very much, and now understands why we all adore him.
But then it was time to head for home.
Hippi went back to Findel Airport in Lux, and hopped onto a plane.
But oh dear! It didn't go straight back to Italy where Auntie FeeDee lives.
Hippi was sitting in the plane, wondering why it was taking such a long time to get home, when at last the plane started circling down to land.
"Puf!" said Hippi "Fa caldo!" ("Poof - it's hot!")
Why was it so hot? Italy wasn't that hot when Hippi left, was it?
Hippi thought this was very strange, but he bravely made his way down the steps and looked around.
"Aha - un autobus!" (no translation needed) he said, and skipped into the bus, smiling at the nice man who was driving it.
This was very exciting!
At that moment, Hippi saw a lady walking past - she had very long legs and was wearing a bikini with a flamenco skirts and Ugg boots. "Auntie Leelu!" cried Hippi, "Bello vederti!"
"Hey Hippi", replied Auntie Leelu - it was indeed her - "What are you doing here? Do you need a lift back to the airport?" (chorus of "Graeme Brown?" from my house)
"Si, per favore." replied Hippi, so Auntie Leelu drove him back to the airport.
The aeroplane took off, flew over the water for quite a long while, then landed again.
"Emozionante!" said Hippi to himself, ("Exciting!") as he bounced down the steps of the plane. It was still hot, and there was a lot of noise all around.
Hippi immediately knew that this wasn't Italy: for one thing, he would not have been flying over water for all that time, but he thought he'd have a look around while he was there.
Inside a large building, Hippi found this:
"Oro..." he breathed, excitedly.
"Lo siento", said a voice behind him, "pero no se puede quitar!" It was Pahola, making sure that Hippi didn't get into trouble with the authorities!
"Hola, Pahola!" said Hippi, thinking that it sounded very funny. "Hola, Hippi!" said Pahola, laughing at the little pink hippo.
As the roads were quite dangerous, Pahola picked Hippi up and gave him a ride on her shoulder, all the way back to the airport.
"Adios!" said Pahola.
"Addio!" said Hippi, as he clambered back up the steps to the aeroplane.
"Abbondanza di stanza!" thought Hippi (which should translate as "plenty of room" but you never know with Google translate - FeeDee, I hope you aren't laughing hysterically at Hippi's sudden lack of proficiency in his own language...) (mind you, he's only young.)
This time the aeroplane went over water again, but by rushing from side to side of the plane, Hippi could see that they were flying up the coast. After landing again, Hippi wondered where he was today?
There was only one way to find out, he had to go out and explore.
After asking the plane to wait for him - being a very sensible and grown-up Slippo, Hippi knew immediately that he wasn't back in Italy yet - Hippi hopped and skipped along the roads, enjoying the fresh air and the sunshine.
But what was this? Ah, what a lovely bridge! Despite suffering a slight phase of Alice in Wonderland-itus, in which he momentarily grew to many times his normal size, Hippi trotted across the bridge, enjoying the horrified looks of the car drivers who swerved and screeched their brakes in order to get out of his way.
Hippi looked down at the water.
"Sembra un po 'bagnato" he thought - it looks a bit wet - so he decided not to jump down, not least because at his present size, he couldn't squeeze between the safety railings.
The bus took him safely back to the airport, and on the way, he looked out of the window and who do you think he saw? Yes, it was PeeDee! She waved and blew kisses, and pointed helpfully in the direction of Italy.
Hippi got back on to the plane, and told it to set off in the direction that PeeDee had indicated. After a while the captain made an announcement: Hippi didn't quite understand all of it, but it seemed to be something to do with landing for more fuel.
This time, he nearly didn't get out of the plane, but then he thought "Perche non?" and hopped down the steps again.
This town was very busy, but Hippi decided to go and get a hot drink.
By now Hippi was nearly back to normal size, although after drinking a HUGE cup of coffee, which was actually nearly as large as he was, Hippi wondered if he would be able to walk back to the airport at all! Luckily there were lots of yellow cabs, so he waved goodbye to Emily, and made it back with plenty of time to spare.
This time the aeroplane made a very long flight, and it over water for nearly all of the way. But at least he was still heading in the direction indicated by PeeDee, so he was happy that he was getting closer to home again.
Hippi was confused: where did he go now? This wasn't Italy! But he'd been sent away from the airport.
Before he could get too worried, Kara came running up, and gave Hippi a big hug.
"Hippi!" said Kara, "There you are! I was looking out for you. You have to go into London to get a different aeroplane - come on, let's have some lunch and then I'll see you safely onto the bus. Marie will meet you in London, and she will make sure that you are on the plane to Italy in no time at all."
"Grazie," said Hippi gratefully, "Lo sono sempre molto affamato."
So Kara took the hungry little hippo off to have some lunch.
After lunch, Kara saw Hippi safely onto the bus with a carton of TipTop in case he was thirsty later on. She waved goodbye as the bus drove off, and Hippi settled down for a nap.
A while later, Hippi woke up as the bus drove through London.
"Coo!" said Hippi to himself, "Autobus rossi!" Sure enough, there were red buses all around. And black cabs. And other touristy typical-of-London-when-you-were-born-there-you-rather-take-it-all-for-granted stuff.
The bus came to a halt, and Hippi climbed down.
"Hippee - would you like a leetle trip in ze Eye?" asked Marie in her sexy French accent.
Hippi tried his best: "Oui, merci" he squeaked. Marie laughed and fluffed up his fur.
They made their way to the bottom of the Eye, and Marie arranged for the operator to show Hippi where the airport was, when he'd finished his ride. She had to get back to work, you see.
A young couple were getting married that day, and they were so wrapped up in each other that they didn't notice Hippi jumping into their pod.
"Bye Bye, Hippee!" laughed Marie. "Er - o'voir Marie, e merci!" replied Hippi, still trying his best to remember the right words. He waved as the pod slowly rose, watching Marie get smaller and smaller.
All of London was spread before the Eye - well, not all of it, don't be daft, it's a huge place, but quite a lot of it, and Hippi enjoyed seeing many of the famous sights. He thought to himself that next time he visited, he'd get Auntie FeeDee to take him to The Monument, which marks the place where the Fire of London started, and is well worth a visit. Hippi had heard that it used to be one of Auntie Coug's favourite places to take visitors, as many people didn't know about it.
Hippi enjoyed riding in the big black cab very much, and waving to everyone he passed.
Once they reached the airport, the taxi driver helped Hippi out, and told him where the plane was waiting. "Zhank you!" chirped Hippi, getting quite confident with his other languages. He couldn't wait to get home and tell Hippo all about his adventures!
So, onto another aeroplane, and soon they were up, up and away again, heading over the sea once more. But what was happening? The plane was dipping and rocking, and Soon Hippi started to feel a bit ill!
Hippi leapt excitedly for the door: would this be home?
Would Auntie FeeDee be waiting for him with open arms?
Would everyone speak the right language again?
Would he soon lose this horrible green colour and go back to being pink again?
"Beh!!" (I hope that Hippo Slippers are allowed to use expressions like that?) Thought Hippi, "Nei casi in cuisulla terrasono?" He had no idea where he was.
Luckily, at that moment he noticed someone waving at him from the other side of the tracks.
It was Susanne!
"Hej, Hippi" said Susanne. Hippi was very relieved to see that he was back to being pink again - he hadn't wanted Susanne to see him while he was all green!
Susanne explained that Hippi would need to get on a train now, so they went together to the station buffet for a cup of coffee while they waited for the train.
"The train is here!" said Susanne, and together they went out to the tracks. Susanne helped Hippi up the steps of the train, and waved goodbye. "Farvel, min skat!" she called out, as the train left the station.
Finally, after a long, long day, the train arrived and Hippi was home!
Auntie FeeDee was waiting to meet him, and swung the little hippo up in her arms.
Together they went on a quick tour of the home town, just to make sure that nothing had changed while he was away.
Then at last they went home, and Hippi was reunited with Hoppi. Auntie FeeDee found her needle and thread, and stitched Hippi safely back in place.
And that is the end of the Adventure of Hippi - for now!
Hippi and Hoppi back together again....
