Headrest Teacup Travels

Here they come, my two intrepid explorers, Charlotte and Elliot.

I'm their Great-Aunt Lizzie, you see,

and I wonder which one is coming to see me today.

Ah, so it's Charlotte's turn.

Here she comes,

racing to hear another tale from an epic adventurer.

And what wonderful adventures they were.

So long ago and so far away.

I collected a few souvenirs along the way.

But my most precious possession of all

is my extraordinary collection of teacups.

You've still got your coat on, Charlotte, come on.

No time to count the clouds, we've got stories to tell.

Now, let's have a lovely cup of tea.

-But first, we need...

-The teacup.

Which one?

-That one.

-Oh.

The Egyptian Headrest.

What a choice, Charlotte.

I do really love that story.

This will be just perfect to drink, now.

So, are you ready?

Ready.

Then let me tell you the story of Great-Aunt Lizzie

And The Adventure Of The Ancient Headrest.

SHE CLEARS HER THROAT

Oh, yes, of course.

Let me tell you the story of Charlotte...

..And The Adventure Of The Ancient Headrest.

It all began long, long ago, in ancient Egypt...

..where towering pyramids

and gigantic limestone statues graced the golden sand dunes.

Charlotte had travelled for miles and miles across the hot desert.

Then one day, after marvelling at the wonders of the pyramids,

she arrived at a town and found a nice spot to rest her legs.

While she sat and drank some water, she noticed that in a tent nearby,

a man was having a very special treatment done to his hair.

There we go, Master Nakhti, it looks absolutely gorgeous,

you are now ready for your party.

Oh, yes, Master Nakhti, it really suits you, sir.

-Excellent. When is the big party, did you say?

-Next week.

Until then, please make sure you don't put your head down,

otherwise, it will squash my work.

Stay upright so it stays nice and tidy.

-Have a lovely evening.

-What did you just say?

That I should not put my head down for a whole week?

Yes, if you want it to look good for your party, of course. Ta-ta.

A whole week!

How on earth am I supposed to sleep? This is outrageous.

Charlotte, on the other hand, thought the answer to the master's

problem was quite simple - all he needed to do was to find something

to support his neck and he'd be able to sleep perfectly fine.

Excuse me.

Excuse me.

I couldn't help but overhear your conversation

and I think I might have a solution to your sleeping problem, sir.

Is that right?

Yes, all you need to do is find something to support your neck with,

like...

a bag, for example.

Charlotte was sure her idea was a good one

but Master Nakhti was going to take some persuading.

Let me show you.

You see, nothing touches my hair.

Would you like to try it?

Not bad, not bad at all.

And that made Khu very happy indeed.

Thank you so much.

But Master Nakhti was so comfortable that he began to fall asleep.

HE SNORES

The only problem is, I need my bag. It's got all my stuff in.

Wait here, I'll see what I can do.

But getting the bag back would be tricky.

Must be something else that would do the job.

And, so, the hunt began.

He tried all sorts.

First, a bag of lentils.

No good at all, much too noisy.

How about a pot?

It was so hard, it nearly woke Master Nakhti up again.

What about a pair of sandals?

But the smell was enough to wake a sleeping camel.

The poor servant sat there, cradling his master's head in his hands.

-HE WHISPERS:

-Charlotte, you'd better get your bag.

Are you going to stay like this all afternoon?

All night, if he sleeps right through.

All week if he's really comfortable.

But don't worry about me, I'll be fine.

Poor Khu, he had a very hard task ahead of him.

There must be something else we can find to rest your master's head on.

The only thing I can think is

a little shop I know that sells all sorts of sleeping accessories.

-Maybe they've got something. I'll go tomorrow.

-I can go there now.

Charlotte thought helping the poor servant

would be as easy as falling off a log

but of course, it was never going to be as easy as that.

That's very kind, but unfortunately, the shop's really quite far away.

-How far?

-Miles and miles.

It was barely tea-time,

how had Charlotte got herself into such a pickle so quickly?

She'd shown Master Nakhti a good way to sleep with his new hairdo.

Not bad at all.

She watched as poor Khu tried to find something

to replace her bag with but nothing seemed to work,

except Khu holding his master's head in his hands.

And she'd thought going to the shop would be a doddle.

Charlotte couldn't abandon poor old Khu now, could she?

There was nothing else for it, but to get her skates on

to the other side of the kingdom

and visit the special sleep shop that Khu had told her about.

So, off went Charlotte in her old, battered boots.

She crossed the desert peaks until,

when she was almost out of breath, the path ran out.

There was only one way to get to the other side.

Charlotte took a deep breath.

Safely across, she began again,

until there, in the vast desert,

was a small town of sand-coloured houses.

But there was no time to stop to admire the wonders,

Charlotte had to find that sleep shop.

The sun was as bright as ever

when Charlotte came to a little mud-brick house,

with a sign above the door.

Compared to the blazing desert, the shop was ever so dark

and in the gloom, she could see all sorts of interesting shapes

of different sizes.

As her eyes got used to it, and odd-looking wooden frame,

standing alone on a table top, caught Charlotte's eye.

It was quite heavy and solid and looked like some kind of support.

Could that be what she was looking for?

-Oh, a headrest, what a lovely choice.

-A headrest?

Indeed. Try it out, be my guest.

Once you rest your head, you'll never go back.

Although it didn't look very promising to begin with,

the headrest turned out to be extremely comfortable

and exactly what she was looking for.

Charlotte was over the moon.

Her long journey had certainly paid off.

-I'll take it.

-Excellent decision.

I'll start making one for you this evening so you'll have it

-by next week.

-Next week? I really need it now.

-Can't I have this one?

-Oh, no, this is my special sample headrest,

I can't make the others without it.

For a moment, Charlotte thought she'd never get the headrest in time

to save poor old Khu. But then, she saw...

Clay. This might work.

What a brilliant idea.

When the clay dries, I can use the measurement from these

to make more and more perfect headrests. Thank you.

-You're very welcome. So, can I please buy this one?

-Absolutely.

Thank you so much.

Good luck with it

and come by soon to see my new collection of headrests.

Back came Charlotte in her old, battered boots,

over the desert peaks and down the mountainside.

It felt like a very long journey

when Charlotte finally arrived back at the house.

Master Nakhti was still far away in dreamland

while weary Khu struggled to stay awake.

-SHE WHISPERS: I've got it.

-Oh, thank goodness.

I couldn't hold his head any longer.

Sorry it took me so long. It wasn't as easy as I thought.

Oh, I bet it wasn't.

-But this headrest is perfect. Thank you.

-You're very welcome.

Why don't we have a drink and a sit down before I fall asleep, too.

Yes, let's.

And that was that, the whole kit and caboodle.

Charlotte And The Adventure Of The Ancient Headrest.

The master was so unhappy when he couldn't put his head down -

-for a week.

-I would have been shocked, too.

What about his poor servant?

Imagine having to hold someone's head for a night.

-Oh, no.

-Good thing you found that headrest.

It's surprising how comfortable they are.

Blow me down with a feather, is that the time already? Come on.

Your mum will be here in a minute.

Your coat.

Now, how did that get there?

Home time now, Charlotte.

Thanks, Great-Aunt Lizzie.

Cheery-bye, Charlotte.