HAVE YOU BEEN … FREECYCLED?.

No? Than you aren’t as lucky as I am! In just three minutes from now that’s exactly what I will be, freecycled!

We are in Darren’s dad’s old shed, the one he let us have for our "meetings". Darren’s dad is the only farmer I know who wears big turned-up toe boots for walking the hill. He has lots of sheep. He wears red braces and when he is in thinking mode he hooks his thumbs into the braces and then he rocks on his boots! That’s what he did the day Darren asked him for the shed.

"I’m…ruminatin," he said, rocking a little. "I suppose that’s alright so long as you do your chores, Darren!"

If I hadn’t heard then seen the Freecycler then I wouldn’t be here in the hut with Rosie, Sapphire and Darren. They’re the local freecycle team and they need all the help they can get, so they volunteered me!

It was just last Wednesday on my eleventh birthday; I woke feeling good, that something important was about to happen. Yes, it was my birthday…but there was something else. It was a half dream that I heard in my ears; a sort of happy voice that said:

"This is your perfect pink invitation to join the "freecyclers", the chosen ones who are helping to save the planet every day. If you accept this invitation you will see Freecycler. He is rather unusual so this is just to let you know that he is: Red, purple and green with long yellow legs and very big feet. They can produce smells so if you choose a smell then he will produce it to let you know he is definitely there. Then you can see him.

Please say yes.

Your freecycle friends,

Rosie, Sapphire and Darren."

I collared Sapphire smartish at school. Okay it was my birthday and it was the first of April so what kind of a joke was this, an invitation to "freecycle?" I demanded of her.

"So you got it! Wonderful, we recommended you to Freecycler because we know you love the Earth and can keep a secret. It’s time to see him, come on!"

So that is how we came to be looking along the woodland path that skirts our school. Rosie and Darren arrived and we all stood together.

"Mandy, you are about to see this rather colourful creature. He’s from another planet, come on a mission to assist the Earth. He needs…you, so think of a smell, one you like!" Darren is inclined to exaggerate a bit, or so I always thought, so I did as he asked and thought of

fish and chips All of a sudden we all felt very hungry as the delicious aroma of fish and chips, with lots of brown sauce wafted across us.

Just beside the big oaks the pink light began to spread and inside it I saw the red headed, purple bodied, yellow legged and footed thing. Sorry but he was so funny I laughed and laughed. He disappeared and my three friends joined hands and we all turned in a circle.

"You’re in, Mandy! You saw him too and you are sworn to secrecy. We are all working for the good of the planet but others would prefer it to just disintegrate so that they can go to another one. There’s a fight on now, good against destruction. Soon our abilities to protect and nurture the earth will increase. That is, after you’ve been freecycled. Appointment tomorrow, early evening,

at our shed."

It was great that in the excitement they forgot about the dreaded "dumps."

They told me it was absolutely painless to be freecycled. They said you don’t know about it until it’s done and that it only takes five seconds

So, here I am, sitting with my three already freecycled friends in Darren’s shed, waiting for the Freecycler. They’ve been through the ceremony so it can’t be that bad. After all, Darren faints if you cut your finger.

As evening approaches, silence is the loudest thing in the shed. From the old,

slightly cracked and dusty compost bin in the corner the same light I saw on my

birthday begins to flow from the open top. There, in the lovely pale pink light, to the aroma of fish and chips, the colourful character appears. I hadn’t noticed his long, wide square mouth. A bit like our shredder at home. He smiles with twinkling diamond bright eyes and says: ‘Thank you for loving the Earth.’

Did I fall asleep for five seconds or what? Here I am back in my place but feeling different. My heart is singing and I can’t wait to start picking up rubbish or to remember to pass my old books to someone else. Suddenly I realise it isn’t a crime to give my favourite jeans to my younger sister if I’ve grown out of them!

Freecycler has gone and we all stand below our bright red, purple and yellow poster.

"It’s my turn to put another strand of hair on our poster puppet’s head."

Rosie is the artist among us. She takes a felt tip the colour of my hair and draws it onto the head of the puppet in the poster.

"There you are, mandy, now we are all freecyclers! Sapphire is the swimmer, Darren the talker, I’m the artist and you’re our stability."

So, if you haven’t been freecycled yet, through Freecyclers mouth and out of his heart, then you can be…if you love the earth enough and can keep a secret!

©  by Gladys Taylor

  Freecycled    click play button for streaming audio