2. Bonting By Mason, Ben, Lexus, Alyssa and Isabel

3. One fine summer morning Alfie went out into the back garden where he found a smooth grey stone with white streaks in it.

4. He put it in his pocket and decided to call his special stone Bonting. Alfie liked Bonting a lot. Mum made Bonting some clothes to wear and gave him a box lined with cotton wool to sleep in.

5. The next day Alfie, Annie Rose, Mum and Dad set off for the seaside and Bonting came too of course, inside Alfie’s pocket.

6. At last they arrived! The sea was huge, almost as big as the sky. There was a lot to do…First they played in the waves and so did Bonting, then they raced up the beach and ate their picnic and so did Bonting.

7. After lunch Alfie gave Bonting a swim in a pool and put him in the sun to dry. Then Alfie made a sandcastle and collected some shiny shells and frilly seaweed.

8. At the end of the day Mum, Dad, Alfie and Annie Rose packed up their things ready to go home, not forgetting their buckets of special things they had collected.

9. Then Alfie felt in his pocket but Bonting wasn’t there! He ran anxiously to where he had left him to dry but Bonting was nowhere to be seen.

10. Everyone hunted and searched but sadly they had to leave without him. Alfie cried all the way home until he fell asleep.

11. In the morning the first thing Alfie saw was Bonting’s empty box and he felt sad. After breakfast Alfie and Annie Rose went into the garden where they looked in their buckets of special things.

12. Annie Rose tipped out her bucket of seaweed and muddy water and what do you think they saw? It was Bonting! Alfie had never felt so happy.