Carbon s Mysterious Footprints

Copyright J.A. Lamb 2010

Carbon s Mysterious Footprints Chapter One No one was quite sure when it started. Or how. Or even why. But started it most definitely had. It was completely baffling, or as Grandpa said on many occasions it was Jolly baffling! And baffling it certainly was. It was worse in the winter than in the summer, for example, and around Christmas time...well, it was truly awful. But when Grandpa came to stay for a few days it was a lot better. The first one to notice it was Carbon the dog, and even he didn t pay too much attention to it at the time. It was just another day. Carbon woke at his usual time of 7am. He climbed out of his basket, stretched stiffly, yawned and scratched vigorously at an annoying itch behind his left ear and looked around. There seemed to be some small patches of powder on the floor, just like the flour that Mummy used when she made a cake. Or maybe like the powder she patted onto her face before she went to work. Except it was black. Carbon sniffed at it and sneezed. It made his nose itch. He shrugged his shoulders; he d got a job to do. Carbon bounded upstairs and leapt onto each bed in turn, giving the occupier a vigorous licking until they were wide awake. Having done his duty he returned to the kitchen and ate a hearty breakfast along with a couple of dog biscuits. He then gulped down half a bowl of water before taking up position by the back door to be let out into the garden.

At 8:30 the family left for work and school, Have you turned off your X-Boxes, Boys? Mummy shouted up the stairs Come on! We ll be late! Yes! Called the boys, tumbling out of their bedrooms and racing for the stairs knowing very well they hadn t turned them off. Mummy, Molly and the two boys, Luke and Jo, piled into the car and set off for school leaving Carbon in charge of the house. Carbon padded around the kitchen and up the stairs checking that all was well now the house was quiet and the family had gone. In the boys bedroom he cocked an ear at the familiar whirr of the boy s X-boxes and shook his head. They never turn them off when they re told too, he thought. In Molly s room the bedside light was shining brightly. Carbon arched his eyebrows and headed back downstairs. On the way down he noticed faint black paw prints on the stair carpet. Oops! He thought I ve trodden in something, and paused to inspect his feet. Nothing. That s odd. I wonder what it is? Carbon followed the trail of paw prints back to the kitchen and, horror of horrors, the kitchen floor was covered in black paw prints. Oh no! I m really going to be in trouble now! What on earth is it? Carbon sat down and gave his paws a good licking, but they were perfectly clean. The dishwasher started up, making Carbon jump. I wish it wouldn t do that. It s only half full and it really makes me jump. He whined. When Mummy and the children came home they couldn t believe their eyes. The kitchen floor was covered in black paw prints and Carbon was crouching under the table looking very sorry for himself. CARBON! YOU NAUGHTY DOG! WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN UP TO? Shouted Mummy. OUTSIDE! NOW! Poor Carbon scampered outside leaving a fresh set of black paw prints as he went. The boys and Molly ran up to their bedrooms to play, but no sooner had they got into their rooms than Mummy shouted up to them. CHILDREN! DOWN HERE NOW! X-BOXES AND LIGHTS OFF! YOU CAN HELP ME CLEAR THIS MESS UP!

The children could tell Mummy meant it so they hurriedly turned off their X-boxes and bedroom lights and ran down stairs to help clean up the mess. When it was all done Carbon gingerly stepped onto the kitchen floor and looked at his feet. Phew! he thought That s better, no black footprints. But there s something strange going on here...i wonder what it is?

Carbon s Mysterious Footprints Chapter Two Carbon always liked it when Grandpa came to stay, everyone was so much more calm and relaxed than normal. After the family had gone to work and school it was nice to sit quietly and listen to Grandpa talk about the old days. It hadn t been much fun for Carbon lately. He was dogged by the black footprints that seemed to suddenly appear without any rhyme nor reason. Mummy had even tried putting Carbon s feet in small cotton socks tied around his ankles, but the footprints would still appear. Carbon felt a bit of a chump dressed like this, hoping that none of his doggie friends would see him. After Grandpa had settled in he was told by the children about Carbon s mysterious footprints and predictably said it was Jolly Baffling! Never mind, Carbon old chum, I m sure we ll get to the bottom of this, he said ruffling Carbon s fur and patting him gently on the head. Carbon wasn t so sure. He d even heard Daddy say they might have to get rid of him if the footprints didn t stop. Maybe I could go and stay with Grandpa, he thought sadly. That morning after the children had gone to school and the house was quiet Grandpa went upstairs with Carbon following him and Oh dear, he left a trail of black footprints behind him. Carbon stopped on the stairs not wanting to cause any more mess. It s all right, Carbon, said Grandpa kindly you come with me and I ll clean up later. Grandpa went into the boy s bedroom which was a bit untidy, so he picked up some of the clothes and toys and put them away. He went over to the desk. What s this? He asked himself. They ve left their X-boxes on! What a waste of electricity! Grandpa reached down and switched them both off. Next he went into Molly s room with Carbon following close behind. Grandpa tutted and turned off Molly s bedside light and TV. I don t know, Carbon, kids today... he mumbled. Outside on the hall Grandpa looked down at Carbon. Carbon! He said excitedly. Look at your footprints!

Carbon looked down and behind him. The trail of dark black paw prints went into the boy s room but coming out it was lighter, not so dark. And coming out of Molly s room they were quite faint. Aha! Said Grandpa. We re onto something! Excitedly they went downstairs. Carbon was quite baffled, jolly baffled even, but glad that Grandpa was on the case. Grandpa looked around the kitchen. Now then, there s got to be something else... he whispered. Carbon looked around too and then suddenly remembered something. He ran over to the dishwasher and barked at it and then turned and looked at Grandpa. Well done, Carbon. That s it! Grandpa opened the dishwasher and there were only a couple of plates in it. He switched the button to OFF. Gotcha, you little pest! He said triumphantly. Well done Carbon! Now walk round the kitchen! Carbon did as he was told and lo and behold, no black footprints! He barked excitedly and rushed over to Grandpa and licked his hand for all he was worth. I think we deserve a treat, and then we ll clean up your other footprints, said Grandpa happily. Woof! replied Carbon looking forward to a chocolate treat. Grandpa sat in his favourite chair supping his coffee with Carbon lying contentedly at his feet savouring his chocolate treat. Now we ve just got to find some way of explaining this to Luke, Jo and Molly, he sighed contentedly.

Carbon s Mysterious Footprints Chapter Three Everyone was quite excited. The children were especially excited. Carbon was very excited. And even Mummy and Daddy were excited. Come along everyone, called Grandpa up the stairs and be sure to turn off you X-boxes, lights, TVs and whatever! Yes Grandpa! They all called back and made extra sure that they did as they were told. It was a bright, cold but sunny autumn day and everyone was well wrapped up in their coats hats and boots. They all crammed into Grandpa s car Where are we going? asked the children excitedly. To the Seaside! Announced Grandpa proudly. Woof! replied Carbon who was looking forward to a day out as much as the rest of the family. Through the beautiful countryside the family drove, with the leaves on the trees just changing colour from green to gold, red and brown. Here we are! Called Grandpa as he swerved into the car park beside the sea. Everyone tumbled out of the car excitedly and ran across the sand toward the sea. Carbon ran ahead barking for all he was worth. After half an hour of fun and games Grandpa called the family together. I want to explain to you about Carbon s footprints and how we can stop them, he began, looking round to make sure they were all paying attention. We re going to walk over to that stretch of perfectly flat sand that and then I m going to show you something. The family were intrigued and followed behind Grandpa as he strode toward the sand and sea. At the sea shore he stopped. Stay where you are and watch me. Grandpa walked along the sea shore leaving a trail of footprints in the sand. He stopped and turned round. Now watch what happens when the next wave comes across the sand. He shouted walking a few steps away from the sea.

Sure enough the next wave rushed up the beach and covered Grandpa s footprints, and then rushed back down again leaving a clean strip of sand with no trace of Grandpa s footprints! Grandpa walked back to the family. Molly, hop onto my back and I ll give you a piggy-back. Everyone looked puzzled while Molly clambered onto Grandpa s back and hung on with her arms round his neck. Now watch this! Grandpa walked along the beach again leaving a trail of much deeper footprints. Watch the next wave! He called again. This time the wave swept up the beach and over Grandpa s footprints, but when it went back the footprints were still there. Not so deep, but still plain to see. In fact it took three waves to completely remove all traces of the footprints. Grandpa lowered Molly to the ground and ambled back over to the family, who looked at him for an explanation. It s like this, he began in our lives we all leave different kinds of footprints and like the footprints in the sand, generally they are easily removed. Now Carbon s footprints are to do with us using energy like electricity. The more energy we use, the deeper our footprint and the harder it is to remove them.

If we leave our lights on, or our X-boxes or our TVs when we re not using them, we are using unnecessary energy. And our footprint, our CARBON FOOTPRINT, is deeper and darker and more difficult to remove. And that s what was happening to our dear old dog... Grandpa paused and ruffled Carbon s fur affectionately... when you left something switched on unnecessarily our family carbon footprint got worse and Carbon ended up leaving black footprints to remind us! And when you switched it off our family carbon footprint got better and Carbon s footprints stopped! So next time, think twice before you leave something switched on when you re not using it! Because if you don t poor old Carbon will be leaving black paw prints all over the house again! Grandpa smiled round at everyone, really pleased that he had solved the problem of Carbon s mysterious footprints! Come on! He shouted I ll race you to the end of the beach! And so saying Grandpa turned on his heels and set off running down the beach with Carbon barking at his side...both of them leaving gentle footprints in the sand...