The Tin Samurai

"Happy birthday Tomoko!" said Grandma.
"Wow, thanks! Just what I wanted," Tomoko cried, "tin samurais!"


"Oh dear! This samurai only has one leg," said Grandma.

"Attention! Quick, march!" Tomoko didn't mind. She spent all day playing.


At bedtime, she packed the samurais back in their box.


But the one-legged samurai was missing.



"Where's she gone?" wondered Tomoko.


"Don't worry. You can look for her tomorrow," said Grandma.


Tomoko's other toys waited until she was asleep.
"All clear!" said the monkey.


Now it was their turn to play.
"Whoopee! Ha ha! Yippee!"


The samurais tried to join in. but they were stuck in their box...
"Mmmmf!" groaned one of the samurais.
...except for the one-legged samurai.


She had fallen behind a pile odf toy building blocks.


But she didn't join in the games.


She was gazing at the fairytale palace in the corner.

It once belonged to Tomoko's brother.


A paper ballerino doll stood in the doorway.


The pretty ballerino was dancing on one leg.

"He'd be a perfect husband for me," said the samurai.


Suddenly, the grumpy jackie-in-the-box sprang up.
"Keep your eyes to yourself!" she growled.


The samurai ignored her. She smiled at the ballerino.

He smiled back.


The jealous jackie-in-the-box turned bright red.

"Just wait," she fumed.


The next morning, Tomoko found her missing samurai.

She put her by the window.


The cruel jackie-in-the-box saw her chance.
"Ha, ha! So long, samurai girl."


She took a deep breath, and blew as hard as she could.


The tin samurai fell out of the window...


She landed...

...on the street below.

"Woooah!" she screamed.


"Ow!" cried the samurai.


She tried to move. But her foot was stuck.


Two girls ran up.
"Look! Shouted one. "A tin samurai."


"Let's turn her into a sailor," said the other.

The made a little boat out of an old newspaper.


They stood the tin samurai in the boat.

Then they dropped it in the gutter.


The samurai's boat sailed along the street.
"Ha-ha!" laughed the girls.
"Oh no!" thought the samurai


The tin samurai wished the boat would stop.
"I feel sick." she moaned.


But things were about to get worse.

There was a drain hole in the road ahead.


The paper boat shot down the drain.
"Woooah!"

It landed, splosh, in a dirty, smelly sewer.


"Pooh!" said the samurai, as she sailed along the tunnel.


She turned the bend. A fat black rat in her way.
"Stop! Pay me a penny to pass! Ordered the rat.


The samurai had no money. She couldn't stop anyway.
"Sorry, stinky!" she said.
"Hey, come back!" shouted the rat.


The samurai sailed on and on.

"I'm miles from home. Will I ever see the ballerino doll again?" she wondered.



Just then, he noticed daylight up ahead.


Seconds later, the boat whooshed out of the sewer.


It landed...

...in a river.

"Woooah!" screamed the samurai.


The tin samurai was glad to be out of the sewer.
"Whew!" she moaned.
But she wasn't happy for long. Now her boat was leaking.


The next moment, she was sinking like a stone.
"Help!" she cried.
And things were about to get worse.


A huge fish swam by.

"Mmm, she looks tasty." It thought.


It swallowed the tin samurai in one gulp. "A little hard, but not bad."
"Oh no!" cried the samurai.


The samurai sat sadly in the fish's tummy.
"I'll be here forever." she sighed.

But her luck was about to change.


A woman caught the fish.
"What a beauty!" she said.

She took it to sell at the market.


Tomoko's Grandma bought the fish.

She carried it home for supper.


She unwrapped the fish...

and the tin samurai fell out.
Bonk!


Grandma took the tin samurai to Tomoko's room.
"Look who I found." she said.

"Welcome home, samurai!" shouted Tomoko.


All the toys were glad to see the tin samurai...
except one.
"Grrr!" growled the jackie-in-the-box.

She went hopping mad...
Broke her spring...
and never worked again.

The very next day, the tin samurai married the lovely ballerino.
And they invited all the toys to a noisy party.
"Whoopee! Yippee! Ha-ha!"


After Tomoko was asleep, of course.

—The End—