Tricky Tristan Starts School: Tricky Tristan, #1

By Christopher Jackson-Ash

Tristan Throttlethwaite is from the planet Arcadia, in the constellation of Orion. However, he doesn't know that. Tristan Throttlethwaite is his Earth name. If you think that is difficult to spell, you should see his real name. In Arcadian, his name has thirty‑five letters, with five Qs, six Xs and seven Zs. It is quite unpronounceable.

Tristan was stranded on Earth as a baby when his father's company space ship crashed. His father was an intergalactic travelling salesman who sold spare parts for Milky Way Spaceships Limited. He had decided to take his family away with him on a business trip and had mistaken Earth for a similar, but more advanced planet, fifty light years away. (Actually he had been map reading and had got the galaxy planet atlas upside down.)

What happened to Tristan's parents is something of a mystery (and another story). However, Tristan was alone and lost in a strange place. After many adventures and hardships he was taken in by Harry & Mary Throttlethwaite and brought up as their own son.

Tris is now 7 years old ‑ Earth years that is. (In Arcadian he would be 21 as there are only 120 days in a year. Imagine having a birthday, Christmas, Easter, and holidays every four months. There wouldn't be much time left for school.) The Throttlethwaites have just started a take‑away food business in a sleepy sugarcane town in North Queensland.

Tristan is growing up just like any other normal boy. Little does anyone know that at age 21, Arcadian children begin to develop unusual powers and need special training in how to use them. The sleepy little town is about to be woken up.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christopher Jackson-Ash
• Release date: Aug 21, 2014
• ISBN: 9780987597908

Christopher Jackson-Ash

Christopher Jackson-Ash is in his late fifties and lives in Melbourne Australia. He has had a varied career in chemical engineering and risk management. Now that his children are grown up, he has returned to bohemia and is concentrating on his first love, writing. His main focus is on his FirstWorld multiverse inspired by Michael Moorcock and J.R.R. Tolkien. His work extends through flash fiction and short stories to novels in other genres, including children’s stories. He works with his alter-ego, Kris the Bard. Kris writes ... I was born in Karo on FirstWorld and grew up to be a cook before I was kidnapped by pirates and unwillingly forced into the service of the evil wizard Weylyn the Wolf. After many adventures I became Bard of Elannort and eventually ended up in this dimension of the multiverse.

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Table of Contents

Tricky Tristan Starts School

First Day at School

Big Fight

The Fire

A Nursery Crime

The Soccer Match

School Camp

Nightmare on Elm Creek

Epilogue

Tricky tristan cover curly hair small

Tricky Tristan Starts School

by

Christopher Jackson-Ash

For further information please visit

www.TrickyTristan.com

ISBN 978-0-9875979-0-8

© 2014 CJA

This story is set in North Queensland, Australia in the 1980s. In those days, there were no mobile phones, YouTube, Facebook, or Twitter. Children didn’t have computers, or electronic games to play. No one had even dreamed about E-Books. There were only two television channels to watch. I was there, watching, not just the TV. Do you think Tricky Tristan was a real boy?

First Day at School

The small boy slowly entered the school playground. From a distance, he looked just like any other small boy on his first day at a new school. Up close, you might have noticed that his nose was much bigger than the average nose, and that his very short hair was extremely curly. In certain light, you might also have seen that his skin had a strange greenish hue.

A large shadow crossed his path and Bomber Maxwell, surrounded by three of his followers, blocked the boy’s progress.

Who are you? Bomber asked, although his mouth was so stuffed full of lollies that the words came out all squashed together.

Hello, said the new boy.

Looks like he's deaf or daft, said Bomber to a chorus of giggles from the others. He drew himself up to his full height and towered over the newcomer.

Listen kid, he said, as he prodded his podgy finger hard into the boy's chest. I'm the one who says what's what around here. Got that? Now what's your name?

The new boy was about to open his mouth to speak when another voice cut in first. Ah, you must be Tristan Throttlethwaite. Leave him alone, Justin. (Justin was Bomber Maxwell's real first name and he hated being called by it.)

Come inside, Tristan, and I'll show you where your classroom is.

The new voice belonged to Miss Morris, the grade 3 teacher, who had seen Tristan come into the school yard and had come out to meet him. Bomber Maxwell reluctantly stood aside and watched as Tristan followed Miss Morris into the school. Just before they went in, Tristan turned back and shouted out, in a rather strange accent, See you later, Justin.

Bomber's face turned red as a beetroot, and his followers all took a step back. Being called Justin twice in two minutes was more than he could take. "I'll see you later," he roared.

We'll fix him later, eh Bomber? Here, have a piece of my chocolate bar, said Curly Dodds.

Chocolate always had a calming effect on Bomber. This morning, it took the whole of Curly's bar to have the desired effect, which didn't please Curly, who had been looking forward to eating it himself at little lunch.

The bell rang for the start of school and everyone began to move inside. Curly whispered to his friend Simon,