Excerpts from
The Big Moon Festival
By Søren Jessen
“Da-daaaa,” he says, and lets them look into the kitchen. Half the kitchen is taken up by an enormous machine, which is screeching and whistling and juddering so much that they can feel it in the floorboards. But they don’t look at the machine. They look at the mountain of lovely, fresh-baked fluffycakes, sitting there just waiting to be eaten.
“That’s … that’s fantastic,” Nuffer says with a sigh.
“A-a-ace,” squeals Bella.
“Yippee!” shouts Raff.
Catyes and Catno look at one another angrily, both thinking that the other has given away the recipe.
“Come on in,” laughs Scatty. “Take a seat and eat ’til you burst.”
Nuffer is the first to take a cake. He eats it so quickly that he doesn’t taste it at all. Then Catyes and Catno, Bella and Raff take a mouthful too. Even the moonguzzler gobbles a cake. And then it happens. All of a sudden they notice a strange feeling in their tummies, spreading right up into their mouths, yes, right up into their noses.
“They’re sneezecakes,” yells Bella, and sneezes.
“Atch-oo!” explode the twins.
“Atch-ooooo!” snorts Raff.
“Oh no. Not that,” whispers Scatty, and looks anxiously at Nuffer. She suddenly seems quite alarmed.
“Sneezecakes?” he says with his mouth full of cake. “I can’t feel anything. I think they’re …” And then abruptly he stops talking.
Translated by Gaye Kynoch
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