The merry sound of dice rolling along a polished wooden floor echoed out of Penelope's rickety beach house. The beach house had once been painted blue and yellow, but now the paint was chipped and consequently was covered in lichen. Inside was only one room that contained a mattress, two rocking chairs, a light and a table.
Penelope, a 10 year old with long, fair hair, sat in one of the chairs, opposite her in the other sat a monkey. The monkey, a very charming and clever creature, was called Monkey Max.
Penelope and Monkey Max were playing Monopoly when Jack (their friend the giant frog) hopped in from playing in the Bay. In his webbed feet he held a corked bottle.
"I have found a message in a bottle ... like from a movie ... but I can't open it!" he exclaimed.
Penelope jumped to her feet and grabbed the bottle from Jack. As she wrenched at the cork out slid a crinkled piece of paper. On it were the words SOS! from the Party Islands. It WAS just like the movies!
Monkey Max pointed out that the note was written in lipstick. "The person who sent this must be in a dreadful state if they could only use lipstick. We must go and help them!" he said to his friends.
They packed quickly, then Penelope, Monkey Max and Jack stepped, swung or hopped into Penelope's yacht and set sail for the Party Islands. Penelope knew exactly where the islands were because when she went on fishing expeditions with Jack she always kept close to land.
Unfortunately the Bay was extremely rough and Monkey Max was sea sick! Penelope was struggling to steer the boat so Jack took over. He couldn't control it either so they decided to anchor until the sea calmed down. Monkey Max tried to scamper up the mast but kept getting caught in the sail, he eventually gave up and went back to being sea sick...
Jack was the first to sight the Party Islands. He was so excited to be on a rescue mission he enthusiastically shook his wobbly white belly and kicked his legs in the air and chanted "we're going to save the day" over and over again until Penelope told him off. "You can save the dancing for after saving the mystery person!" she said crossly, but with a smile.
As they neared the islands it became clear to Penelope, Monkey Max and Jack why the islands were called Party Islands. Each of the islands was about as big as a house. The first was a disco dance floor, a mirrored ball hung in mid-air and the air around the island changed colour in time with the floor lights. On the second was a majestic theatre that shone brightly in the afternoon sun, the sound of an orchestra rehearsing drifted through the open entrance doors. The third was covered with fold-out tables laid with cheezels, twisties and other festive party food. On the fourth, and last, island there was a small cottage with a thatched roof surrounded by lawn and sandy beach. Connecting the islands were bridges strung with fairy lights. Although the bridges appeared to be old they also looked sturdy.
An elderly woman hobbled out of the cottage and onto the beach. She seemed very flustered and looked as if she hadn't had any sleep for a week. "My saviours! Thank you for coming to save me!" she yelled gratefully when she saw Penelope, Monkey Max and Jack.
Monkey Max calmly replied, "but we haven't saved you yet ... and by the way, what are we actually saving you from?"
The old woman, having calmed down a little, told the saviours-to-be that she needed to be saved from the Evil Disco Dancing Sharks. She also told them that her name was Mrs. Rumblelow and that she owned the Party Islands.
Mrs. Rumblelow led the group of friends into her cottage where she explained what had happened. "My troubles began six days ago," she said woefully, "when a gang of Evil Disco Dancing Sharks arrived and took over my islands. They have been partying ever since and have scared away all the other guests!"
"Could you please give us some time so we can make a plan to defeat the Evil Disco Dancing Sharks?" Penelope asked. "I'll make you party cocktails ... with little umbrellas!" Mrs. Rumblelow nodded and waddled out of the room.
Monkey Max immediately jumped onto his chair. "Do you have any ideas on how to defeat the Sharks?" he asked.
"What about a competition?" replied Jack.
"... a dancing competition," added Penelope. "We will ambush the Sharks' tonight and challenge them to a dance-off! What do you think?"
Mrs. Rumblelow appeared in the doorway with the tray of cocktails, "that sounds wonderful, dearies," she agreed.
Penelope instructed Mrs. Rumblelow to put on her best dancing clothes and to meet them at the bridge to the disco island at dusk. With a nod Mrs. Rumblelow hurried off. Penelope, Monkey Max and Jack returned to the yacht to search their feeble belongings for suitable clothes for the dance-off.
As arranged, the friends and Mrs. Rumblelow assembled at dusk on the bridge. They were a curious party indeed. Mrs. Rumblelow was wearing an elaborately sequined ball gown. Penelope had rummaged through the bags and found Jack a green, sequined bow tie, Monkey Max a pair of pink heart-shaped sunglasses and herself ... only a t-shirt and leggings. She had however also pulled out her ballet shoes, hoping they would be useful.
The fairy lights flickered as they walked over the bridge and the Sharks' party was already in full swing. The friends wasted no time before disrupting the party. "Attention Sharks!" shouted Penelope. "You are squatting on Mrs. Rumblelow's islands without her permission. If you do not leave we will be forced to make you leave ..." she added trying to sound braver than she felt.
There was a commotion amongst the gang of Sharks. A short, ugly shark (half the size of the others) and wearing a party hat, discoed his way out of the pack.
"Bonjour let petits poissons ..." snarled the discoing shark. "I am the leader of the Sharks."
Penelope, Monkey Max and Jack glanced at each other nervously. "The Sharks speak ... French?"
"Je heard that vous want to take our islands, non? Vous won't get them! Au revoir!"
Trembling, Penelope continued. "How about we have a dance-off? If we win you leave the islands. If you win you get to stay and we go. Deal?"
"Oui, let the competition begin!"
The dance-off judges were Mrs. Rumblelow and the leader of the Sharks. The dance-off was the best of three and Mrs. Rumblelow chose the first dance style, Hip Hop. Seemingly out of nowhere, music started to play.
Jack performed a routine of wavy arms, helicopter legs and head spins. The shark could only manage some robot moves and a fin stand. The judges decided that Jack was the winner. "Tres bon Jack," said the Shark leader begrudgingly. The score was Mrs. Rumblelow's Team 1 : Evil Disco Dancing Sharks 0.
The next round was disco, obviously the leader of the Sharks had chosen that category. Monkey Max represented Mrs. Rumblelow's Team and made them proud with a variety of classic disco moves including the Hustle, the YMCA and the Chicken Dance! But, unsurprisingly, the shark had an even better repertoire of disco moves and the judges awarded the second round to the disco dancing shark. The score was 1 all.
Mrs. Rumblelow chose the final genre of dance, ballet. Penelope was very glad that she had brought her ballet shoes ... she leapt and turned fouettes as if her life depended on it. The shark performed pirouettes on his tail and the judges seemed to be impressed, but his grande jete, disappointingly for the Sharks, looked like a pig trying to fly.
The Disco Dancing Sharks had been defeated! Thoroughly frustrated and furious, they kept their side of the deal and stormed off the island stamping their tails as they went.
To celebrate their victory Mrs. Rumblelow suggested a disco party, "celebrate good times, come on!" she sang as she danced in circles around her saviours.
As they partied on into the night there was no thought of sleep...
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