Gershwin’s American adventure

Once upon a time, there was a little boy called Gershwin, and he loved to travel. He really, really, really wanted to go to America, the land of the free and the home of the brave. That’s what they used to call it, just because they did.

So Gershwin headed off on his travels. He went to his closest airport, hopped on a plane and said, “New York, please.”

New York had the name the Big Apple, and nobody really knew why. Everybody also knew it as the city that never slept, because there was always something happening all through the night and all through the day. Gershwin thought that was where he wanted to go first, because he thought sleeping was a bad idea.

He flew to New York and arrived at nine o’clock at night. It was so late and dark, but all around him were people partying, having fun, playing, laughing and dancing. He went into shops that were still open and restaurants still serving food, even at that time of night. He was already in love with New York.

Gershwin wanted to be awake all through the night. He walked around, ate pizza and pasta, and drank coffee. But I think, really, it was just milk.

Then he went to see the sights. He saw the Empire State Building towering above the city and decided to go all the way to the top. He jumped into the lift and went up, up, up to the top level, three hundred and twelve. Very high.

He looked out of all the windows and through the telescope. He could see the Statue of Liberty. He decided he wanted to see it in person, so he went back down, down, down in the lift to number one and got out.

Gershwin caught a bus, then a boat to the Statue of Liberty’s own small island out at sea. He climbed up and stood in the big torch it was holding. He looked back at the World Trade Center, which seemed much smaller now he was so far away.

He came down and headed into the heart of Brooklyn. All over the walls were pictures of Mario and Luigi. Very soon he found a shop called the Super Mario Brothers.

He knocked on the door and went in. Luigi popped out from behind the counter. “Hello there. What can I do for you today?”

“I’m here to see you and your brother Mario, because I’m a big fan and I love playing your games.”

“Oh, really? I’ll get Mario now,” said Luigi. He knocked on a big green pipe. All of a sudden, blop, blop, blop, up popped Mario.

“Hello there. How can I help you? What do you want?”

“I’m a big fan, and I just wanted to say hi and shake your hand.”

“Oh, that’s so lovely. Here’s my hand. Now you shake it.”

Gershwin shook Mario’s hand, and they had a big cuddle.

“Do you think there’s a quick way to get me to Washington?” asked Gershwin. “I’d like to see where the president of America lives, in the White House in Washington, DC.”

“Yes, of course. We have the pipe just here. You go in there, and you’ll be in Washington, and you’ll see the president.”

Gershwin crawled into the big green pipe, and out he popped into the White House. He was actually inside it. He looked around and saw paintings of old presidents, the Oval Office and security guards with guns, hats and big armour, walking around. Gershwin quickly hid under a desk.

He looked at his watch and realised his plane was leaving in one hour. He didn’t know what to do, so he stood up. The guards saw him and came running over.

“What are you doing here? Who are you?”

Gershwin didn’t know what to say, so he explained what had happened. “I came here from the Mario Brothers. They gave me a pipe, and I went down it. I thought I was just coming to see the outside of the White House, but it brought me in here. I don’t know what to do now, and my plane is due in one hour.”

“Well, we’re going to have to arrest you and take you to prison.”

Then a voice came from behind. “No, no, no!” It was the president.

“Don’t worry. I know the Mario Brothers very well. This is just a silly accident. Take this man to my helicopter, and we will take him to the airport ourselves.”

That was what happened. Gershwin got into the helicopter, sat down and put on his headphones. He waited, and the president took a very long time to arrive. When he did, he asked, “What time is your flight, sir?”

“It’s at twelve forty-two.”

The president looked at his watch. “Why, it’s twelve eleven right now. There’s no way we can get you to the airport in thirty minutes. We’ll just have to take you home ourselves.”

The helicopter took off. Gershwin was in awe, looking out of the window. He could see rivers, the White House and everything for miles. He could even see New York in the distance.

The helicopter flew as fast as you could imagine. Very soon they were over New York. Gershwin waved down and saw the Mario Brothers waving up from their shop.

“Goodbye, Gershwin! We’ll see you again!” They shouted very, very loudly. Gershwin could barely hear them, but the window was open, so he could.

All of a sudden, there was a big bump on the helicopter. Gershwin didn’t know what was happening. He thought it might be about to crash. Then a face appeared at the window, red and blue with stripes all over it.

It was Spider-Man. He had spun his web and jumped up to the helicopter, because the president knew Gershwin was a big Spider-Man fan.

Spider-Man said hello and shook his hand. Gershwin said, “I’m a big fan of yours, and I watch you on TV.”

“I know. That’s why I came to say hello. You’re my biggest fan.”

“I’d better go,” said Spider-Man. “I need to fight Rhino now.” He flew off into the distance, spinning his webs, fighting crimes and solving problems.

Very soon, the helicopter was flying over the ocean, and Gershwin could see England in the distance. It got there and dropped him off in his very own back garden.

Gershwin got out and waved goodbye to the president as the helicopter took off again. He went to the door and found it locked tight. There was barking from inside.

Gershwin ran to the living-room window and knocked very loudly. His mummy and daddy saw him, opened the door and let him in. They gave him a big cuddle, put him into bed and sent him to sleep.

And that’s the story of Gershwin in America.