Jamie the Gymnast

Welcome to Story Quest, a weekly podcast where we bring your stories to life!

In this episode we bring Jamie’s story, Jamie the Gymnast! – to life.

If you have a story idea, you could be like Jamie and have it turned into a Story Quest. All you have to do is send us your story idea here. We know you have the best imaginations and together we can create the most brilliant stories!

That’s just what Jamie did. You can watch the story they suggested come to life below, plus they tell us all about the inspiration behind the story at the end.

Listen out for brand new Story Quest episodes every Thursday!

Thank you to Dexter for coming up with SUPER DEXTER using the Fun Kids character creator! Jamie the Gymmnast from Jamie… Super Dexter from Dexter… We love that you are putting yourselves into the stories!

You can read along to Jamie the Gymnast below 

“Please stop. I need to get off the bus” 

He’d done it again. Jamie was really bad at directions and he’s only gone and got on the wrong bus!! 

“I’m sorry son, you’ll have to wait until I get to the next stop. I can’t just stop a bus anywhere you know. There are rules.” 

Jamie sank into his seat on the number 22 bus and a big frown formed on his face, mainly because he was meant to be on the number 19 bus. He couldn’t believe he was heading in the wrong direction. He had gymnastics practice in 15 minutes. The clock was ticking. He simply wouldn’t make it on time. 

When the bus eventually stopped, he ran, and ran and ran to get to the gymnasium. As he hurtled through the market it started raining. He picked up his pace, but by the time he got to gym practice he was out of breath, soaking wet and truly miserable. His coach took one look at him and sent him home. What a waste of time! 

As he went back out into the rain. His frown got even bigger.  

“How can I be of assistance” came a chirpy voice, seemingly from out of nowhere. Jamie looked up, and there was someone dressed in red, wearing black boots and a futuristic helmet that looked like it belonged on a space man. 

“I said, how can I be of assistance”. Jamie had no idea who this was, or why they had a utility belt with the letter D on it, but he was a bit worried. 

“Don’t be frightened, for I am Super Dexter”. Well this changed everything. Everyone had heard of Super Dexter. The stories of his good deeds had been told around Jamie’s village, but never before had he seen what he looked like. 

Jamie plucked up the courage to ask him a question. “Are you really him? Are you Super Dexter?” 

“That’s me” he chirped. “I’m here to help. You look soaking wet and you look sad, so I’m going to use this!” 

[SFX: Fast moving / lasso sounds] 

Super Dexter had produced a huge fan from his averagely sized utility belt. Immediately it started blowing warm air and drying Jamie’s clothes. 

“This is amazing. Thank you Super Dexter” said Jamie. The frown had disappeared and he was smiling from ear to ear. And with that, Super Dexter was gone, and Jamie began his walk home. He felt a bit better, after all, not everyone gets to meet Super Dexter. 

The following day, Jamie was arriving at school…. Late. Once again, Jamie’s terrible sense of direction had meant three wrong turns and two attempts at asking people for directions.  

“You’re not lost again are you?” Said Alison, the local parcel delivery driver. “You’d be no good at my job. I have to find places all the time to deliver these parcels to.” Jamie knew she was right. 

As he sat down in class, Jamie’s frown started to form again. Bigger and more frowny than before. He hated missing out on things and this morning he had missed ‘show and tell’. Yesterday he had missed gym practice. What else was he going to miss this week? 

That evening he just about managed to get to gym practice without messing up the directions too much – he even managed to get on the number 19 bus this time. At practice, Jamie’s coach had a long talk with him. 

“I know you’re not good with directions, but you are a really talented gymnast. I want you to do well in the tournament but you are so bad at directions I am really worried you won’t make it on Friday. So what I’ve done is print you out a very clear map. And on the map, I’ve written instructions. And on the instructions, I’ve drawn pictures of nearby buildings so you will know exactly where you are.” 

“Thank you Mr Thorne. That’s really helpful”. Jamie’s frown eased. People can be very kind sometimes. 

Before he knew it, Friday had come. It was the day of the big tournament. It was everything he had trained for. It’s was a crisp, blustery spring morning and Jamie certainly had a spring in his step. He knew his routine, he had his special map and he was ready to do his best. 

He took out the map that Mr Thorne had given him and started walking down the first street. He read the directions and took his first corner. The picture of the library Mr Thorne had drawn looked just like the library on the corner. He was nailing this. At last, things were going well. The weather was nice, the map was working and… 

[SFX: gust of wind] 

Out of nowhere, a gust of wind blew the map out of Jamie’s hands and down the road, past the library and over the top of the number 21 bus. It flew down the street so quickly that there was no way Jamie was going to catch it. He ran, and ran and ran but he couldn’t get to it quickly enough. And before he knew it, the map was gone, and he’d run so much he had no idea where he was. 

Jamie saw a nearby bench and sat down. He had absolutely no chance of making the tournament. All his gymnastic practice had gone to waste. His frown was now so big, it took up half of his face. 

“How can I be off assistance” came a chirpy voice that seemed familiar. 

“Super Dexter!” Exclaimed Jamie. 

“Yes, it’s me. And you do not look too happy. What can we do?” 

Jamie explained what had happened and that he was now lost. 

“Hmm, that does sound like a tricky situation” said Super Dexter. “One moment” 

[SFX: whooshing and lasso effects] 

And with that, Super Dexter managed to get a rather large hoverboard out of his averagely sized utility belt. 

“Hop on board, Jamie. We have a gymnastics competition to get you to!” 

“Woooooooooohooooo” exclaimed Jamie as the hoverboard took them past the number 19 bus, past the number 21 bus, past the map that had blown out of his hands which he grabbed as he want by, and, whoosh, right to the front door of the gymnasium.  

“I’ve done all I can. This is your moment now” Said Super Dexter. 

And just as quickly as he appeared, Super Dexter was gone. Jamie opened the door and his coach was waiting. 

“Did the map work?” Asked Mr Thorne. 

“Sort of” Said Jamie.  

[PA ANNOUNCEMENT EFFECT] “Could all competitors get to the main hall immediately. 

Mr Thorne looked at Jamie. “This is your moment now. I’ve done all I can” – which is funny, because that’s exactly what Super Dexter had said. Surely Mr Thorne wasn’t really…. No, he couldn’t possibly be. There was no time for such thoughts, however, it was time to compete. 

Jamie was a fantastic gymnast. He showed incredible vaults and showed amazing coordination through his whole performance. He might not be good at directions, but he knows his way across a balance beam! 

The judges were incredibly impressed and Jamie came away with his first medal that day. The frown was long gone. His face was illuminated by a huge smile, and Mr Thorne was delighted. 

“Jamie!!! Well done” he shouted.  

“Thank you Mr Thorne”. Jamie ran up to his coach to say thank you again.  

“I’d love to stay and chat but I have someone I promised I would go and help out this evening. Well done though. You’ve done amazingly” and with that Mr Thorne picked up his bag and started to leave. Just as he was going out of the door, Jamie noticed something hanging out of Mr Thorne’s bag. It looked like there was a belt in there and he could just make out a letter on it. It looked like…. The letter D.