The Digglers

Dusty, stood in the depot with all the shiny new dust−bins. He was very proud of himself and enjoyed living in the depot. He liked to watch the men arrive early in the morning and drive the bin wagons away to start their work. How happy the men seemed, joking and laughing. Occasionally, a wagon would arrive and new bins were loaded and taken away. As yet, Dusty hadn't been taken.
'What do they use us for?' Dusty asked the other bins.

Poor Dusty, didn't know that he would be used for collecting rubbish and when the other bins told him, he was shocked. They also told him that the bin wagons were also used for collecting rubbish. Dusty wasn't the same after that. He wasn't a happy bin anymore, he became quite sad. He didn't want someone to throw rubbish in him, he wanted to stay in the depot for ever and he hoped the wagon would never take him.

One day, the wagon arrived as usual but this time the men loaded Dusty onto the wagon. He was feeling very miserable as the wagon drove out of the depot. He shouted good−bye to all his friends he was leaving behind. The wagon went faster and the bins began to sway. Dusty didn't like this as it made him feel sick. However, he soon forgot about that when they reached the main road. He could see people walking down the road and other traffic driving past. Every so often, the wagon would stop and the men would remove a bin and leave it at a house. Dusty wondered if that would happen to him. Ten new bins had left the depot and only three were now left and Dusty was one of them. Dusty was in fact the next to go.

The wagon stopped outside a cottage and the men lifted him down and carried him to the front door. An old lady came and pointed to the side of the cottage. The men took Dusty round the side and went through a gate into the back garden and put him down near the back door. The men then left leaving Dusty behind.

Dusty looked around. It was a tiny garden. In the middle were some flags with a flower bed around containing beautiful flowers. In the middle of the flags was a stone bird bath and a wooden bird table. He could also see a washing line that the old lady used for hanging out her clothes. Dusty thought it was quite a nice place but he soon became fed−up as there was no−one to talk to.

Dusty was more determined then ever that he wasn't going to be used for rubbish and he tried to think of what he could do about it.
'I know,' he thought. 'To put rubbish inside me you have to lift up my lid. Well, I'll just keep my lid my lid on! What a good idea. I am a clever bin! Just wait until she comes!'
Sure enough, it wasn't long before the old lady opened her back door and went over to Dusty. She had a bag full of rubbish. She got hold of Dusty's lid to lift it up but it seemed stuck. She put down the bag and used both of her hands but it was no use. Dusty wouldn't lift his lid. The old lady was very cross especially as she had to take the bag back inside. Dusty felt very pleased with himself but he didn't stay pleased for long because it started to rain and he didn't like getting wet!

Early, the next morning, the postman arrived to deliver a letter. The old lady asked him if he could manage to get the lid off her dustbin. He went round to the back garden but he too found the lid well and truly stuck. The postman gave the bin a shake and Dusty who had been asleep, woke−up. How he smiled as the postman couldn't remove his lid! Later that day, the milkman had a try but the same thing happened. In fact, during the next week all the old lady's friends had a try at lifting his lid without success. The old lady had to put her rubbish in a sack and to Dusty's disgust, she put it next to him.

The next week when the bin−men came to empty the bins, the old lady was waiting for them. She explained that she could not use her new bin because she couldn't get the lid off. The men went to have a try but it was no use. They gave her another sack for her rubbish and took the full one away. They explained that someone would come and do something about it. During that week, several men came and tried to open the lid. They tried everything and one man even used a screw driver. No−one could open Dusty's lid! It was decided that the old lady would get another bin.
'Great!' shrieked Dusty as he heard the news. 'Now, I can go back to my friends at the depot'. Little did he know that this was not to be the destination. The men had decided that since he couldn't be used, he would be taken away with all the other rubbish!

A week later the wagon arrived to collect the rubbish. This time they took Dusty as well. He thought he was going back to the depot. What a fright he got when they took him to the wagon and about to throw him in. He saw the great metal teeth at the back that pressed all the rubbish together!
'Oh, no!', screamed Dusty and he wriggled himself free from the men who were holding him. He fell to the ground and rolled over. The men stared in amazement as his lid came off! They picked up Dusty and put his lid back on and found that it would come off quite easily.
'It must have just been stuck,' said one of the men and they took him back into the garden.

It took Dusty some time to recover from the shock of seeing those giant metal teeth. Dusty still lives in the old lady's garden. He doesn't really mind the rubbish as the old lady always places it in a plastic bag. He loves watching and talking to the birds that come to the bird table and they bring him news of his friends who live in the gardens nearby.

The End