Once on the plane and heading to their next Wonder of the World, this time a man-made wonder known as Stonehenge, Charlie felt a bit homesick.

“I, I’m missing our farm, and my friends,” Charlie said, looking up at his mom and dad, who were sitting beside him.

“I know, I have, too, these past couple of days, but we will be home soon enough, and your grandparents are taking very good care of the animals, too, so you mustn’t worry,” Mrs. Tucker remarked.

“Oh, Charlie, I have something for you that I think you will really like. It may help you to feel a bit better. When I went on a big trip with my parents when I was twelve, I was given a scrapbook to keep the memories of my trip. Remember I showed it to you before?” Mr. Tucker asked.

“Yes, I remember, pops. You had pictures of your fishing trip with your pops and a big waterfall–of course I remember,” Charlie replied.

“Well, I have one for you to work on while on this trip, and I think you would like to see what is in it, too,” Mr. Tucker replied.

“Really, that’s exciting, dad. I could write about the Inuit people, and seeing the Northern lights, ooh and dog sledding, but what’s in it?” Charlie asked, his eyes sparkling.

Mr. Tucker then went into his carry-on bag and pulled out a green-and- blue scrapbook for Charlie to see. “Here you go,” he said, passing it over to his son.

“Go ahead and open it,” Mrs. Tucker said with a smile.

As Charlie opened it up, his eyes opened wide and his face brightened up, “Wow, all of my friends have written things to me. That’s so awesome! And look, there are pictures of our pets and of my friends,” Charlie said with a big smile.

“It’s great, isn’t it?” Mr. Tucker said, addressing his wife.

“Yes, Charlie does have some wonderful friends, and it sure was kind of you to arrange this for Charlie, dear,” Mrs. Tucker said, reaching out to hold Mr. Tucker’s hand.

“Thanks, dad, I am going to add the pictures of us with the Inuit family and the huskies,” Charlie said, while pointing to the page where he would attach the photos.

“Sounds great, my little man,” Mr. Tucker replied.

After some hours and a couple of naps, the Tuckers landed in England, where they would journey to Stonehenge, a man-made wonder of our world.

“Dad, did you hear the people talking in the airport like this: ‘Could I please have ya budge up young fella, that’s an ace,” Charlie said, as he imitated an English accent.

Charlie’s dad couldn’t help but laugh and he tried to speak with an English accent himself, responding, “Yes!  Oh, look there ‘s a taxi, there’s our taxi now, and Bob’s your uncle.”

“You both are soooo brill,” Mrs. Tucker said, winking at her family and watching as Mr. Tucker hailed a taxi down.

“What does “brill” mean, pops, and I didn’t know Bob was my uncle. Who is Bob?” Charlie asked his dad.

“Hmm, I think your mother thinks we are brilliant. Am I right, dear?” Charlie’s dad said while nudging his wife.

” ‘Bob’s your uncle’ is just a saying they use around here a lot, Charlie. People often use this saying to conclude a set of instructions. It means, ‘There you have it.’ You don’t actually have an uncle named Bob, though,” Mr. Tucker laughed.

“This could get confusing,” Charlie said, as he jumped in the cab with his family.

After the Tuckers arrived at their hotel in Salisbury, they took another short taxi to Wiltshire, where they finally arrived at the ancient site as part of the guided tour.

“Look, mom, these rocks are huge,” Charlie said, as he stood up as tall as he could against one of the pillars.

Before Mrs. Tucker could acknowledge Charlie’s discovery, their guide started to explain the history and theories behind the circular grouping of stones. All Mrs. Tucker could do was nod in response to Charlie.

“About 5000 years ago, people walked on the ground you are standing on, and decided this was to be a place where a monumental structure was to be built. We are not sure why they decided to build this structure here, but there are some clues. But, we’ll get to them a little later.”*

Their guide continued, “Mystery, intrigue, and questions still loom over how this huge stone circle came to be in this very spot,” the guide said, dropping his tone and spreading his arms out wide.

He continued to speak, meanwhile looking directly at Charlie, “Some say this site was created by aliens. Yes, aliens”, he repeated in response to the surprised looks within the group. “Others have theorized only giants could have built this structure.”*

“Real aliens and huge giants, really, wow,” Charlie replied as Mrs. Tucker looked down at him and smiled.

The guide continued in his English accent, “Still others claim Stonehenge is a huge sundial. These are all theories, of course. Nothing is for certain, but many people have used their imaginations to try to figure out how such large rocks could have come to rest and stand on this plot of land.”

“Just over there,” the guide whirled around and pointed off to the left, “are mass burial sites, where archeologists have found the remains of people who had come from as far away as the Alps.”*

“That’s a far away place, mom?” Charlie questioned.

“Yes, Charlie, some day we will take you there, too, but keep listening,” she said, smiling back up at the guide who had now paused.

The guide then continued, “If you look far enough out, you will see an earth bank and a ditch that also go all the way around this stone monument. Archeologists have dated these structures as being created even earlier than the Stonehenge itself.”*

As the tour went on, the sun started to set, and Charlie started to feel hungry. The tour ended just in time for the Tuckers to grab a late dinner at a local restaurant, where Charlie ordered kilted sausages and his parents had some of England’s famous fish and chips.

As Charlie reflected on the day’s tour, he commented, “I am amazed that some of the artifacts recovered from the site were antlers, real antlers, mom.  People used those antlers to carve the stones, so neat. Do you think I could have a pair of antlers to carve stone when I get home?”

“You would need some pretty soft stone first, and I think we will wait until you are a little older, my dear,” Mrs. Tucker said.

Then Charlie looked to his father who shrugged his shoulders.

“Alright,” Charlie replied, now enjoying his warm Yorkshire pudding and sausage dinner.

The next day, the Tuckers visited the site again, and learned even more about the different theories. Then it was time to head to the airport to continue their exciting adventure.

© 2011 Crystal Buchan

*The factual information about Stonehenge used in this short story was from the youtube video below that had been created by the history Channel.