Whirr Wants to Help

6-8 min read
13 pages
2+

In a little house at the edge of town, a vacuum named Whirr hums loudly and sucks up dust, and little Maria is scared of him. But one night, while she sleeps, Whirr and her bear, Teddy, come to life and talk, and Whirr gently cleans the dusty bear. It's a sweet, funny story about a girl who was scared of a loud vacuum and then became his friend.

In a little house at the edge of town lived a vacuum named Whirr. He stood in the closet, waiting to help. But Whirr felt sad. A little girl was scared of him.

Her name was Maria. Whenever Mom took Whirr out of the closet, Maria dove under her blanket and peeked out. “Oh, Mommy!” she squeaked. “He rumbles like a thunderstorm! And he slurps up everything!”

“But, sweetie, Whirr helps us,” said Mom. “He sucks up the dust. Without him, your toys and books would be buried in dust!” Maria wasn’t so sure.

One evening, the house was dark and still. Maria was asleep. Whirr rolled out of the closet for a walk, humming ever so softly so she wouldn’t wake.

“Ohhh, I wish Maria weren’t scared of me,” sighed Whirr. “I’m not scary. I only want to help.”

Suddenly: “Ah-ah-ACHOO!” Whirr turned. Up on a high shelf, where Mom couldn’t reach, lay Teddy the bear. “I’m all dusty,” Teddy sniffled, “and my nose itches!”

“Oh my, I’ll help!” cried Whirr. He hurried over and sucked up the dust, soft and slow, so no one would wake.

Teddy smiled. “Thank you, Whirr! Now I can breathe!” Whirr felt happy all over.

In the morning, Maria woke up and hugged Teddy. He was clean and fluffy and soft! Next to her lay a little note from Whirr. It had no words, just a picture of Whirr and a smiling, clean Teddy.

Maria wondered all morning. Could Whirr really be nice? That afternoon, Mom took Whirr out again. This time, Maria didn’t hide. Her tummy felt wobbly, but she tiptoed closer. “Hi, Whirr,” she whispered.

Then something magical happened. “Whirr-rrr-rrr!” went Whirr—not scary, but happy! Only Maria heard him say, “Hooray! Time to clean!”

Maria laughed. “You’re not scary at all!” she said. “You’re a real helper!” From then on, Maria and Whirr were friends. Whirr helped tidy up every day. When a toy got lost under the bed, he found it and showed Maria where it was. He chased off the silly dust bunnies hiding in the corners.

Maria wasn’t scared of Whirr anymore. His hum only sounded scary—Whirr was kind. He just wanted a clean house and bears that could breathe easy. When Whirr hummed, Maria giggled and hummed too: “Whirr-rrr!”

Share:Pinterest WhatsApp Facebook Send to a friend

Want to know where the classic fairy tales come from? The articles are here

By age

Bedtime stories for preschool

By age

More stories to read