Andrew And The Two Houses

Once upon a time, there was a Brave and Loving boy called Andrew Garfield. He was on the way to see his mother Georgina Clifford when he decided to take a shortcut through Stinkville Forest.

It wasn't long before Andrew got lost. He looked around, but all he could see were trees. Nervously, he fell into his bag for his favourite toy, Mr Teds, but Mr Teds was nowhere to be found! Andrew began to panic. He felt sure he had packed Mr Teds. To make matters worse, he was starting to feel hungry.

Unexpectedly, he saw a Brave puppy dressed in Silver Armour disappearing into the trees.

"How odd!" thought Andrew.

For the want of anything better to do, he decided to follow the peculiarly dressed puppy. Perhaps it could tell him the way out of the forest.

Eventually, Andrew reached a clearing. In the clearing were two houses, one made from Carrots and one made from Chips. 

Andrew could feel his tummy rumbling. Looking at the houses did nothing to ease his hunger.

"Hello!" he called. "Is anybody there?"

Nobody replied.

Andrew looked at the roof on the closest house and wondered if it would be rude to eat somebody else's chimney. Obviously, it would be impolite to eat a whole house, but perhaps it would be considered acceptable to nibble the odd fixture or lick the odd fitting, in a time of need.

A cackle broke through the air, giving Andrew a fright. A witch jumped into space in front of the houses. She was carrying a cage. In that cage was Mr Teds!

"Mr Teds!" shouted Andrew. He turned to the witch. "That's my toy!"

The witch just shrugged.

"Give Mr Teds back!" cried Andrew.

"Not on your nelly!" said the witch.

"At least let Mr Teds out of that cage!"

Before she could reply, the Brave puppy in the Silver Armour rushed in from a footpath on the other side of the cleaning.

"Hello Big Puppy," said the witch.

"Good morning." The puppy noticed Mr Teds. "Who is this?"

"That's Mr. Teds," explained the witch.

"Ooh! Mr Teds would look lovely in my house. Give it to me!" demanded the puppy.

The witch shook her head. "Mr Teds is staying with me."

"Um... Excuse me..." Andrew interrupted. "Mr Teds lives with me! And not in a cage!"

Big Puppy ignored him. "Is there nothing you'll trade?" he asked the witch.

The witch thought for a moment, then said, "I do like to be entertained. I'll release him to anybody who can eat a whole front door."

Big Puppy looked at the house made from Chips and said, "No problem, I could eat an entire house made from Chips if I wanted to."

"There's no need to show off," said the witch. Just eat one front door and I'll let you have Mr Teds."

Andrew watched, feeling very worried. He didn't want the witch to give Mr Teds to Big Puppy. He didn't think Mr Teds would like living with a Brave puppy, away from his house and all his other toys.

Big Puppy put on his bib and withdraw a knife and fork from his pocket.

"I'll eat this whole house," said Big Puppy. "Just you watch!"

Big Puppy pulled off a corner of the front door of the house made from Chips. He gulped it down smiling and went back for more.

  And more.

   And more.

Eventually, Big Puppy started to get bigger - just a little bit bigger at first. But after a few more fork-fulls of Chips, he grew to the size of a large snowball - and he was every bit as round.

"Erm... I don't feel too good," said Big Puppy.

Suddenly, he started to roll. He'd grown so round that he could no longer balance!

"Help!" he cried, as he rolled off down a slope into the forest.

Big Puppy never finished eating the front door made from Chips and Mr Teds remained trapped in the witch's cage.

"That's it," said the witch. "I win. I get to keep Mr Teds."

"Not so fast," said Andrew. "There is still one front door to go. The front door of the house is made from Carrots. And I haven't had a turn yet.

"I don't have to give you a turn!" laughed the witch. "My game. My rules."

The woodcutter's voice carried through the forest. "I think you should give him a chance. It's only fair."

"Fine," said the witch. "But you saw what happened to the puppy. He won't last long."

"I'll be right back," said Andrew.

"What?" said the witch. "Where's your sense of impatience? I thought you wanted Mr Teds back."

Andrew ignored the witch and gathered a hefty pile of sticks. He came back to the clearing and started a small campfire. Carefully, he broke off a piece of the door of the house made from Carrots and toasted it over the fire. Once it had cooked and cooled just a little, he took a bite. He quickly devoured the whole piece.

Andrew sat down on a nearby log.

"You fail!" cackled the witch. "You were supposed to eat the whole door."

"I haven't finished," explained Andrew. "I am just waiting for my food to go down."

When Andrew's food had digested, he broke off another piece of the door made from Carrots. Once more, he toasted his food over the fire and waited for it to cool just a little. He ate it at a leisurely pace then waited for it to digest.

Eventually, after several sittings, Andrew was down to the final piece of the door made from Carrots. Carefully, he toasted it and allowed it to cool just a little. He finished his final course. Andrew had eaten the entire front door of the house made from Carrots.

The witch stamped her foot angrily. "You must have tricked me!" she said. "I don't reward cheating!"

"I don't think so!" said a voice. It was the woodcutter. He walked back into the clearing, carrying his axe. "This little boy won fair and square. Now hand over Mr Teds or I will chop your broomstick in half."

The witch looked horrified. She grabbed her broomstick and placed it behind her. Then, huffing, she opened the door of the cage.

Andrew hurried over and grabbed Mr Teds, checking that his favourite toy was all right. Fortunately, Mr Teds was unharmed.

Andrew thanked the woodcutter, grabbed a quick souvenir, and hurried on to meet Georgina. It was starting to get dark.

When Andrew got to Georgina's house, his mother threw her arms around him.

"I was so worried!" cried Georgina. "You are very late."

As Andrew described his day, he could tell that Georgina didn't believe him. So he grabbed a napkin from his pocket.

"What's that?" asked Georgina.

Andrew unwrapped a doorknob made from Chips.

Georgina almost fell off her chair.

The End