Once in a town not far from the palace there lived a baker’s apprentice. She toiled from well before dawn to far after dusk every day. She milked the cow, drew water from the well, chopped wood for the oven fire, gathered berries for pies and tarts, mixed the batters, kneaded and shaped the dough, […]
In the meadow at the edge of a great pine forest a tiny mushroom poked its head out of the ground. ‘I’m a mushroom,’ it said, surprising itself. ‘Why, I can talk. What a marvel! Say, green shoots, have you ever met a talking mushroom?’ The green shoots all around said not a thing. A […]
Ragwen, a California mountain elf maiden, lived comfortably in a set of spacious rooms under three boulders in the meadow. Unfortunately she was just the ornament the giant witch from the land of giants was looking for to display in a cage on the window sill close by the giant witch’s favorite cauldron. I say […]
All of the decorations gathered in the closet to discuss what should be done with the broken ornament. The broken ornament waited, trembling in a dark corner. ‘Throw her out of course, but in the nicest possible way,’ twinkled the silver icicles. ‘Broom, are you willing to sweep her outside?’ asked the grand gold globe, […]
In the before time, Old Hareek lived with her granddaughter in a small cottage at the edge of a wood. When winter arrived, they tucked themselves inside near the fire and lived on roots and nuts. Lola, the granddaughter, listened entranced to Old Hareek’s tales. So it was that they passed the time. One evening, […]
We are the cranberries 3 Not one of us has a knee We live in a log not far from the bog And dine on peppermint tea – We are the cranberries 3 You won’t find us climbing a tree We roll all around the nice soggy ground The finest of berries are we, are […]
Agnes never smiled. She was dutiful and worked at learning her sums and important dates in history. When instructed to do so, she practiced the piano without complaint. She allowed them to take her to the park every day, where she walked slowly until time enough had passed, and she was led home. They wondered […]
Once in a land far away a shoemaker and his wife had 3 daughters. Wunny was the first born, Tuella the second, Threeda the third. Threeda was the wildest and most impetuous. So when a traveling crone passing through the village told the shoemaker and his family all about how a golden castle on the […]
Once there was a small queendom wedged in a canyon between two towering cliffs. It was peaceful. It had a stream, a small castle, and a little blue frog. Each morning the queen led all of her subjects (there were nine of them) to the frog room and supervised the preparations for viewing the frog. […]
‘I am splendid, am I not? I can grant wishes, too,’ boasted the 4 leaf clover. ‘My petals are perfect, don’t you think? And there are 4 of them.’ The blades of grass and the 3 leaf clovers all around grumbled and muttered. ‘Petals, she says. Leafs aren’t good enough for her,’ said a nearby […]
