Alison Greenway and the Slippery Puppy.

Once upon a time there was a stupid girl called Alison Greenway. She was on the way to see her Kate Gloop, when she decided to take a short cut through Slipperyham Park.

It wasn't long before Alison got lost. She looked around, but all she could see were trees. Nervously, she felt into her bag for her favourite toy, Donkey, but Donkey was nowhere to be found! Alison began to panic. She felt sure she had packed Donkey. To make matters worse, she was starting to feel hungry.

Unexpectedly, she saw a slippery puppy dressed in a yellow skirt disappearing into the trees.

"How odd!" thought Alison.

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

Eventually, Alison reached a clearing. In the clearing were two houses, one made from parsnips and one made from sweets.

Alison could feel her tummy rumbling. Looking at the houses did nothing to ease her hunger.

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

Nobody replied.

Alison 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 Alison a fright. A witch jumped into the space in front of the houses. She was carrying a cage. In that cage was Donkey!

"Donkey!" shouted Alison. She turned to the witch. "That's my toy!"

The witch just shrugged.

"Give Donkey back!" cried Alison.

"Not on your nelly!" said the witch.

"At least let Donkey out of that cage!"

Before she could reply, the slippery puppy in the yellow skirt rushed in from a footpath on the other side of the cleaning.

"Hello Big Puppy," said the witch.

"Good morning." The puppy noticed Donkey. "Who is this?"

"That's Donkey," explained the witch.

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

The witch shook her head. "Donkey is staying with me."

"Um... Excuse me..." Alison interrupted. "Donkey lives with me! And not in a cage!"

Big Puppy ignored her. "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 sweets and said, "No problem, I could eat an entire house made from sweets 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 Donkey."

Alison watched, feeling very worried. She didn't want the witch to give Donkey to Big Puppy. She didn't think Donkey would like living with a slippery puppy, away from her house and all her 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 sweets. 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 sweets, 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 sweets and Donkey remained trapped in the witch's cage.

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

"Not so fast," said Alison. "There is still one front door to go. The front door of the house made from parsnips. 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 her a chance. It's only fair."

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

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

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

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

Alison sat down on a nearby log.

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

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

When Alison's food had digested, she broke off another piece of the door made from parsnips. Once more, she toasted her food over the fire and waited for it to cool just a little. She ate it at a leisurely pace then waited for it to digest.

Eventually, after several sittings, Alison was down to the final piece of the door made from parsnips. Carefully, she toasted it and allowed it to cool just a little. She finished her final course. Alison had eaten the entire front door of the house made from parsnips.

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 girl won fair and square. Now hand over Donkey 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.

Alison hurried over and grabbed Donkey, checking that her favourite toy was all right. Fortunately, Donkey was unharmed.

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

When Alison got to Kate's house, her threw her arms around her.

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

As Alison described her day, she could tell that Kate didn't believe her. So she grabbed a napkin from her pocket.

"What's that?" asked Kate.

Alison unwrapped a doorknob made from sweets. "Pudding!" she said.

Kate almost fell off her chair.

The End.