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Gingerbread Grandma's Story |
| Once upon a time there were a little old woman and a little old man who had been married for many years. They would have been very happy, except they didn't have any children. That made them sad, because they wanted a child very much.
One day when the little old woman was making gingerbread, she made a very large gingerbread man. She carefully decorated it with raisins for eyes and cloves for buttons and a cherry for a mouth. As she worked on the gingerbread man, the little old woman sighed and said, "My life would be so full of joy, A tear fell from the little old woman's eye and landed on the gingerbread man just as she put it into the oven to bake. As you know, tears can be magic and that tear combined with the old woman's wish worked magic on that gingerbread man as he was baking. The house was soon full of the sweet smell of baking gingerbread. When the little old woman opened the oven door to see if the gingerbread man had finished baking, much to her surprise, the cookie jumped up off the pan. The door was open and out he ran. The little old woman started running after the gingerbread man. "Come back! Come back!” the old woman said. But the gingerbread man would not stop running. He laughed and shouted, "Run, run, run, as fast as you can! The little old woman’s husband was working in the garden. He saw the gingerbread man and the little old woman run past and he started running after them. “Come back! Come back!” the old man said. But the gingerbread man would not stop running. He laughed and shouted, "Run, run, run, as fast as you can! So the little old man began running after the gingerbread man too, right behind the little old woman. A spotted cow was standing by the barn. The cow saw the gingerbread man running down the lane. As the gingerbread man passed the spotted cow, she said, ”Moo! Moo! Stop, I said! But the gingerbread man would not stop running. He laughed and shouted, "Run, run, run, as fast as you can! So the spotted cow started running after the gingerbread man, right behind the little old woman and the little old man. A little further on, the gingerbread man passed a brown horse in a green meadow. “Come back! Come back!” the brown horse said. But the gingerbread man would not stop running. He laughed and shouted, “Run, run, run, as fast as you can! So the brown horse started running after the gingerbread man right behind the little old woman and the little old man and the spotted cow. A clever fox saw the gingerbread man run past with the little old woman and the little old man and the spotted cow and the brown horse running behind him. The fox decided that gingerbread very tasty and he knew that they were coming to the end of the road, so the clever fox took a shortcut to get ahead of them. The road ended at the edge of a rushing river. The clever fox called, “Friend, you can’t swim the river wide. The gingerbread man didn’t trust the fox, but the little old woman and the little old man and the spotted cow and the brown horse were getting very close behind him and the rushing river was flowing very fast in front of him, so the gingerbread man got onto the tip of the fox’s tail and the fox started to swim across the river. The water got deeper and deeper. The fox said, “If you ride my tail, then you’ll get wet. So the gingerbread man climbed onto the fox’s back and the fox continued to swim across the river. The water got deeper and deeper. The fox said, “If you ride my back, then you’ll get wet. So the gingerbread man climbed onto the fox’s head and the fox continued to swim across the river. The water got deeper and deeper. The fox said, “If you ride my head, then you’ll get wet. So the gingerbread man climbed onto the fox’s nose. As soon as the gingerbread man stepped onto his nose, the clever fox tossed his head and Snip! Snap! Gulp!, the gingerbread man became the fox’s dinner. Epilogue: This is the end of the story of the gingerbread man who ran away. The clever fox ate him, but don’t be sad, children. The gingerbread man was a cookie that was mixed with a tear and a wish. Wishes do come true, but sometimes they don't turn out quite the way we expect. A cookie man can't run away forever, because cookies are supposed to be eaten. |
| Gingerbread Fun |
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