Felicity Blackman and the Long-necked Donkey A Fairy Tale

Felicity Blackman and the Long-necked Donkey
A Fairy Tale
by me myself and I

Once upon a time there was a remarkable girl called Felicity Blackman. She was on the way to see her teacher Alex Wu, when she decided to take a short cut through Sherwook Forest.

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

Unexpectedly, she saw a long-necked donkey dressed in a red t-shirt disappearing into the trees.

"How odd!" thought Felicity.

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

Eventually, Felicity reached a clearing. In the clearing were two houses, one made from pumpkins and one made from jelly babies.

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

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

Nobody replied.

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

"Piglet!" shouted Felicity. She turned to the witch. "That's my toy!"

The witch just shrugged.

"Give Piglet back!" cried Felicity.

"Not on your nelly!" said the witch.

"At least let Piglet out of that cage!"

Before she could reply, the long-necked donkey in the red t-shirt rushed in from a footpath on the other side of the cleaning.

"Hello Big Donkey," said the witch.

"Good morning." The donkey noticed Piglet. "Who is this?"

"That's Piglet," explained the witch.

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

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

"Um... Excuse me..." Felicity interrupted. "Piglet lives with me! And not in a cage!"

Big Donkey 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 Donkey looked at the house made from jelly babies and said, "No problem, I could eat an entire house made from jelly babies 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 Piglet."

Felicity watched, feeling very worried. She didn't want the witch to give Piglet to Big Donkey. She didn't think Piglet would like living with a long-necked donkey, away from her house and all her other toys.

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

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

Big Donkey pulled off a corner of the front door of the house made from jelly babies. He gulped it down smiling, and went back for more.

And more.

  And more.

Eventually, Big Donkey started to get bigger - just a little bit bigger at first. But after a few more fork-fulls of jelly babies, 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 Donkey.

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 Donkey never finished eating the front door made from jelly babies and Piglet remained trapped in the witch's cage.

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

"Not so fast," said Felicity. "There is still one front door to go. The front door of the house made from pumpkins. 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 donkey. She won't last long."

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

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

Felicity 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 pumpkins 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.

Felicity sat down on a nearby log.

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

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

When Felicity's food had digested, she broke off another piece of the door made from pumpkins. 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, Felicity was down to the final piece of the door made from pumpkins. Carefully, she toasted it and allowed it to cool just a little. She finished her final course. Felicity had eaten the entire front door of the house made from pumpkins.

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 Piglet 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.

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

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

When Felicity got to Alex's house, her teacher threw his arms around her.

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

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

"What's that?" asked Alex.

Felicity unwrapped a doorknob made from jelly babies. "Pudding!" she said.

Alex almost fell off his chair.

The End

I use plot generator from plot-generator.org.uk/fairytale

► Listen on DSound

► Listen from source (IPFS)