Virginia Barlow and the Scary Giraffe
A Fairy Tale
by me myself and I
Once upon a time there was a cold-blooded girl called Virginia Barlow. She was on the way to see her teacher Chad Clifford, when she decided to take a short cut through Yuckylake Woods.
It wasn't long before Virginia got lost. She looked around, but all she could see were trees. Nervously, she felt into her bag for her favourite toy, Laura, but Laura was nowhere to be found! Virginia began to panic. She felt sure she had packed Laura. To make matters worse, she was starting to feel hungry.
Unexpectedly, she saw a scary giraffe dressed in a purple dungarees disappearing into the trees.
"How odd!" thought Virginia.
For the want of anything better to do, she decided to follow the peculiarly dressed giraffe. Perhaps it could tell him the way out of the forest.
Eventually, Virginia reached a clearing. In the clearing were two houses, one made from lettuces and one made from sweets.
Virginia could feel her tummy rumbling. Looking at the houses did nothing to ease her hunger.
"Hello!" she called. "Is anybody there?"
Nobody replied.
Virginia 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 Virginia a fright. A witch jumped into the space in front of the houses. She was carrying a cage. In that cage was Laura!
"Laura!" shouted Virginia. She turned to the witch. "That's my toy!"
The witch just shrugged.
"Give Laura back!" cried Virginia.
"Not on your nelly!" said the witch.
"At least let Laura out of that cage!"
Before she could reply, the scary giraffe in the purple dungarees rushed in from a footpath on the other side of the cleaning.
"Hello Big Giraffe," said the witch.
"Good morning." The giraffe noticed Laura. "Who is this?"
"That's Laura," explained the witch.
"Ooh! Laura would look lovely in my house. Give it to me!" demanded the giraffe.
The witch shook her head. "Laura is staying with me."
"Um... Excuse me..." Virginia interrupted. "Laura lives with me! And not in a cage!"
Big Giraffe 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 Giraffe 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 Laura."
Virginia watched, feeling very worried. She didn't want the witch to give Laura to Big Giraffe. She didn't think Laura would like living with a scary giraffe, away from her house and all her other toys.
Big Giraffe put on his bib and withdraw a knife and fork from his pocket.
"I'll eat this whole house," said Big Giraffe. "Just you watch!"
Big Giraffe 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 Giraffe 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 Giraffe.
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 Giraffe never finished eating the front door made from sweets and Laura remained trapped in the witch's cage.
"That's it," said the witch. "I win. I get to keep Laura."
"Not so fast," said Virginia. "There is still one front door to go. The front door of the house made from lettuces. 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 giraffe. She won't last long."
"I'll be right back," said Virginia.
"What?" said the witch. "Where's your sense of impatience? I thought you wanted Laura back."
Virginia 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 lettuces 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.
Virginia sat down on a nearby log.
"You fail!" cackled the witch. "You were supposed to eat the whole door."
"I haven't finished," explained Virginia. "I am just waiting for my food to go down."
When Virginia's food had digested, she broke off another piece of the door made from lettuces. 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, Virginia was down to the final piece of the door made from lettuces. Carefully, she toasted it and allowed it to cool just a little. She finished her final course. Virginia had eaten the entire front door of the house made from lettuces.
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 Laura 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.
Virginia hurried over and grabbed Laura, checking that her favourite toy was all right. Fortunately, Laura was unharmed.
Virginia thanked the woodcutter, grabbed a quick souvenir, and hurried on to meet Chad. It was starting to get dark.
When Virginia got to Chad's house, her teacher threw his arms around her.
"I was so worried!" cried Chad. "You are very late."
As Virginia described her day, she could tell that Chad didn't believe her. So she grabbed a napkin from her pocket.
"What's that?" asked Chad.
Virginia unwrapped a doorknob made from sweets. "Pudding!" she said.
Chad almost fell off his chair.
The End
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