The Creature of The Ramp Patch

There once was a little boy, and he loved ramps. In the woods behind his house, there was a ramp patch that grew every year. Each year the boy would go with his mother to pick ramps to have for supper.

But this year his mother had grown tired of hiking through the woods to pick ramps so she allowed the little boy to go into the woods on his own to pick ramps.

The boy was quite pleased and went to the ramp patch every day, sometimes he'd just sit in the patch and eat, and eat, and eat. He ate so many ramps that his mother scolded him, too much of anything is bad for you.

But the little boy didn't listen, he kept going to the ramp patch and eating as many ramps as he wanted.

Eventually, his mother became so fed up with him she bought a long chain from the village blacksmith and she chained the boy to his bed. He could walk to every corner of the house and still have slack. But he could not set a toe outdoors. He begged, pleaded and cried. But his mother refused to yield.

The boy was miserable, he could no longer go to the ramp patch and eat his beloved ramps. For days on end, it was pure torture, he ate nasty bread and butter for supper instead of tasty ramps. He was glum at every meal, his mother felt sorry for him but she knew better than to free him.

One day, his mother left to go shopping in the village. The boy watched his mother's bobbing figure as she walked down the road. Once she was out of sight, the little boy ran to his mother's bedside table and fetched the key she had hidden there. He unlocked the shackle and ran out the door. He ran and ran, his bare feet pounding the soil. He crossed the tree line and dashed into the woods, reaching the ramp patch in minutes.

With a roar, he began feasting and feasting, shoving ramp after ramp into his open maw. He ate all of the big ramps, then he started eating the medium-sized ones, then the small ones. He even ate the very young ramps that weren't fully grown yet until finally, there were no more ramps. The earth was disturbed, the ramp patch was no more, merely a patch of overturned soil littered with ramp leaves.

The little boy had eaten so many ramps he couldn't move, his limbs couldn't support his immense weight, his belly was gorged like a tick feasting on an unsuspecting mutt. The boy groaned, his belly hurt too. He felt as if he would burst. 

As he moaned and groaned, the nature goddess appeared, her flowing dress of leaves and flower petals trailing her as she approached the boy.

"What are you doing in the forest all boy yourself?" she asked softly.

"I ate too many ramps! Now I can't move or go home." The boy said crying.

The goddess simply looked at him.

"You have ruined my ramp patch," she said spitefully, "you were only to eat what you needed. Now the creatures of the forest have no ramps to eat."

The boy cried more.

"Please, goddess of nature, save me... I'll do anything!"

A smile played across her lips.

"Anything? Absolutely anything?"

"Yes!! I will!!"

She nodded and with a flick of her wrist, the creature of the ramp patch was born...

The End