The tales of Nina Jenkins

Story one.

A/N: if you read this to children you'll need to change something at the end.

Once upon a time there was a ginger boy called Nina Jenkins. He was on the way to see his roommate Annie Bond, when he decided to take a short cut through Hyde Park.
It wasn't long before Nina got lost. He looked around, but all he could see were trees. Nervously, he felt into his bag for his favourite toy, Dolly, but Dolly was nowhere to be found! Nina began to panic. He felt sure he had packed Dolly. To make matters worse, he was starting to feel hungry.
Unexpectedly, he saw a naughty fox dressed in a green dungarees disappearing into the trees.
"How odd!" thought Nina.
For the want of anything better to do, he decided to follow the peculiarly dressed fox. Perhaps it could tell him the way out of the forest.
Eventually, Nina reached a clearing. He found himself surrounded by houses made from different sorts of food. There was a house made from peppers, a house made from pancakes, a house made from cakes, a house made from cakes, a house made from doughnuts and a house made from cupcakes.
Nina could feel his tummy rumbling. Looking at the houses did nothing to ease his hunger.
"Hello!" he called. "Is anybody there?"
Nobody replied.
Nina 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 Nina a fright. A witch jumped into the space in front of the houses. She was carrying a cage. In that cage was Dolly!
"Dolly!" shouted Nina. He turned to the witch. "That's my toy!"
The witch just shrugged.
"Give Dolly back!" cried Nina.
"Not on your nelly!" said the witch.
"At least let Dolly out of that cage!"
Before she could reply, five naughty foxes rushed in from a footpath on the other side of the clearing. Nina recognised the one in the green dungarees that he'd seen earlier. The witch seemed to recognise him too.
"Hello Big Fox," said the witch.
"Good morning." The fox noticed Dolly. "Who is this?"
"That's Dolly," explained the witch.
"Ooh! Dolly would look lovely in my house. Give it to me!" demanded the fox.
The witch shook her head. "Dolly is staying with me."
"Um... Excuse me..." Nina interrupted. "Dolly lives with me! And not in a cage!"
Big Fox ignored him. "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 Fox looked at the house made from cupcakes and said, "No problem, I could eat an entire house made from cupcakes if I wanted to."
"That's nothing," said the next fox. "I could eat two houses."
"There's no need to show off," said the witch. Just eat one front door and I'll let you have Dolly."
Nina watched, feeling very worried. He didn't want the witch to give Dolly to Big Fox. He didn't think Dolly would like living with a naughty fox, away from his house and all his other toys.
The other four foxes watched while Big Fox put on his bib and withdrew a knife and fork from his pocket.
"I'll eat this whole house," said Big Fox. "Just you watch!"
Big Fox pulled off a corner of the front door of the house made from pancakes. He gulped it down smiling, and went back for more.
   And more.
      And more.
Eventually, Big Fox started to get bigger - just a little bit bigger at first. But after a few more fork-fulls of pancakes, 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 Fox.
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 Fox never finished eating the front door made from pancakes and Dolly remained trapped in the witch's cage.
Average Fox stepped up, and approached the house made from cakes.

"I'll eat this whole house," said Average Fox. "Just you watch!"
Average Fox pulled off a corner of the front door of the house made from cakes. She gulped it down smiling, and went back for more.
   And more.
      And more.
After a while, Average Fox started to look a little queasy. She grew greener...
   ...and greener.
A woodcutter walked into the clearing. "What's this bush doing here?" he asked.
"I'm not a bush, I'm a fox!" said Average Fox.
"It talks!" exclaimed the woodcutter. "Those talking bushes are the worst kind. I'd better take it away before somebody gets hurt."
"No! Wait!" cried Average Fox, as the woodcutter picked her up. But the woodcutter ignored her cries and carried the fox away under his arm.
Average Fox never finished eating the front door made from cakes and Dolly remained trapped in the witch's cage.
Little Fox stepped up, and approached the house made from cakes.

"I'll eat this whole house," said Little Fox. "Just you watch!"
Little Fox pulled off a corner of the front door of the house made from cakes. He gulped it down smiling, and went back for more.
   And more.
      And more.
After five or six platefuls, Little Fox started to fidget uncomfortably on the spot.
He stopped eating cakes for a moment, then grabbed another forkful.
But before he could eat it, there came an almighty roar. A bottom burp louder than a rocket taking off, propelled Little Fox into the sky.
"Aggghhhhhh!" cried Little Fox. "I'm scared of heigh..."
Little Fox was never seen again.

Little Fox never finished eating the front door made from cakes and Dolly remained trapped in the witch's cage.
Tiny Fox stepped up, and approached the house made from doughnuts.

"I'll eat this whole house," said Tiny Fox. "Just you watch!"
Tiny Fox pulled off a corner of the front door of the house made from doughnuts. She gulped it down smiling, and went back for more.
   And more.
      And more.
However, on the next mouthful, the food fell straight out of Tiny Fox's mouth. She tried to stuff in another forkful of doughnuts, but once again, the food fell out. There just wasn't enough room left in her belly.
"This is just not fair!" declared Tiny Fox, and stomped off into the forest.
Tiny Fox never finished eating the front door made from doughnuts and Dolly remained trapped in the witch's cage.
Even-Tinier Fox stepped up, and approached the house made from cupcakes.

"I'll eat this whole house," said Even-Tinier Fox. "Just you watch!"
Even-Tinier Fox pulled off a corner of the front door of the house made from cupcakes. He gulped it down smiling, and went back for more.
   And more.
      And more.
Suddenly, Even-Tinier Fox stopped eating and started dancing. While he danced, he sang at the top of his lungs, "Cupcakes! Watch me eat all the cupcakes!"
"It looks as though the cupcakes are making you hyperactive," laughed the witch.
"Oh no they're not!" cried Even-Tinier Fox. "I'm always this excited." With that, he walked into a tree.
Bong!
Even-Tinier Fox banged his head and fell backwards onto his bottom. He passed out, exhausted.
Even-Tinier Fox never finished eating the front door made from cupcakes and Dolly remained trapped in the witch's cage.
"That's it," said the witch. "I win. I get to keep Dolly."
"Not so fast," said Nina. "There is still one front door to go. The front door of the house made from peppers. 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 him a chance. It's only fair."
"Fine," said the witch. "But you saw what happened to the foxes. He won't last long."
"I'll be right back," said Nina.
"What?" said the witch. "Where's your sense of impatience? I thought you wanted Dolly back."
Nina ignored the witch and gathered a hefty pile of sticks. He came back to the clearing and started a small camp fire. Carefully, he broke off a piece of the door of the house made from peppers and toasted it over the fire. Once it had cooked and cooled just a little, he took a bite. He quickly devoured the whole piece.
Nina sat down on a nearby log.
"You fail!" cackled the witch. "You were supposed to eat the whole door."
"I haven't finished," explained Nina. "I am just waiting for my food to go down."
When Nina's food had digested, he broke off another piece of the door made from peppers. Once more, he toasted his food over the fire and waited for it to cool just a little. He ate it at a leisurely pace then waited for it to digest.
Eventually, after several sittings, Nina was down to the final piece of the door made from peppers. Carefully, he toasted it and allowed it to cool just a little. He finished his final course. Nina had eaten the entire front door of the house made from peppers.
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 boy won fair and square. Now hand over Dolly 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.
Nina hurried over and grabbed Dolly, checking that his favourite toy was all right. Fortunately, Dolly was unharmed.
Nina thanked the woodcutter, grabbed a quick souvenir, and hurried on to meet Annie. It was starting to get dark.
When Nina got to Annie's house, his roommate threw her arms around him.
"I was so worried!" cried Annie. "You are very late."
As Nina described his day, he could tell that Annie didn't believe him. So he grabbed a napkin from his pocket.
"What's that?" asked Annie.
Nina unwrapped a doorknob made from (A/N if you're reading to children please change the next word) batteries. "Pudding!" he said.
Annie almost fell off her chair.
The End