Katy Platt and the Kind Tortoise

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Once upon a time there was a curvaceous girl called Katy Platt. She was on the way to see her grandpa Clarke Jolie, when she decided to take a short cut through Hyde Park.

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

Unexpectedly, she saw a kind tortoise dressed in a yellow coat disappearing into the trees.

"How odd!" thought Katy.

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

Eventually, Katy reached a clearing. In the clearing were two houses, one made from courgettes and one made from chips.

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

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

Nobody replied.

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

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"Dolly!" shouted Katy. She turned to the witch. "That's my toy!"

The witch just shrugged.

"Give Dolly back!" cried Katy.

"Not on your nelly!" said the witch.

"At least let Dolly out of that cage!"

Before she could reply, the kind tortoise in the yellow coat rushed in from a footpath on the other side of the cleaning.

"Hello Big Tortoise," said the witch.

"Good morning." The tortoise 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 tortoise.

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

"Um... Excuse me..." Katy interrupted. "Dolly lives with me! And not in a cage!"

Big Tortoise 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 Tortoise looked at the house made from chips and said, "No problem, I could eat an entire house made from chips 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 Dolly."

Katy watched, feeling very worried. She didn't want the witch to give Dolly to Big Tortoise. She didn't think Dolly would like living with a kind tortoise, away from her house and all her other toys.

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

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

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

And more.

  And more.

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

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 Tortoise never finished eating the front door made from chips 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 Katy. "There is still one front door to go. The front door of the house made from courgettes. 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 tortoise. She won't last long."

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

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

Katy 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 courgettes 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.

Katy sat down on a nearby log.

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

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

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

The witch stamped her foot angrily. "You must have tricked me!" she said. "I don't reward cheating!"

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"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 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.

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

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

When Katy got to Clarke's house, her grandpa threw his arms around her.

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

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

"What's that?" asked Clarke.

Katy unwrapped a doorknob made from chips. "Pudding!" she said.

Clarke almost fell off his chair.

The End