EMILY and THE THREE BEARS

Once upon a time there was a little girl with golden hair that sparkled in the sun. Her name was Emily. Emily lived in a peaceful countryside and everyday as she went out to play her mother would say, “Emily, remember! Stay in the meadow and do not wander in the forest as you will get lost. But although she looked so pretty and well-behaved, Emily was sometimes naughty.

One day when her mummy wasn’t looking, she wandered into the forest to explore. Emily wandered so far into the forest that she found she was quite lost. She was very frightened and about to cry until she saw a little cottage. Emily peeped through the window of the cottage but she couldn’t see anyone. She knocked on the door but no one answered. She gave the door a push and it crept open. So Emily went inside. In the kitchen there was a lovely fire burning and the table
was set with three bowls of hot steaming porridge. It smelled delicious so Emily picked up a spoon and decided to have a little taste. She tried the biggest bowl first. “Yuk!” she said, “this porridge is too salty.” So she tried the middle bowl. “Ugh!”, she said, “this porridge is too sweet.” Then she tried the little bowl. “Yummy!”, “this is just right.” And she ate it all up.

After eating the porridge, Emily was feeling quite sleepy. So she sat in a big chair by the fire. “Oh no”, she said, “this chair is much too high.” So she sat in a middle chair. “No, no. this chair will not do either. It is still much too high”, she said. Finally she sat in a little chair. But it was too small and it broke into pieces. “Oh dear”, said Emily, but she was still sleepy. So she decided to go and explore upstairs.

Upstairs Emily found three beds. She tried the biggest bed first. “Ouch!”, she said, “this bed is too hard”. Then she tried the middle bed. “Oh, no. This bed is too soft”, she said. So she tried the little bed. It was just right. And she fell fast asleep.

Emily was still fast asleep when the door to the cottage opened. It belonged to three bears. Father bear, mother bear and the baby bear had been out in the forest picking fruit to put in their porridge. “Our porridge is cold. I am very hungry”, said the baby bear. But when they went to the table they saw that somebody had already been eating their breakfast. “Someone has been eating my porridge”, said father bear. “Oh, someone has been eating my porridge too” said mother bear. “My bowl is empty. Someone has eaten my porridge” cried baby bear. Then father bear saw the chairs. “Someone has been sitting in my chair”, he roared. “Someone has been sitting in my chair too”, said mother bear. “Someone has been sitting in my chair and it is broken into pieces”, cried baby bear. Father bear was very cross. So they all went upstairs to look for the stranger. “Someone has been sleeping in my bed” roared the father bear. “And someone has been sleeping in my bed” said mother bear. “Someone has been sleeping in my bed” cried baby bear. “And she is still there!” The three bears looked down at Emily who was still asleep in baby bear’s bed. When Emily opened her eyes, she saw the three bears standing over her looking very cross indeed. And she was very frightened. She jumped out of bed and the bears chased her downstairs. And through the front door she ran as fast as she could and didn’t stop until she was home with her mummy. From that day forward Emily never wandered into the forest again.