Miss Parker and the 2 Slippery Fish

Once upon a time there was a brave girl called Winnie Parker. She was on the way to see her Uncle Phil , when she decided to take a short cut through Greenton Woods.

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

Unexpectedly, she saw a slippery fish dressed in a blue jumper disappearing into the trees.

"How odd!" thought Winnie.

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

Eventually, Winnie reached a clearing. In the clearing were three houses, one made from broccoli, one made from jelly babies and one made from macarons.

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

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

Nobody replied.

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

"Bucky Bear!" shouted Winnie. She turned to the witch. "That's my toy!"

The witch just shrugged.

"Give Bucky Bear back!" cried Winnie.

"Not on your nelly!" said the witch.

"At least let Bucky Bear out of that cage!"

Before she could reply, two slippery fishes rushed in from a footpath on the other side of the clearing. Winnie recognised the one in the blue jumper that she'd seen earlier. The witch seemed to recognise him too.

"Hello Big Fish," said the witch.

"Good morning." The fish noticed Bucky Bear. "Who is this?"

"That's Bucky Bear," explained the witch.

"Ooh! Bucky Bear would look lovely in my house. Give it to me!" demanded the fish.

The witch shook her head. "Bucky Bear is staying with me."

"Um... Excuse me..." Winnie interrupted. "Bucky Bear lives with me! And not in a cage!"

Big Fish 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 Fish looked at the house made from macarons and said, "No problem, I could eat an entire house made from macarons if I wanted to."

"That's nothing," said the next fish. "I could eat two houses."