The Gingerbread Man
An old woman and an old man lived in a little cottage. One day, the old woman decided to bake a special treat.
“I think I will make a gingerbread man cookie today!” she said.
The old woman mixed together flour, sugar, ginger, cinnamon, and eggs in a big bowl. She rolled the dough flat and cut out a gingerbread man shape. Then she decorated him with icing eyes, a smiling mouth, and yummy gumdrop buttons. She put him carefully on a cookie sheet and popped him into the oven to bake.
A little while later, the kitchen was filled with the spicy sweet smell of gingerbread. The old woman opened the oven door to peek inside. Suddenly, the gingerbread man jumped up from the cookie sheet!
“Run, run, as fast as you can! You can’t catch me, I’m the Gingerbread Man!” he shouted as he leapt from the oven and sprinted out the door.
The old woman and old man chased after him, but the Gingerbread Man was too quick. He sped down the winding country road saying, “I’m the Gingerbread Man, and you can’t catch me!”
The Gingerbread Man ran faster and faster. Soon he came upon a farm. In the field, a cow was munching grass.
“Moo, you look tasty!” said the cow. “Why don’t you slow down for a while and play with me?”
“No, I don’t have time for games! I’m the Gingerbread Man and you can’t catch me!” the Gingerbread Man yelled as he raced down the dusty road.
A little ways on, the Gingerbread Man met a horse pulling a wagon loaded with hay.
“Neigh, you look good enough to eat!” said the horse. “How about you hop on and take a ride with me?”
“Oh no, I can’t stop and ride, I must keep running, don’t you see? I’m the Gingerbread Man, and you can’t catch me!” the Gingerbread Man shouted as he zipped past the horse.
The Gingerbread Man ran on and on until he came to a farmhouse. Behind the farmhouse was a pig rolling around happily in a big muddy puddle.
“Oink, you look mighty tasty!” said the pig. “Come join me for a nice mud bath!”
“A mud bath would slow me down, so I can’t stay around. I’m the Gingerbread Man, and you can’t catch me!” the Gingerbread Man called out as he sprinted away from the pig.
By now the Gingerbread Man was starting to tire. But he was determined to keep running. Soon he arrived at a gently flowing river. Waiting calmly on the riverbank was a clever fox.
“Aha, you look simply delicious!” said the fox, licking his lips. “I can give you a ride across the river on my back.”
The Gingerbread Man didn’t trust the fox. But he needed to cross the river.
“Alright, I will ride on your back,” the Gingerbread Man said cautiously.
The Gingerbread Man climbed up and balanced on the fox’s back. The fox began to slowly swim across the river.
When they were halfway across, the fox said “My nose is getting wet. Quick, jump up on my snout!”
So the Gingerbread Man carefully stood up on the fox’s nose. But in a flash, the fox flipped the Gingerbread Man high up in the air. As he came back down, the fox caught him neatly in his mouth and gulped him down in one big bite!
“Oh, that was a yummy snack!” said the fox, licking his lips with a sly smile. “But I’m still hungry!”
So the fox swam back across the river and headed towards the farm to look for more treats.
The moral of this story: Be careful who you trust, or you might just get gobbled up!
