Read me a make-up story?

D and Dv asked me to "read them a make-up story" last night. What's that, you ask? Let me tell you!! A make-up story is something that you make up on the spot from your imagination. They always want us (Nana and I) to "read" them one, though, rather than tell them one. :)

This is the story I told them last night:


Once there was a woman who lived in a huge, huge house. The house had three stories and a full basement! She lived there all by herself. Well, almost all by herself. She shared her house with four dogs. One of the dogs was a big, big, big - nearly as tall as she was - big Yenna dog. The dog was three times as tall as our Yenna dog! So, if you stand Yenna on top of Yenna on top of Yenna, then you'd have the height of the woman's dog. She also had a very very very small dog, just one inch tall! Then she had two other normal sized dogs who lived with her, too.

The littlest dog always stayed nested just above the woman's hair barette, right on the top of her head! That way, the woman knew that the littlest dog was safe.

The woman didn't like people very much, and she really, really didn't like kids. She didn't want any visitors and she didn't want anyone to know about the big, big dog, nor the tiny, tiny dog, so she just never left the house. She didn't want the big, big dog to go outside at all, so she set aside the whole basement just for the big, big dog's poo yard. Every morning, she'd get up and go down to the basement, get out her really big wheel barrow and really big shovel and start cleaning up the mess. Then she'd take it outside, before anyone was awake in her little town, and dump it all into the dumpster.

One day, there came a knock on the door. And the dogs all mffed and barked and yapped and WOOFed at the noise, as it was a very unusual noise that the dogs were completely unaccustomed to. And who do you think was there, trying to visit the woman who didn't like house guests?

Yup. You guessed it. Children. Two of them! One boy and one girl, standing just outside the glass door. She could see that they had a note with them from the woman's brother. The woman opened the door - quite reluctantly - and asked them what they wanted.

The children knew that their Aunt didn't like children and were absolutely terrified of going to live with her for even a short while! The girl handed the note to her Aunt and waited.

The Aunt read:
Dear Sister,
These are my most beloved children, Hancel and Gretle. I have to go out of the country on business. As you have no phone and I know you will enjoy my children as much as I do, and come to love them as your own, I am confident that you will take them in and care for them while I'm away.
I believe I'll be away for thirty days. My phone number is 951.357.8246. Please call if you have any problems!
Love,
Your Brother.

"Hancel and Gretle, huh? Well, my little brother always did love that story. It figures he'd name his kids after that story. And I see he still can't spell." She peered at the two children. They tried very hard to look obedient and respectful, but they each had chocolate ice cream rings around their mouths and, because of that, they appeared very much like every other child in the world. "Very well. You may stay, but before you do anything else, you go straight to the bathroom and clean those filthy faces of yours!"

The kids looked bewildered at each other, then they saw the ring around the other one's mouth and were horrified! They did an aweful job of presenting themselves. But, she was going to let them stay, so maybe all was not lost.

The Auntie never told them where a bathroom was in that enormous house, so they started opening doors to find the bathroom. They did it very quietly, but that didn't go well for them. When the Auntie saw them "snooping around in her stuff" she got very angry with them. "There will be no snooping around in my stuff," she exclaimed sternly, "Everyone knows that the logical thing to do is to follow the plumbing and you can plainly see where the kitchen is. All water in a house follows a wet wall." She took a breath at the blank expressions on their faces, and asked, "Didn't anyone ever teach you the basics of life?"

They shook their heads no, knowing that it was probably the wrong thing to do, but it was always best to be truthful.

The Auntie's eyes got big and wide behind her glasses, with absolute shock. "WHAT? My brother hasn't taught you basics? Well. We'll just see about that. You two. Get into the bathroom and clean up. NOW."

When they returned to the kitchen area, the Auntie had three piles of books for each of them, piled clear to the ceiling, waiting for them. "If no one else will teach you, then you will learn everything while you're here!" She paused to see if they argued. It wouldn't go well for them if they did. She waited a moment longer, and, hearing no argument at all, she continued, "You will read all of these books during the time you're here. Sit. Here's the first one. The topic is plumbing."

The two kids obediently sat and read the boring books, careful to pay attention to details. They would occassionally glance over at their Auntie, to see if she was watching them closely still. She was. Finally, when it was almost two in the morning, the Auntie yawned. "I'm going to bed. You two need to get through at least one more chapter each before you go to bed." The Auntie was so tired that she forgot to tell them where "bed" was.

They finished their chapters, and each read one more chapter, and were so engrossed in their reading that they completely missed the big, big, big dog go down to the basement. But they didn't miss the nasty, aweful poo smell that wafted up from the basement!

"EWW! What's that smell? It's terrible!" They exclaimed to each other, as they plugged their noses. They went to investigate, reluctantly sniffing the air to locate the stench. They followed the steps down to the basement and saw the biggest pile of poo they had ever seen in their lives. The poo pile was as big as the Gretle! And the sink was just horrendously miserably terrible!

Hancel and Gretle looked at each other and they made a face at each other. YUCK! They wondered why their pristine snooty Aunt would allow such a thing to happen in her house. Then, a moment of inspiration came upon them. If they cleaned up the mess for the Auntie, she'd probably like them much better. They looked around and saw the big big wheel barrow and the big big shovel and got to work. Neither one of them could take it outside, especially since it wasn't allowed by their Auntie, so they cleaned it up as best they could. They were so tired though, that when they sat down to take a break, they fell fast asleep in the dirt of the basement.

The Auntie awoke much later than she normally did. She yawned and got up, then went downstairs to the basement to start cleaning up after her big, big, big dog. Instead, she saw all the poo already in the wheel barrow and her niece and nephew laying in the dirt, fast asleep. Her heart softened when she saw what they had done for her and she went over to gently wake them up.

They were both an absolute mess, with dog poo all over their clothes. They stunk something aweful and, after she awoke them, she sent them into a couple of bathrooms, each with great big tubs. She filled the tubs with the perfect temperature of water and put lots of bubble bath in, then sent them to get in.

While they were bathing, their Auntie decided to make sure their bedrooms were ready for them, with the most soft, cuddly, snuggly blankets and pillows they had ever slept with. Each got a wonderful lushously plush cuddly critter to snuggle with while they slept.

After they bathed, she made sure they had a lovely hot meal and a cream puff for dessert, then sent them off to bed to dream sweet dreams. The Auntie came to love Hancel and Gretle as much as she loved her dogs. From that day forward, she always invited the kids over for the summer break to visit.