Once upon a time there was a brave boy called nevian damos. He was on the way to see his younger sister verian damos, when he decided to take a short cut through Vriken.
It wasn't long before nevian got lost. He looked around, but all he could see were trees. Nervously, he felt into his bag for his favourite toy, Amusa, but Amusa was nowhere to be found! nevian began to panic. He felt sure he had packed Amusa. To make matters worse, he was starting to feel hungry.
Unexpectedly, he saw a wise owl dressed in a blue vest disappearing into the trees.
"How odd!" thought nevian.
For the want of anything better to do, he decided to follow the peculiarly dressed owl. Perhaps it could tell him the way out of the forest.
Eventually, nevian reached a clearing. In the clearing were two houses, one made from cucumbers and one made from chips.
nevian could feel his tummy rumbling. Looking at the houses did nothing to ease his hunger.
"Hello!" he called. "Is anybody there?"
Nobody replied.
nevian 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 nevian a fright. A witch jumped into the space in front of the houses. She was carrying a cage. In that cage was Amusa!
"Amusa!" shouted nevian. He turned to the witch. "That's my toy!"
The witch just shrugged.
"Give Amusa back!" cried nevian.
"Not on your nelly!" said the witch.
"At least let Amusa out of that cage!"
Before she could reply, the wise owl in the blue vest rushed in from a footpath on the other side of the cleaning.
"Hello Big Owl," said the witch.
"Good morning." The owl noticed Amusa. "Who is this?"
"That's Amusa," explained the witch.
"Ooh! Amusa would look lovely in my house. Give it to me!" demanded the owl.
The witch shook her head. "Amusa is staying with me."
"Um... Excuse me..." nevian interrupted. "Amusa lives with me! And not in a cage!"
Big Owl ignored him. "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 Owl 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 Amusa."
nevian watched, feeling very worried. He didn't want the witch to give Amusa to Big Owl. He didn't think Amusa would like living with a wise owl, away from his house and all his other toys.
Big Owl put on his bib and withdraw a knife and fork from his pocket.
"I'll eat this whole house," said Big Owl. "Just you watch!"
Big Owl 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 Owl 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 Owl.
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 Owl never finished eating the front door made from chips and Amusa remained trapped in the witch's cage.
"That's it," said the witch. "I win. I get to keep Amusa."
"Not so fast," said nevian. "There is still one front door to go. The front door of the house made from cucumbers. 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 him a chance. It's only fair."
"Fine," said the witch. "But you saw what happened to the owl. He won't last long."
"I'll be right back," said nevian.
"What?" said the witch. "Where's your sense of impatience? I thought you wanted Amusa back."
nevian ignored the witch and gathered a hefty pile of sticks. He came back to the clearing and started a small camp fire. Carefully, he broke off a piece of the door of the house made from cucumbers and toasted it over the fire. Once it had cooked and cooled just a little, he took a bite. He quickly devoured the whole piece.
nevian sat down on a nearby log.
"You fail!" cackled the witch. "You were supposed to eat the whole door."
"I haven't finished," explained nevian. "I am just waiting for my food to go down."
When nevian's food had digested, he broke off another piece of the door made from cucumbers. Once more, he toasted his food over the fire and waited for it to cool just a little. He ate it at a leisurely pace then waited for it to digest.
Eventually, after several sittings, nevian was down to the final piece of the door made from cucumbers. Carefully, he toasted it and allowed it to cool just a little. He finished his final course. nevian had eaten the entire front door of the house made from cucumbers.
The witch stamped her foot angrily. "You must have tricked me!" she said. "I don't reward cheating!"
"I don't think so!" said a voice. It was the woodcutter. He walked back into the clearing, carrying his axe. "This little boy won fair and square. Now hand over Amusa 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.
nevian hurried over and grabbed Amusa, checking that his favourite toy was all right. Fortunately, Amusa was unharmed.
nevian thanked the woodcutter, grabbed a quick souvenir, and hurried on to meet verian. It was starting to get dark.
When nevian got to verian's house, his younger sister threw her arms around him.
"I was so worried!" cried verian. "You are very late."
As nevian described his day, he could tell that verian didn't believe him. So he grabbed a napkin from his pocket.
"What's that?" asked verian.
nevian unwrapped a doorknob made from chips. "Pudding!" he said.
verian almost fell off her chair.
The End