the kindergarten class had two teachers.
ms johnson, who was kind of old - older than lily mae - and ms williams, who was really old.
ms johnson often read stories to the children, mostly girls, who wanted to listen to them.
lucas often joined the story group. it was a good way to not have to talk to the other children more than he absolutely had to.
the stories did not make a lot of sense to him.
here is a typical one of ms johnson’s stories, at least as it was filtered through lucas’s brain. then again, maybe he got two or three stories mixed up.
once upon a time there was an old woman who lived on a hill.
she had a duck and a cow and a pig, but most of all she had an oven.
the oven was on all the time, baking pies.
the pies were for an ogre who lived on the other side of the hill.
if he did not get his pies every day he threatened to eat the duck and the cow and the pig.
the old woman spent all her time tending to the roaring oven and grinding flour, and the duck and the cow and the pig spent theirs gathering grain to grind, and berries and herbs and apples to put in the pies.
in this they were sometimes assisted by a wandering shepherd boy who was as free as a bird, and left the village for days and weeks at a time, and returned like the wind whenever it suited his free fancy. he always wore a big hat, which covered most of his face
it was a hard life, but sometimes they gathered around the fire at night under the stars, and sang songs. if the shepherd boy was on hand he would play his flute.
one night they were all gathered around the fire, singing a happy song, which went something like this:
good players play good cards
happy dogs play in happy yards
happy people live in happy towns
as long as the bridges don’t fall down
sad people drink weak tea
but they are just as good as you or me
nice people throw bums a dime
and always pay their bills on time
suddenly a shadow fell across the happy group and they stopped their song and looked up.
it was the ogre!
why, mister ogre, exclaimed the old woman, you are not usually abroad at this hour.
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