Jenny and the coconut tree

Once upon a time， there was a girl named Jenny who lived with her grandmother. They were very poor and only had a grey horse named Carrot. They lived only on beans and carrots. One day， they ran out of beans and carrots. Jenny’s grandmother， being very wise， said sorrowfully， “Jenny dear， we shall have to sell Carrot to live.” Jenny nodded sadly. She picked up Carrot’s leash and set off towards the market， hoping to get a good price for Carrot.

She had not gone far when she met a short man. He said to her， “Little girl， I’ll buy that horse off you for these three magical coconuts.” Jenny agreed excitedly， thinking that it was a very good deal. She handed Carrot over to the man and took the coconuts and happily skipped back home.

Back home， Jenny told her grandmother about the trade she made. Jenny’s grandmother said disappointedly， “Darling ，we will have to eat these two coconuts for dinner.” Since the third coconut was a bad nut， Jenny’s grandmother threw it out of the window.

The next day， Jenny peered out of her room window and got a real shock. Even though it was early in the morning， the third and last magical coconut that her grandmother had thrown out of the window had grown into a gigantic coconut tree！ The trunk of the coconut tree led right into the cotton-candy clouds and into the blue sky. Curious， she called out to her grandmother. Her grandmother was just as surprised as she was. “Jenny， why don’t you try to climb the tree？” She suggested. Jenny readily agreed happily.

Jenny started to climb the coconut tree. She climbed and she climbed. It was a very long climb. Finally， she reached the very top of the coconut tree， shrouded in white， fluffy clouds. In the distance， she spotted a huge castle made of pure quartz looming over the other buildings.

Jenny decided to enter the castle. Upon opening the door of the castle， she saw many small foods flying around a vast white room. A pink cupcake saw her and squeaked， “Quick， run！” A nearby cookie chimed in ，“Yeah， our master is a giant， evil loaf of bread！”

Just then， a thump-thump sound echoed from a large corridor. Jenny could only make out a silhouette. It was a loaf of bread， “Fee， fi， fo， fum， I smell a little RAT！” It roared. Jenny trembled in fear， rooted to the spot. “Quickly， quickly！” The desserts cried， “Hide under the cabinet now！” Jenny snapped out of her reverie and crawled under the cabinet as fast as lightning. The giant bread ordered his loyal servants to find her. In no time， a pickle had found her. Jenny jumped up in fear， as the giant bread’s servants cornered her. She ran pell-mell out and quickly climbed down the coconut tree. In seconds， her grandmother was by her side. “What happened？” she cried.

Jenny had no time to answer. “Get the axe， grandma！” she shouted. Picking up an iron axe each， they hacked away at the coconut tree until it swayed and fell with a deafening thump. It miraculously disappeared into thin air. Plop！ Plop！ Plop！ The bread and its minions plummeted down to earth. Once the bread and his minions touched the ground， they turned into regular food. Jenny and her grandmother approached them cautiously. As they did not react， Jenny and her grandmother started to eat and devoured the scrumptious food. Tired from the feasting， they did not finish the food and left a few crumbs on the floor. When they woke up the next day， they found the crumbs turned into more food. They brought the food to the market and sold it but were careful not to leave a few crumbs behind. They had enough to eat and more to share with the homeless. Jenny and her grandmother set up a food shelter called Coconuts and lived happily ever after.

（Emmanuelle ， Elizabeth ， Lucia為新加坡道南小學四年級學生）