Cross Jakei and the Three Mean Donkeys
A Fairy Tale
by yes
Once upon a time there was a cute boy called Cross Jakei. He was on the way to see his bff Dream Joku, when he decided to take a short cut through Wyre Forest.
It wasn't long before Cross got lost. He looked around, but all he could see were trees. Nervously, he felt into his bag for his favourite toy, Little Mouse, but Little Mouse was nowhere to be found! Cross began to panic. He felt sure he had packed Little Mouse. To make matters worse, he was starting to feel hungry.
Unexpectedly, he saw a mean donkey dressed in a blue coat disappearing into the trees.
"How odd!" thought Cross.
For the want of anything better to do, he decided to follow the peculiarly dressed donkey. Perhaps it could tell him the way out of the forest.
Eventually, Cross reached a clearing. He found himself surrounded by houses made from different sorts of food. There was a house made from turnips, a house made from toffees, a house made from chips and a house made from cupcakes.
Cross could feel his tummy rumbling. Looking at the houses did nothing to ease his hunger.
"Hello!" he called. "Is anybody there?"
Nobody replied.
Cross 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 Cross a fright. A witch jumped into the space in front of the houses. She was carrying a cage. In that cage was Little Mouse!
"Little Mouse!" shouted Cross. He turned to the witch. "That's my toy!"
The witch just shrugged.
"Give Little Mouse back!" cried Cross.
"Not on your nelly!" said the witch.
"At least let Little Mouse out of that cage!"
Before she could reply, three mean donkeys rushed in from a footpath on the other side of the clearing. Cross recognised the one in the blue coat that he'd seen earlier. The witch seemed to recognise him too.
"Hello Big Donkey," said the witch.
"Good morning." The donkey noticed Little Mouse. "Who is this?"
"That's Little Mouse," explained the witch.
"Ooh! Little Mouse would look lovely in my house. Give it to me!" demanded the donkey.
The witch shook her head. "Little Mouse is staying with me."
"Um... Excuse me..." Cross interrupted. "Little Mouse lives with me! And not in a cage!"
Big Donkey 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 Donkey looked at the house made from cupcakes and said, "No problem, I could eat an entire house made from cupcakes if I wanted to."
"That's nothing," said the next donkey. "I could eat two houses."
"There's no need to show off," said the witch. Just eat one front door and I'll let you have Little Mouse."
Cross watched, feeling very worried. He didn't want the witch to give Little Mouse to Big Donkey. He didn't think Little Mouse would like living with a mean donkey, away from his house and all his other toys.
