The Big Toe

A boy was digging at the edge of the garden when he saw a big toe. He tried to pick it up, but it was stuck to something. So he gave it a good hard jerk, and it came off in his hand. Then he heard something groan and scamper away.

The boy took the toe into the kitchen and showed it to his mother. "It looks nice andplump," she said. "I'll put it in the soup, and we'll have it for supper."

That night his father carved the toe into three pieces, and they each had a piece. Then they did the dishes, and when it got dark they went to bed.

The boy fell asleep almost at once. But in the middle of the night, a sound awakenedhim. It was something out in the street. It was a voice, and it was calling to him.

"Where is my to-o-o-o-o-e?" it groaned.

When the boy heard that, he got very scared. But he thought, "It doesn't knowwhere I am. It never will find me."

Then he heard the voice once more. Only now was closer.

"Where is my to-o-o-o-o-e?" it groaned.

The boy pulled the blankets over his head and closed his eyes. "I'll go to sleep," hethought. "When I wake up it will be gone."

But soon he heard the back door open, and again he heard the voice.

"Where is my to-o-o-o-o-e?" it groaned.

Then the boy heard footsteps move through the kitchen into the dining room, into the living room, into the front hall. Then slowly they climbed the stairs.

Closer and closer they came. Soon they were in the upstairs hall. Now they were outside his door.

"Where is my to-o-o-o-o-e?" the voice groaned.

His door opened. Shaking with fear, he listened as the footsteps slowly moved through the dark toward his bed. Then they stopped.

"Where is my to-o-o-o-o-e?" the voice groaned.