Larkhill Childrens Tales

The Little Stranger

Once upon a time little Aimee Jones was walking home from school when a small man joined her on her journey.

The little man asked Aimee if she would like to see some little puppies. Aimee remembered that her mum had instructed her not to talk to strangers and offered no reply to the little man.

The small man then offered Aimee some sweets and again Aimee did not answer.

Aimee was a little anxious and scared so she started to run. Within a few minutes she arrived at her house door and was relieved to find the little man hadn't followed her.

She knocked on the door and there was no reply. She knocked again and once more no one replied. She then went around the back of the house and found that the kitchen door was unlocked.

As she entered the house three puppies approaching her at great speed startled her. She was almost knocked over but managed to grab a kitchen chair to balance herself. She shouted for her mum but heard no reply. Then all of a sudden, to her amazement, the little man walked into the kitchen, 'hello' he said, 'what are you doing here'?. 'I live here,' she replied. before realizing the man was a stranger and she shouldn't be speaking to him. 'where's my mum ? she exclaimed.
'She doesn't live here anymore,' he said, 'she's gone to live in Australia.'
'She can't have, I only saw her this morning and she didn't mention anything,'she replied.

The little man then explained that the house had been sold to him and he was now the sole owner of it. The man then calmly asked Aimee if she would like to stay with him, as her mum obviously didn't want her in Australia.

Aimee began to cry, as she couldn't believe her mum would do such a thing. The little man offered Aimee something to eat. Aimee was amazed to find that the food and drink on offer was made solely from sweets. There was chocolate stew, candy bread and liquorice tea. Aimee decided to gobble up the food as she was starving after a long day at school.

After tea she wandered round the house to see what changes the man had made. Firstly she went into her mums room. She quickly discovered that all her mum's clothes were still in the wardrobe. She continued to investigate further and found that her mum's shoes and make-up were also still in the bedroom. Aimee was now quite worried and decided to be brave and confront the little man about her findings.

Aimee found the little man in the kitchen washing up the pots. He was singing a strange song, which Aimee didn't recognise. Aimee approached the little man and asked him in a clear and assertive voice, 'If my mum has gone to Australia, why are all her things still in her bedroom ?' As the little man turned round Aimee noticed two little horns peeping through his thick, black hair. She had not noticed these before and was sure they weren't there earlier.
The little man muttered, 'your mum left quickly and is going to replace all of her things when she gets to Australia. '

All of a sudden Aimee heard a small muttering noise from the cupboards near the sink. ' what was that ?' Aimee said calmly.
'Mice' said the man.
Aimee knew that the noise that the noise that came from the cupboard was not a mouse. She now suspected that the noise was her mum and that the little man had put her there.

The little man suddenly began to hurl abuse at Aimee calling her names such as, smelly girl, big ears and spotty. Aimee decided not to rise to the taunts and replied with a simple and polite, 'Thank you,' to each of the names. The little man was startled and furious by this reaction, and it became obvious that he was trying to make Aimee behave badly. He then began to make a mess of the kitchen by smashing plates onto the floor and tipping the leftover waste from the previous meal over the walls. Again Aimee did not respond as the little man had hoped. She just picked up a pan and brush and began to clean up the mess.

This was the final straw, the little man began to rage and rage. He chanted,' Aimee behave badly, Aimee behave badly.' But Aimee continued to clean up and mutter the words,'Thank you.'

'That's it,' shouted the little man. And within a couple of minutes he had burst into flames and transformed into a heap of ashes on the floor. Aimee quickly brushed up the ashes and threw them outside the back door of the house. She then rushed to the kitchen cupboard and, as she expected, her mum was there tied up and gagged. She quickly undid the knots and freed her mum.

'Thank you, Thank you,' said her mum and gave Aimee a big hug. I can't believe that you were so brave and got rid of the little man all on your own.

Aimee smiled looked up at her mum and said.

'I'm hungry any chance of some chocolate stew !?'