Magic Cup
By Judi Lynne
Not long ago Jack and Jill went up the hill. Just last month Humpty Dumpty fell off the wall.
This all started when a little old lady was hanging out her laundry. She was a kind old lady and loved everything and everybody that was good. Her name was Miss Sally.
As she was going back inside, she spotted a cup just sitting in her garden.
“I’ve never seen this before,” she said as she bent over and picked it up.
She took it into her house and washed it. She noticed that it had a lovely design of flowers near the handle. She dried it with a towel and set it on the table.
“I wonder if it can hold anything,” she said aloud.
She poured milk into it. The milk stayed there and didn’t leak out. As soon as she got ready to pick it up, it turned into a huge, white goose.
“O my goodness!” She exclaimed. “What have I done to deserve this goose?” Thinking for a minute, “It will taste good in some stew.”
She put the goose outside but attached a sack of flour to the goose so it would not fly away.
The bird was standing still when it suddenly flew straight up like one of those new-fangled helicopters. The lady was so astonished that her mouth dropped to the ground. She ran out of the house and called to the goose. The goose came down, she got on, and they took off. The goose flew and flew and flew for a long time. Eventually, they came to a stop.
Miss Sally started babbling like a brook. “Where are we? What are we doing here? When can I go home? I left the doors unlocked. Can you talk and why?”
“Now, Now, listen here. For me to answer your questions, you have to calm down,” the goose said and rambled on. “As you can hear, I can talk, and why I can is that we are in make-believe world. This also answers your first question. You can go home after you make some rhymes up for the children. Your doors are locked, and everything is safe. We had better rest now for tomorrow is a busy day. There is a small hut over in the woods that will be your house when you are here.”
“Will you come to pick me up or should I come here?” Miss Sally asked.
“I will come to get you at the hut,” the goose said.
“I’d probably get lost coming back to here. I might even get lost going to the hut,” Miss Sally said. “Do you think you could lead me there?”
“Yes, I could,” said the goose, and they both went walking through the woods.
The next day was bright and sunny. The birds were singing, the grass and leaves were growing, and the children were happily playing. The goose appeared at the lady’s hut. She decided to explore the woods with him. As they were flying along, they saw a hill and a well with two children going up it.
Miss Sally said, “Stop there, goose. I would like to see what is going on.”
The goose flew down and stopped.
“What are they going up the hill for?” Miss Sally asked.
The goose replied, “They are going up the hill for some water.”
“Did you say that I was to make up some rhymes?” she asked.
“Yes.”
Suddenly, there was a thud at the bottom of the hill. She looked up and said to the children, “What are your names?”
The girl said, “My name is Jill, and this is my brother Jack.”
Miss Sally then said, “I’ve got a good rhyme. Listen to this.”
Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water Jack fell down and broke his crown, and Jill came tumbling after.”
The goose smiled and said, “That is very good. You have done one deed. You now can go back to your hut and rest until tomorrow.”
“Thank you,” she said and went back through the woods to the hut.
The next day it was raining. Miss Sally had just gotten up when there was a knock at her door. She went to the door and opened it. There stood a little cat.
“Hi! I am George the Cat.”
“What are you doing here, George?”
“I’ve come to give you a message. Miss Jill and Mr. Jack want to thank you for writing a rhyme. The goose also says for me to tell you he won’t come today because it is too wet to fly around.”
“Thank you, Mr. Cat for telling me. Would you like to stay awhile and rest?” said Miss Sally.
“No, thank you. I’ve got to get back to the mice-packing factory,” said George.
“Now what can I get myself into. I know, I’ll bake some
cookies for the goose. I wonder what kind he likes. I’ll make feather-down cookies. No, that might hurt his feelings. I’ll make some sugar cookies,” she thought.
After she baked the cookies, she decided to look around the hut. She saw a pin and picked it up. For the rest of the day, everything she did was right. That night she was thinking about the pin and thought of this rhyme.
See a pin and pick it up,
All the day you’ll have good luck.
See a pin and let it lay,
Bad luck you’ll have all the day.
The next day the goose came by. Miss Sally gave him the cookies and told him the rhyme. The goose said that she had done very well and then thanked her for the cookies.
The goose and Miss Sally were walking along when they came upon a wall with an egg sitting on top.
The goose whispered to her, “That’s Humpty Dumpty, and he is always sitting here.”
Just then there was a splat at their feet. It was the egg. A bunch of men with horses and KING written on their backs came by but couldn’t get him back together.
Miss Sally said, “I’ve got it! Listen to this.”
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the King’s horses and all the King’s men,
Couldn’t put Humpty Dumpty together again.
That’s good. Let’s keep going.”
They came upon a young girl in a garden will all kinds of flowers. Miss Sally asked, “What is your name?”
The girl answered, “I’m Mary. These are silver bells and cockle shells.”
Miss Sally thought for a long time and recited this rhyme.
Mistress Mary, quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?
With cockle shells and silver bells
And pretty maids, all in a row.
“That’s four you’ve done now. You’ve got one more to do,” said the goose.
Miss Sally wasn’t paying any attention; she was watching a girl and a spider. Then she said, “I’m going to do my last rhyme now. I’ve been watching the girl. Listen to this!”
Little Miss Muffet
She sat on a tuffet
Eating of curds and whey;
There came a great spider,
Who sat down beside her,
And frightened Miss Muffet away.
That’s great. I guess I will take you home tomorrow. Let’s go to the hut and rest before we go,” said the goose.
The next day came, and the goose took Miss Sally home. The goose said, “ Remember your experience, and I will be seeing you.” Then the goose was gone.
We will leave Miss Sally sitting at her table drinking the milk that was in the cup. But if you look real close at the cup, you will probably notice there isn’t a flower design, but the words - Mother Goose.