Greedy Cassie and the Magic Lettuce

Cassie was a tubby, freckle-faced child of six, with golden pigtails
and a sweet smile which made grown-ups say things like, "Ahh, what a
beautiful child!" But little did they know how greedy and naughty
Cassie could be!

You see, the reason Cassie was fat was because she ate far too many
cakes and sweets, and would not eat up her vegetables.

"I hate peas and cabbage," she would whine when her mummy placed
another beautiful dinner in front of her, "I want chocolate!"

She spent all her pocket money on sweets - and then do you know what
she did with them? She locked them in a tiny box, which she kept in a
secret hideaway inside the thick green hedge at the bottom of her
garden - so that she didn't have to share them with her friends. How
greedy!

Little did Cassie know her life was about to change one summer morning
when she sneaked out to her secret sweetie supply. The sun was shining
and Cassie felt very hungry.

She was gleefully dreaming of all the lemon drops and toffees she had
hidden in the leaves - when to her astonishment, a skinny little
tortoise crawled out from beneath the hedge!

"Well hello, Mr Tortoise!" Cassie giggled. And to her utter amazement,
the tortoise smiled straight up at her and spoke back!

"Good morning, Cassie!" He had a very kind, elderly voice.

Cassie gaped. A talking tortoise! She had never seen anything so
extraordinary.

"How do you know my name?" she squeaked.

"Because I see you every day," he replied. "My name's Jacob and I live
on the other side of this hedge. You always come here to guzzle your
sweets and chocolates. They're not good for you, yer know!"

"Not good for me?" snorted Cassie. "Whatever do you mean?"

Jacob shook his scaly head. "It isn't right for a young 'un to eat the
way you do," he scolded in a gentle but firm voice. "A little bit of
sugar'll do yer no harm, but too much rots yer teeth and makes you
poorly! You should try eating lettuce, like me."

"Lettuce?"

"Well, mostly lettuce, but I'm also fond of cabbage."

"Yuck!"

"Less of yer cheek, young lady! I'm a hundred years old - I've been
eating greens all me life!"

"You're a hundred?" Cassie giggled.

"Hundred and one next birthday. We tortoises live for centuries. You'll
have a nice long life too, my dear, if you eat nice healthy vegetables
instead of gobbling all that chocolate."

"I don't believe you!"

"Then why don't you come home and share my breakfast? I'd enjoy the
company, and I'd like you to try some of my favourite foods. You never
know - you might find you like them as much as I do!"

Cassie scowled, but as Jacob turned to go, her curiosity got the better
of her. After all, she had never seen a tortoise's house before! She
wondered what it might be like.

"Wait for me, Jacob!"

She followed him through a gap in the hedge she had never even noticed
was there before. It was rather a large gap, so she didn't know why she
had never noticed it.

On the other side of it, to Cassie's amazement, she found herself in a
sunny clearing, surrounded by trees and pretty plants, following Jacob
towards a cosy little house made of leaves and twigs.

Now, being a tortoise, Jacob could only crawl ever so s-l-o-w-l-y along
the grass - but Cassie was so fat, she panted and struggled to keep up
with him. She had to keep stopping so she could get her breath back and
rub her tummy.

Inside the tiny kitchen in that leafy house, she sat down squirming at
Jacob's table. He noticed she had turned almost as green as him.

"I feel sick," she whined, "I've got tummy ache!"

"That's what too many sweets does to you, child!"

Cassie scowled again, but could think of nothing to say. She was
beginning to think perhaps Jacob might be right after all.

"Here - eat this," Jacob said kindly, passing her a plate of fresh,
juicy lettuce leaves.

"But I hate lettuce!"

"These are magic lettuce leaves!"

"Magic lettuce leaves? There's no such thing! I want chocolate!"

"I don't have any chocolate. Now, this lettuce has special healing
powers. It'll make you feel better!"

Cassie nibbled one green leaf - and miraculously, she no longer felt
poorly! She took another bite, then another?mmm, how delicious is
tasted!...until she had eaten them all.

"Oh thank you, Jacob! Thank you! Yes, I feel much better now!"

Jacob said nothing. He just smiled at Cassie in his wise way.

Cassie grinned back. She blinked at that moment - but when she opened
her eyes again, she found herself back in her garden at home! Standing
by the hedge, just as she was before Jacob had appeared from beneath
it. The hole through which she had crawled after him had
disappeared!

Could it be that she had only imagined little Jacob and his little
leafy house and the magic lettuce?

"But he was here," she whispered to herself, "I know he was!"

Cassie learned a lesson from her meeting with Jacob. Do you know what
she did with her secret box of sweeties that day? Instead of keeping
them to herself, she shared out all those lovely toffees and lemon
drops among her friends!

And what's more, Cassie hardly ever eats sweets and cakes at all now!
Nor is she quite so tubby these days.

She has never seen Jacob again since that strange summer day, and has
never told anybody about him. She has kept her little green friend a
secret, in case nobody should believe her.

But she often thinks of him, especially when she eats up her dinner and
asks Mummy for second helpings of vegetables instead of pudding. Her
mum is so happy - but she can't understand why Cassie has
changed.

But we know, don't we?