Once upon a time there was an adorable boy called Peter Foxwill. He was on the way to see his best friend Suzy Harmon, when he decided to take a short cut through Bogstaple Woods.
It wasn't long before Peter got lost. He looked around, but all he could see were trees. Nervously, he felt into his bag for his favourite toy, Piglet, but Piglet was nowhere to be found! Peter began to panic. He felt sure he had packed Piglet. To make matters worse, he was starting to feel hungry.
Unexpectedly, he saw a kind cat dressed in a purple skirt disappearing into the trees.
"How odd!" thought Peter.
For the want of anything better to do, he decided to follow the peculiarly dressed cat. Perhaps it could tell him the way out of the forest.
Eventually, Peter reached a clearing. In the clearing were two houses, one made from carrots and one made from muffins.
Peter could feel his tummy rumbling. Looking at the houses did nothing to ease his hunger.
"Hello!" he called. "Is anybody there?"
Nobody replied.
Peter 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 Peter a fright. A witch jumped into the space in front of the houses. She was carrying a cage. In that cage was Piglet!
"Piglet!" shouted Peter. He turned to the witch. "That's my toy!"
The witch just shrugged.
"Give Piglet back!" cried Peter.
"Not on your nelly!" said the witch.
"At least let Piglet out of that cage!"
Before she could reply, the kind cat in the purple skirt rushed in from a footpath on the other side of the cleaning.
"Hello Big Cat," said the witch.
"Good morning." The cat noticed Piglet. "Who is this?"
"That's Piglet," explained the witch.
"Ooh! Piglet would look lovely in my house. Give it to me!" demanded the cat.
The witch shook her head. "Piglet is staying with me."
"Um... Excuse me..." Peter interrupted. "Piglet lives with me! And not in a cage!"
Big Cat 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 Cat looked at the house made from muffins and said, "No problem, I could eat an entire house made from muffins if I wanted to."
"There's no need to show off," said the witch. Just eat one front door and I'll let you have Piglet."
Peter watched, feeling very worried. He didn't want the witch to give Piglet to Big Cat. He didn't think Piglet would like living with a kind cat, away from his house and all his other toys.
Big Cat put on his bib and withdraw a knife and fork from his pocket.
"I'll eat this whole house," said Big Cat. "Just you watch!"
Big Cat pulled off a corner of the front door of the house made from muffins. He gulped it down smiling, and went back for more.
And more.
And more.
Eventually, Big Cat started to get bigger - just a little bit bigger at first. But after a few more fork-fulls of muffins, he grew to the size of a large snowball - and he was every bit as round.
"Erm... I don't feel too good," said Big Cat.
Suddenly, he started to roll. He'd grown so round that he could no longer balance!
"Help!" he cried, as he rolled off down a slope into the forest.
Big Cat never finished eating the front door made from muffins and Piglet remained trapped in the witch's cage.
"That's it," said the witch. "I win. I get to keep Piglet."
"Not so fast," said Peter. "There is still one front door to go. The front door of the house made from carrots. And I haven't had a turn yet.
"I don't have to give you a turn!" laughed the witch. "My game. My rules."
The woodcutter's voice carried through the forest. "I think you should give him a chance. It's only fair."
"Fine," said the witch. "But you saw what happened to the cat. He won't last long."
"I'll be right back," said Peter.
"What?" said the witch. "Where's your sense of impatience? I thought you wanted Piglet back."
Peter ignored the witch and gathered a hefty pile of sticks. He came back to the clearing and started a small camp fire. Carefully, he broke off a piece of the door of the house made from carrots and toasted it over the fire. Once it had cooked and cooled just a little, he took a bite. He quickly devoured the whole piece.
Peter sat down on a nearby log.
"You fail!" cackled the witch. "You were supposed to eat the whole door."
"I haven't finished," explained Peter. "I am just waiting for my food to go down."
When Peter's food had digested, he broke off another piece of the door made from carrots. Once more, he toasted his food over the fire and waited for it to cool just a little. He ate it at a leisurely pace then waited for it to digest.
Eventually, after several sittings, Peter was down to the final piece of the door made from carrots. Carefully, he toasted it and allowed it to cool just a little. He finished his final course. Peter had eaten the entire front door of the house made from carrots.
The witch stamped her foot angrily. "You must have tricked me!" she said. "I don't reward cheating!"
"I don't think so!" said a voice. It was the woodcutter. He walked back into the clearing, carrying his axe. "This little boy won fair and square. Now hand over Piglet or I will chop your broomstick in half."
The witch looked horrified. She grabbed her broomstick and placed it behind her. Then, huffing, she opened the door of the cage.
Peter hurried over and grabbed Piglet, checking that his favourite toy was all right. Fortunately, Piglet was unharmed.
Peter thanked the woodcutter, grabbed a quick souvenir, and hurried on to meet Suzy. It was starting to get dark.
When Peter got to Suzy's house, his best friend threw her arms around him.
"I was so worried!" cried Suzy. "You are very late."
As Peter described his day, he could tell that Suzy didn't believe him. So he grabbed a napkin from his pocket.
"What's that?" asked Suzy.
Peter unwrapped a doorknob made from muffins. "Pudding!" he said.
Suzy almost fell off her chair.