Jake Frost and the Five Fluffy Polar Bears

This is a story of fairy tale.

Once upon a time there was a brave boy called Jake Frost. He was on the way to see his father Slate Frost, when he decided to take a short cut through Greenton Woods.

It wasn't long before Jake got lost. He looked around, but all he could see were trees. Nervously, he felt into his bag for his favourite toy, Dolly, but Dolly was nowhere to be found! Jake began to panic. He felt sure he had packed Dolly. To make matters worse, he was starting to feel hungry.

Unexpectedly, he saw a fluffy polar bear dressed in a blue coat disappearing into the trees.

"How odd!" thought Jake.

For the want of anything better to do, he decided to follow the peculiarly dressed polar bear. Perhaps it could tell him the way out of the forest.

Eventually, Jake reached a clearing. He found himself surrounded by houses made from different sorts of food. There was a house made from swedes, a house made from biscuits, a house made from muffins, a house made from chocolates, a house made from doughnuts and a house made from macarons.

Jake could feel his tummy rumbling. Looking at the houses did nothing to ease his hunger.

"Hello!" he called. "Is anybody there?"

Nobody replied.

Jake 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 Jake a fright. A witch jumped into the space in front of the houses. She was carrying a cage. In that cage was Dolly!

"Dolly!" shouted Jake. He turned to the witch. "That's my toy!"

The witch just shrugged.

"Give Dolly back!" cried Jake.

"Not on your nelly!" said the witch.

"At least let Dolly out of that cage!"

Before she could reply, five fluffy polar bears rushed in from a footpath on the other side of the clearing. Jake recognised the one in the blue coat that he'd seen earlier. The witch seemed to recognise him too.

"Hello Big Polar Bear," said the witch.

"Good morning." The polar bear noticed Dolly. "Who is this?"

"That's Dolly," explained the witch.

"Ooh! Dolly would look lovely in my house. Give it to me!" demanded the polar bear.

The witch shook her head. "Dolly is staying with me."

"Um... Excuse me..." Jake interrupted. "Dolly lives with me! And not in a cage!"

Big Polar Bear 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 Polar Bear looked at the house made from macarons and said, "No problem, I could eat an entire house made from macarons if I wanted to."

"That's nothing," said the next polar bear. "I could eat two houses."

"There's no need to show off," said the witch. Just eat one front door and I'll let you have Dolly."

Jake watched, feeling very worried. He didn't want the witch to give Dolly to Big Polar Bear. He didn't think Dolly would like living with a fluffy polar bear, away from his house and all his other toys.

The other four polar bears watched while Big Polar Bear put on his bib and withdrew a knife and fork from his pocket.

"I'll eat this whole house," said Big Polar Bear. "Just you watch!"

Big Polar Bear pulled off a corner of the front door of the house made from biscuits. He gulped it down smiling, and went back for more.

   And more.

      And more.

Eventually, Big Polar Bear started to get bigger - just a little bit bigger at first. But after a few more fork-fulls of biscuits, 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 Polar Bear.

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 Polar Bear never finished eating the front door made from biscuits and Dolly remained trapped in the witch's cage.

Average Polar Bear stepped up, and approached the house made from muffins.

"I'll eat this whole house," said Average Polar Bear. "Just you watch!"

Average Polar Bear pulled off a corner of the front door of the house made from muffins. She gulped it down smiling, and went back for more.

   And more.

      And more.

After a while, Average Polar Bear started to look a little queasy. She grew greener...

   ...and greener.

A woodcutter walked into the clearing. "What's this bush doing here?" he asked.

"I'm not a bush, I'm a polar bear!" said Average Polar Bear.

"It talks!" exclaimed the woodcutter. "Those talking bushes are the worst kind. I'd better take it away before somebody gets hurt."

"No! Wait!" cried Average Polar Bear, as the woodcutter picked her up. But the woodcutter ignored her cries and carried the polar bear away under his arm.

Average Polar Bear never finished eating the front door made from muffins and Dolly remained trapped in the witch's cage.

Little Polar Bear stepped up, and approached the house made from chocolates.

"I'll eat this whole house," said Little Polar Bear. "Just you watch!"

Little Polar Bear pulled off a corner of the front door of the house made from chocolates. He gulped it down smiling, and went back for more.

   And more.

      And more.

After five or six platefuls, Little Polar Bear started to fidget uncomfortably on the spot.

He stopped eating chocolates for a moment, then grabbed another forkful.

But before he could eat it, there came an almighty roar. A bottom burp louder than a rocket taking off, propelled Little Polar Bear into the sky.

"Aggghhhhhh!" cried Little Polar Bear. "I'm scared of heigh..."

Little Polar Bear was never seen again.

Little Polar Bear never finished eating the front door made from chocolates and Dolly remained trapped in the witch's cage.

Tiny Polar Bear stepped up, and approached the house made from doughnuts.

"I'll eat this whole house," said Tiny Polar Bear. "Just you watch!"

Tiny Polar Bear pulled off a corner of the front door of the house made from doughnuts. She gulped it down smiling, and went back for more.

   And more.

      And more.

However, on the next mouthful, the food fell straight out of Tiny Polar Bear's mouth. She tried to stuff in another forkful of doughnuts, but once again, the food fell out. There just wasn't enough room left in her belly.

"This is just not fair!" declared Tiny Polar Bear, and stomped off into the forest.

Tiny Polar Bear never finished eating the front door made from doughnuts and Dolly remained trapped in the witch's cage.

Even-Tinier Polar Bear stepped up, and approached the house made from macarons.

"I'll eat this whole house," said Even-Tinier Polar Bear. "Just you watch!"

Even-Tinier Polar Bear pulled off a corner of the front door of the house made from macarons. He gulped it down smiling, and went back for more.

   And more.

      And more.

Suddenly, Even-Tinier Polar Bear stopped eating and started dancing. While he danced, he sang at the top of his lungs, "Macarons! Watch me eat all the macarons!"

"It looks as though the macarons are making you hyperactive," laughed the witch.

"Oh no they're not!" cried Even-Tinier Polar Bear. "I'm always this excited." With that, he walked into a tree.

Bong!

Even-Tinier Polar Bear banged his head and fell backwards onto his bottom. He passed out, exhausted.

Even-Tinier Polar Bear never finished eating the front door made from macarons and Dolly remained trapped in the witch's cage.

"That's it," said the witch. "I win. I get to keep Dolly."

"Not so fast," said Jake. "There is still one front door to go. The front door of the house made from swedes. 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 polar bears. He won't last long."

"I'll be right back," said Jake.

"What?" said the witch. "Where's your sense of impatience? I thought you wanted Dolly back."

Jake 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 swedes 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.

Jake sat down on a nearby log.

"You fail!" cackled the witch. "You were supposed to eat the whole door."

"I haven't finished," explained Jake. "I am just waiting for my food to go down."

When Jake's food had digested, he broke off another piece of the door made from swedes. 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, Jake was down to the final piece of the door made from swedes. Carefully, he toasted it and allowed it to cool just a little. He finished his final course. Jake had eaten the entire front door of the house made from swedes.

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 Dolly 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.

Jake hurried over and grabbed Dolly, checking that his favourite toy was all right. Fortunately, Dolly was unharmed.

Jake thanked the woodcutter, grabbed a quick souvenir, and hurried on to meet Slate. It was starting to get dark.

When Jake got to Slate's house, his father threw his arms around him.

"I was so worried!" cried Slate. "You are very late."

As Jake described his day, he could tell that Slate didn't believe him. So he grabbed a napkin from his pocket.

"What's that?" asked Slate.

Jake unwrapped a doorknob made from biscuits. "Pudding!" he said.

Slate almost fell off his chair.

The End