Once upon a time there lived a quiet girl who lived in a quiet village in a quiet desert. The girl's name was Hannah Amy Oswood and she had two loud, annoying little brothers who seemed unaware that they were upsetting the quiet villagers of the town.
One fine evening Hannah was watching Timothy and Lionel, here brothers, pestering the people of Hotter Flats, her home town. Tim was knocking on doors and running away, and Lionel was going up to people's market stalls and actually stealing the food, which he brought to his mama and papa saying that HE was the one that found it. How do they get so much ENERGY? Thought Hannah to herself. Why do they do such mean stuff?
Papa came out of the front door and sat on the steps with Hannah.
"Hello, Papa", sighed Hannah glumly. "Why are you letting them get away with it?"
"Letting who get away with what?" Asked Papa, quite confused.
Hannah looked at Papa as if he was stupid. "Why are you letting the boys get away with stealing and pranking? It's not we do here! We're supposed to sit around selling stuff, playing on devices or watching TV!"
Papa shook his head. "That's not all life has to offer, Hannah. We do much more. We learn. We teach. We have interests and we have fun...especially in this stupid drought."
Hannah screwed her face up. She pointed at the boys. "Then what are THEY doing? Being rude and mean wasn't on your list of things people do, was it?"
Papa looked defeated, but tried not to be. "Well, the boys are just...getting to know the villagers more."
"By stealing their food?"
"No, look, Timothy's saying hello to people", argued Papa. "He's knocking on doors and introducing himself."
Hannah couldn't believe what was happening. But she was normally a polite girl so she said, "Well, why is Lionel stealing people's market goods?"
Papa didn't know what to say to get the boys out of trouble, he was always on their side. So he told Hannah she was to call the boys inside for dinner and they would have a chat over chicken and chips.
"LIONEL!!!! TIMOTHY!!!!!!"
"COMING, HANNAH!!"
Lionel was the first to run up to her. He had armfuls of oranges, apples, mangoes, bananas and coconuts.
"Where'd you get those, huh?" Asked Hannah, perfectly aware of the answer.
"Found 'em", was the breathless reply.
Hannah, who was possibly the best actress in all of Hotter Flats, looked doubtfully at him. She shook her head and calmly said back, "Really? May I see the tags?"
Lionel started backing away. "N-n-no" he stammered. "Pulled 'em off before I got here."
Just at that moment Tim came sprinting towards Lionel. He crashed into the back of Lionel which made him fall over, a perfect opportunity to study the fruits. Hannah picked up a mango and looked at it closely. Every tag on every fruit was labelled 'Fruitata: Hotter Flats' Best Fruits'.
"Ah-HAH!" Yelled Hannah triumphantly. "Busted! Totally BUSTED!"
Lionel looked up and widened his eyes. "Please don't tell anyone, Hannah", pleaded Lionel. "We're hungry, right? If you do tell, just remember that instead of stealing, I tripped and...the stall fell over, and a couple of the fruits rolled into my satchel. Can you do that?"
Without a word, Hannah ran into the house to tell Mama. Mama was always on her side and would definitely tell the boys off.
"Mama! Mama!" Called Hannah.
Mama was standing in the kitchen, cooking spaghetti. "Yes! Yes! That's my name!" She joked.
"Mama!"
"Hannah!"
"Mama, I caught the boys stealing. I have a mango that rolled out of his satchel and it wasn't his!"
Mama was confused. "How do you know it wasn't his?"
Mama wasn't the sort of mother that sat around all day eating chips like the other mum's of Hotter Flats. She was constantly cleaning and cooking and doing all the housework. She hardly ever got a break...mostly the windows did, with a rock, always thrown by one of the boys. So she had to send the oldest and most responsible child to go shopping: Hannah.
"Whenever I go shopping they take the tag off the fruits so you can't pretend that you are from their company", said Hannah, breathless with excitement. "But the mango still has a tag. Look!"
Hannah thrust the mango under her mother's nose. "See?"
One fine evening Hannah was watching Timothy and Lionel, here brothers, pestering the people of Hotter Flats, her home town. Tim was knocking on doors and running away, and Lionel was going up to people's market stalls and actually stealing the food, which he brought to his mama and papa saying that HE was the one that found it. How do they get so much ENERGY? Thought Hannah to herself. Why do they do such mean stuff?
Papa came out of the front door and sat on the steps with Hannah.
"Hello, Papa", sighed Hannah glumly. "Why are you letting them get away with it?"
"Letting who get away with what?" Asked Papa, quite confused.
Hannah looked at Papa as if he was stupid. "Why are you letting the boys get away with stealing and pranking? It's not we do here! We're supposed to sit around selling stuff, playing on devices or watching TV!"
Papa shook his head. "That's not all life has to offer, Hannah. We do much more. We learn. We teach. We have interests and we have fun...especially in this stupid drought."
Hannah screwed her face up. She pointed at the boys. "Then what are THEY doing? Being rude and mean wasn't on your list of things people do, was it?"
Papa looked defeated, but tried not to be. "Well, the boys are just...getting to know the villagers more."
"By stealing their food?"
"No, look, Timothy's saying hello to people", argued Papa. "He's knocking on doors and introducing himself."
Hannah couldn't believe what was happening. But she was normally a polite girl so she said, "Well, why is Lionel stealing people's market goods?"
Papa didn't know what to say to get the boys out of trouble, he was always on their side. So he told Hannah she was to call the boys inside for dinner and they would have a chat over chicken and chips.
"LIONEL!!!! TIMOTHY!!!!!!"
"COMING, HANNAH!!"
Lionel was the first to run up to her. He had armfuls of oranges, apples, mangoes, bananas and coconuts.
"Where'd you get those, huh?" Asked Hannah, perfectly aware of the answer.
"Found 'em", was the breathless reply.
Hannah, who was possibly the best actress in all of Hotter Flats, looked doubtfully at him. She shook her head and calmly said back, "Really? May I see the tags?"
Lionel started backing away. "N-n-no" he stammered. "Pulled 'em off before I got here."
Just at that moment Tim came sprinting towards Lionel. He crashed into the back of Lionel which made him fall over, a perfect opportunity to study the fruits. Hannah picked up a mango and looked at it closely. Every tag on every fruit was labelled 'Fruitata: Hotter Flats' Best Fruits'.
"Ah-HAH!" Yelled Hannah triumphantly. "Busted! Totally BUSTED!"
Lionel looked up and widened his eyes. "Please don't tell anyone, Hannah", pleaded Lionel. "We're hungry, right? If you do tell, just remember that instead of stealing, I tripped and...the stall fell over, and a couple of the fruits rolled into my satchel. Can you do that?"
Without a word, Hannah ran into the house to tell Mama. Mama was always on her side and would definitely tell the boys off.
"Mama! Mama!" Called Hannah.
Mama was standing in the kitchen, cooking spaghetti. "Yes! Yes! That's my name!" She joked.
"Mama!"
"Hannah!"
"Mama, I caught the boys stealing. I have a mango that rolled out of his satchel and it wasn't his!"
Mama was confused. "How do you know it wasn't his?"
Mama wasn't the sort of mother that sat around all day eating chips like the other mum's of Hotter Flats. She was constantly cleaning and cooking and doing all the housework. She hardly ever got a break...mostly the windows did, with a rock, always thrown by one of the boys. So she had to send the oldest and most responsible child to go shopping: Hannah.
"Whenever I go shopping they take the tag off the fruits so you can't pretend that you are from their company", said Hannah, breathless with excitement. "But the mango still has a tag. Look!"
Hannah thrust the mango under her mother's nose. "See?"