Once upon a time there was a scrawny girl called Mary Randall. She was on the way to see her John Willis, when she decided to take a short cut through Bogstaple Woods.

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

Unexpectedly, she saw a scary wolf dressed in a pink t-shirt disappearing into the trees.

"How odd!" thought Mary.

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

Eventually, Mary reached a clearing. In the clearing were two houses, one made from carrots and one made from biscuits.

Mary could feel her tummy rumbling. Looking at the houses did nothing to ease her hunger.

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

Nobody replied.

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

"Rags!" shouted Mary. She turned to the witch. "That's my toy!"

The witch just shrugged.

"Give Rags back!" cried Mary.

"Not on your nelly!" said the witch.

"At least let Rags out of that cage!"

Before she could reply, the scary wolf in the pink t-shirt rushed in from a footpath on the other side of the cleaning.

"Hello Big Wolf," said the witch.

"Good morning." The wolf noticed Rags. "Who is this?"

"That's Rags," explained the witch.

"Ooh! Rags would look lovely in my house. Give it to me!" demanded the wolf.

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

"Um... Excuse me..." Mary interrupted. "Rags lives with me! And not in a cage!"

Big Wolf ignored her. "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 Wolf looked at the house made from biscuits and said, "No problem, I could eat an entire house made from biscuits 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 Rags."

Mary watched, feeling very worried. She didn't want the witch to give Rags to Big Wolf. She didn't think Rags would like living with a scary wolf, away from her house and all her other toys.

Big Wolf put on his bib and withdraw a knife and fork from his pocket.

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

Big Wolf 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 Wolf 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 Wolf.

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 Wolf never finished eating the front door made from biscuits and Rags remained trapped in the witch's cage.

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

"Not so fast," said Mary. "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 her a chance. It's only fair."

"Fine," said the witch. "But you saw what happened to the wolf. She won't last long."

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

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

Mary ignored the witch and gathered a hefty pile of sticks. She came back to the clearing and started a small camp fire. Carefully, she 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, she took a bite. She quickly devoured the whole piece.

Mary sat down on a nearby log.

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

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

When Mary's food had digested, she broke off another piece of the door made from carrots. Once more, she toasted her food over the fire and waited for it to cool just a little. She ate it at a leisurely pace then waited for it to digest.

Eventually, after several sittings, Mary was down to the final piece of the door made from carrots. Carefully, she toasted it and allowed it to cool just a little. She finished her final course. Mary 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 girl won fair and square. Now hand over Rags 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.

Mary hurried over and grabbed Rags, checking that her favourite toy was all right. Fortunately, Rags was unharmed.

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

When Mary got to John's house, her threw his arms around her.

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

As Mary described her day, she could tell that John didn't believe her. So she grabbed a napkin from her pocket.

"What's that?" asked John.

Mary unwrapped a doorknob made from biscuits. "Pudding!" she said.

The End