A Strange Old Woman
It felt like the day was moving slower than normal. School today had been by far the most boring day of the year! All we did was math. I HATE MATH! Adding and subtracting all day long was a drag, but I finally made it to the end of the day! I was sure it would never end! The afternoon went by a little faster than school did, but it felt like forever! I wanted to read my last Mother Goose story of the week!
"Mooooooooom!!!" I called after getting my pajamas on.
"I am on my way up, Julie!" my mom replied. "Just give me five more minutes."
"OK..." I said. This will give me plenty of time to flip through the book and check out all of the pictures. A lot of the stories had pictures, but I turn directly to a page with no pictures at all.
"Hmmm..." I said quietly. "I wonder what these stories are about. My mom will be able to help me!"
"OK! I am here now! Did you pick out a story for me tonight?" Mom said as sat down on the side of my bed.
"Yes! I want this one!" I said, pointing to the story about A Strange Old Woman.
My mom began reading,
"There was an old woman, and what do you think?
She lived upon nothing but victuals, and drink;
Victuals and drink were the chief of her diet,
And yet this old woman could never be quiet."
"Wow! This was a very strange lady!" I began. "And what are victuals?"
"Well, it is just a fancy word for food," my mom told me. "Have sweet dreams, sweet girl!"
Julie's mind began to wander as she thought about the victuals and drink, and before she knew it, she had fallen asleep. Let's check in on her dream again.
"Will you please bring me more victuals and drink from the store today?" I heard someone say in the background.
As I began to look around, I was in a little old house. I walked towards an open window to see who was outside, and not to my surprise I saw the old woman from the story and a young looking woman speaking with her.
"Yes, mother..." the young woman replied. "But you really need to lay off the drink. The people in town are beginning to talk."
"TALK!" the old lady screamed. "Do you think I care if those crazy people TALK?"
"Well, I know you do not care if they talk, but I DO!" the young woman replied. "I am your only daughter, and this behavior constantly reflex poorly on ME!"
"It does not matter! I stay up here on my hill, and no one ever comes to see me!" the old woman replied. "My ways are mine, and no one else's business!"
"Yes ma'am..." the daughter said. "But please keep me in mind. I will be back in hour with your victuals and your drink."
"Thank you, my dear!" the old woman replied.
"Oh dear!" I thought to myself. I never thought I would be an eavesdropper! But I did find a little more about the old lady! I definitely found out she is very strange! I wonder if she will ever give up her drink...
Author's Note: This story is very similar to the setup of story three, but Julie does not actually talk to the character from the rhyme. She overhears a conversation between the old lady and her daughter. In the original rhyme the old woman seems to have a drinking problem. It does not actually say this old lady has a drinking problem, but it said she like her drink and talks a lot because of it! I tried to do the same thing with my story. There is never really a part where the daughter says she has a drinking problem, but she points it out by using the people in the town. I also tried to make the old lady isolated. I thought that is would make the drama with the townspeople more dramatic. I also tried to make people feel sorry for the daughter too. I felt like that showed the reality of a drinking problem in this story. I really liked this rhyme because I had never heard it before! It is another simple rhyme that I was able to do a lot with! I think the stories all fit very well together, and I hope everyone enjoyed the storybook! I really enjoyed writing this each week!
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