Monday, January 5, 2009

Scribblings for Children - The Princesses Pea

THE PRINCESSES PEA
By L. V. Gaudet
© June 2008


Here are two princess sisters,


Princess Robyn, and Princess Sidney.



“Time for dinner,” said Mommy.

And the princesses sat at the table.





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When they looked down at their plates

what did they see?



A little spoonful of peas each,

for Princess Robyn and

Princess Sidney.



“Yuck! No peas for me,”

said Princess Robyn.



“Yuck! Yuck! No peas for me,”

said Princess Sidney.



“Eat your peas please,” said Mommy.





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Princess Robyn made a silly face,

and hid a pea under her seat.



Princess Sidney made a funny face,

and hid a pea in her belly button.



A look passed between the princesses two,

who giggled and wiggled and thought,

“where can we hide the other peas too?”



“Eat your peas please,” said Mommy.





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Princess Robyn ate some ham,

then hid a pea beneath the jam.



Princess Sidney ate a carrot,

then hid a pea inside her pocket.



“Eat your peas please,” said Mommy.





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Princess Robyn ate some rice,

then hid a pea not once but twice.



Princess Sidney drank some water,

then hid a pea inside a cup and saucer.



“Eat your peas please,” said Mommy.





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And this went on and on,

until all but one

of the peas were gone.



The princess sisters two

looked down at that last pea

and thought, “hmmmm what to do.”



Into the mud where no one will see,

they hid that last green pea.

in the pot of Mommy’s tree.





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“I’m glad you ate all your peas,” Mommy said,

as she tucked

princesses Robyn and Sidney into bed.



And with a smile on their lips,

each princess let out a big sigh.

Today they were up to tricks,

and hid every pea down low and up high.



They lay down their princess heads,

and closed their sweet eyes,

as they lay in their princess beds,

and slept with soft sighs.





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Late that night

she snuck out of her bed.

And down to the kitchen Princess Robyn went prowling,

in search of a snack to stop her tummy growling.





When she got there, what did she see?



In the mud beneath Mommy’s tree

was the princess’s last little pea.

It had grown into a tiny green seedling,

that darned last little green pea.





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Away Princess Robyn ran,

back to their bedroom.

To tell Princess Sidney a tale

about a pea she must see soon.



And together the two princesses

crept back to the kitchen.



And there they did find

that the little green pea seedling

had already grown

into a little green pea vine.





***************************





“What do we do now,” Princess Robyn did whine,

as they sat and stared at the little green pea vine.



Princess Sidney said, “I know just what to do.”

“We’ll hide it in dad’s old shoe.”



But that old shoe was pretty ripe and rare,

And that little green pea vine sprouted up even bigger there.





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Dad’s old shoe

was so very old and dirty,

That little green pea vine

sent out roots from one to thirty.



Right before the princesses

Round staring eyes,

That little green pea vine

Wiggled and wriggled,

And grew into a BIGGER

Green pea vine.





***************************





Princess Sidney stared at the vine

growing in Dad’s old shoe,

and she cried, “this certainly won’t do!”

The princesses two pulled on that vine,

They pulled and they yanked and pulled again,



And finally freeing that green pea vine,

they said together, “now what will we do?”





***************************





Princesses Robyn and Sidney looked about.

From room to room they ran,

looking for a place for their pea vine,

until they spotted the little garbage can.



Princess Robyn lifted the lid and looked inside.

Princess Sidney leaned in to look too,

and with a smile she exclaimed,

“this perfectly will do!”









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So the princesses two stuffed and shoved

that green pea vine down deep,

down into the trash where it will keep.



But before the sisters could turn and go,

That darned pea vine did grow and grow.



Up the trash can lid came,

And the little green pea vine did the same.



It grew faster than in dad’s old shoe,

And sprouted leaves one to thirty-two.









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The princesses eyes opened wide.

And with a shriek and a wail,

the sisters two pulled that vine

from the garbage pail.



They tried shoving it under a couch cushion or two,

but that certainly would not do.

That little green pea vine was too bushy,

and made the couch much too cushy.

There had to be some place they could hide it,

somewhere the vine would fit inside it.









***************************





They were getting worried and nervous now.

They were going to be in trouble aplenty.

Instead of eating their dinner,

The princesses hid their peas from one to twenty.



They stuck that pea vine behind the books,

shoving it into nicks and nooks.

But that pea vine stuck way out,

It was too big and stout.

The princesses two looked askew

They just didn’t know what to do?









***************************





In a hurry they pulled that green pea vine out,

from pages of fairies, dwarves, and one old granny.

Out from behind all those shelves of books,

and from each and every nick, nook and cranny.





“Now what will we do,” exclaimed the princesses two.

“It didn’t work to hide it in dad’s old shoe!”

“It wouldn’t stay in that garbage can,”

“And the sofa looked like a big leafy van!”

“The bookcase was a frightful mess,”

“We couldn’t blame Jack’s beanstalk for this!”









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Princess Robyn and Princess Sidney

sat upon the floor with a pout.

They thought hard and they thought long,

while that pea vine grew leafier and more stout.



Princess Robyn said “I have an idea to share,”

Princess Sidney agreed, “we’ll go there.”

And rub-a-dub-dub,

they hid that green pea vine in the bath tub.

But that faucet did drip drip drip and drop,

and that green pea vine drank it with a slurp and a slop.









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That green pea vine sopped every last drip drop,

And before the princesses very eyes,

It wriggled and jiggled, it itched and twitched,

And suddenly it grew two and three times in size!



“Oh no!,” wailed Princess Sidney,

as a green pea vine sprout grabbed at her knee.

“Stop, stop, stop,” Princess Robyn did shout,

as green pea pods did sprout and sprout.

They covered mouths with their hands,

they must not wake mom and dad from their dreamlands.









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The princesses had to really think hard,

whatever they did the pea plant grew and grew.

They must shrink down that silly plant,

“Think, think, think, what shall we do?”



The pea vine liked dirt, mud, and water.

It needed to get smaller and smaller and smaller.

There must be something they can do,

better than hiding it in couches, tubs, and a shoe.

How to make a pea vine plant shrink?

The princesses did think and think and think.









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They pulled out their craft box,

Robyn and Sidney, the princesses two,

and found their craft scissors.

These princesses thought they knew just what to do.



With a snip snip and a cut,

They chopped that green pea plant all up.

They had a pile of vine and of leaves,

And another of pods full of peas.

The pods all opened wide,

And all the peas rolled outside.









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They started feeding leaves to their pet bunny,

Sir Charles had an appetite that never did stop,

He ate and ate and ate, bringing down that pile,

But then with a full tummy down he did flop.



Still they were left with leaves a-plenty,

and stems of vine ten times twenty.

Add to that two buckets of peas,

“What shall we do with them, if you please?”

Princesses Robyn and Sidney thought low and high,

And thought maybe, just maybe put them outside.









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Off to the kitchen the princesses did go,

with all of those peas and chunks of vine.

To find the backyard and composting heap,

but just what did those princesses find?









When they stepped through the kitchen door,

they were met with a sight from ceiling to floor.

An impenetrable jungle in their kitchen there was,

green leafy pea vines in every inch below and above.

The princesses two gasped in shocked surprise,

the poor girls just could not believe their eyes.









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Now remember that earlier in our story,

our princesses two were being naughty and sly.

At dinner they did not eat their peas,

and instead hid each pea down low and up high.



Now each of those peas did sprout and grow,

all night long they wiggled and jiggled and grew so.

And a green pea vine jungle took over the kitchen,

scaring away their little pet Smoky the kitten.

Those princesses surely made a frightful mess,

if only they’d eaten more and hid a spoonful less.









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All night long those princesses did work,

a-snipping and cutting with their little craft scissors.

Chopping all those pea vines up into little pieces,

until their fingers looked like those of green lizards.





Then they spent hours toting and carting,

shoveling and scooping until their arms were smarting.

Hauling buckets of pea vine leaves and shreds,

hiding them in neighbors garden sheds.

At last mornings rays were on the horizon,

but still they had buckets of peas by the dozen.









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From down the hall they heard somebody stir,

soon mom and dad would learn what they’ve been up to.

In a panic they began to eat and to eat,

and their tummy’s filled up with all that green goo.



At last they fell into their beds,

asleep before they lay down their heads.

Sleep away that stuffed little tummy

poor little Princess Robyn and Princess Sidney.

The Princesses woke up that day,

feeling a little pea green but dared not say.





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And just when you thought our story was through,

and things could not get more silly …

Here come our two princess sisters,

Princess Robyn and Princess Sidney



Their mommy called them to come to eat,

they shuffled and dragged their feet.

Their tummies were still sore,

from all those peas the night before.

With a shuffle and shrug they sat at the table,

but to eat would they be able?









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When they looked down at their plates what did they see?



A little spoonful of green beans each,

for Princess Robyn and Princess Sidney.



“Yuck! No green beans for me,”

said Princess Robyn.



“Yuck! Yuck! No green beans for me,”

said Princess Sidney.



“Eat your beans please,” said Mommy.

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