Week 1 Story: The boy Who Craved a Pie

Simple Simon met a pieman

Going to the fair;

Says Simple Simon to the pieman,

"Let me taste your ware."

Says the pieman to Simple Simon,

"Show me first your penny."

Says Simple Simon to the pieman,

"Indeed, I have not any."

Simple Simon went a-fishing

For to catch a whale:

All the water he had got

Was in his mother's pail! 

Once upon a time, there was a young, down to earth boy, who the residents of a small town knew as Peter. He loved to get out, experience new things and meet all the community members. 

Peter just could not wait for the next weekend, as the big annual parade started on Friday. This was an opportunity for him to meet people from both near and far, but his mother was apprehensive about letting him go, as he knew no stranger. Unfortunately there was simply no talking Peter out of attending. “But mother” Peter said “I must go the parade, this only comes around once a year”. His mother agreed, but told him that he must find a friend to accompany him, as she has prior commitments that would not allow her to go.

Peter knew that he had better start asking friends right away, as it might be difficult to find someone whose parents would agree to the trip. Peter decided he would first ask his very best friend- Nathan White, and quickly took off running down the block.

“Nathan, Nathan” Peter yelled while wildly beating on the door. After what seemed to be an eternity Nathan’s mother answered the door.

“Hello Peter, is everything okay dear?” Nathan’s mother asked. “Yes, everything is just great Mrs. White. I wanted to know if Nathan was here and if he could attend the parade with me this weekend? “Well Simon, is your mother going to accompany you to the parade as well?” she asked. Peter replied “No, actually she has something already planned Mrs. White but she did give me permission to go if I had a friend to go along with”. Mrs. White told Peter that she would discuss it with Nathan’s father and Nathan would let Simon know the following day at school. “Great, thank you Mrs. White!” Peter shouted as he took off running to head home.

The next day at school Nathan could not wait to see his friend. Finally, after the 1^st period bell rang, Nathan darted down the hallway to find Peter and tell him the good news. “Peter! Peter!” Nathan shouted as he approached Peter’s locker. “My mother and father said that I could go with you to the parade on Saturday”. “That’s great, it is going to be so much fun, we will pick you up at 9 am Saturday. I can not wait” Peter replied. And off the boys went to finish their school day.

Finally, here is was, Saturday morning, Peter woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed at 7:30am. He quickly took a shower, had some breakfast, and urged his mother to quickly get ready to pick up Nathan. Peter and his mother were soon headed down the road to gather the friend and head to the parade. When they arrived at Nathan’s house, he was anxiously waiting on the porch. He hopped in the car and off they went.

“Now you boys behave yourself, have fun and I will be back in a few hours to pick you up” Peter’s mother said, as the boys were already out of the car and making their way to the entrance.

While waiting in line to watch the parade, Peter noticed a peculiar man, with the most delicious looking tarts that he had ever seen. “Excuse me Sir” Peter said “I can not help but to notice that beautiful tarts you are holding”. “Why thank you” the man replied. “I would give anything to taste it” Peter told the man. “Well that might be possible” the man said, “but it is going to cost you, they will be auctioning off the tarts after the judging”.

“We do not have any money, Sir” Peter told the man. The man replied and said in a rude voice“Well son, it sounds like you are out of luck then, as this tart was not cheap to make”.

Peter and Nathan then decided on a plan to come up with the money needed to buy a slice of pie, but unfortunately they struck no luck. Nathan grabbed the tarts and off he dart with the cops soon behind to end the crime. 

                                                 

                                                       (Boy Running Away With Pie)

Author's Note: The original rhyme is about a boy who went to a fair and wanted to buy a pie, but had no money. After looking more into the rhyme, I concluded that the boy tried to catch a fish to sell and get money to buy a pie, but the pie man left him on the side of the road. I decided to modify the rhyme, by changing the scene and adding another character, while adding a twist of burglary in the end where the cops ran after Peter and Nathan to retrieve the stolen items. 

Bibliography: Based on the nursery rhyme "Simple Simon" in The Nursery Rhyme Book edited by Andrew Lang.