The Runaway Gingerbread Man

Once upon a time, in a snug little cottage, there lived an old woman and an old man. One day, the old woman decided to bake a special treat.

“I’m going to make a gingerbread man!” she cried. She mixed the dough, rolled it flat, and cut out the shape of a tiny man. She gave him raisin eyes, a cherry for a nose, and a neat row of candy pieces for buttons. Then she placed him in the oven to bake.

Before long, the whole kitchen smelled wonderfully of warm gingerbread. When the old woman opened the oven door, to her amazement, the gingerbread man leaped out and dashed right out of the cottage! The old woman and the old man ran after him, shouting, “Stop! Stop! We want to eat you!” But the gingerbread man only laughed and shouted, “Run, run, as fast as you can! You can’t catch me, I’m the Gingerbread Man!”

The Gingerbread Man raced through the garden and hurried past a cow. The cow mooed, “Stop! Stop! I want to eat you!” But the Gingerbread Man just laughed and called, “I’ve run away from an old woman and an old man, and I can run away from you, I can!” He sped up, and the cow joined the chase.

Soon he ran by a horse in a field. The horse neighed, “Stop! Stop! I want to eat you!” But the Gingerbread Man only laughed and shouted, “I’ve run away from an old woman, an old man, and a cow, and I can run away from you, I can!” On he ran, with the old woman, the old man, and the cow, and now the horse, all pounding along behind him.

Next, he passed a hen pecking at the ground. The hen clucked, “Stop! Stop! I want to eat you!” But the Gingerbread Man just laughed and cried, “I’ve run away from an old woman, an old man, a cow, and a horse, and I can run away from you, I can!” The Gingerbread Man felt very proud of himself. “They’ll never catch me!” he thought.

As he hurried along the riverbank, he came upon a sly fox. The fox licked his lips and said, “Hello there, little Gingerbread Man. Why are you rushing along so quickly?” The Gingerbread Man answered, “I’ve run away from an old woman, an old man, a cow, a horse, and a hen, and I can run away from you, I can!”

The fox, with a crafty smile, said, “Oh, I don’t want to chase you. But if you need to cross the river, I can help you. Hop onto my tail, and I’ll carry you across.” The Gingerbread Man thought about it and chose to trust the fox. He jumped onto the fox’s tail, and the fox started swimming across the river.

As they reached deeper water, the fox said, “You should climb onto my back so you won’t get wet.” The Gingerbread Man did what the fox suggested. But soon the water grew even deeper. “You’d better move to my head,” said the fox, and the Gingerbread Man scrambled up to the fox’s head.

At last, when they came to the deepest part of the river, the fox said, “You should move to my nose, so you don’t get wet.” The Gingerbread Man carefully stepped onto the fox’s nose. But just as they reached the far bank, the fox tossed the Gingerbread Man into the air, opened his mouth, and snap! The Gingerbread Man was gone.

And that was the end of the Gingerbread Man. The old woman and the old man returned to their cottage, and after that, they were much more careful about their baking. Still, they never forgot the Gingerbread Man and his daring, though very short, escape.

The end.