Bedtime Stories for Children Read online

‘Do you doubt what I say?’ thundered the genie.

  ‘Well, I don’t understand how you got inside,’ continued Millie. ‘You’re so big and powerful. I really can’t believe it without seeing it.’

  ‘Then watch this you foolish little girl,’ snapped the genie.

  He began to swirl and shrink. He whirled and whooshed and disappeared back into the bottle. As soon as the last wisp of smoke disappeared, Millie rammed the cork back into the bottle.

  ‘And there you’ll stay,’ said Millie. ‘Maybe next time you’ll say thank you.’

  Millie threw the bottle back into the water and carried on walking the beach with her book. Thankfully, she never came across the genie again.

  Harry and the Old Witch

  Once, in a tiny village, there lived a rich and miserly old woman. She was so mean and so miserly that she would not spend a penny of her money. Her house was the most ramshackle in the village and her clothes were old and ragged.

  She had no friends because she trusted no one.

  'They’re after my money!' she would mutter to herself.

  She had no family because, fed up of her miserly ways, they had all moved away. So she lived all alone.

  She didn't trust the bank, so she kept her money hidden away in her house - no one knew where. None of the villagers had entered her house in years because she wouldn't let anyone enter.

  'They're after my money!' she would say, and shut the door on their faces.

  The villagers would whisper amongst themselves about her fabulous wealth.

  ‘She must have lots of money,’ they would say, ‘because she’s never spent a penny!’

  ‘Maybe she’s a witch,’ some would say.

  One day a charming young man named Harry came passing through the village. He heard the villagers talking amongst themselves about the rich old witch.

  'This is a good way to make my fortune!' thought Harry. 'I will make the old witch give all her money to me!'

  He walked up to the witch’s house knocked at her door.

  'Go away!' cried the old woman.

  'Aunt, don't you recognise me?' said Harry. 'I am your long-lost nephew. Don't you remember me?'

  The old witch shut the door in his face but Harry refused to go away. Instead, he fetched wood, tidied the garden and did lots of chores for the old woman. Eventually, the witch let him inside her house to sweep the floor and stoke the fire. Of course, Harry also kept a sharp eye out for the treasure. But the old witch was always very careful, and despite all the young man's efforts, he could not find her money.

  After many months had passed, the old woman told Harry the news he longed to hear.

  ‘My good nephew, it is time for me to retire and to live by the sea. When I am gone, this house and all that it contains will be yours.’

  Harry rubbed his hands at the thought of finding her money.

  ‘All I ask is for one last favour,’ said the witch. ‘Can you pack my pillow in my suitcase? It is the only thing I need to help me sleep at night.’

  Harry happily packed her pillow in her suitcase and waved her goodbye. As soon as she was gone he rushed back into the house and began his search. He turned out the cupboards, tore down the walls and ceilings, and dug up the floor. He spent many days and many nights searching the house. But try as he might, he could not find the old woman’s money.

  Exhausted, he cursed the witch. 'Where did the old crone hide her money?' he cried. 'Did she somehow take it with her when she left?'

  And of course she had - in the pillow she had asked Harry to pack in her suitcase!

  THE END