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This entire website and all its contents, including all manuscripts are copyrighted by Bill MacWithey.

The use of material is limited to rights posted throughout the web, or excerpts may be used for the purpose of reviews of works posted herein.

Being interested in promoting reading amongst today's children, Bill MacWithey has posted the following stories to be free for your use.  Also,  you can read a complete chapter from any of the novels posted on this site.  If you see a story you would like to read, please E-mail the title from the "contact the author" button.  You will receive the entire novel free as an attachment in a reply to your E-mail.

TEACHERS

Please feel free to cut and paste or download any of these stories for your own use.   While they are free to use, they are copyrighted material and must not be copied for any commercial purpose or further distribution to others except to interested teachers and/or librarians for their use in the classrooms or libraries etc.  The first story is below, with the other stories listed to the left.

Jody and The Chautauqua  Short story for grades 3 and up.

The Youngest Captain   Full length young adult novel.

My Teacher, My Hero  True story of how my fourth grade teacher saved my life.  A must read for all teachers.

Author's Note:   As stated above, you may use these stories from this site, but you can also buy them in paperback.  The Youngest Captain is available through most major book stores or online at Amazon.com.  The other stories are available in paperback in my book of short stories, "Can't  You Hear The Whistle Blowing?"  You can E-mail me to order it.  Contact the author

Come back to visit this site again.  I will be posting more stories here in the future.  I hope you have enjoyed your visit.

Bill MacWithey

THE TRUE STORY OF LITTLE MISS MUFFET

Little Miss Muffet sat on a tuffet,
eating her curds and whey.
Along came a spider and sat down beside her,
and frightened Miss Muffet away.

Have you ever wondered who Little Miss Muffet was? Or, what is a tuffet? Or what in the world are curds and whey? Where did she live? What happened after the spider frightened her? Well, here's the true story of Little Miss Muffet.

Little Miss Muffet was a young girl, living on a big farm with her mother and father and her grandfather, who was very old and a very wise man. Little Miss Muffet usually stood next to her grandfather, as he milked the cows each morning and evening. She listened to his stories that seemed to be endless. Little Miss Muffet dearly loved her grandfather and, when he started re-telling the same stories over for the third or fourth time, she listened attentively and didn't tell him he had told her the story before.

One morning in the spring, her grandfather had a big surprise for Little Miss Muffet, when she came into the barn. He had made her a tuffet of her very own, so she might sit next to him as he milked the cows and told his stories. A tuffet was a small three-legged stool the farmers sat on to milk the cows. She was very happy with her fine new tuffet, and because her mother wouldn't let her bring it in the house, she kept it in a small room in the barn, where the feed for the cows and other animals was kept.

Each morning, Little Miss Muffet's mother brought her a bowl of curds and whey to the barn for breakfast. This was cottage cheese mixed with the skimmed milk that was left after churning butter, then it was warmed. YUK! Little Miss Muffet always took her tuffet to the feed room to eat it, because there were always flies in the barn.

On this one particular morning, she sat alone, eating her curds and whey, when a big hairy brown spider sat right down on her tuffet beside her and said, "Say, little girl, if you don't mind, could you leave a few curds in that bowl for me? I haven't caught a fly in my web for a week and, boy, am I hungry."

Well, you can imagine how frightened you'd be if a big ol' hairy spider sat right down next to you on your tuffet and spoke to you! Little Miss Muffet dropped the bowl on the floor, jumped up, ran to the other side of the room and screamed! Boy, did she scream!

The spider threw his front legs alongside his head and cringed. Then, he said, "My gosh, little girl, do you have to scream like that? What's the matter with you? Don't you know spiders have ears? I think you just broke my eardrums with your silly screaming!"

Little Miss Muffet hugged the wall, as far away from the spider as she could get and exclaimed, "You talked!"

"Well, of course I talked," said the spider, disgust in his voice. "What is so surprising about that? You talk, don't you?"

"Well, yes, but I'm a people. Only people are supposed to talk. You’re a spider!"

"Little girl, there are many things that only people are supposed to do. Like, for instance, what you don't know is, all the animals around you talk in their own way. You can't understand them, because you've never learned their language."

Little Miss Muffet pursed her lips, put her hands on her hips and said, "But… you talk just like people, and only people are supposed to talk like people."

The spider cocked his big brown head to one side and said slowly in that same disgusted voice, "Oh, really? What about the parrots who talk like people? They're not people, but they talk like people."

"But that's different. They're parrots."

"My gosh little girl, is your mind completely closed to anything new that you don't know about. You hear me talking, so you know I must talk. That's all there is to that!"

"I have to go get my grandfather! He'll never believe this!"

When she started for the door, the spider looked up from where he was eating the curds she dropped on the floor when she threw the bowl down and said, "Won't do any good."

"What do you mean?"

"Your grandpa won't hear me."

Little Miss Muffet stopped, put her balled up fists on her hips and asked, "Why not?"

"Because the only thing he knows to do with spiders is squish them. He'd more than likely beat me over the head with a broom or something."

"He wouldn't do that! My grandpa’s very kind."

"To you, he's kind. To me, well, I'll just have to leave if you go for that old bug killer. Besides, he'll think you've lost your marbles. That's all that'll come of your getting the old exterminator. I'll be gone, and he'll think you've gone coo-coo."

"Why did you decide to talk to me, if you won't talk to my grandfather?"

"Little girl, uh, by the way, do you have a real name?"

"Certainly. It's Little Miss Muffet."

The spider shook his front legs back and forth and said again in a disgusted tone, "No, no, little girl. I mean, like a real name."

"That is my real name! Why don't you believe me?"

Now, the spider was even more disgusted with her and said to himself, "My, oh, my, some are harder than others. What am I to do to get an answer from this little girl? Look, most people have names. Like Bob, or John, or Susan. Don’t you have one of those?"

"Why didn't you say you wanted to know what my first name is? Then I'd have known what you were talking about."

"Okay! Okay! What's your first name, for cryin’ out loud?"

"Elizabeth."

"Well, well, well. Now we're getting somewhere. My name is Egdelwonk" He quickly added, "And don't you dare laugh."

Elizabeth couldn’t help but laugh at such a funny name. "That is a strange name, indeed."

"Ha-ha. What if I thought Elizabeth was a strange name and laughed at it. People names are quite funny to me, you know. But I have come to accept them and not laugh at them. I would hope you could extend the same kindness to me."

"I'm sorry. I tried not to laugh. Please accept my apology."

"Okay, now we can get on to more important things." As he spoke, the spider sat down, leaned back against the wall and crossed his legs.

Little Miss Muffet chuckled at how strange he looked, and asked, "More important things?"

"Yes. You don't think I go around talking to just anyone, do you?"

"But what do you mean by important things."

"Okay, listen, Elizabeth, I'm no ordinary run-of-the-mill garden-variety spider. I have quite an extensive education."

This made Elizabeth laugh loudly. "Education? How in the world could a spider have an education? Spiders don't go to school."

Egdelwonk shook his head and said, "My gosh, Elizabeth, won't you take anything I say seriously? Of course, spiders don't go to school. Anyone knows that. But that doesn't mean we can't learn things. For instance, do you know where Venezuela is, Miss Smarty Pants?"

Elizabeth thought for a moment and said, "No, I don't know where it is."

"Well, I do. For your information, it's in South America. I know that for a fact!"

"But how do you know things if you don't go to school?"

"I listen. I'm a very good listener. Tell me, where is Venezuela?"

"In South America."

"How did you just learn that Venezuela is in South America? You listened to me tell you. Right?"

"Yes, I suppose so."

"So, if you learned that by listening, then you understand how I learn without going to school. I know many things I can teach you that I've learned over the last few years. I spin a web like a big balloon and float over the harbor and listen to everything the sailors there talk about. I sneak around in the barn and listen to your grandfather tell you stories. I learn from that. Although, I must say, a lot of what the old fellow tells you is poppycock! He just tells you things to entertain you. Don't believe that everything he says is true. There's a difference between truth and story telling, sometimes."

Elizabeth answered him in an angry voice. "My grandfather wouldn't lie to me!"

"I didn't say he did. Did I say he lies to you? No, I didn’t say that. He's old and, sometimes, the truth and fiction get mixed up in his mind. He means well, but he tries more than anything to make the stories interesting for you."

Elizabeth's grandfather called to her, "Elizabeth, who are you talking to?"

"Oh, no one, Grandpa. I'm just playing."

Egdelwonk said, "You see, Elizabeth, he heard you talking, but he couldn't hear me. You mustn't tell anyone you talk with me, or I'll have to leave."

Elizabeth had sat back down, but now, she stood up and looked out the window at the cows in the pasture and thought, "I wonder what I should do. I know spiders don't talk, but here he is, talking to me. And not only does he talk, he seems to be pretty smart."

"Elizabeth?"

"Yes?"

"My gosh, you do not pay very close attention when someone is speaking to you."

"I'm sorry. I was thinking. What did you say?"

"I was asking you if you'd like to be my friend."

"I, uh, don't know. I've always been afraid of spiders."

"Yes, yes, I know," he said disgustedly. "People are always afraid of things they don't understand. Do you think if I were going to sneak up on you and take a bite out of your arm or something I'd talk to you? No, I'd just sneak up and bite you, and that would be that! Why would you be afraid of me?"

Little Miss Muffet let out a long disgusted sigh, again put her fists on her hips and said rather scornfully, "Well, after all, I am a girl, you know."

"Girl, shmirl! What does that have to do with anything?"

"Girls are supposed to be afraid of spiders and snakes and things like that."

"That's a bunch of hooey. True, there are spiders and snakes that are real bad guys, but some of us are just the opposite. All we want to do is be friends. Would you like to be my friend? A good, true friend is hard to come by. The last really good friend I had was ran over by the wheel of a cart. I told him and told him to stay away from that cart when the horse was hitched to it, but he wouldn't listen. You're smart enough not to get ran over by a cart, aren't you Elizabeth?"

"Well, of course, I am!"

"Good. I wouldn't have to worry about you getting squished the way Herman did."

Elizabeth once more sat down on her tuffet and looked at the big hairy spider. She wondered what you could do with such a friend. He surely couldn't play ball with her, or dolls. She asked, "What could we do if we were friends? After all, you’re a spider and I’m a people."

"Do? What could we do? What do you mean, what could we do?"

"Just that. What could we do?"

"My gosh, little girl, you have the wrong idea about what a friend is. We wouldn't have to "do" anything. We can just be friends. Of course, we can talk a lot. There’s so much we can teach one another. You can teach me things, and I can teach you things."

"I don't mean to be rude, Egdelwonk, but what could a spider possibly teach me?"

"Did I not just teach you that Venezuela is in South America?" Egdelwonk moved his head back and forth in disgust. My, my, this girl didn't seem to grasp what he was trying to tell her. "Elizabeth, I can teach you many things about the world. As I said, I don’t stay in this dusty old barn all the time. I float around and listen to what people are saying. I go lots of places. Have you ever been anywhere besides this farm?"

She put her hands on her hips, laughed, and spat out, "Well, of course, silly! I go to church every Sunday, and I go to the market with my mother."

"Where else?"

"Well…" Elizabeth realized she really didn't go very far from the farm at all.

"Elizabeth, why don't I tell you of some of the places of which I’ve heard the sailors speak."

For the next two hours, Elizabeth sat and listened to Egdelwonk tell of many places around the world, of which she had never heard. He told her of the people in other lands and how they lived. Finally, it was time for her to go in for lunch and she asked, "Will you be here tomorrow?

"I'm here every day. I'll be here tomorrow and the day after that and the day after that and so on."

"I have to go in for lunch, now, but I'll be back tomorrow morning, bright and early."

"Don't make it too early. I'm not a young spider anymore, you know. I do need my rest. Wake me up too early, I’m a real grouch."

***

So, Elizabeth sat day after day, listening to Egdelwonk speak of far away places. Each day, when her grandfather finished the milking, she went to the feed room to visit with her newfound friend. As the days became weeks, and the weeks became months, Elizabeth realized she had found a friend to be treasured. Then, the summer was almost over, and the nights were beginning to turn quite chilly. Elizabeth was worried about her friend being out in the cold, when winter came. Finally, when she asked him if we would like to spend the winter in her room, Egdelwonk readily agreed.

"That would be very nice, but tell me, are there bugs in there for me to eat?"

"No, I don't think so. Can't you eat anything besides bugs?"

"Sure, I can eat anything I can get in my mouth. It's just that I kinda favor bugs. They’re the favorite food of all the spiders."

"Of course, you understand you have to stay out of sight while you're in my room. My mother wouldn't understand a big ol' hairy spider living in there."

"I know, I know. Grownups just don't understand, like you do."

"Then, of course, I'll be starting school before too long, and I'll be gone most of the day."

"School? Did you say, School?"

"Yes, it will be my first year to go to school."

"I wanta go with you! I wanta go to school, too!"

She sort of grinned and said, "Oh, that would be impossible. They don't let spiders go to school."

"But, what will I do all day? I don't want to hide in some box in a closet all day, waiting for you to come home!"

Egdelwonk seemed so sad that he would be alone all day, and his mentioning hiding in a box in the closet gave Elizabeth an idea. "Egdelwonk, you could go to school with me if you stayed in my lunch box, where no one could ever see you. If they saw you, you would be in great danger of being squished like your friend, Herman."

"Yes! Yes! I could stay in your lunch box and listen to the teacher! I've always dreamed of going to school. Oh boy! I'm going to school!" Egdelwonk was so excited, he was almost overcome with excitement.  He walked back and forth on the top of her tuffet, talking to himself, reciting over and over, "I'm going to school. I'm going to school."

Elizabeth smiled at how much more excited he was at the idea of going to school than she was.  She looked forward to school, but he was absolutely nutso over the idea.

So, Egdelwonk started school with Elizabeth and sat in her lunch box all day listening to the teacher and the other children, and was learning right along with Elizabeth.  After about three weeks of school, as Elizabeth was bundled up and carrying her books and lunch box, the teacher asked her to stay for a minute.

When all the other children were out of the room, she said, "Elizabeth, you seem to be far ahead of the other children. Have you been reading a lot?"

"Uh, well, uh, no. I have been talking all summer to a very special friend, and he’s taught me a lot of things."

"Oh, and who is this friend?"

Oh, oh. Now what was she to do? She didn't want to lie, but if she told her the truth; that her friend was a big hairy brown spider, she might think she had scrambled eggs for brains. She couldn't tell her teacher her friend was a spider, so only said, "His name is Egdelwonk."

The teacher smiled and said, "That's a strange name. Is he from a foreign country?"

"Uh, I'm not real sure. But, he speaks English real well." Elizabeth couldn’t help but giggle slightly, as she said this.

"Well, he certainly must be. I’ve never heard a name like that before."

"I suppose he might be from another country."

Elizabeth knew Egdelwonk would be listening to their conversation, and if spiders could smile, he would be smiling.

Then, there came the time when Egdelwonk had to move on. He hated so to leave his friend. Elizabeth and he had truly become very good, very close friends. He had learned to enjoy the chocolate chip cookies her mother baked and had never eaten another bug after he started spending the day in Elizabeth's lunch box. The school year was over, and it was once again spring. Again, Elizabeth sat on her tuffet many hours a day talking with Egdelwonk. For days, he tried to figure out a way to tell her he must leave. One particularly warm afternoon, when it was surely getting close to summer, Egdelwonk just up and said it.

"Elizabeth, I hate to tell you this, but it is time for me to move on."

"What do you mean, move on?"

"I mean, I must go tell another boy or girl all I have learned. Somewhere, there's another boy or girl who is just like you were when we met. They know some things they can teach me, and I have much I can teach them. That's the way it is with we Trams spiders."

"Trams spiders?"

"Yeah, you know, some of the things in my world are just reversed from yours. You know, just backwards from yours. Let me see. Trams, if you spelled it backwards would be, S-M-A-R-T. Yes, that's it. Smart. We are smart spiders."

"But, I don't want you to leave!" Now, there was real distress in her voice. Egdelwonk was the very best friend she ever had, and she didn't want him to go.

"Elizabeth, let me explain. You see, I am a very special spider, indeed. Besides needing to go teach some other boy or girl what I know, I’m also in charge of some young Trams spiders, who are just starting out. I must also teach them how to talk to a little girl or boy without frightening them to death or getting squished under their heel."

"But I don't want to lose you, Egdelwonk!"

"Oh, you won't be losing me. I know you'll always remember me, and you do have the knowledge I've given you. By the way, Elizabeth, there’s one thing I haven’t told you."

"Why wouldn’t you tell me everything you know? What did you fib to me about?"

"Oh, it’s not a fib, really. It’s about my name. Haven't you figured out by now, my name Egdelwonk, if spelled backwards, is knowledge?"

"Why didn't you tell me that to begin with?"

"Aw shucks, Elizabeth, would you have listened to a spider named knowledge? Besides, I think Egdelwonk has a nice ring to it."

"I'll always remember you as Egdelwonk."

"That's fine, as long as you don't forget the knowledge. Now, if you would, how about a ride out to the fence. I have to spin my web balloon and sail off to meet another boy or girl somewhere."

Elizabeth reluctantly picked him up and carried him out to the corner of the fence behind the barn. "I'll miss you terribly, Egdelwonk."

"And, I'll miss you. If spiders could kiss, I'd kiss you goodbye, but you can shake my leg."

She took his hairy leg in her fingers and shook it, then bent down and kissed him on the top of his hairy head.

Now, Egdelwonk began spinning out yard after yard of web and deftly hooked it together in the shape of a balloon. Then, the soft breeze lifted him off the fence, and he went sailing away into the warm afternoon sky.

He called out to her in his small voice, "Gooodbyyyy, Elizabethhhh."

Of course, Elizabeth was terribly sad to see her friend sail away, but she understood why he had to go. His mission was to teach. So, the next time you see a big hairy ol' spider, remember, you just might be able to learn something from him. And, especially, if he tells you his name is Egdelwonk, LISTEN!

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