In a warm kitchen, where yummy smells usually floated, lived three unlikely friends: a long, thin Straw, a glowing hot Coal, and a plump little Bean. They were quite happy together, most of the time.

One day, the cook was making soup. Oops! Some hot embers fell out of the fire, right near them!
"We have to get out of here!" cried Straw, feeling a bit too dry for comfort.
"Quick, before we become part of dinner!" added Coal, his glow a little nervous.
Bean just wiggled, ready to roll.

So, the three friends scrambled and tumbled out of the kitchen door and into the wide world. After a while, they came to a little brook, bubbling and gurgling.
"Oh dear," said Bean, "how will we cross? I can't swim!"
"And I'll go out if I touch water," sizzled Coal.
Straw, always thinking, had an idea. "I can help! I'm long and light. I can lie across the water, like a little bridge. You can walk over me."

What a clever idea! So, Straw stretched himself bravely from one bank of the brook to the other.
Coal, being rather fiery and a bit impatient, decided to go first. He stepped carefully onto Straw. But oh! Coal was still very hot.
Ssss-CRACKLE! Poor Straw caught fire in the middle! With a snap, Straw broke in two.
Splash! Coal fell into the water with a loud HISS and was gone.

Bean, who was watching safely from the bank, thought this was so funny. A straw bridge catching fire and a coal hissing in the water! She started to laugh. She laughed and laughed, and giggled and chuckled. She held her little round sides and laughed so hard that POP! Her smooth green skin split right open!

"Oh no!" cried Bean, suddenly not laughing anymore, holding her sides.
Luckily, just then, a kind tailor was walking by with his needle and thread, on his way to the village.
"Goodness me, what's all this?" he asked, seeing poor Bean in distress.
Bean, still hiccuping a bit, explained what had happened to her friends and then to herself.
The tailor, being a helpful sort, took out his needle. "Don't you worry," he said kindly. He gently sewed up Bean's split skin. He only had black thread with him that day.

And that, my dears, is why, to this very day, every little bean has a tiny black line sewn down its side. It’s a reminder of the day Bean laughed a little too much at her friends' adventure!

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