In a small house with a bright blue door lived two sisters. One was named Lily, and she was as kind and hardworking as a busy bee. The other was named Rose, and she, well, she preferred to watch the clouds drift by and let Lily do all the chores. Their stepmother, unfortunately, loved Rose best and made Lily do everything.

One sunny morning, as Lily was spinning thread by the old well, her finger pricked on the spindle. Ouch! A tiny drop of red stained the spindle, and as she leaned over to wash it in the well water, plop! The spindle slipped from her hand and disappeared into the deep, dark water.

"Oh dear!" cried Lily. She told her stepmother, who said crossly, "Well, you dropped it, so you must go and get it!"

Poor Lily was scared, but she knew she had to obey. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and jumped into the well. Splash!

But instead of cold water, Lily found herself landing softly on a beautiful green meadow, full of colorful flowers and warm sunshine. She walked along a path, and soon she came to an oven full of bread. "Oh, please, take us out! Take us out!" cried the loaves. "We're baked perfectly and will burn if you don't!" So, Lily quickly found a baker's peel and took all the golden-brown loaves out of the oven.

A little further on, she came to an apple tree, heavy with ripe, red apples. "Oh, shake me, shake me!" called the tree. "My apples are so ripe, they're ready to fall!" Lily shook the tree with all her might, and the apples rained down around her until she had made a neat pile.

Finally, Lily came to a little cottage. An old woman with kind eyes and a gentle smile peeked out. This was Mrs. Bell. "Hello, my dear," said Mrs. Bell. "Would you like to stay and help me?"

Lily said yes, of course. "Your job," explained Mrs. Bell, "will be to make my bed every morning. But you must shake the featherbed really, really well, so the feathers fly. When they fly, it snows down on the world below!"

Lily was happy to help. Every day, she shook the featherbed with all her might, and tiny white feathers danced in the air. Mrs. Bell was always kind to her, and Lily had plenty of good food to eat.

After some time, Lily started to miss her home, even though her stepmother wasn't always nice. Mrs. Bell understood. "You have been such a good, hardworking girl," she said. "It's time for your reward." She led Lily to a big doorway. As Lily passed through it, a shower of sparkling gold rained down on her, covering her from head to toe.

Suddenly, Lily found herself back by the old well. As she walked towards her house, the rooster on the fence crowed, "Cock-a-doodle-doo! Our golden girl has come home, it's true!"

When her stepmother and Rose saw her covered in gold, their eyes grew wide. Rose wanted gold too! So, her mother told her to go to the well, prick her finger, drop the spindle in, and jump.

Rose did as she was told, though she grumbled about pricking her finger. She too landed in the beautiful meadow. But when the bread cried, "Take us out!" Rose said, "Why should I get my hands dirty?" and walked on. When the apple tree called, "Shake me!" Rose huffed, "What if an apple falls on my head?" and stomped past.

She found Mrs. Bell's cottage and agreed to work, thinking of all the gold. But on the first day, Rose was lazy when shaking the featherbed. On the second, even lazier. By the third day, she didn't even bother to get out of bed to do it.

Mrs. Bell sighed. "It seems this work is not for you," she said. "It's time for your reward." She led Rose to the same big doorway. Rose grinned, expecting gold. But as she walked through, instead of gold, a big pot of sticky, black tar tipped over and covered her completely.

Rose stumbled home, all sticky and black. The rooster saw her and crowed, "Cock-a-doodle-doo! Our sticky girl is back, it's true!"

And so, Lily, with her golden dress, lived happily. Rose, well, the sticky tar never quite washed off, a reminder that being kind and hardworking always brings the best rewards, while being lazy and grumpy often leads to a sticky situation!

1820 Views