• The Wind's Tale of the Signboard

    Andersen's Fairy Tales
    The wind, a very breezy fellow, loved to visit the little town of Wobbly Chimneys. One sunny morning, after a particularly strong gust had rearranged a few hats and sent a newspaper flying like a kite, the Wind noticed something new.

    It was a splendid signboard, hanging proudly above Mrs. Higgins' Sweet Shop. On it was painted the most delicious-looking cake you ever did see, with fluffy pink frosting and a cherry on top.

    "Well, hello there!" whistled the Wind, swirling around the sign. "That is a truly magnificent cake! I feel like I could almost taste it!"

    The signboard creaked a little. If it could talk, it might have said, "Thank you, Mr. Wind, but please don’t blow too hard! I’m brand new!"

    The Wind, being a bit of a show-off, thought, "This cake is too wonderful to just hang here. Everyone in the world should see it!" So, with a playful WHOOSH, the Wind decided to take the signboard on an adventure.

    He unhooked it carefully with a puff and a huff. Up, up, up went the signboard, the painted cake looking down at the town.

    "Whee!" thought the signboard, even though it was a little scared. The pink frosting seemed to gleam even brighter in the sun.

    First, the Wind swooped it high above the town. The little painted cake looked down at the tiny houses and the people like ants. Then, the Wind carried it over the green fields where cows mooed in surprise. He even zipped it past a train, whose passengers pointed and gasped, "Look, a flying cake!"

    The signboard saw rivers like silver ribbons and forests like broccoli. It was quite exciting! The painted cake felt very important, showing off its sugary goodness to the clouds and the birds.

    But after a while, the signboard started to feel a bit tired. The painted cake, while still lovely, was starting to feel a bit wobbly from all the excitement. It missed its quiet spot above the sweet shop, where children would point at it and say, "I want a cake just like that!"

    The Wind, noticing the signboard wasn’t creaking with excitement anymore, gently began to carry it back. "Perhaps," the Wind puffed softly, "the best place for a sweet shop sign is, after all, right by the sweet shop, where it can make everyone hungry."

    With a final, gentle gust, he hung the signboard back in its place, just as Mrs. Higgins was opening her shop. She looked up. "My, my," she said, "my sign looks extra bright and cheerful today! It must be the lovely weather."

    The painted cake on the signboard seemed to smile. It had seen the world, but it was happy to be home, doing its very important job of making everyone dream of delicious, real cake. And the Wind? He still visited, but he was always a little more gentle with the sign of the delicious cake, remembering their grand day out.

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