"PAT-A-CAKE, pat-a-cake, baker's man!
(So I will, master), as fast as I can:
Pat it, and prick it, and mark it with a T,
Put it in the oven for Tommy and me"
(Nursery Rhyme Book)
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Once upon a time, there was a boy named Henry who worked in a kitchen. Although not aware of his ability, he loved to experiment on his own. His boss was very precise about things that could and could not be done in his kitchen, however, so the boy had to wait until the wee hours of the night when he was cleaning to go behind his back.
"What is this disaster?" the owner of the shop proclaimed one evening finding the boy making a mess out of his kitchen.
Henry, afraid of what would happen to him, made up a slight fib about his friend Billy making the mess and him having to stay behind and clean it. Billy was also the chef that worked in the kitchen. The boss was livid, and fired Billy immediately the next day, leaving the kitchen without a chef.
Panicked and afraid of what would happen to his business, the boss sent Henry into extensive chef training. He was very unaware of what Henry had done to his fellow friend and chef...
Henry, on the other hand was overjoyed at the chance of a lifetime to do what he loved to do, not even thinking about his Billy and his feelings. Little did he know how hard the boss would have him work to become a chef.
"Work harder", the boss yelled at Henry at every mistake he thought he made.
As the training continued, he felt overwhelmed and like he had made a huge mistake. Henry turned to Billy for help and gave him an apology. Lucky, Billy was forgiving and even helped Henry to perfect things and worked behind their boss's back to do so.
When Henry was finally put to the test, he made the most fantastic cake for his boss's approval and carved a "B" in the icing that drizzled over.
Befuddled, the boss questioned Henry's intentions and abilities. Although he loved the cake, he didn't believe that is was his doing in his training. He asked Henry to explain what was going on.
Henry, afraid to get in trouble, but knew he had to do what was right, exclaimed, "Billy helped me with everything and I lied about him working behind your back in the kitchen. The "B" on the cake represents my appreciation for him."
The boss teared up about the situation, and eventually admitted that he shouldn't have been so hard on them. He allowed Billy to come back and work, and even gave Henry the opportunity to work in the kitchen as well.
(Henry working in the kitchen)
Henry, afraid of what would happen to him, made up a slight fib about his friend Billy making the mess and him having to stay behind and clean it. Billy was also the chef that worked in the kitchen. The boss was livid, and fired Billy immediately the next day, leaving the kitchen without a chef.
Panicked and afraid of what would happen to his business, the boss sent Henry into extensive chef training. He was very unaware of what Henry had done to his fellow friend and chef...
Henry, on the other hand was overjoyed at the chance of a lifetime to do what he loved to do, not even thinking about his Billy and his feelings. Little did he know how hard the boss would have him work to become a chef.
"Work harder", the boss yelled at Henry at every mistake he thought he made.
As the training continued, he felt overwhelmed and like he had made a huge mistake. Henry turned to Billy for help and gave him an apology. Lucky, Billy was forgiving and even helped Henry to perfect things and worked behind their boss's back to do so.
When Henry was finally put to the test, he made the most fantastic cake for his boss's approval and carved a "B" in the icing that drizzled over.
(cake for the boss)
Befuddled, the boss questioned Henry's intentions and abilities. Although he loved the cake, he didn't believe that is was his doing in his training. He asked Henry to explain what was going on.
Henry, afraid to get in trouble, but knew he had to do what was right, exclaimed, "Billy helped me with everything and I lied about him working behind your back in the kitchen. The "B" on the cake represents my appreciation for him."
The boss teared up about the situation, and eventually admitted that he shouldn't have been so hard on them. He allowed Billy to come back and work, and even gave Henry the opportunity to work in the kitchen as well.
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Author's Note. After reading this nursery rhyme, it made me thing of my childhood. It also made me think of all the food network channel shows that I watch in the kitchen. I was inspired by the cake so I made my own spin off of the rhyme.
Bibliography. This story is based on the nursery rhyme "Pat-A-Cake" in The Nursery Rhyme Book, edited by Andrew Lang.
A little extra...
I stumbled upon this different edition of "Pat-A-Cake" and it is a little weird, but fun for children. It was very catchy and might get stuck in your head.
Oh my gosh Emily. This is so cute and creative. I struggled with this assignment because I am not a very creative person when it comes to making up stories. Your design of the post is also very organized! I like the layout of your whole blog too. I don't know how to make mine look more personalized like this yet.
ReplyDeleteThis is very creative and something that I could not have honestly been able to think of myself. You gave a very in depth story about Henry and his friend. I found myself wanting to know what happens next as I was reading it which was very cool. I am definitely looking forward to reading other stories that you will write in the future.
ReplyDeleteYour story kind of reminds me of the Pixar movie Ratatouille. You did a really good job of taking a simple children's nursery rhyme and making it into a compelling story with a good message. In a lot of ways this is so much harder than reworking an existing story into something new because you already have a framework if you're going from an existing story. Here, you made a story with a good lesson from basically nothing.
ReplyDeleteI was also reminded of Ratatouille, but it took on a whole different story as it progressed. I do like how Henry confessed to what had happened and wondered how Billy would handle the confession as well. I think it is a bit unrealistic, but I like a happy ending! This is cute and you did a great job creating a story out of a nursery rhyme.
ReplyDeleteThe ending was really happy, glad that they were recruited back into work at the end instead of both being fired. It was a pretty mean move for Henry to blame Billy for his own mischievous actions, but he learns what he did was wrong by the end. The story seems remarkably detailed for something derived from such a short nursery rhyme too, so good job on that!
ReplyDelete