Once upon a time, far away and long ago, there lived a young girl named Morning Glory. Morning Glory was a sweet but spunky little pink flower girl about six inches tall with enough optimism to fill a flower field. She really believed things were growing better all the time and she put her heart and soul into seeing that things improved with everyone she met. Morning Glory was also quite adventurous, so it was no surprise that she had friends from other garden lands both near and far. Morning Glory loved to wear her favorite beautiful pink dress made with satin ribbons by Periwinkle. This was the last of her clothes and her most precious. She knew her mother could never sell it. Her pink dress was detailed with a stretchy pink sequin bodice and neat fitting pink satin shoulder straps. The skirt was pink tulle, and underneath, there were pink underskirts with a hooped hem to give the skirt the fullness.
Morning Glory lived with her mother Iris in a humble orange terra cotta floral house on the edge of a flower village. All who knew her loved her, but she was especially dear to her Miniature Schnauzer Norelle and her favorite Miniature Red Kentshire Daisy. Her pets loved her more than anything in the world, even though Morning Glory and her mother Iris were penniless. They were penniless because of a misfortune that happened years ago when Morning Glory was a baby. Years later, when Morning Glory was old enough to understand, her mother announced, “We have not a penny left.” One by one, her mother sold all their belongings after a hard winter in despair. “We are sure to die from hunger,” indicated Morning Glory’s mother. At last the time came when they had nothing left but Daisy the cow. Morning Glory’s mother whispered quietly in sorrow to Morning Glory, “If we sell Daisy, then we will have some money.”
“Oh no,” pleaded Morning Glory. “Daisy is my friend. We cannot sell her,” cried Morning Glory.
“We must sell her Morning Glory,” sighed her mother.
Early the next morning, Morning Glory’s mother beckoned to her, “Come here Morning Glory and listen to me. I want you to take Daisy to the market. See that you get a good price for her; when she is gone, I don’t know how we shall live. Go right away before the sun gets too hot. Promise me that you won’t daydream and stray off the path. Don’t run, or you will fall down! And when you get there, please don’t forget your manners! Say ‘Good Morning,’ ‘Please,’ and ‘Thank You.’ Plus, come straight home after Daisy is sold.”
“Yes, mother,” replied heartbroken Morning Glory. “I promise. I will do just as you tell me.”
Morning Glory led Daisy on the road to the market. They ambled “tap, tap, tap” and ambled “tap, tap, tap.” Away went Morning Glory, having all intentions of making a sharp bargain, and steered Daisy ahead of herself. However, nearby by market place, in flower village, Morning Glory soon came to a shaded site full of bright colored wild flowers. “Moo, moo, moo,” bellowed Daisy as a little old man with a thin, but long sliver beard in an emerald green top hat, stopped and admired her. He offered to buy her.
“Hello,” pronounced the little old man. “What a pretty cow. Is that your cow?”
“Yes,” answered Morning Glory. “I am taking Daisy to the market.”
“That is a very pretty cow,” said the man. “I would like to have the cow.”
“I can sell Daisy to you,” responded Morning Glory.” “She is a fine Miniature Red Kentshire cow. What will you give me?” asked Morning Glory.
“I would like to have your cow, but I have no money,” replied the weary little old man.
“I’ll give you a bag of magical sunflower seeds for that cow,” he continued, but Morning Glory was uncertain and confused. “These,” confirmed the weary little old man. He held out a handful of sunflower seeds, so shiny and bright-colored that Morning Glory could scarcely wait to own them. She fell in love with the colors of the sunflower seeds, so Morning Glory agreed. She promised Daisy she would buy her back when she had the money. Once more, she looked at the magic sunflower seeds.
“Oh my! Magic sunflower seeds!” cried Morning Glory.
“Done”! Shouted the little old man. Without a moments’ thought, Morning Glory gave Daisy to the little old man, and went skipping home with the magical sunflower seeds.
“Look Mother! Look at these magic sunflower seeds,” rejoiced Morning Glory cheerfully.
“Magic seeds! Magic seeds? What do I want with magic seeds?” Shouted her mother. “Did you sell Daisy? Where is the money? What did you do with the money from Daisy?” Morning Glory’s mother did not think of the seeds as wonderful at all. “Morning Glory! Morning Glory!” she cried. Her mother was furious. “That cow was the last thing of worth to our name and you have sold her for five colored seeds! Morning Glory!” Bursting into angry tears, her mother tossed the seeds out of the door in disgust. “Fiddlesticks!” Shouted Morning Glory’s mother. “They are not magic. They are just seeds. Seeds are seeds. Seeds are not money. We need money not seeds.” Morning Glory tiptoed off to bed in tears feeling both hungry and ashamed. Morning Glory was more disappointed in herself because she broke a promise with her mother.
Morning came. The sun was rising while the birds were singing “twitter, tweet, tweet, twitter, tweet, tweet,” and Morning Glory had gotten up. When she looked out the window, she leaped out of bed in surprise. Morning Glory saw a huge green sunflower stem outside her window. The sunflower seeds had sprouted at night and had grown an enormous sunflower stalk. Up and up it went, like a great ladder, until its topmost leaves were lost in the clouds. “Oh! Oh!” cried Morning Glory. “Look at the big sunflower stalk. It goes right up to the sky,” she said to Norelle. They were wonderful seeds, after all, cheered Morning Glory in delight. She ran to the kitchen. “Mother! Mother!” she shouted as her voice gotten louder. “Come to the window and look at the big sunflower stalk. It goes right up to the sky.”
Morning Glory’s mother cried, “What? What? A sunflower stalk? The sunflower stalk goes right up to the sky? I do not believe it.”
“Come and look Mother,” cried Morning Glory. Shortly her mother looked out of the window. “See! See! I told you,” cried Morning Glory. “I told you the seeds were magical. The magical seeds made an enormous sunflower stalk. See…I told you!”
“Yes! Yes! You told me,” answered Morning Glory‘s mother. “Now what are we going to do?”
“I would like to climb the sunflower stalk, remarked Morning Glory. I want to climb it to see what is up there.” Being adventurous, Morning Glory soon made her way out the door and climbed up the strange sunflower stalk.
She climbed and climbed, one foot, three feet, five feet, and then she stopped. “Oh, dear!” she cried. “This is a big sunflower stalk. I still can’t see the top.” But she climbed and climbed, up, up, up, up, up, and then she stopped. “I must rest,” she sighed.” This is an enormous sunflower stalk. I am up so high, but I cannot see the top.” So she rested and looked down. “My, it is high up here. I can see my small orange terra cotta floral house on the edge of flower village. I can see the bright colored flower gardens. I can also see the entire village.” Then she climbed again. Up climbed Morning Glory, when at last her head was above the clouds.
Through the misty haze, Morning Glory found herself in a vast, barren land, with nothing in sight but a magnificent huge, forbidden castle. She stepped off a sunflower petal onto a cloud. “A castle,” she cried in joy. “A big castle! I wonder who lives here.” She walked up to the castle, which was one mile away from the sunflower stalk and there she met three pretty fairies. The three fairies, named Winky (in purple), Pinky (in pink), and Tinky (in red) warned Morning Glory that a big bad giant named Tulip lived there.
The fairies explained, “Some time ago a real king and a real queen lived here with their little baby girl. One day the queen went down to your village, and took the baby with her. The king was alone and in the castle with the subjects and maids, until the great big giant named Tulip came to the castle. She put the king on a large boat to another country far, far away. Now, the big giant, Tulip, lives in the castle.”
“Oh my,” exclaimed Morning Glory. “What a sad story. Where is the queen now and where is the baby girl?”
“The queen lives in your village with the girl. She is your mother, and the girl is you, Morning Glory. You are the princess,” answered the fairies.
“I will try to get my family’s belongings back from Tulip!” said Morning Glory.
“Yes,” said the fairies, but do not let Tulip get you! Take care.”
Being very hungry after her long climb, she went straight to the castle’s door and asked for a bite to eat. A towering girl answered her knock and stared down at her with fear and amazement. “Whoever you are, and however you came here,” she cried, “You must go away before you wake my mother up!” Now Morning Glory was frightened, but she was hungry too. She asked for a crust of bread so earnestly that the girl took pity on her and led her into the huge kitchen. “You must be very quiet, my mother is sleeping, and you must not wake her up,” whispered the daughter, Sage. Just as Sage gave Morning Glory a crust of bread, great pounding footsteps “thump, thump, tramp, tramp” came towards the kitchen. The floor quaked, the walls trembled, and Sage’s face paled. “My mother is coming!” She whispered, as she hid Morning Glory in the cookie jar.
This was only in a nick of time, for into the room strode Tulip, twice the size of Sage. “Fee- fie- fo- fum,” she bellowed as she came. “I smell the scent of a sweet lemon citronella flower.”
“Fiddlesticks mother!” said Sage. “You do not smell flowers. That is your food mother it is not a flower.” Tulip looked under the table and in all the corners. Just as she reached for the lid of the cookie jar, her daughter Sage found the strength to talk. “No one is here,” she quavered. “Tis only your good breakfast that you smell!” Sage quickly set an enormous platter of plump pancakes on the table, next to the fruits. Grumbling to herself, Tulip sat down and ate every one of the seventy-five pancakes she was given. Then Tulip took two money bags from under the table.
Peering though the hole in the cookie jar, Morning Glory said “Wow…If I take that treasure home to my mother, maybe she will forgive me for Daisy.” Opening one of the bags, Tulip counted the shining gold and silver coins “one hundred dollars, five hundred dollars and one thousand dollars” until she fell asleep in the chair.
Now out of the cookie jar crept Morning Glory. She drew the bag out from under Tulip’s hand. Holding it tightly, she was soon out of the castle, and safely down the sunflower stalk. When Morning Glory’s mother saw the giant’s gold, she could barely contain her joy. Iris told Morning Glory the same story the fairies had told her about the castle, the king, and the queen. Morning Glory and her mother lived in plenty for many months. When the last coin was spent, Morning Glory went climbing up the sunflower stalk again.
She climbed one foot, three feet, five feet, and then she stopped to rest. “Oh, dear!” she cried. “This is such a very big sunflower stalk. I still cannot see the top.” But she climbed and climbed, up, up, up, up, up, and then she stopped again. As soon as Morning Glory came to the top of the sunflower stalk, she jumped “bong, bong” off the sunflower’s petal. Following, she went straight to the castle’s door “knock, knock.” This time Sage, scolded Morning Glory roundly for running off with the gold. But her heart being good and her life a lonely one, she finally let Morning Glory in and brought her a huge apple tart. Morning Glory had no more then tasted it, when again, the castle began to shake like an earthquake. Sage paled, and hid Morning Glory in her toy chest, and just as the lid fell shut, in strode Tulip the giant.
“Fee- fie -fo- fum,” she roared. “I smell the scent of a sweet lemon citronella flower.” She looked under the table and in all the corners. She peered into the cookie jar, and she put one big hand on the lid of the toy chest.
“Come.” cried her daughter Sage, quickly setting a platter of smoked turkey sandwich wedges with Applewood Smoked bacon, cheddar and Swiss cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, light mayonnaise, and Honey Mustard on toasted wheat bread. On the side of the platter, Sage placed baby carrots and celery sticks. “Tis only your good lunch that you smell!” said Sage nervously. Tulip soon started eating her lunch. Next, she ate a warm chocolate brownie topped with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, chocolate syrup and a cherry on top for dessert.
When she had finished, she amused herself with a small, speckled hen that laid golden eggs every time she roared, “Lay!” Tulip looked at her speckled hen and said, “Come here and sit on the table, my nice speckled hen. How is my nice speckled hen?” The hen hopped “bong, bong” on the table.
“Cluck! Cluck!” remarked the hen.
With delight, Tulip applauded. “Three golden eggs!” roared Tulip cheerfully. “One, Two, Three.” At length she grew weary of the hen’s golden eggs and snored “Zzz Zzz” away in her chair. At the first snore, Morning Glory hopped out of the toy chest and picked up the little hen.
“Tulip is fast asleep,” thought Morning Glory. “Now I can take the hen since it belonged to my family.” Tucking the hen under her arm, she went hurrying out of the castle and down the sunflower stalk.
“My wonder daughter!” exclaimed Iris. “One of these golden eggs will buy us all we need for life.” Still, Morning Glory kept wishing to climb the sunflower stalk again, and at last one day being adventurous, she did.
“I dare not let you in!” cried Sage. “Since you took my mother’s speckled hen, my mother had been so sick that I fear for my mother’s life!” Sage made to close the door, but Morning Glory slipped in at Sage’s heels, and had hidden in the teakettle when once again, Tulip came thundering in.
Once more Tulip roared, searched, and ate an enormous meal. Then she sat a beautiful little golden harp before her, she bellowed, “Play!” The little harp played so sweetly that both the giant and her daughter were soon snoring “Zzz Zzz” like all the winds on the earth. Morning Glory climbed out of the kettle, took the harp, and went running out of the door. However, no sooner was she outside, than the harp stopped playing, being so frightened it sang out in fearful notes:
“Wake, my master, wake! Hmmmmm, Giant! Hmmmmm, Giant!”
“Quiet!” whispered Morning Glory. “You belong to my family.”
And wake Tulip did! Fortunately, she was still clumsy with sleep, and fortunately, Morning Glory went running like the wind “swish, swish.” Lurking through the pillowy clouds, Morning Glory ran for the sunflower stalk. She slid down as fast as greased lightening. Down, down, down, down, she went faster and faster. Even so, as Morning Glory’s feet touched the ground, Tulip was halfway down the sunflower stalk.
“I have you now!” shouted Tulip. “You can not run away from!”
“Mother!” shouted Morning Glory. “Bring the hatchet! Hurry! The giant is coming!” Iris came running, and with her first blow, Morning Glory cut the sunflower stalk in two. Down, down, down, down to the ground. It came, crashing across the meadows, and down came the cruel giant “bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce, WHUMP,” dead as a rock. The ground shook like a volcanic eruption. The giant had toppled into the hills and was never heard of again.
Morning Glory’s mother was so happy to have her daughter safely home that she cooked a fine meal almost big enough for a giant to eat. As Iris prepared the meal, the speckled hen clucked merrily and the little golden harp played joyfully. Morning Glory had gotten a hold of the majority of her family’s belongings. Morning Glory’s family lived happily ever after. Her mother fed Marigold seeds and Rose petals to the magic hen, and the harp played wonderful melodies. Shortly, after Iris and Morning Glory’s fine meal, the three pretty fairies appeared in their small orange terra cotta floral house.
“Greetings, courageous Morning Glory,” said Winky, Pinky, and Tinky. The fairies fluttered closer to Morning Glory and stated, “That is the end of the giant. Now you can go back to your castle as you please.” The three pretty fairies used their sparkling yellow magic wands to make a path to the castle. They chanted, “Magic! Magic! Make a path, make a path to the castle!”
As for the giant’s daughter, Sage, safe in the magnificent huge castle above the clouds, and was glad to be free from her cruel and wicked mother’s “Fee- fi -fo- fum!” From that day forward, Morning Glory, her mother Iris, Norelle her Miniature Schnauzer, and her favorite Miniature Red Kentshire cow Daisy were able to live a life full of happiness and joy with the magical hen and singing harp.