Free Leaping Beauty: And Other Animal Fairy Tales by Gregory Maguire, Chris L. Demarest

left to come to. So old Mama Penguin called her children to her side.

    “My dears,” she said, “it is time for you to go out into the world and find your own homes. As you can see, there’s not much left of mine. So your dear mother is going to go on a cruise to the South Seas and try to build up her health. I’ll send postcards. Meanwhile, some good advice. First, floss your teeth every day.”

    Then she smacked the oldest penguin on the bottom with her walking stick. “And don’t leave the oven on!”

    She smacked the middle penguin on the bottom, too. “Don’t leave the oven door open!” She kissed the youngest penguin and said, “Dear, a little less lipstick and it will go much better for you in life.”

    Then she hobbled onto a passing iceberg and soon was lost to view.

    The three penguins were very sad. “What shall we do?” said the oldest penguin. “Perhaps we should build ourselves three homes. I will build my home out of straw.”

    “I will build my home out of twigs,” said the middle penguin.

    “I will make up a new dance called the Collapse of the Housing Industry,” cried the youngest penguin, and began collapsing all over the place.

    “Oh please,” said the oldest and the middle penguins, and went to find housing materials.

    Now who should come along but a seal driving a bobsled. Tied onto the back of it was a huge rick of straw.

    “Straw! Straw for sale!” cried the seal.

    “I’ll have that straw to build myself a house,” cried the oldest penguin, and bought the whole lot right there.

    “I thought I was selling it for packing fine china in, but you can do what you want with it,” said the seal, pocketing the money and driving away.

    The oldest penguin built a handsome house. It had a straw veranda, a straw balcony, and a straw tower perched on top. The oldest penguin was quite happy. With a new stove and a nice pot of fish to cook up on it, there was nothing more to want in life.

    The middle penguin was wandering around when the seal came driving the bobsled back, this time with a load of twigs in it. “Who’ll buy my twigs, fine twigs for sale!” cried the seal.

    “I’ll have the lot, my good seal,” said the middle penguin. “Just dump them right there, if you please. This is as good a place as any to build myself a house.”

    “Suit yourself,” said the seal. “I had thought to sell them for kindling, but you know best.” The seal put the money in his wallet and drove his bobsled away.

    The middle penguin built a beautiful house out of twigs. It had a twig porch, a twig staircase, and a twig widow’s walk on top. The middle penguin bought an oven just right for cooking pots of fish in, and all seemed very cozy indeed.

    The youngest penguin invented a new dance called Isadora Penguin. It involved dressing in gauzy colored veils.

    Along came the seal on his bobsled once again. “Coal! Lots of coal for sale!” he cried.
    “A very hot building material these days!”

    “Who would build a house out of coal?” asked the youngest penguin. “Wouldn’t it burn up?”

    “I give folks what they want,” said the seal. “You’d be surprised at recent styles. You could call it a warming trend.”

    “Well, what I would like is a full-length mirror,” said the youngest penguin. “I need to see myself dance so I can know if it’s beautiful enough.”

    “I can’t sell you a mirror, for I haven’t got one,” said the seal. “But I can sell you a blowtorch. You can cut a sheet of ice out of the glacier. That’ll do for a mirror.”

    “I suppose you’re right,” said the youngest penguin. “Here’s the money.”

    “Thanks,” said the seal. As he handed over the blowtorch, he added, “Your eyelashes are awfully long and curly for a penguin.”

    “Is that a compliment?” said the youngest penguin, and practiced using the blowtorch in the seal’s direction. The seal and the bobsled sped away very quickly.

    Who should come along next