Week One Storytelling: One Crooked Day

There once was a lonely, old man named Mortimer. Mortimer walked everyday through the woods, down the long, winding road, into town. Although he was hunched over with age and often used a cane to support himself, he loved his walks. He loved the fresh air. He loved listening to the birds sing and watch the forest creatures scurry about.

One day, as he was out for his daily walk, Mortimer happened upon a crumpled up one hundred dollar bill next to a fence post. He looked around but saw no one nearby. He picked it up and wondered to whom it belonged.

 The Crooked Man (source Wikimedia commons)

Since Mortimer did not know who the money belonged to, and he had no way to find out, he finally decided that he would keep the money for himself. He thought and thought, as he approached the town, as to what he would buy with his new found riches. He decided that the one thing he wanted most of all was a companion. He went to the animal shelter and asked to see the cats that were up for adoption. The lady at the counter showed him the available cats and kittens. There were so many. He told the lady that he wanted a special cat, one that maybe no one else wanted. She told him she knew exactly the one for him. Curled up in the corner was a scruffy, older cat with a crooked tail. The nice lady told Mortimer that no one wanted the cat because he was old and not as pretty with his broken tail. Mortimer looked in the cat’s eyes and knew instantly that this was going to be his new best friend. He named him Ziggy for his tail was shaped in a zig zag pattern.

Ziggy (source Wikimedia commons)

He paid for his cat and took it home. As they approached his house, the cat suddenly took off into the woods. “Ziggy, please come back” Mortimer cried. Soon the cat poked his head out of the bushes and in its mouth was a mouse with one tiny ear and one big ear. The big ear did not stand up, instead it stayed flopped over. His cat did not kill the mouse, but instead played with it. Mortimer reached down and picked up the mouse. “I shall call you Droopy, and you are coming home with me as well.

Mortimer took the cat and the mouse to his home. His house wasn’t a big house. It wasn’t even a nice house. The house was small and in disrepair. The shutters were falling off, the paint was peeling. The entire house seemed to be a little off kilter. But it was his home. Now it was home for Ziggy and Droopy as well. Mortimer, Ziggy, and Droopy all lived together, happily ever after.




Author’s Note: I used the nursery rhyme about a crooked man to write my story.

There was a crooked man, and he went a crooked mile, 
He found a crooked sixpence against a crooked stile; 
He bought a crooked cat, which caught a crooked mouse, 
And they all lived together in a little crooked house.

I thought I would somewhat modernize it. I figured that not too many people would even know what a sixpence is anymore. As an owner of 3 shelter cats, I thought it would be nice if he bought a cat that was unwanted because he was a little different.

Bibliography: This story is based on the Crooked Man from the Nursery Rhyme Book edited by Andrew Lang.