|
 "Mary,
your bedroom is a mess. Come and clean it up right now," her mum said.
Mary didn’t want to clean her
bedroom. It was a nice day and she wanted to go outside and play. "I’ll
clean it up later, Mum."
"Oh no you won’t. You will clean it
up right now. I’ve been asking you for days now. Your clothes are in a
heap on the floor. Most of them are filthy. You’ve got dirty socks under
you bed and an empty honey pot on top of your drawers. Do you want ants to
come into your bedroom and crawl all over you while you sleep?" her mum
asked.
Mary frowned. She really wanted to
go outside and play. "Can’t I do it later, Mum?"
"Right now. After you’ve finished
you can go outside to play."
Mary went into her bedroom. It was a
big mess. She picked all of her clothes up and folded them nicely. She
hung up her dresses and put her shoes in the closet. She put all the
rubbish into a plastic bag and took it into the kitchen. The dirty socks
were stuffed into the laundry bag and the empty honey pot was placed in
the sink. All of her toys were put back into the toy box. "There, I’m
finished," she sighed with delight. "Mum, I’m going outside to play now."
She ran into the back garden and sat
down in the middle of the flower garden. This was her favorite place to
be. She loved seeing all the different colors of flowers. There were pink
ones, purple ones, red, orange and yellow ones, and they all smelled
wonderful. A small red butterfly was fluttering about. It flew over and
landed on Mary’s paw. "You’re a pretty little butterfly," Mary said. "Does
your mum make you keep your bedroom clean?"
The butterfly’s antenna tickled
Mary’s paw. "What would happen if we didn’t keep the flower garden clean
and tidy?" the butterfly said. "What if I left my rubbish all over? Would
you have a nice place to sit among the flowers?"
Mary thought about it. She looked at
the pretty flowers. "I’m glad your mum makes you clean up the flower
garden. I’d not be happy if I came out here and there was rubbish and
butterfly toys all over," Mary giggled.
"Everybody has to do their part and
keep their rooms clean, or their flower gardens, as my case may be," the
butterfly said and then flew away.
Mary looked at each of the flowers.
They were so lovely. She picked one of them and carried it into the house
for her mum. "Mum, here’s a flower for you. I’ll put it in a vase of
water." Mary filled a glass vase half way up, put the flower in and then
put it on the kitchen table. "I’ll keep my room clean from now on, Mum.
I’ve got to do my part." And she did just that. |
