{"id":5324,"date":"2025-03-26T13:13:36","date_gmt":"2025-03-26T12:13:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/91.98.65.172\/?page_id=5324"},"modified":"2025-04-13T08:08:03","modified_gmt":"2025-04-13T07:08:03","slug":"gs","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/itsiller.com\/index.php\/gs\/","title":{"rendered":"G\u2019s\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\n
\n George’s Marvellous Medicine<\/strong>
\n <\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u00a0 Grandma <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n <\/p>\n
\n
\n ‘I\u2019m going shopping in the village,’
\n <\/span>
\n
\n George’s mother said to George on Saturday morning.
\n <\/span>
\n
\n ‘So be a good boy and don’t get into mischief.’
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n This was a silly thing to say to a small boy at any time.
\n <\/span>
\n
\n It immediately made him wonder what sort of mischief he might get into.
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n ‘And don’t forget to give Grandma her medicine at eleven o’clock,’ the mother said.
\n <\/span>
\n
\n Then out she went, closing the back door behind her.
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n Grandma, who was dozing in her chair by the window,
\n <\/span>
\n
\n opened one wicked little eye and said,
\n <\/span>
\n
\n ‘Now you heard what your mother said, George.’
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n ‘Don’t forget my medicine.’
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n ‘No, Grandma,’ George said.
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n ‘And just try to behave yourself for once while she’s away.’
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n ‘Yes, Grandma,’ George said.
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n George was bored to tears.
\n <\/span>
\n
\n He didn’t have a brother or a sister.
\n <\/span>
\n
\n His father was a farmer,
\n <\/span>
\n
\n and the farm they lived on was miles away from anywhere,
\n <\/span>
\n
\n so there were never any children to play with.
\n <\/span>
\n
\n He was tired of staring at pigs and hens and cows and sheep.
\n <\/span>
\n
\n He was especially tired of having to live in the same house as that grizzly old grunion of a grandma.
\n <\/span>
\n
\n Looking after her all by himself
\n <\/span>
\n
\n was hardly the most exciting way to spend a Saturday morning.
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
1<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n <\/p>\n
\n
\n ‘You can make me a nice cup of tea for a start,’
\n <\/span>
\n
\n Grandma said to George.
\n <\/span>
\n
\n ‘That’ll keep you out of mischief for a few minutes.’
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n ‘Yes, Grandma,’ George said.
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n George couldn’t help disliking Grandma.
\n <\/span>
\n
\n She was a selfish grumpy old woman.
\n <\/span>
\n
\n She had pale brown teeth
\n <\/span>
\n
\n and a small puckered-up mouth like a dog’s bottom.
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n ‘How much sugar in your tea today, Grandma?’ George asked her.
\n <\/span>
\n
\n ‘One spoonful,’ she said. ‘And no milk.’
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n Most grandmothers are lovely, kind, helpful old ladies,
\n <\/span>
\n
\n but not this one.
\n <\/span>
\n
\n She spent all day and every day sitting in her chair by the window,
\n <\/span>
\n
\n and she was always complaining, grousing, grouching, grumbling, griping about something or other.
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n Never once, even on her best days,
\n <\/span>
\n
\n had she smiled at George and said,
\n <\/span>
\n
\n ‘Well, how are you this morning, George?’
\n <\/span>
\n
\n ‘Why don’t you and I have a game of Snakes and Ladders?’
\n <\/span>
\n
\n ‘How was school today?’
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n She didn’t seem to care about other people,
\n <\/span>
\n
\n only about herself.
\n <\/span>
\n
\n She was a miserable old grouch.
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n George went into the kitchen
\n <\/span>
\n
\n and made Grandma a cup of tea with a teabag.
\n <\/span>
\n
\n He put one spoon of sugar in it and no milk.
\n <\/span>
\n
\n He stirred the sugar well and carried the cup into the living room.
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n Grandma sipped the tea.
\n <\/span>
\n
\n ‘It’s not sweet enough,’ she said. ‘Put more sugar in.’
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n George took the cup back to the kitchen
\n <\/span>
\n
\n and added another spoonful of sugar.
\n <\/span>
\n
\n He stirred it again and carried it carefully in to Grandma.
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n
\n <\/p>\n
\n
\n ‘Where’s the saucer?’ she said.
\n <\/span>
\n
\n ‘I won’t have a cup without a saucer.’
\n <\/span>
\n
\n George fetched her a saucer.
\n <\/span>
\n
\n ‘And what about a teaspoon, if you please?’
\n <\/span>
\n
\n ‘I’ve stirred it for you, Grandma. I stirred it well.’
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n I’ll stir my own tea, thank you very much,’ she said.
\n <\/span>
\n
\n ‘Fetch me a teaspoon.’
\n <\/span>
\n
\n George fetched her a teaspoon.
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n When George’s mother or father was home,
\n <\/span>
\n
\n Grandma never ordered George about like this.
\n <\/span>
\n
\n It was only when she had him on her own
\n <\/span>
\n
\n that she began treating him badly.
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n ‘You know what’s the matter with you?’
\n <\/span>
\n
\n the old woman said, staring at George over the rim of the teacup with those bright wicked little eyes.
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n ‘You’re growing too fast.’
\n <\/span>
\n
\n ‘Boys who grow too fast become stupid and lazy.’
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n ‘But I can’t help it if I’m growing fast, Grandma,’ George said.
\n <\/span>
\n
\n ‘Of course you can,’ she snapped.
\n <\/span>
\n
\n ‘Growing’s a nasty childish habit.’
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n ‘But we have to grow, Grandma.’
\n <\/span>
\n
\n ‘If we didn’t grow, we’d never be grown-ups.’
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n ‘Rubbish, boy, rubbish,’ she said.
\n <\/span>
\n
\n ‘Look at me. Am I growing? Certainly not.’
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n ‘But you did once, Grandma.’
\n <\/span>
\n
\n ‘Only very little,’ the old woman answered.
\n <\/span>
\n
\n ‘I gave up growing when I was extremely small,’
\n <\/span>
\n
\n ‘along with all the other nasty’
\n <\/span>
\n
\n ‘childish habits like laziness and disobedience and’
\n <\/span>
\n
\n ‘greed and sloppiness and untidiness and stupidity.’
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n ‘You haven’t given up any of these things, have you?’
\n <\/span>
\n
\n ‘I’m still only a little boy, Grandma.’
\n <\/span>
\n
\n ‘You’re eight years old,’ she snorted.
\n <\/span>
\n
\n ‘That’s old enough to know better.’
\n <\/span>
\n
\n ‘If you don’t stop growing soon, it’ll be too late.’
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n ‘Too late for what, Grandma?’
\n <\/span>
\n
\n ‘It’s ridiculous,’ she went on.
\n <\/span>
\n
\n ‘You’re nearly as tall as me already.’
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n George took a good look at Grandma.
\n <\/span>
\n
\n She certainly was a very tiny person.
\n <\/span>
\n
\n Her legs were so short she had to have a footstool to put her feet on,
\n <\/span>
\n
\n and her head only came halfway up the back of the armchair.
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n ‘Daddy says it’s fine for a man to be tall,’ George said.
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n
\n <\/p>\n
\n
\n ‘Don’t listen to your daddy,’ Grandma said. ‘Listen to me.’
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n ‘But how do I stop myself growing?’ George asked her.
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n ‘Eat less chocolate,’ Grandma said.
\n <\/span>
\n
\n ‘Does chocolate make you grow?’
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n ‘It makes you grow the wrong way,’ she snapped.
\n <\/span>
\n
\n ‘Up instead of down.’
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n Grandma sipped some tea
\n <\/span>
\n
\n but never took her eyes from the little boy who stood before her.
\n <\/span>
\n
\n ‘Never grow up,’ she said. ‘Always down.’
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n ‘Yes, Grandma.’ ‘And stop eating chocolate.’
\n <\/span>
\n
\n ‘Eat cabbage instead.’ ‘Cabbage! Oh, no, I don’t like cabbage,’ George said.
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n ‘It’s not what you like or what you don’t like,’ Grandma snapped.
\n <\/span>
\n
\n ‘It’s what’s good for you that counts.’
\n <\/span>
\n
\n ‘From now on, you must eat cabbage three times a day.’
\n <\/span>
\n
\n ‘Mountains of cabbage! And if it’s got caterpillars in it, so much the better!’
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n ‘Ouch,’ George said.
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n ‘Caterpillars give you brains,’ the old woman said.
\n <\/span>
\n
\n ‘Mummy washes them down the sink,’ George said.
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n ‘Mummy’s as stupid as you are,’ Grandma said.
\n <\/span>
\n
\n ‘Cabbage doesn’t taste of anything without a few boiled caterpillars in it. Slugs, too.’
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n ‘Not slugs!’ George cried out. ‘I couldn’t eat slugs!’
\n <\/span>
\n
\n ‘Whenever I see a live slug on a piece of lettuce,’ Grandma said,
\n <\/span>
\n
\n ‘I gobble it up quick before it crawls away. Delicious.’
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n She squeezed her lips together tight
\n <\/span>
\n
\n so that her mouth became a tiny wrinkled hole.
\n <\/span>
\n
\n ‘Delicious,’ she said again.
\n <\/span>
\n
\n ‘Worms and slugs and beetley bugs. You don’t know what’s good for you.’
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n
\n <\/p>\n
\n
\n ‘You’re joking, Grandma.’
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n ‘I never joke,’ she said.
\n <\/span>
\n
\n ‘Beetles are perhaps best of all. They go crunch!’
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n ‘Grandma! That’s beastly!’
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n The old hag grinned, showing those pale brown teeth.
\n <\/span>
\n
\n ‘Sometimes, if you’re lucky,’ she said,
\n <\/span>
\n
\n ‘you get a beetle inside the stem of a stick of celery.’
\n <\/span>
\n
\n ‘That’s what I like.’
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n ‘Grandma! How could you?’
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n ‘You find all sorts of nice things in sticks of raw celery,’
\n <\/span>
\n
\n the old woman went on.
\n <\/span>
\n
\n ‘Sometimes it’s earwigs.’
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n ‘I don’t want to hear about it!’ cried George.
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n ‘A big fat earwig is very tasty,’
\n <\/span>
\n
\n Grandma said, licking her lips.
\n <\/span>
\n
\n ‘But you’ve got to be very quick, my dear,’
\n <\/span>
\n
\n ‘when you put one of those in your mouth.’
\n <\/span>
\n
\n ‘It has a pair of sharp nippers on its back end’
\n <\/span>
\n
\n ‘and if it grabs your tongue with those, it never lets go.’
\n <\/span>
\n
\n ‘So you’ve got to bite the earwig first, chop chop, before it bites you.’
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n George started edging toward the door.
\n <\/span>
\n
\n He wanted to get as far away as possible from this filthy old woman.
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n <\/p>\n
\n
\n ‘You’re trying to get away from me, aren’t you?’
\n <\/span>
\n
\n she said, pointing a finger straight at George’s face.
\n <\/span>
\n
\n ‘You’re trying to get away from Grandma.’
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n Little George stood by the door staring at the old hag in the chair.
\n <\/span>
\n
\n She stared back at him.
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n Could it be, George wondered, that she was a witch?
\n <\/span>
\n
\n He had always thought witches were only in fairy tales,
\n <\/span>
\n
\n but now he was not so sure.
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n ‘Come closer to me, little boy,’ she said,
\n <\/span>
\n
\n beckoning to him with a horny finger.
\n <\/span>
\n
\n ‘Come closer to me and I will tell you secrets.’
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n George didn’t move. Grandma didn’t move either.
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n
\n <\/p>\n
\n
\n ‘I know a great many secrets,’ she said,
\n <\/span>
\n
\n and suddenly she smiled.
\n <\/span>
\n
\n It was a thin icy smile,
\n <\/span>
\n
\n the kind a snake might make just before it bites you.
\n <\/span>
\n
\n ‘Come over here to Grandma and she’ll whisper secrets to you.’
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n George took a step backward,
\n <\/span>
\n
\n edging closer to the door.
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n ‘You mustn’t be frightened of your old grandma,’ she said,
\n <\/span>
\n
\n smiling that icy smile.
\n <\/span>
\n
\n George took another step backward.
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n ‘Some of us,’ she said,
\n <\/span>
\n
\n and all at once she was leaning forward in her chair
\n <\/span>
\n
\n and whispering in a throaty sort of voice George had never heard her use before.
\n <\/span>
\n
\n ‘Some of us,’ she said,
\n <\/span>
\n
\n ‘have magic powers that can twist the creatures of this earth into wondrous shapes\u2026’
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n A tingle of electricity flashed down the length of George’s spine.
\n <\/span>
\n
\n He began to feel frightened.
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n ‘Some of us,’ the old woman went on,
\n <\/span>
\n
\n ‘have fire on our tongues
\n <\/span>
\n
\n and sparks in our bellies and wizardry in the tips of our fingers\u2026’
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n <\/p>\n
\n
\n ‘Some of us’
\n <\/span>
\n
\n ‘know secrets that would make your hair’
\n <\/span>
\n
\n ‘stand straight up on end and your eyes pop out of their sockets\u2026’
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n ‘George wanted to run away,’
\n <\/span>
\n
\n ‘but his feet seemed stuck to the floor.’
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n ‘We know how to make your nails drop off’
\n <\/span>
\n
\n ‘and teeth grow out of your fingers instead.’
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n ‘George began to tremble.’
\n <\/span>
\n
\n ‘It was her face that frightened him most of all,’
\n <\/span>
\n
\n ‘the frosty smile, the brilliant unblinking eyes.’
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n ‘We know how to have you wake up in the morning with a long tail’
\n <\/span>
\n
\n ‘coming out from behind you.’
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n ‘Grandma!’ he cried out. ‘Stop!’
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n ‘We know secrets, my dear,’
\n <\/span>
\n
\n ‘about dark places where dark things live and squirm and slither all over each other.’
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n ‘George made a dive for the door.’
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n ‘It doesn’t matter how far you run,’
\n <\/span>
\n
\n ‘he heard her saying,’
\n <\/span>
\n
\n ‘you won’t ever get away’
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n ‘George ran into the kitchen, slamming the door behind him.’
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n

\u00a0 The Marvelous Plan <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n <\/p>\n
\n George sat himself down at the table in the kitchen.<\/span>
\n He was shaking a little.<\/span>
\n Oh, how he hated Grandma!<\/span>
\n He really hated that horrid old witchy woman.<\/span>
\n And all of a sudden<\/span>
\n he had a tremendous urge to do something about her.<\/span>
\n Something whopping. Something absolutely terrific.<\/span>
\n A real shocker. A sort of explosion.<\/span>
\n He wanted to blow away the witchy smell that hung about her in the next room.<\/span>
\n He may have been only eight years old,<\/span>
\n but he was a brave little boy.<\/span>
\n He was ready to take this old woman on.<\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n <\/p>\n
\n “I’m not going to be frightened by her,”<\/span>
\n he said softly to himself.<\/span>
\n But he was frightened.<\/span>
\n And that’s why he wanted suddenly to explode her away.<\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n Well . . . not quite away.<\/span>
\n But he did want to shake the old woman up a bit.<\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n Very well, then.<\/span>
\n What should it be,<\/span>
\n this whopping terrific exploding shocker for Grandma?<\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n He would have liked to put a firecracker under her chair,<\/span>
\n but he didn’t have one.<\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n He would have liked to put a long green snake down the back of her dress,<\/span>
\n but he didn’t have a long green snake.<\/span>\n <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n