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WHEN I WAS LITTLE
When I was little I was a poor eater. I'd take a mouthful of something and keep the food behind my cheek. Then Mommy'd say:
"Chew your food properly and swallow it!"
Mommy'd tell me stories while I ate. One day she told me the story of Little Red Riding Hood.
"Once upon a time there was a girl named Little Red Riding Hood... Chew your food!"
I chewed. Mommy continued.
"Her mother gave her a basket of food to take to her grandmother. So Little Red Riding Hood set out... Come on, chew!"I chewed and Mommy continued.
"And then the wolf swallowed her grandmother... Come on, chew! Did you swallow it? And then the wolf swallowed Little Red Riding Hood."
I chewed away obediently.
"Just then some hunters came to the cottage," Mommy said. "Come on, chew! Did you swallow it? And they killed the big bad wolf. Then they slit open the wolf's stomach and there were Little Red Riding Hood and her grandmother. They were both alive!"
"That's because the wolf didn't chew them properly," I said.