The little old woman and the apple tree Story and illustrations by Gina Hablanian
	There was an old woman who had a huge apple tree. It was set back at a far corner of her yard by the side of the road. It gave so many apples she didn't know what to do. They fell to the ground; they cluttered the road; they rotted on the grass. "The apples are worm-eaten and not good for apple pies," she said to herself, "I can't give them away to neighbors or sell them at market." But she didn't have the heart to cut the tree down.
	As the old woman sat and pondered what to do, she had a brilliant idea: "I'll buy a pig, for pigs eat everything."
	But the pig needs a fence to keep it from wandering away and eating the neighbors' bushes and plants. "I'll go to the lumberyard and buy some wood and put up a fence," she reasoned.
	But the fence needs a gate. "I'll put a sign on it appropriately labeled 'PIG'," she mused.
	The pig needs water to drink, so it had to have a trough. "I have an old tub," she remembered, "I'll movie it outside and fill it with water."
	To house the pig at night and in bad weather, a barn is necessary.
	To feed the pig the little old woman also thought to grow hay and store it for the winter. "I'll purchase seed and plant in the ground," she mumbled happily. But do pigs like to eat hay?
	And she was in need of a pitchfork to rake in the hay, and barrels to store the apples in.
	To collect the apples, "I'll ask my great granddaughter Brittani to help. Brittani is always helpful." What fun they would have together.
	To collect the hay and store it in the barn loft, "I'll ask my great grandson Christopher. He likes to work and to finish every task and chore." She could see him busily tossing the dry grass into piles.
	And she must keep their little sister amused. She marveled at her clever solution: "I'll grow wildflowers and watch baby Haley spent many happy hours chasing butterflies."
	To feed the children, she concluded with joy: "I'll bake with them lots and lots of cookies and stack them neatly in pretty colored jars for future use."
	So, did the little old woman buy a pig to eat the apples, and build a fence to keep in the pig, and buy a gate, and build a barn, and grow and store hay, and purchase apple barrels, and get a rake for the hay, and plant a wildflower field?
	No, but as she contemplated her apple tree and wondered what to do, this story grew. Do you grow stories too?