Mary, a young girl has moved to a new house in a new town with her family. In the new house, she is given her own room that she's excited about. That is, until the first night when she hears a "scratch, scratch" sound at her window. She pulls back the curtains to reveal a witch with a green face with warts, crooked nose, long, long skinny fingers and red lips. The witch speaks. She says, "Do you know what I do with my long, long fingers and my red lips?". "No!" screams Mary as she closed the curtain and hides under her blankets. The next night, the same thing happens again. Mary asks her mother about it, but her mother is not concerned. She just says, "Maybe we shouldn't have rushed you into your own room. Maybe you weren't yet ready". The next night, Mary again hears the, "scratch, scratch" sound at her window again. She doesn't want to open the curtain, but finally she does. The green witch is there again with her warts, her crooked nose, her long,long fingers and her red lips. She says, "Little girl, do you know what I do with my long, long fingers and my red lips?" This time, Mary tries to be brave and she cringes as she waits for what will happen next. Then the witch takes one of her long, skinny fingers, she lays it across her red, red lips, and then she moves it quickly up & down "blp.blp..blp..blp." (in a funny manner). THE END!
Baltuck, Naomi. “Red Lips.” Crazy Gibberish: and other story hour stretches from a storyteller’s bag of tricks. Hamden, Conn: Linnet Books, 1993. Print.
Horner, Beth. “The Mischievous Girl and the Hideous Creature.” Ready-To-Tell Tales: Sure-Fire Stories from America’s Favorite Storytellers, Ed. David Holt and Bill Mooney. Little Rock, Arkansas: August House Publishers, Inc., 1994. Print.
This Story would most be enjoyed by children, rather than adults. Because of the scary component, I wouldn't recommend it for the smallest children. I actually had W. come to visit my ESL classroom with this story. The adults enjoyed it, but I think children would appreciate the ending much more. The more acting/pantomime used in the delivery of this story, the better, as the suspense builds (which is how W. beautifully delivered it).
