The Teeny-Tiny Woman (Campfire Story)

Once upon a time, there was a TEENY TINY woman who lived in a TEENY TINY house in a TEENY TINY village.

One day, the TEENY TINY woman put on her TEENY TINY bonnet and went out of her TEENY TINY house to take a TEENY TINY walk.

When the TEENY TINY woman had gone a TEENY TINY way, she came to a TEENY TINY gate. So she opened the TEENY TINY gate and went into a TEENY TINY churchyard.

And there, on a TEENY TINY grave, she found a TEENY TINY bone.

'This TEENY TINY bone will make some TEENY TINY soup for my TEENY TINY supper,' said the TEENY TINY woman. So she put the TEENY TINY bone into her TEENY TINY pocket and went home to her TEENY TINY house.

When she got home, the TEENY TINY woman was a TEENY TINY bit tired. So she put the TEENY TINY bone into her TEENY TINY cupboard, went up her TEENY TINY stairs, and climbed into her TEENY TINY bed.

She had been asleep for a TEENY TINY time when she was woken by a TEENY TINY voice coming from the TEENY TINY cupboard.

point to the audience, and keep the first one soft

The TEENY TINY woman was a TEENY TINY bit frightened. So she hid her TEENY TINY head under her TEENY TINY blanket and went back to sleep.

She had been asleep for another TEENY TINY time when the voice came again from the TEENY TINY cupboard, a TEENY TINY bit louder.

louder

The TEENY TINY woman was a TEENY TINY bit more frightened. So she hid her TEENY TINY head a TEENY TINY bit further under her TEENY TINY blanket.

And when she had been asleep for one more TEENY TINY time, the voice came again, louder than ever.

loudest of all

pause, then pop your head up as if from under the blanket and shout it

Storyteller tips: the crowd does most of the work here. Every time you say "teeny-tiny," pause just long enough for them to squeak it. The ghost's voice gets louder each time, and the last line is a shout that makes everyone jump and then laugh.

Retold from the English folk tale collected by Joseph Jacobs in English Fairy Tales, 1890.