Aunt Eliza had helped them out of their coats and mufflers and veils and shawls. Peter and Alice and Ella and Laura and Mary began to run and shout. At last Aunt Eliza told them to be quiet. Then Alice said, “I'll tell you what we will do. Let's make pictures.”
Alice said they must go outside to do it and her mother thought it was too cold for Laura to play outside. But when she saw how disappointed Laura was, she said Laura might go, after all, for a little while. She put Laura's coat on her. Laura wore mittens on her hands. She covered Laura's shoulder with her warm cape with the hood to cover Laura's head. Then she wrapped a muffler around Laura's neck and let Laura go outside to play.
audio 1
Laura had never had so much fun. All morning she played outdoors in the snow with Alice and Ella and Peter and Mary, making pictures. The way they did it was this:
Each one by herself climbed up on a stump, which is the bottom of a cut-down tree. Then all at once, holding their arms out wide, they fell off the stumps into the soft, deep snow. They fell flat on their faces. Then they tried to get up without spoiling the marks they made when they fell. If they did it well, there in the snow were five holes, shaped almost exactly like four little girls and a boy, arms and legs and all. They called these their pictures.
audio 2
They played so hard all day that when night came they were too excited to sleep. But they must sleep, or Santa Claus would not come. So they hung their socks by the fireplace and said their prayers. Then they went to bed—Alice and Ella and Mary and Laura all in one big bed on the floor.
Peter had Laura and Mary’s bed. Aunt Eliza and Uncle Peter were going to sleep in the big bed. Another bed was made on the attic floor, under the roof, for her father and mother. The buffalo robes and all the blankets had been brought in from Uncle Peter's sled, so there were enough covers for everybody.
audio 3
Her father and her mother and Aunt Eliza and Uncle Peter sat by the fire, talking. And just as Laura was starting to sleep, she heard Uncle Peter say...
audio 4
The Little House in the Big Woods
Chapter 1 - Part 1: Introduction
Chapter 1 - Part 2: Wolves in the Night
Chapter 1 - Part 4: Smoked Meat
Chapter 1 - Part 5: Food for Winter
Chapter 1 - Part 6: Butchering Time
Chapter 1 - Part 7: After Butchering Time
Chapter 1 - Part 9: Winter Night
Chapter 1 - Part 10: About the Author & Where to Find the Book
Chapter 2 - Part 1: Winter Days and Winter Nights
Chapter 2 - Part 2: Jack Frost
Chapter 2 - Part 3: Laura and Mary Helped Mother with the Housework
Chapter 2 - Part 4: Churn on Thursday
Chapter 2 - Part 5: The Best Time of All
Chapter 2 - Part 6: Her Father Began to Play his Fiddle and Sing
Chapter 2 - Part 7: Father Told Stories
Chapter 2 - Part 8 - The Story of Grandfather and the Panther
Chapter 3 - Part 1: Introduction (The Long Rifle)
Chapter 3 - Part 2: Making Bullets
Chapter 3 - Part 3: Cleaning the Gun
Chapter 3 - Part 4: Loading the Gun
Chapter 3 - Part 5: Where and Why to Keep a Gun
Chapter 3 - Part 6: The Story of her Father and the Voice in the Forest Part 1
Chapter 3 - Part 7: The Story of her Father and the Voice in the Forest Part 2
Chapter 4 - Part 1: Christmas in the Forest
Chapter 4 - Part 2: Making a Gift for his Wife
Chapter 4 - Part 3: Christmas is Coming
Chapter 4 - Part 4: Children Make Pictures in the Snow
Chapter 4 - Part 5: Prince & the Blue Dress (part 1 of 3)
Chapter 4 - Part 6: Prince & the Blue Dress (part 2 of 3)
Chapter 4 - Part 7: Prince & the Blue Dress (part 3 of 3)
Chapter 4 - Part 8: Christmas Morning
Chapter 4 - Part 9: Santa Claus Only Gives Presents to Children
Chapter 4 - Part 10: Breakfast, Dinner and Goodbye
by John Larrysson
A native English speaker who has been teaching practical English in Hong Kong for over two decades.
NOTE: This summer story will be published every Wednesday.
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