Chatterbox: Inkwell

I wrote this tall tale about Slue Foot Sue for school, and thought that you guys might enjoy reading it. So here it is!

 How Slue Foot Sue Came to Get Her Catfish

Slue Foot Sue lived with her Mamma and her Daddy at the tip top of the Rio Grande River in Colorado. They lived all alone and there was no one to be seen for 500 miles in all directions. They were very happy and lived a good life.

One day, Slue Foot Sue went for a walk, and saw hoofprints. She got curious where they came from because there were no wagon tracks behind the prints, so she followed them She followed them for a week, going farther and farther away from the camp. Then, finally, Slue Foot Sue gazed out into the horizon and saw the prettiest horse she had ever seen in her life. It had a long white mane flowing down its golden back, and there was a white diamond on its forehead. It had long, strong legs with white hooves. Slue Foot Sue really wanted that horse. So she crept up to it, slowly, slowly, slowly. Then, with one huge leap, she jumped onto the horse's back screaming “YEE HAW!” The horse whinnied, reared back, and galloped all  the way back to camp, quick as a flash. When Mamma and Daddy saw what she brought home, they decided to let her keep it all to herself. So Slue Foot Sue named her horse Lightning, and she rode her 300 miles every day.

Slue Foot Sue and her Daddy loved fishing. They fished in the Rio Grande every day. They hoped that they would catch a whopper of a fish. But they never did. They caught only small catfish. The fish were good, but not what they dreamed of. They fished every day until the day came that Slue Foot Sue's Daddy fell into the river and was never seen by her again. Slue Foot Sue's Mamma was so sad, that she went off to find him, only leaving behind for Slue Foot Sue Lightning and a watermelon. Slue Foot Sue decided she better use the seeds to plant a watermelon patch, or she'd never survive. So she cut it open, picked out the five biggest, most plump seeds, and planted them, right then and there. She watered it, and made sure it got plenty of sun. Then, on the hottest day of the year, she woke up, and there sat the biggest watermelons in the biggest watermelon patch she'd ever seen! She was so happy that she spent the whole day fishing and eating watermelon, just relaxing. She caught three catfish, fried and ate two of them for dinner, but saved the other one in the water for the next day's meal, feeding it with slices of watermelon to get it plump. 

The next morning, which was August third, Slue Foot Sue fed the catfish some watermelon, and went to ride Lightning her 300 miles. On her way back to the camp, she squinted and saw something huge. She got closer and closer, and it seemed to get bigger and bigger. She reached her camp and saw the gigantic thing. “Holy guacamole!” said Slue Foot Sue. She jumped off Lightning and ran up to her catfish. “Man, have you grown!” The catfish was as big as a whale! She examined it day and night to find out what happened to the catfish. Finally, she figured it out. The giant watermelon seeds had grown into a giant watermelon inside of the catfish! She decided that this day should be national watermelon day, because of the huge watermelon, so it was, and it still is.

Lightning got jealous because Slue Foot Sue wasn't paying any attention to her, so she ran away. Slue Foot Sue was sad, but decided that if Lightning wanted to go, she could go.

Slue Foot Sue got bored up there, all alone with no horse and having completed her fishing goal, she didn't know the point of fishing anymore, except to eat the fish. So Slue Foot Sue took all of her belongings (which wasn't much), and rode down the Rio Grande on Watermelon, her catfish. It took a long time riding down the river, through all of the cold pitter-pattering of the rain, and the hot dryness of the sun beating down on them. But she made it. She rode all the way down to Texas, where she met the love of her life, Pecos Bill.

As soon as he saw her, his eyes widened. She could hear his heart thumping loudly -- boom boom boom! Secretly, she felt the same way. She knew that they were to have children in the future together. She jumped off of Watermelon, and before she could tie him up, Pecos Bill was down on one knee, proposing. “Will you marry me?” he asked her. She answered yes, and they were married the next day. They loved each other forever, and had many children. And every evening on August third, while all of her kids were munching on watermelons, Slue Foot Sue told the story of how she came to get her catfish, Watermelon. 

Please tell me how you like it!