sample:
Feeling sad in a shell that was both grey and drab
lived a creature called Harriet the hermit crab.
Her shell you see was far too small,
and she didn't like the way it pinched at all.
She needed a shell that was somewhat bigger
in which to fit her fuller figure.
She searched over here and she searched under there,
She searched for a perfect shell everywhere.
Plenty of shells lay all around on the sand,
some of them new and even more second hand.
Harriet climbed into this one, she climbed into that,
some were too thin, some far too fat.
'Oh no' sighed Harriet the hermit crab,
'All these shells are also so terribly drab.
What I need is one that fits me well,
but that's also a colourful and beautiful shell.'
There on the beach by the old sea wall
was a lady with a painted sea shell stall.
There were red shells, green ones and a few sky blue,
some spotted and striped and a shiny gold one too.
Harriet scurried a little closer, sat down and thought,
'How can I reach them? I'm far, far too short'
Children huddled around the shells on the stall,
stroking, touching and feeling them all.
Soon an idea came into her mind,
although truth be told it wasn't at all kind.
But Harriet needed a shell, and wanted it now.
So how did she get it? Well, l will tell you how.
She sat by some toes all wriggly and bare,
then she gave the children a tremendous scare.
With her sharp pincers all snapping and wild
she nipped at the toes of every poor little child.
Shouting for their mums with enormous yells,
the children ran fast, dropping all the sea shells.
There they lay on the sand, in gold, reds and blues
seeming to wait for Harriet to choose.
Without any doubt she loved the gold one best,
It was prettier and shinier than all of the rest.
She fitted inside it, snug but yet not too tight.
It looked truly magnificent and fitted just right.
Harriet's friends were all so terribly jealous,
They cried 'How did you get it? Oh please do tell us!'
Now no toes are safe by the old sea wall,
so children wear their shoes at the painted sea shell stall.
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