○ Mrs. Wobble the Waitress (1980)
by Allen Ahberg & Janet Ahberg
1) Mrs. Wobble was a waitress.
2) She liked her work.
3) The customers liked her.
4) The only trouble was - she wobbled.
5) One day Mrs. Wobble wobbled with a bowl of soup.
6) The soup landed on a customer's dog.
7) Mrs. Wobble got told off.
8) The next day Mrs. Wobble wobbled with a plate of jelly.
9) The roast chicken landed on a customer's head.
10) Mrs Wobble got told off again.
11) The next day Mrs. Wobble wobbled with a plate jelly.
12) The jelly landed on the manager's head.
13) Mrs. Wobble got the sack.
14) Mrs. Wobble went home to her family.
15) Mr. Wobble cooked her tea.
16) The children tried to cheer her up.
17) “Cheer up, Ma!” they said.
18) “You will find another job - in another cafe!”
19) But there were no other cafes.
20) That was the only one in the town.
21) Mrs. Wobble knew this.22) “There are no other cafes,” she said.
23) And she began to cry.
24) The children did not like to see their mother cry.
25) It made them cry.
26) It made their father cry, too.
27) Then Mr. Wobble had an idea.
28) “I know what we can do,” he said.
29) “We can open a cafe of our own.”
30) “Where?” said Mrs. Wobble.
31) “Where?” said Miss Wobble.
32) “Where?” said Master Wobble.
33) “Here!” said Mr. Wobble.
34) “We can turn the house into a cafe!”
35) The next day the Wobble family turned their house into a cafe.
36) They cleaned and painted.
37) They moved the chairs and tables around.
38) They changed the curtains.
39) Mr. Wobble went shopping.
40) He bought meat and vegetables, fruit and fish, cheese and chicken, flour and a few other things.
41) The children went shopping, too.
42) The children went tow pairs of roller-skates and a fishing net.
43) “What are those for?” said the Mr. Wobble.
44) “It's a surprise, Pa,” the children said
45) “You wait and see!”
46) In the evening Mrs. Wobble made waiter's clothes for her children, and a cook's hat for her husband.
47) Mr. Wobble and the children made the menus.
48) The children went to bed.
49) Mr. and Mrs. Wobble stepped outside.
50) They looked at their new cafe.
51) “ It's the big day, tomorrow” Mr Wobble said.
52) “We are going to make our fortunes.”
53) “Yes,” said Mrs Wobble.
54) “The only trouble is - what if I wobble?”
55) The next day the children work up early.
56) “It's the bid day, today, Ma” Master Wobble said.
57) He gave his mother a cup of tea in bed.
58) Miss wobble gave her father a cup of tea in bed.
59) “We are going to make our fortunes today, Pa,” she said.
60) After breakfast Mr. Wobble began cooking.
61) Mrs, Wobble and Miss Wobble laid the tables.
62) Master Wobble went round the town with a sandwich-board.
63) The first customers arrived.
64) “Oh dear,” said Mrs. Wobble. “What if I ....?”
65) Mrs. Wobble wobbled with a bowl of soup.
66) “Help!” said the customer.
67) Miss Wobble skated to the rescue.
68) She caught the soup in another bowl.
69) “That's clever!” the customer said.
70) Mrs. Wobble wobbled with a roast chicken.
71) “Wow!” said the customer.
72) Master Wobble skated to the rescue.
73) He caught the roast chicken in a net.
74) “Hooray!” the customer said.
75) Then all the other customers cheered.
76) “Hooray, hooray!”
77) “This is more fun than a circus!” they said.
78) That night Mrs. Wobble counted the money.
79) “It looks like a fortune to us, Ma,” the children said.
80) Mr. Wobble gave them a hug.
81) “And we owe it all to the famous juggling waiters!” he said.
82) The next day there was a big crowd in the street.
83) The people had come from miles around to see the famous juggling waiters.
84) The children peeped out.
85) “There's a big crowd in the street, Ma,” they said.
86) “Yes,” said Mrs. Wobble.
87) And she began to laugh.
88) “Now the only trouble is - what if I don't wobble?”