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Current Read & Respond Story, Page 1 Princess Leah and the Gossiping Grapevine The day after the girls were adopted into the sisterhood as new Princesses, the King summoned the Royal Messengers to deliver the decree to each of the villages announcing the new Princesses of the Kingdom. Princess Leah asked the King if she could deliver the decree to her village with her twin sister Princess Lydia. The King was pleased with her and granted her request, but when the day to go came, Princess Lydia refused to leave the castle. So Leah headed to her former home in the village of Vineyard. From outside edge to outside edge of the village was the Gossiping Grapevine. The Grapevine ran throughout the village and anyone could take grapes from the vine. Some grapes were sweet and filled with kind words, but some were extremely bitter and filled with hurtful, ugly words. All the grapes looked the same so you did not know what you would receive until you ate the grape. You would then be filled with kindness or bitterness throughout the day. When Princess Leah returned home with the decree she was treated to grapes from the vine. She knew the grapes could be sweet or bitter so she refused them. This upset some of the villagers and they were out to cause trouble. During the middle of the night the angry villagers spoke evil rumors into the vine. The next morning as villagers gathered grapes for the day they noticed a change to the vine. It now had thorns. When someone pricked their fingers on the thorns, they were filled with evil rumors. By midday the rumors had spread throughout the village. Brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers were screaming and fighting, laughing and crying because the rumors were lies. As the rumors spread emotions increased. After a few days the villagers were having fun spreading rumors about other people, but when they heard rumors about themselves they were hurt. Princess Leah was so sad that her village was spending all their time gossiping that they skipped going to church on Sunday to praise the Lord. While Princess Leah was alone in the church praying to God for help, God gave her an answer, though risky, to help end the gossip vine. Princess Leah knew what to do, but had to wait until the village was asleep. By the light of the full moon Princess Leah went out and cut down every piece of the gossiping grapevine and she stomped out every last grape. When the sun came up she was covered in scratches and the bottom of her gown was stained purple from the grapes. She had fallen asleep in the grass next to the end of the cut down vine. The villagers awoke the next morning to collect their daily grapes and wailing broke out across the village… “Our vine is gone! Our vine is gone! Who did this?” Within an hour the villagers found Princess Leah sleeping in the grass covered with purple stains on her feet and gown. There was no question who had ruined the Gossiping Grapevine. Continued next page...
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