Dennis was 5 years old and lived with his parents and his grandmother, in a sweet little white house with a red roof and a garden. On sunny days, he loved to play in the garden with his toy lawn mower, or cycle around the driveway. He was a well-mannered boy and always listened to his teacher and parents. He dressed neatly, washed his hands before meals and spoke politely to everyone. All the grown-ups fondly patted his head and said, ‘What a good boy you are, Dennis’ and Dennis beamed with pleasure. However, Dennis had one bad habit. He hated sharing. He would not share his toys and he would not share his books. He never shared his pencils, and most of all, he hated sharing his chocolates and candy.
His mother said, ‘Dennis! Do share your toys with your cousins Polly and Peter when they come for tea.’
‘Yes mother,’ said Dennis, but did he share? Not he. He hid all his toys in the cupboard, and after a delicious tea of hot and buttery cheese toast, gooey chocolate cake and star shaped cookies, he merrily played with Polly's golden haired doll and Peter's big red fire truck.
When Peter said, ‘Let’s play trains, Dennis, lay your tracks,’ Dennis would say ‘my train is not working properly, so we cannot play with it today.’ Ooh, what an untruthful thing to say. He knew perfectly well that his trains were fine and he meant to play with them as soon as his cousins left.
One day, Dennis was in his favorite spot on the lawn playing garage with all his cars lined up, when Great Aunt Martha came by for a visit.
‘Dennis! Aunt Martha is here, come and see her,’ called his mother from the steps near the porch. Dennis came running because he knew Aunt Martha always brought him big bags of the best chocolates and candy. Sure enough, Aunt Martha was carrying a green colored package, and it seemed even bigger than last time.
‘Oh, what a lot of chocolates,’ thought Dennis, excited. ‘Good morning Aunt Martha, how are you today?’ asked Dennis in his politest voice.
‘I am very well thank you, Dennis, and how is my favorite nephew?’
‘I am doing fine, Aunt Martha. I stood first in the drawing competition at school.’
‘Oh, what a good boy you are, Dennis,’ said Aunt Martha patting his back. ‘Here is something for you for doing so well at school,’ and she handed him the bag of candies. Dennis thanked her and raced to the garden so he could start on the bag. He had just opened the bag and started sucking on a big rainbow colored lollipop, when Nanny came to call him. He had forgotten all about the play date with his friends John and Ted. Dennis was not happy because he knew that Nanny would make him share his goodies with his friends, and he did not want to do that. So guess what he did. He quickly stuffed the bag of chocolates down a rabbit's burrow in the garden and ran to greet his friends. Nanny was busy speaking with Ted's mother, and did not notice. Dennis had a great time playing Hide and Seek with Johnny and Ted until it was too dark to see. Johnny's mother came to pick up both the children and Dennis's mother called him in to dinner. There was apple pie for dessert and Dennis definitely did not want to miss that, so he ran in, washed his hands, brushed his hair and sat down to eat. He forgot all about his bag of chocolates until he was saying his prayers before going to bed and by then it was too late to go and get them.
Next day, as soon as he was awake, Dennis rushed to the garden to retrieve his precious candy, but what a nasty shock for him. His wonderful gummy bears, lollipops, peppermint, chocolate fudge,
nougat candy, bulls-eyes, were all soggy and dirty. Several pieces lay scattered on the ground, and almost all of them had been bitten by the rabbits and other garden insects during the night. Not one of them could be eaten any more. He was so upset he could feel tears welling up in his eyes. When mother asked him why he looked so sad, he started crying and showed her the candy spread on the ground. His mother held him close and hugged him.
‘Dennis,’ she said, ‘you have had your punishment, so I won't scold you anymore, but would it not have been nicer to have shared a few of your chocolates with your friends and eaten the rest yourself, rather than not sharing and not getting any?’
‘Yes mother,’ sobbed Dennis. ‘I will never be selfish again.’ ‘Then I will say no more, and here is a pound for you to go and buy yourself a nice bag of assorted candies.’ Dennis had learnt his lesson and was never selfish again.
That morning, he met Susan at the candy store and offered her two of his biggest jelly beans. He called to Peter from across the road and gave him a nice lollipop for himself. Peter was surprised, but very happy. ‘How nice Dennis is!’ he said to his sister, ‘I will give him my shiniest marble the next time we go over to play at his house.’ Dennis was never mean again and Mother was so proud of her son.