Once upon a time, there was a furniture family: a little one — a stool, mum — a dining chair, dad — an office chair, grandma — a soft armchair with a blanket and cushion, and grandpa — a rocking chair. And they had a little dog — an ottoman.
The little stool was often asked to walk the ottoman, because everyone else was busy.
Mum — the dining chair — prepared dinner for the family. Dad — the office chair — worked all day at the office. Grandma — the soft armchair with a blanket and cushion — knitted cosy blankets for the other chairs. Grandpa — the rocking chair — read clever books, rocked thoughtfully, and creaked. Sometimes he went for walks, but he was quite old and couldn't keep up with the stool and the ottoman.
Every time after a walk, mum — the dining chair — told everyone to wash their legs properly, so they wouldn't dirty the floor in the house, and so they wouldn't catch anything. Usually the little one listened and washed thoroughly, with soap and sometimes even with a flannel.
But one day he came home, looked at his legs and decided they were clean enough. It had been dry and clean outside, so he decided he hadn't got dirty. Which meant there was no need to wash at all.
He sits down at the table, and mum — the dining chair — asks:
Did you wash your legs?
Yes, Mum!
The little stool answered.
Good lad. Let's have dinner then.
They sat down to eat. After they'd eaten, grandma — the soft armchair with a blanket and cushion — says to the stool:
Now you need to wash up, and then you can go play.
Alright, Gran!
The little one answered, but decided he hadn't got dirty, so he ran straight off to his toys. And didn't wash up.
He's sitting there, playing with his toys, and feels his legs itching. He scratched them, but they wouldn't stop. And the longer it went on, the more they itched! He decided to ask grandpa — the rocking chair — because he reads a lot and knows everything. He ran over and said:
Grandpa, why are my legs itching so much?
Did you wash them?
Grandpa — the rocking chair — asked.
No. But why wash them if I didn't get them dirty?
The stool answered sadly. And grandpa replied:
You need to wash even when you can't see the dirt! Because germs are so tiny that you can't see them without a microscope. You must wash your hands and legs after walks, before meals and after the loo, even if they look clean. And you didn't wash, so you've fallen ill. We need to get you to the furniture doctor quickly!
Just then, dad — the office chair — returned from work. He took the little stool and drove him straight to the best carpenter — that's what they call a furniture doctor.
The carpenter looked at the poorly legs, tapped them with a hammer and said:
Because of the dirt, woodworm have got in here. We need to saw off these legs and make new ones. But I've run out of suitable timber. So I'll take the stool's back and make new supports from it.
The chair family was upset that their child would now have to go about without a back. But they had to save him urgently, before the woodworm damaged everything else.
The carpenter spent ages unscrewing, sawing, cutting, sanding, and screwing things. And he made the stool brilliant new legs! Healthy and strong. And from then on, the little one always-always washed them before meals, after the loo, and after walks.
And now you know why all stools stand on strong legs, but have no backs at all.
