The Wishing Needle

The Wishing Needle is adapted from a Ugandan folktale. I first heard this story when I visited my grandmother. Every evening I listened to mygrandmother's stories. My grandmother had about twenty eight chickens and she had named each one of them. She called her chickens by name. Mygrandmother woke up very early everyday to let her chickens out.

One day, my grandmother's favorite chicken, Toke, disappeared. We were all saddened by Toke's disappearance. That evening we sat by the fire andsadly remembered Toke. After a long silence, grandmother started to narrate the story of The Wishing Needle.