Horrid Henry's Thank You Letter (story)

"Horrid Henry's Thank You Letter" is a short story by American children's author Francesca Simon.
==Synopsis==
Horrid Henry hits on a brilliant way to write thank you letters.
== Plot ==
The story begins with Henry relaxing on the sofa, eating crisps and watching Terminator Gladiator, when Mum asks Henry if he's written his thank you letters. When Henry says he hasn't, Mum turns off the TV and orders him to write to Aunt Ruby, Great Aunt Greta and Grandma for the Christmas presents they sent him, which were a hideous lime green cardigan, a Baby Poopie Pants doll and £15. When Henry calls Mum and Dad the meanest, most horrible parents in the world, Dad sends him to his room, with Mum telling him not to come out until he's written his thank you letters.
In his room, Henry remembers that Dad said he had to write one page, and procedes to do so in his biggest, most gigantic handwriting, filling up the whole page. When Mum comes into the room to see how he's getting on, she is not impressed by Henry's 'letter'. When Henry insists he wrote one page because Dad told him to, she tells him to write five sentences. Henry wonders how it's possible to write five sentences without his hand falling off. He picks up his pencil, and scrawls down a no thank you letter. Satisfied with it, Henry pops it in the envelope. After all, Mum never said it had to be a nice thank you letter. Henry decides to send the same letter to Great Aunt Greta. Since Grandma had sent him a better present, he sends her a more pleasant letter.
During this, Henry suddenly has a brilliant, spectacular idea - set up his own thank-you letter writing business, charging 50p per letter and two for 75p. The business is a success, with Dizzy Dave buying three letters, Ralph buying four and even Moody Margaret buying one. Henry is initially thrilled by the prospect of getting rich, but then realises he now has seventeen letters to write. Knowing it will take him a very long time to write them all, Henry looks for a way to get the job done more quickly. He sits down at the computer, and types up a "fill in the blank" letter that ends with "Next time just send lots of money." Happy that the letter covers everyone's needs, Henry prints out seventeen copies and posts them.
Two weeks later, Henry's customers arrive at his house, all angry at him:
* Moody Margaret is banned from watching TV for a week after her Granny sent the letter back.
* Aerobic Al gets grounded.
* Lazy Linda is forced to go Swimming.
* Greedy Graham is banned from Sweets.
* Rude Ralph is banned from Pocket Money.
Outraged, Henry slams the front door shut. Shortly after, Mum says that she just received the strangest phone call from Aunt Ruby, referring to the 'No Thank You' letter Henry sent her.
==Characters==
*Horrid Henry
*Perfect Peter
*Mum
*Dad
*Kung-Fu Kate
*Moody Margaret
*Rude Ralph
*Lazy Linda
*Greedy Graham (not seen)
*Aerobic Al (not seen)
*Rich Aunt Ruby (mentioned)
*Great Aunt Greta (mentioned)
*Grandma (mentioned)
*Mean Uncle John (mentioned)
*Margaret's Granny (mentioned)
*Dizzy Dave (referenced/illustration only)
*Linda's Aunt (referenced)
==Behind the Scenes==
"Horrid Henry's Thank You Letter" was written by Francesca Simon and features art from Tony Ross.
==Appears In==
*Horrid Henry: Underpants Panic (2003)
*Horrid Henry Rules the World (2007)
Category:Stories