a
reference to Little Orphant (orphan) Annie, a poem written in 1885 by
American poet James Whitcomb Riley (1849-1916). The poem tells of an orphan
girl named Annie who is taken in by a family for whom she does daily chores. At night, Annie sits around the kitchen
fire and tells the
children frightening stories of big black
goblins that will get them if they do not
mind their parents and teachers,
help the poor and needy, etc. One story tells of a
boy who will not say his prayers when he goes to
bed. One night his
mother and father hear him
screaming and shouting from his room. When they go to see what is
wrong, the
boy's clothes are there but he is missing and nowhere to be found as the
goblins got him.