The origins of Groundhog day go back in history many centuries. It was based in folklore that said that when a groundhog comes out of his burrow and it is sunny and if he sees his shadow then winter will last another six weeks. If it is cloudy and he can't see his shadow then spring will come early.

This story is told from the view of the groundhog. Punxsutawney Phil is the name of the groundhog in this story, but there are a lot of different groundhogs around the world and each of them would have their own story. This is Phil's story.

On groundhog day Phil woke up early because of all the noise above his head. He was looking high and low for his slippers. He couldn't remember where he had taken them off. Dollar for donuts he had left them under his bed but he could never keep track of anything. This morning promised to be a heavy day because he was expected to get out of bed and go outside. You see in the winter, Phil usually stayed inside his nice burrow where it was warm and cozy. He was muttering and pulling things out from under the bed when he finally woke up Mrs. Phil who wanted to know what's up? He said that he was just trying to find his slippers and she told him to carry on but to keep the noise down. Phil took that as a hint and decided to call off the search for the slippers. He knew that today he should dress up, because everyone thought that he had a hidden talent to be a weather forecaster. But what can a groundhog do to dress up? He thought that the idea that he could tell weather by coming out of his burrow was just silly. He wasn't in the mood to go outside his burrow because he was warm and comfortable. If spring came early he would see the grass roots growing by just looking up from his bed (which was a burrow under a field of grass). He took this weather prediction idea with a grain of salt. What did he know about weather? He thought that maybe this year he would lie down on the job and not bother showing his head out of the burrow. He knew that he was the shining star of ground hog day and he was considered to the number one Groundhog. He'd heard the stories about all the other groundhogs that had the exact same job as Phil. There was Balzac Billy from Alberta, Canada and Grady the Groundhog from North Carolina and Susquehanna Sherman from Pennsylvania and lots of others. But were they all weatherman? Come on, didn't humans realize that predicting weather by coming out burrows was just a pack of lies? Despite this, he was a famous groundhog and he felt that the other groundhog's predictions didn't hold a candle to his predictions. All Phil knew was that this Susquehanna Sherman must be related to him, because their names sounded the same. He would like to just go back to bed or slip away further into his burrow. Phil knew that he couldn't do that because if he didn't come out of his burrow, someone would make him come out. He could hear the footsteps of the crowd that had gathered around his burrow and he knew whatever happened he would be coffee talk for all the humans who had come to rubberneck. He knew that there would be reporters who would be anxious to break a story about what happened. There would be mayors and cameras and cheers when he came out of the burrow. He thought he would talk to Philomena, (his wife) and ask her if she would like to come with him this time but he couldn't make up his mind if it was a good idea to wake her up again. Then he remembered the expression "Happy wife, happy life" and decided that that was a word to the wise, he would let her sleep. He thought that maybe he would have a drink of water before he went out. He didn't much like coffee this early in the morning and plain old water was his cup of tea. The only thing that he knew was that today he was in charge of the weather. The noise outside started to get very bad and he knew that he had better get out before someone made him come out, (and before they woke up Philomena). He decided that he should hurry up and get this over with. He wished that he could tell them all to keep their shirts on but he didn't know how to speak and the people didn't understand groundhog grunts and besides if he shouted, he would wake up Phiomena (Happy wife, happy life)! Phil knew the ins and outs of a happy marriage. Phil thought that on the bright side it would all be over soon. He was about to step out of the burrow when he thought hang on, where are my shoes. He decided that a groundhog would look silly in shoes so on the dot of 12:00 pm. he poked his head out of the burrow. The crowd went wild with excitement. Phil thought that humans were easily amused, but to keep things above board he stood up on his hind legs and looked around for his shadow. There it was clear as clear could be. Phil was disgusted because he had gotten out of bed for no good reason. Winter would continue for at least another six weeks. Phil thought to himself that he should have just stayed in bed for another six weeks.

Idioms in this Story went wild what's up word to the wise cup of tea dollar for donuts dress up shining star slip away call off carry on coffee talk rubberneck break a story number one on the bright side on the dot a heavy day a pack of lies above board lie down on the job look high and low make up your mind hang on hidden talent hold a candle hurry up in charge in the mood ins and outs keep track keep your shirt on grain of salt