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| Illustration by Summer Age: 8 Paris, TN |
Hayden the turtle was slowly making
his way up the path toward the tall grass. He was on a mission.
This morning he had heard two snakes talking while he was still in his
shell about ripe blackberries over by the fence that divides the tall grass
from the farmyard. He didn’t know
about other turtles, but he absolutely loved blackberries. They were his favorite fruit. He was going to get some even if it took
him all day to get there.
Suddenly
Emerson the dragonfly flew up to him and landed on a piece of grass close to
the path. “Where are you going,
Hayden?” asked Emerson.
“I’m
on my way to the fence between the tall grass and the farmyard. I heard there were ripe blackberries
over there. I just have to get
some before they are all gone,” explained Hayden.
“But
that will take you all day!” exclaimed Emerson.
“I
don’t care. I LOVE blackberries,
and they never last long. I want
to get some even if it does take me all day,” said Hayden.
“Okay,
good luck, Hayden,” Emerson said as he flew toward the pond.
When
Emerson arrived at the pond he found his two friends Audra the duck and Xavier
the frog. He told them about what
Hayden was doing and said, “It’s going to take Hayden all day just to get to
the fence. That’s a long way. Do you think we could do something to
help him?”
“Yeah,
why don’t we go get the blackberries for him and bring them back to him,”
suggested Audra. “That way he
won’t have to sleep at the fence tonight, but he’ll still get some
blackberries.”
“Great
idea!” exclaimed Emerson and Xavier together.
The
three friends set out for the fence using a different path than Hayden. Emerson flew overhead so he could help
them find the shortest path to the blackberries. Once they arrived at the blackberry briars, they realized
they had a slight problem. How
would they pick the blackberries and get them to Hayden?
“These
blackberries have huge thorns!” Audra exclaimed. “How are we going to get to them without getting stuck?’
“When
we do get them,” said Xavier, “how are we going to carry them?”
The
three friends sat and pondered their problem. Suddenly Emerson flew away and returned with a large
leaf. “I’ve got an idea,” said
Emerson. “Xavier, you can knock
the blackberries down with your tongue.
Next, Audra, you can pick them up and put them in this leaf basket I am
making right now. Then I will pick
up the basket with my legs and fly them to Hayden.”
The
three friends all agreed that was a good plan and got right to work. Xavier could knock the blackberries off
without having to get close to the thorns. He just had to be careful how he shot his tongue. Audra very gently picked the berries up
in her bill and placed them in the basket. The basket could only hold three berries so Emerson made two
baskets. When they finished
filling the first basket, Emerson took off to where Hayden was still slowly
walking in their direction. He
placed the basket in front of Hayden and flew back to get the second
basket. When Emerson came back for
the second basket, Audra was eating a few blackberries of her own. Xavier wasn’t interested in the
berries. Emerson picked up the
second basket and flew back to Hayden with his two friends right behind him.
As
the three friends approached Hayden, they saw him happily eating the
blackberries from the first basket.
When he saw them, he said, “You guys are the greatest friends in the
world. Now I have blackberries,
and I can still play with you for the rest of the afternoon. Thanks a million!”
“You’re
welcome,” said Emerson, Audra, and Xavier together. After Hayden finished his blackberries, the four friends
played “Hide and Seek” in the tall grass until dark.
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