The Tale of the Annoying Tongue

Illustration by Sierra  Age:  8
Ms. Jessica Mathis 3rd grade class

          Xavier the frog sat on a lily pad in the middle of Polliwog Pond.  He was resting.  All morning he had been target practicing with his tongue.  Now he sat taking a short nap while he waited for his friends to arrive. 

            The first to arrive was the butterfly twins, Summer and Madison.  They landed on a cattail next to the pond.  Xavier acted like he was asleep, and then shot out his tongue at the twins startling both of them.

            “Hey!” they shouted together.

            “What do you think you are doing?” Summer said and then Madison finished, “by shooting us with your tongue.  We are not flies!”

Illustration by Luke  Age:  8
Ms. Jessica Mathis 3rd grade class

            Xavier laughed so hard he fell off the lily pad and into the water.  The twins did not think it was funny.  They flew away to the clearing to look for their other friends.

            Xavier swam to shore and decided he would try his target practicing skills on the rest of his friends.  He quietly crept toward the clearing through the tall grass.  Before he reached the clearing, he saw Hayden the turtle lumbering slowly up the path.  Xavier took up a position in front of Hayden.  Then he shot out his tongue hitting Hayden right on the nose. 

            “Hey!” cried Hayden as he pulled his head back into his shell.  His voice echoed from his shell as he said, “What was that?”

            Xavier laughed so hard he fell over and rolled onto the path.  “You should have seen your face when I hit your nose,” laughed Xavier.

            Hayden stuck his head out of his shell and answered angrily, “You scared the life out of me.  That hurt, Xavier!”

            Xavier kept laughing as Hayden resumed his march toward the clearing.  Hayden didn’t even look back at Xavier as he walked.  He didn’t think it was so funny.

Illustration by Madison Age:  8
Ms. Jessica Mathis 3rd grade class

            Just then Xavier heard Audra the duck coming up the path.  He quickly hid in the grass and waited for her to get to where he was.  Then he shot out his tongue and wrapped it around her leg making her fall down.  She spread her wings trying to keep her balance but fell face first in the dirt.  When she managed to get back on her feet, she saw Xavier laughing hysterically on the edge of the path.

            “Why you little monster!” Audra said with a glare.   “You deliberately tripped me!”

Illustration by Summer  Age:  8
Ms. Jessica Mathis 3rd grade class

            Xavier was laughing so hard he couldn’t even answer her.  Audra waddled off without even glancing back in Xavier’s direction.  She didn’t think it was funny.

            When Xavier caught his breath, he decided to go to the clearing.  When he got there, his friends all turned their back on him and acted like he wasn’t even there.  A wicked thought came into Xavier’s head, and he shot out his tongue in rapid succession hitting each on them on the backside.

            “Why! I never!” exclaimed Audra as she headed back for Polliwog Pond.

            The butterfly twins didn’t even say a thing to Xavier.  They simply flew away back to Polliwog Pond.  Hayden, however, couldn’t go anywhere fast and did not want to be the only target for Xavier.  Therefore, he drew up in his shell.

            “Hey guys!” called Xavier. “Come back.  I was only joking!”

            From inside his shell, Hayden said, “We don’t like the way you joke, Xavier.”

            “You guys don’t have any sense of humor at all,” said Xavier as he started to leave.

            Hayden poked his head out of his shell and said to Xavier as he was leaving, “A true friend does not mistreat his friends and then think it's funny.”

            Xavier acted like he didn’t hear Hayden, but he had.  He hopped back to Polliwog Pond and found that Audra and the twins wouldn’t let him anywhere near them without leaving.  Suddenly he realized that his friends were really mad at him, and he started to worry they might not be his friend anymore.

Illustration by Devin  Age:  8
Ms. Jessica Mathis 3rd grade class

            “Hey guys, I’m sorry!” called Xavier to Audra and the twins as they swam and flew away from him again.  “I promise I won’t shoot my tongue at you anymore.  Just, please, come back.”

            The twins flew back in his direction, but still stayed well out of his range and said, “How do we know that you are not tricking us so you can shoot us again.  We don’t want to play with you today.”

Illustration by Alex  Age:  8
Ms. Jessica Mathis 3rd grade class

            Now Xavier was really starting to worry that he had messed up so bad that his friends would never forgive him.  “Okay, okay,” Xavier said in desperation.  “I’m sorry for shooting you with my tongue.  It wasn’t funny.  Please, don’t keep running away from me.”

            At this point Audra turned back in Xavier’s direction.  “Are you really sorry?” she asked.  “Really and truly?”

            Xavier hung his head and replied, “I’m really and truly sorry.  Please, still be my friends.”

            Audra looked at the twins and nodded.  “We forgive you,” they all said together, “but don’t you ever do that again            !”

            The four friends went back to the clearing to be with Hayden.  For the rest of the afternoon they played tag, but Xavier was forbidden to use his tongue against them for the rest of his life.