The Tale of the Meadow Tour

Audra was so excited.  Today, she and her friends were taking a tour of the meadow on the other side of the Polliwog Pond.  This tour only happened once per year, and last year everyone in her group had been too young to go.  This would be their very first year to participate.

            It took quite a while for everyone to make it to the entrance to the meadow.  However, once they reached the entrance, Audra was determined to be the first one to see the meadow.  Emerson the dragon started to fly ahead of Audra, and she grabbed him by the tail with her bill and pulled him back.

            “Hey!” exclaimed Emerson as Audra slung him to the side and pushed her way through the grass into the meadow.  Audra walked on as if nothing had happened, and Emerson gave her a very nasty look.

            The first stop on the tour was the bubbling brook.  Audra walked as fast as she could in order to the first one in the brook.  At the last minute, Xavier the frog hopped a little in front of Audra.  Audra stepped on his foot and pushed past him.  She splashed down into the brook so hard everyone else had to wait a minute to enter.

            “Audra, you stepped on me!” shouted Xavier.

            “Sorry,” said Audra as she swam around happily in the brook.  Xavier didn’t think she was sorry at all.

            The next stop on the tour was the field of Black-eyed Susans, beautiful yellow flowers with a big black center.  The butterfly twins, Summer and Madison, were very excited about this part of the tour.  However, when they tried to fly ahead of Audra, she spread her wings knocking both of them to the side so that she would be the first one there.

            At this point, the other four friends decided Audra needed to be taught some manners.  They let Audra go ahead of them and didn’t call after her when the tour went to the next stop.  After a few minutes, Audra turned around to find everyone else was gone.

            “Hey,” called Audra.  “Where is everybody?”

            Panicked, Audra waddled out of the field of flowers and saw that everyone else on the tour was already at the big maple tree.  She waddled as fast as she could to where the rest of the group stood.

            “Why did you leave me like that?” Audra demanded angrily.

            “We were tired of being stepped on and pushed,” stated Madison matter-of-factly.

            “Yeah, you didn’t get to be first to the maple tree, did you?” teased Emerson.

            Audra started to explode, but then realized that her friends had all turned their backs on her.  For a moment Audra thought about how she had acted so far on this tour.  She had pushed them and stepped on them among other things.  All she had been thinking about was being first.  Now, everyone was mad at her.

            “Hey guys,” Audra said trying to get their attention.  “I’m sorry I pushed you and stepped on you.  I promise I won’t try to be first for the rest of the day.”

            Summer turned around and looked at Audra.  “Do you really mean it?” she said.

            “Yes, I mean it,” said Audra starting to cry.  “Please don’t be mad at me anymore.”

            “Okay, we forgive you,” said Summer and the others agreed.

            For the rest of the tour Audra made a point to stay in the middle of the pack and made sure she was not first at any other attraction.  She laughed and talked with her friends about all the beautiful scenery and soon didn’t even have to try to not be first.  She realized that the best part of the tour was sharing it with her friends.

The Tale of the Trail

           Emerson the dragonfly flew into the clearing near Polliwog Pond searching for his friends.  Instead of seeing his friends, he found a note that read, “We have a huge surprise for everyone.  Please follow the trail of seeds through the tall grass until you find us.”  Signed, The Butterfly Twins.

            “I wonder what they have up their sleeve,” said Emerson to himself.

            He looked around until he found the trail snaking off into the tall grass and started to follow.  He had to fly close to the ground to keep the trail in sight, and Emerson did not like flying close to the ground.

            “Surely I can see the trail from higher if I look hard enough,” he said to himself.  With that, he flew up above the tall grass and started trying to find the trail.  For a few feet he could see it and then he lost it.  He flew this way but did not find it.  He flew the other way and still did not find it.  After searching for nearly 10 minutes, he gave up and flew back to the clearing.  He would have to start over.

            Slightly aggravated that he had to start all over, Emerson set off down the trail again.  For a while he made good progress, but then he spotted something off in the tall grass and strayed off the path to check it out.  It turned out to be a piece of paper that must have been thrown away by the people in the farmhouse.  Emerson turned around and tried to make his way back to the path.  He went the direction he was sure he had come from but after 5 minutes he still had not found the path.  Disgusted, he decided to try to find it from the above the tall grass, but as before he could not find it from up there.  He would have to go back to the clearing and start over again.

            This time when he reached the clearing he was really starting to get aggravated.  “Why did they have to make a stupid trail that we had to follow?” Emerson grumbled to himself.  “They could have just told us where it was on the note.”

            Emerson set out once more on the trail.  Even though he hated flying close to the ground, he made himself stay low so that he could see the trail.  Before long he came upon Hayden the turtle slowly making his way along the trail.

            “Good morning, Hayden,” said Emerson.  “How many times have you got lost trying to find this stupid surprise?’

            Hayden looked at Emerson a little funny and said, “I haven’t gotten lost.  As long as I stick to the trail, I should get there with no trouble, right?”

            “This is the third time I have set off on the trail,” said Emerson giving Hayden a serious look.  “You better be careful.  It is really easy to get lost.”

            “Okay, Emerson,” stated Hayden a little nervously.  “I’ll be careful to watch the trail.”

            With that, Emerson left Hayden behind and continued on the trail at a faster pace.  He really did not want to go at a turtle’s pace.  As he went along, Emerson let his mind begin to drift off on something that had happened a few days ago.  Before he knew it, he looked up and couldn’t see the trail.   Emerson stopped and landed on a piece of grass.  He could not believe that he was lost again.  He was just about to go back to the clearing and start again when he realized he could just fly until he found Hayden.  He might not be able to see the trail from above the tall grass, but he could see Hayden.

            Emerson flew up above the grass and began to search for Hayden.  Sure enough in a few minutes, he spotted his friend slowly making his way up the path.  Emerson flew to where Hayden was and landed on Hayden’s back.

            “I thought you were going on ahead,” said Hayden a little surprised to see Emerson again.

            Emerson did not want Hayden to know that he had gotten lost again so he said, “I just came to check on you and make sure you hadn’t gotten lost.”

            “No, I’m doing fine,” said Hayden.  “It really isn’t a hard path to follow as long as you pay attention.”

            Just then Xavier the frog came up behind Hayden and Emerson.  “Good morning, guys,” said Xavier.  “This is a really cool trail the twins have made through the tall grass.  I hope it stays here for a while.  I think it would be cool to do this again and again.”

            “Sure,” said Emerson not very enthusiastically.

            “Hey, Emerson, want to race me to the finish?” asked Xavier starting to hop faster.

            Emerson thought about how following this trail had gone thus far for him and wondered if he would get lost again if he raced with Xavier.  To tell the truth, he was tired and riding on Hayden’s back was rather nice.

            “No,” said Emerson.  “I think I’ll hang with Hayden and make sure he gets there all right.”

            Xavier hopped off and left Hayden and Emerson lumbering along on the path.  Before long they came into a small clearing that was decorated with flowers.

            “Surprise!” yelled the twins as they came into the clearing.  “We made a party for everyone.  See, we have blackberries, huckleberries, and even some grapes for everyone.  We wanted to celebrate our group.”

            “Wow,” exclaimed Hayden and Emerson continued, “This is really nice, guys.”

            As soon as Emerson saw the surprise, he completely forgot about all the trouble he had finding it.  However, the next time Emerson followed a trail, he made sure to pay strict attention to it until he found the end.

The Tale of the Tattle Tail

            It was the day of the Midsummer Festival on Polliwog Pond.  Everyone, EVERYONE had come out for the festivities.  Hayden the turtle and his family arrived after all his friends and their families.  Audra the duck, Emerson the dragonfly, Xavier the frog, and Summer and Madison the butterfly twins were already playing some of the many games set up for the day.  Audra, Summer, and Madison were swinging on the maypole.  Emerson and Xavier were trying to hit the bulls-eye on the dunking booth.  Xavier’s father was the one in the dunking booth at the moment.

            Hayden lumbered up to Emerson and Xavier.  “Hey guys, what are you doing?” he asked.

            “We’re trying to dunk Xavier’s dad,” said Emerson as he threw a ball at the bulls-eye, “but we aren’t having much luck.”

            “Can I try?” asked Hayden.

            “Sure, just let me finish my other two balls first,” stated Emerson.

            Hayden tried to wait patiently, but he was eager to get his turn.  When Emerson took longer than Hayden thought he should have taken, Hayden complained to the man in charge, “Emerson is taking too long.”

            The man told Emerson to hurry up and Emerson gave Hayden a nasty look.  When Emerson finished, he and Xavier left Hayden throwing balls at the bulls-eye and went to look for the girls.

            They found the girls at one of the eating tents snacking on cotton candy.  Emerson and Xavier joined them and bought some cotton candy as well.  After a while, Hayden found them in the tent.  As soon as he walked in, he said to the girls, “Emerson and Xavier left me at the dunking booth.”

            The girls looked at Emerson and Xavier, and Emerson said to Hayden, “We left you because you tattled on me.”

            “You were taking too long,” said Hayden.

            Summer looked at Hayden and said gently, “It’s not nice to try and get your friends in trouble, Hayden.  Next time tell Emerson instead of trying to get him in trouble.”

            When the friends were through, they all picked up their trash and put it in the trashcan.  Summer accidently missed the trashcan, but didn’t notice.  Hayden walked up to the person in charge of the eating tent and said, “Summer threw her trash on the ground.”

            The man called Summer and embarrassed, she picked up her trash and put it in the trashcan.  Summer didn’t speak to Hayden as she joined her friends.  Then the five friends walked to the cake walk tent leaving Hayden behind.

            Soon, however, Hayden caught up to them and joined them on the cake walk as another round started.  When the music stopped, Xavier took an extra step to another square.  Before the announcer could declare a winner, Hayden shouted out, “Xavier’s on the wrong square.”

            Xavier looked at Hayden is disbelief.  “What do you mean?” he asked defensively.

            “You took an extra step after the music stopped.  You should be on that square,” Hayden explained pointing to the square behind him.

            Xavier stepped back a square but gave Hayden a nasty look.  When the winner was announced, Audra, Emerson, Xavier, Summer, and Madison all left the cake walk tent in a hurry once again leaving Hayden behind.

            It took Hayden a long time to find his friends again, and when he did, he only found the girls.  Emerson and Xavier were no where to be found.  Hayden walked up to the girls and asked, “Where is Emerson and Xavier?”

            Just then, Emerson and Xavier jumped from behind a pole and fastened a long tail on Hayden.  “Hey, what are you doing?” Hayden cried.

            “We are putting a tattle tail on a tattle-tale,” they said plainly.

            “Get it off!!” Hayden cried with alarm as he spun trying to reach it.

            “Not until you promise to stop tattling on us,” said Madison firmly.

            “Yeah,” said Audra, “if you are going to be a tattle-tale, you should have a wear a long tail.  That is what we all have decided.”

            Hayden started to run to an adult and tell on his friends, but then he stopped and looked back at the tail his friends had attached to him.  He really had been a tattle-tale all day long.  He looked at his friends and then looked down at the ground and said, “I’m sorry guys.”

            “Do you promise to stop tattling on us?” Madison asked.

            “I’ll really try,” said Hayden.  “I know I’m bad at that.”

            “Yes you are,” said Audra, “but we’ll help you stop if you really want to stop.”

            “I do,” said Hayden as he looked at his friends.  “I know I don’t like to have somebody tattle on me.”

            “Okay guys, you can take the tail off of Hayden,” said Madison.

            Emerson and Xavier removed the tail.  Then all six friends went to find a spot to watch the lightning bug display because it was starting to get dark.  The lightning bug display filled the sky with light as the six friends watched in wonder.  Hayden was glad to not have a long tail anymore, and from that day forward, every time he started to tattle, his friends would just simply ask him, “Do you need a tattle tail?”  That usually stopped his tattling in its tracks.

The Tale of the Huckleberry

           Summer and Madison the butterfly twins were resting on a cattail next to Polliwog Pond waiting for their friends to arrive.  They had both had some flower nectar for breakfast, but Summer was still sort of hungry.

            “I don’t think I ate enough breakfast,” said Summer to Madison.  “My tummy is grumbling.”

            “Maybe when our friends get here, we can find something to snack on,” replied Madison.

            Just then Audra the duck waddled up the path to Polliwog Pond.  “Good morning, Summer and Madison,” said Audra.  “What were you talking about when I walked up?”

            “Summer didn’t eat enough breakfast and now she is hungry,” said Madison.

            “Well, I passed Hayden on my way here,” said Audra.  “Maybe he knows where we can get a snack.”

            The three friends set off down the path toward the clearing and soon came upon Hayden the turtle slowly making his way toward the pond.  “Good morning, Hayden,” said the twins together.

            “Good morning,” replied Hayden.  “I was on my way to the pond to see you.”

            “We decided to come find you instead,” said Audra.  “Summer didn’t eat enough breakfast and now she’s hungry.  We were wondering if you knew of something she might be able to snack on.”

            “Oh!” exclaimed Hayden.  “You are in such luck.  I noticed this morning that the huckleberries are ripe.”

            “What are huckleberries?” asked Madison with a weird look on her face.

            “They are small dark blue berries that grow on a small bush over by the fence.  They are kind of crunchy but sweet, too,” explained Hayden.

            “I don’t know about that,” said Summer skeptically.

            “Oh, come on,” said Hayden excitedly.  “I’m sure you’ll like them if you try them.”

            Hayden told Audra and the twins where to find the bush and sent them on ahead.  He would get there as fast as he could, but he didn’t want Summer to have to wait on him before she could have a snack.  When the three friends reached the bush, they all just stood there eyeing the berries suspiciously.

            Suddenly, Xavier the frog hopped out of the tall grass and yelled, “Boo!”

            “Good morning, Xavier,” said the three friends together as they rolled their eyes at him.

            “Didn’t I scare you even just a little bit?” asked Xavier disappointed that he hadn’t made them jump.

            Audra just ignored his question and asked, “Do you know anything about these berries?  Hayden says they are really good, but I don’t know about them.”

            Xavier looked up at the bush and replied, “I’m really not a berry kind of person, but those aren’t half bad.”

            “Really?” said Madison.

            The three friends eyed the bush again.  Then Summer’s tummy made a rumbling noise.  Audra walked up to the bush and picked one of the berries and brought it to Summer.  Summer looked at it like it was poison and backed away.

            “I’m not trying that,” she said giving Audra a determined look.

            Then Audra handed it to Madison.  Madison looked at it for a moment and then popped it in her mouth.  “Wow!” she exclaimed.  “These are different than any berry I have ever had.  Hayden is right. They’re crunchy and sweet at the same time.”

            Audra then went back to the bush and picked another one.  This time she popped it in her own mouth.  “You’re right,” she said to Madison.  “I really like these.”

            With that Audra and Madison went over to the bush and started eating heartily.  Summer watched them in dismay.  She was the one that was hungry, but she hated trying new foods.  Again, her tummy rumbled, and Summer sighed in disgust.  She started to get aggravated with Audra and Madison because they were munching happily.

            “Hey!” shouted Summer.  “I’m the one that is hungry.”

            “Well come on and eat,” said Audra with her mouth full of berries.   “These berries are SO good.”

            Summer looked hard at the berries again.  She slowly walked up to the bush and picked a berry.  She looked at it and crinkled up her nose.  Then she slowly put it in her mouth.  For a minute she thought about gagging, but then she tasted the sweetness of the berry.  She picked another one and popped it in her mouth.

            “Hey,” she said surprised.  “These are really good.”

            The three friends found a big leaf and picked a bunch of the berries to take with them back to Polliwog Pond.  For the rest of the morning they played and snacked on the berries.  Summer decided that huckleberries just might be her favorite berry in all the world.

The Tale of the Breakfast Hunt

          Xavier the frog stretched his legs as the sun rose in the morning sky.  His lily pad on Polliwog Pond had to be the most comfortable place to sleep in the whole world, but now it was time to find breakfast.  Xavier scanned his surroundings.  He spotted one fly, but it was out of reach.  He really didn’t want to have to work too hard for his breakfast this morning.  He let it go.

            After sitting for quite some time, he decided a fly wasn’t going to land anywhere near him.  He hopped off of his lily pad and onto the banks of Polliwog Pond.  Again, he scanned his surroundings.  This time he spotted a fly that was within reach.  Quickly, he shot out his tongue, but the fly was too fast.  It flew up and landed just out of his reach.  Xavier stared at the fly trying to decide if it was worth the effort of the chase.  He decided it wasn’t and set off down the path to the clearing.

            All along the path Xavier spotted flies that were just out of his reach, but he just really wasn’t in the mood to have to chase down his breakfast.  He was hoping to just get lucky and catch a fly unawares.  When he reached the clearing he met Emerson the dragonfly.

            “Good morning, Emerson,” said Xavier.  “What are you doing?”

            “I saw this humungous fly just a minute ago and I’m trying to figure out where it went,” said Emerson excitedly.  “That fly is going to be my breakfast.”

            “Not if I see it first,” said Xavier trying to find the fly that Emerson had seen.

            “There it is!” shouted Emerson as he took flight.  The fly had just taken off into the air and Emerson was in hot pursuit.

            Xavier just grunted when he saw how far away the fly was and decided to just let Emerson have that one.  Before long, Emerson came back with a huge smile on his face.  “That fly was delicious,” he said.

            Xavier gave Emerson a nasty look and then hopped to the other side of the clearing.  He was starting to really get hungry now.

            Just then the butterfly twins flew up.  “Good morning, Xavier,” they said at the same time.  Xavier thought it was so annoying when they did that.

            “Good morning, Summer and Madison,” said Emerson as he flew up next to them.  “I just had the most delicious fly for breakfast.”

            “We found some sweet nectar in a flower patch over by the fence,” said Summer.  “What did you have for breakfast, Xavier?” asked Madison.

            “Nothing, yet,” said Xavier grumpily, “and if you will excuse me, I need to find me some.”

            Xavier headed back down the path toward Polliwog Pond looking everywhere for an easy catch for his breakfast.  He was looking so hard that he nearly ran over Audra the duck as she made her way to the clearing.

             “Oh!” shouted Xavier as he looked up to see Audra right in front of him.

            “Good morning, Xavier,” said Audra pleasantly.  “What are you doing?”

            “I’m trying to find some breakfast,” said Xavier.

            “Oh, I saw a bunch of flies down by the pond,” stated Audra.  “I’m sure you can find some breakfast there.”

            Xavier thanked her and went back to the pond.  Sure enough, there were plenty of flies but none of them were an easy catch.  Suddenly, Xavier’s tummy began to rumble.  He was really starting to get hungry now.  Maybe he should pick a decent size fly and hunt it down.  If he kept waiting for an easy catch, he might not get any breakfast at all.  Just then, a large fly flew by his nose and Xavier decided that was the one.  He set out in hot pursuit.  It took him a few minutes, but his efforts were rewarded.  Soon his tummy was all full.

            Xavier made his way back to the clearing to play with his friends.  For the rest of the morning they played hide and seek, and when lunchtime came, Xavier decided to go on the hunt right away.  Waiting for his meals to come to him only made for a hungry frog.

The Tale of the Boring Afternoon

Illustration by Nick  Age:  8
Ms. Ashley James 2nd grade class

          Emerson the dragonfly sat on a cattail next to Polliwog Pond.  He was bored.  He wished his friends would come to Polliwog Pond so that he could play with them, but they were nowhere in sight. 

            Finally after sitting and waiting longer than he could stand, he set out in search of his friends.  He found the butterfly twins, Summer and Madison, in the clearing.  They were making flower headbands.

Illustration by Amelia  Age:  8
Ms. Ashley James 2nd grade class

            “Hey guys,” Emerson called.  “What are you doing?”

            “We’re making flower headbands for Audra’s birthday party tomorrow,” said Summer.  “She wants everyone at the party to have one.”

            “Oh,” sighed Emerson.  He figured they would be too busy to play with him.

            “Have you seen Hayden and Xavier?” asked Emerson hopefully.

            “We saw them a couple of hours ago,” said Madison.  “They said something about pretending to be pirates.  Hayden was going to be the ship, and they were going over to the other side of the pond to look for buried treasure.”

            “Oh,” signed Emerson.  He really didn’t want to fly all the way across the pond and going around would take too long.

            “Well I guess I’ll leave you guys to your work,” said Emerson as he flew back to the pond. 

Illustration by Neely  Age:  7
Ms. Ashley James 2nd grade class

            He landed on the same cattail he had been sitting on before.   He sighed.  Then he started getting angry with his friends for being gone or being busy.  Then he started feeling sorry for himself because he was so bored.  He sighed again.

            After he could stand it no longer, he decided he would fly around.  At least it was better than sitting and pouting.  He flew over the tall grass hoping to find something interesting, but all he saw were rocks, grass, and dirt.  He landed on a rock and sighed again.  He went through the same thoughts he had had on the cattail, but it didn’t make him any less bored.

Illustration by Brooke  Age:  8
Ms. Ashley James 2nd grade class

            As he sat there going through all the reasons his friends had abandoned him, he began to notice the rock under him.  It reminded him of a tower on a castle.  Then he remembered all the rocks he had seen as he flew over the tall grass, and an idea began to form.  He flew back to the tall grass and began to bring rocks to the tower rock.  He carefully placed them to make walls.  He placed some in such a way that they formed a gate.  He worked and worked until he had made a rock castle fortress.  When he was satisfied with his new creation, he flew back to Polliwog Pond to see if Hayden and Xavier had returned from the other side of the pond.

Illustration by Presieya  Age:  7
Ms. Ashley James 2nd grade class

            As he reached the banks, he saw Hayden with Xavier riding on his back swimming toward him.  They had all kinds of rocks and other treasures that they had found on the other side.

            “Har! Maties!” called Xavier when he saw Emerson.  “Who goes there!”

            “Hey guys,” said Emerson excitedly.  “I’m so glad you are back.  Come see the rock fortress I made this afternoon.”

Illustration by Jamaree  Age:  8
Ms. Ashley James 2nd grade class

            Xavier climbed down from Hayden’s shell when they reached the shore.  Then the two friends followed Emerson.  When they reached the rock castle fortress, Hayden and Xavier just stood there with their mouths open for a few minutes.

            “Did you make this all by yourself?” exclaimed Xavier obviously impressed.

            “This is the coolest castle I have ever seen!” said Hayden as he stared in wonder at Emerson’s creation.

            “Hey, why don’t you guys put your treasure in the castle, and we can pretend we are defending it against invaders,” suggested Emerson.

            Hayden and Xavier liked that idea a lot.  The boys went into the castle and defended it from invaders for the rest of the afternoon.  That castle became one of their favorite places to play.  Emerson was so proud that he had made it all by himself.

The Tale of the Copy Cat

Illustration by Xander  Age:  6
Ms. Ashley Miles 1rst grade class

          Audra the duck, Xavier the frog, Hayden the turtle, and Summer and Madison the butterfly twins were all playing tag along the banks of Polliwog Pond.  After a while, everyone decided to take a break and sat down in various places along the banks.

            “Wow! That was fun!” exclaimed Audra the duck.

            “Wow!  That was fun!” echoed Hayden the turtle.

            Audra gave Hayden a funny look but decided to just let it go.  Then she slid into the waters of Polliwog Pond and began floating on the water.  “Ah, this feels good,” she stated.

Illustration by Helaina  Age:  6
Ms. Ashley Miles 1rst grade class

            Hayden the turtle lumbered over to the water and crawled in as well.  As he floated on the water, he said, “Ah, this feels good.”

            At this point, Audra looked at Summer, Madison, and Xavier with a weird look on her face.  Her three friends returned her weird look, but still didn’t say anything.  Then Audra began to swim around and Hayden followed her.

            “Hayden, what are you doing?” asked Audra just a little bit aggravated.

            “I’m just swimming around,” stated Hayden plainly.

            “Why do you keep doing everything I’m doing?” asked Audra getting more aggravated by the minute.

            “We just happen to want to do the same things,” explained Hayden.

Illustration by Caelyn  Age:  7
Ms. Ashley Miles 1rst grade class

            “Well, go do something else,” said Audra.  “You are getting on my nerves.”

            With that, Audra set out for deeper water, but so did Hayden.  Then she swam back to shore, and Hayden followed her.  Audra was just about to explode and start yelling at Hayden when Summer landed on the end of her nose.  Summer whispered something in Audra’s ear, and Audra began to smile wickedly.  She glanced back at Hayden with that same wicked smile on her face.  Hayden just tried to act normal, but he did have a worried look come across his face.

Illustration by Colby  Age:  7
Ms. Ashley Miles 1rst grade class

            Just then, Audra set out for the deep water again.  Suddenly, she put her head under the water with her tail stuck up in the air.  Hayden tried to copy her, but ended up flipped over on his back.

            “Help!” Hayden cried trying to keep his head up out of the water.

            Madison flew over and landed on Hayden’s stomach.  “Are you going to quit trying to copy Audra?” she asked sternly.

            “Yes, yes!” he replied.  “I promise.  Just, please help me get back upright.”

            Madison looked over at Xavier and nodded.  Then Xavier jumped into the water and swam under Hayden.  He grabbed Hayden’s tail and pulled down hard flipping Hayden right side up again.

            “Thanks, Xavier,” said Hayden.

            “You’re welcome,” said Xavier, “but why in the world were you copying Audra like that?”

Illustration by Avelina  Age:  6
Ms. Ashley Miles 1rst grade class

            “I don’t know.  I just wanted to.  I thought it would be fun,” answered Hayden.

            “Well, let me suggest you never WANT to do that again,” said Audra very sternly.

            “Okay, “ said Hayden.

            For the rest of the afternoon, the five friends played follow the leader and made Hayden be “it” quite a bit.  They wanted to make sure he completely understood how annoying it is to have someone copy your every move.  It didn’t take Hayden long to understand their point of view, and he decided being a copy cat would probably never be a good idea again.