4. THE FRIENDLY FOREST
It was spring time in The Friendly
Forest. Many, many animals lived there. All the animals that lived in the
Forest grew up having a great time. When the days were nice they could
spend their time playing in the shade of the big trees and by the pond.
Dwayne, Sally, Dick and Dolly Duck lived in The Friendly Forest. It has
been there home for a very long time. They loved living in The Friendly
Forest.
Dick and Dolly were getting older now.
They were getting strong and healthy from playing all day in the outdoors.
They had lots of energy because they had good fresh food to eat and good
rest at night. That spring, the Duck family had two more members. Sally
showed them the nest with two eggs in it. It wasn't very long before Dick
and Dolly had a new brother and new sister. There names were Howie and
Betty. They all got along really well with one another. Dick and Dolly
liked to take Howie and Betty with them when they went out to play in the
Friendly Forest. Dick and Dolly took them to the pond where they would
swim and play in the shade of the big trees. Dwayne and Sally were proud
of their family for they were truly a happy family.
Then one day Dick, Dolly, Howie and
Betty were trying to decided what they should do,"What can we do today?"
Howie said, "Lets go play outside?" Dick said, "That is a good idea. But
we have to ask Mom first." Dick asked his Mom, "Can we play outside?" His
Mom said, "Yes, you may. But you must finish your chores before you go out
to play. You have to make your beds, and clean your rooms." Dolly said,
"We have finished all our chores and have even done our homework. May we
go out to play now?" "All right. You did you chores well. You may go
play." Sally said. "But one thing, Dick, you are oldest of the children.
Remember that I have told you before to watch over the little ones and be
careful." Dick answered, "I kept my eye on Dolly last summer when we went
camping. Remember?" "Did I do a good job?", he asked. Sally said, "Yes,
you did a very good job. Before you go, tell your brother and sisters that
you have to stay close together. Don't go too far into the Forest and stay
close to the pond so the little ones won't get lost in the woods."
Sally asked Dick,"Do you
understand?" Dick answered his Mom, "Yes, Ma'am." Sally said to Dick,
"Now, you can tell your brother and sisters that you all can go play
outside, but remember what I told you." Dick said, "Yes ma'am. I will not
forget" Dolly ask Dick, "Did Mom say it was ok for us to go?" "We have to
stay close together. And we have to stay out of the woods so we won't get
lost," Dick said to his brother and sisters." They were all excited! Dick,
Dolly, Howie and Betty waddled down the path toward the pond for a swim.
They were very happy for they knew that they would have a wonderful day.
"Remember this pond, kids." Dick said, "This is where Dolly and I learned
to swim real well. I taught Dolly. You little ones were just starting to
swim. Lets go swimming now that we have a chance." They all hopped into
the pond and swam for a long time. They didn't know how late it was
getting because they were having too much fun. Dick said, "It is time to
go home for supper. Let's go before it gets too dark. It is getting dark
fast. They were going to be late for supper. They jumped out of Blue Pond
and started back home as fast as the could go. But it was getting so dark
that they couldn't see their way home. Dick got turned around and they
went the wrong way. They were lost in the Friendly Forest. Dick said to
his brother and sisters, "I think we are lost." Dolly asked Dick "We are
not really lost, are we? We always go straight from the pond to home and
we have never gotten lost before.". Dick said, "I know, but we must have
taken the wrong path because it was so dark." They all began to be
frightened, but they tried to be brave. They were also tired and hungry.
Sally saw that it was getting later and later and said to Dwyane, "The
kids are not home, yet. Something must have happened to them. They have
never been late like this before." Dwyane said to Sally, "We will have to
go look for them right away. Our neighbors will help us find them. We will
go tell them."
Dwayne
went to their neighbors' house and said to them, "Our children haven't
come home from their walk in the woods. Can you help us find them,
please?" Their neighbor said, "We sure will help you find them. How long
have they been gone?", Dwayne said' "They have been gone all day. They all
went for a swim. They were supposed to be back by supper time." Their
neighbors were Sam, the Sparrow and his wife, Delilah. Sam said, "I will
be glad to help you find your young ones." Dick knew that they could not
find their way in the dark, so they found a little cave for shelter for
the night. They were all very tired. They all four cuddled up so they
wouldn't be afraid and fell fast asleep. When they woke up it morning, the
sun was up. It was such a pretty sunrise with all the colors were so
beautiful. It looked like the colors of the rainbow, yellow, blue, green,
red, pink , orange and violet. They were hungry and scared. They wished
that they were home. Dawyne and his friend were out all night hunting for
the children. Sam's wife Delilah, stayed with Sally. They told Sam and
Dwayne, "Be careful out there." Sam and Dwayne kissed their wives good bye
and Sam and Delilah's kids, Annetta and Jeanette. "We hope we will find
them soon." Sam and Dwayne went into the big woods, calling their names,
hoping they could here them calling. "Dick, Dolly, Howie, Betty! Where are
you guys!" Sam and Dwayne were calling there names all night long. There
was no sign of them. But they kept looking. Now that it was morning, the
children started out to find their way home. They walked and walked and
walked and walked. Then they came to a sign that said "Forest Ranger."
Dick went to the Forest Ranger's place, and knocked on his door. Ernie,
the Bear was the Forest Ranger. He answered the door and said, "May I help
you?" Dick answered, "We are lost. Can you help us find our way home? We
live in the Friendly Forest, but we took the wrong turn on the way home
last night. Ernie, The Bear said to them, "I surely will help you find
your way home." Sam and Dwayne were still looking for them, and calling
their names. "Dick, Dolly, Howie, Betty! Where are you guys!" They walked
and walked and walked and walked until they came to Sam, the Forest
Ranger's place. Dwayne knocked on the door. Ray Raccoon answered the door,
"May I help you guys?" Sam and Dwayne said , "We are looking for my kids."
Dwayne told him about his children being lost.
Ranger Assistant Ray Raccoon said,
"Ernie Bear is with them. They came here asking for help he is taking them
home. They are on the same road that you were on and are not too far from
home by now. Dwayne said to Sam, "We just missed them. Let's go back the
same way we came. Maybe we can catch up with them." Dwayne said to Ray
Raccoon,"Thank you for your help." Ray Raccoon said, "You are welcome."
Dwayne and Sam went back on the same road. "We'd better catch up with
them," Dwayne said to Sam, "Lets go get them." They walked and walked
until they caught up with them. Sam said to Dwayne,"There they are!"
Dwayne and Sam called their names very loudly, Dick, Dolly, Howie, Betty!"
The kids looked behind them and there was Dad and Sam, "We finally found
you kids! Dwayne said to Ernie the Bear, "Thank you for watching over the
kids for me," Ernie said to Dwayne,
"You are welcome any time." Dwayne said
the youngsters, "We were worried about you. Let's go home so Mom won't
worry any more." They all went home, Dwayne and his kids, and Sam, the
Sparrow. Ernie The Bear, Ray Raccoon went back to the Ranger's Station.
They were all happy to know the young ones were all safe and sound in
their own home.
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5. WINTER IN THE FRIENDLY FOREST
Winter
had come to the Friendly Forest and the snow was falling. The ground and
trees were all covered with snow and it was so pretty and white. Sally,
Dwayne, Dick, Dolly, Howie, and Betty Duck were all so very, very happy to
see the snow. This was the first time that they have ever seen the snow.
Dick asked his Mother,
"Mom, can we go outside and play in the snow?." "Yes, Dick, you may go
outside to play in the snow?", Sally replied, "But don't get too cold out
there. Be sure to put on you coats and hats and snow boots. And don't go
too far into the woods."
Dick and Dolly and Howie and Betty
all went to the pond. Something strange had happened to Blue Pond and they
they couldn't go for a swim. The Pond was hard and cold. They had never
seen this happen before. Their beautiful Blue Pond had frozen over. Dick
said to his brother and sisters, "Our Pond is frozen over.
How, oh how, are we going to swim
now?" "I don't know how?" replied Dolly. " But look over there! What in
the world are those three swans doing." "It looks like they are skating on
top of the ice", Dick said. "That is so funny!" All the Duck children
laughed and laughed. "They really do skate good." Howie said. "They sure
do", said Betty.
The swans liked
to skate on the ice on Blue Pond almost as much as they liked to swim
there. The swans skated over to the shore where the Duck children were.
Dick said, "Oh, I know you all. Your name is Dotty, your name is Scotty,
and your name is Sammy." he said as he pointed to each one of the swan.
"You remember us. We are Dick, Dolly, Howie and Betty Duck. It is nice to
see you all again. We are surprised to see you skating on the ice. It
looks like a lot of fun" Then Scotty Swan said to them, "Come and join us.
It really is so much fun." Dick said to them, "We don't how to ice skate
yet." Dotty Swan told Dick and other the kids. "We will show you how to
ice skate. "I will help you, too," said little Sammy Swan. Dick and Dolly
and Howie and Betty learned fast, even if it was hard for them at first.
"This is really different from swimming." said Betty Duck. They skated and
skated with the swans until it started getting late. It was time for them
to go home for lunch. They remembered what their Mom had told them. Dick
said to the Swan Children,"Would you like to have lunch with us?" "Why, we
sure would like to. It would be nice. Do you think it would be ok with
your Mom? ", asked Scotty. "I am sure it will be fine with our Mom. Then
we can practice our skating again later after lunch." The Duck children
and the Swan children were all friends now and they went to the Duck
family's home for lunch. "Look, Mom, who we brought home for lunch!" Dick
said to Sally. "They are our new friends. We found them skating on frozen
Blue Pond and they are teaching us to skate too." Sally said them, "We are
glad to have you eat lunch with us. We are happy that the children have
made new friends. What are their your names?" "My name is Dotty Swan." "My
name is Scotty Swan." "My name is Sammy Swan", each one said in turn.
Dwayne ask them all, "Have you been having fun today." "Yes! Lots of fun!"
they all said at one time. "Thanks very much for lunch, Mom," said Dick.
"Yes," said the Swan children, "Thank you for letting us drop by like this
for lunch." "You are very welcome. We enjoy having our children's friends
over to our house", said Sally Duck. "We are just one big happy family.
You are welcome to come any time." "Oh, Mom! They are such good skaters,
they should be Olympic champions." "That's what we would like to be", said
Scotty. "That is why we practice every day that the ice is on Blue Pond."
After lunch, all the children went outside to Blue Pond to practice. The
Swan children showed them how they practiced for the Olympic Games. They
skated all afternoon. When they decided that they had practiced enough, it
was getting late. The darkness came early in the winter, and all the
children had to get home before dark. Dick, Dolly, Howie, and Betty all
said good night to the Swans. They said to the Ducks, "Good night to you
all too. Lets meet again tomorrow at the same time."
PART 2
THE OLYMPIC GAMES
One
day, when Dick, Dolly, Howie and Betty headed for Blue Pond to meet the
Swans, they saw a lot of creatures around the pond. They saw creatures
they had never seen before. They were really newcomers to the Friendly
Forest. They must have come from some place far away. They all said
"Hello," to the newcomers. Dolly asked," Who are you and where did you
come from?"
"We are called
Penguins and our names are Pepsy, Pettie and Penny. We lived at the North
Pole. And we are lost in your forest." said Pepsy Penguin. Dick said to
them "You are not lost." "What do you mean, we are not lost?", asked
Pettie Penguin. Your are in our Friendly Forest near our beautiful Blue
Pond where we are going to have the Olympic games. "Do you know how to Ice
Skate?" Dick asked. "Yes, we can Ice Skate a little bit. Can you show us
how to skate better." said Penny Penguin. "We have really good teachers",
said Howie Duck. "Their names are Dotty, Scotty Swan", said Betty Duck.
"And even their little brother, Sammy, helps, too." "We are all getting
ready for the Olympic games, The Swans are all Olympic skaters," said
Dolly. "Would you like to skate in the Olympic games with us all." asked
Dolly. "I really don't know", said Pepsy. "We really need to call our
parents." "You can come to our house and call your parents", said Dolly.
"And you can have supper with us", said Howie. "Maybe, you can stay over
night with us, too", said Betty. "Thank you, very much. That would help us
out a lot." They all went to the Ducks house. They talked there problems
over with Dwayne and Sally Duck. Sally said,"Oh yes, you must call your
parents first. You are welcome to eat with us and stay with us until your
parents come for you." The Penguins called their parents to let them know
where they could find them, and that they had met such a nice family.
There parents, Pepper and Salty were so glad to hear from them and know
that they were safe. They gave the children their permission to stay for
the Olympic games. The Ducks and the Penguins spent the evening getting to
know each other. Now they had more new friends. The were all having a good
time together . They all went to bed early and had a good nights sleep.
Then the next morning Sally told the kids, "It is time to get up for
breakfast." They all got up quickly and had their breakfast. They wanted
to get out early so they could practice their skating for the games. Sally
said to the kids, "You all work hard on your practice today." The Duck
children and the Penguin children were off to Blue Pond where they met the
Swans. Dick introduced the Penguins to the Swans, their teachers. He said,
Pepsy, Pettie, and Penny, these are our teachers, Dotty, Scotty and Sammy
Swan." They said "Hi" all around and that they were all happy to meet each
other. They had a wonderful day with their new friends from the North
Pole, as they practiced together. The teachers told all the kids that they
needed to practice hard so they be good enough for the Olympic games. They
said to them, "Don't forget the routines we have taught you." The students
promised, "We won't forget all that you have taught us. Thank you so much
for working with us." Soon it was time for the Games to begin. All the
Families and Friends of the athletes came to watch them skate. What it big
surprise it was when Pepper and Salty Penguin flew in from the North Pole
to see their children skate in the Olympic games at Blue Pond in the
Friendly Forest. All the skaters skated hard and did their best. The best
skaters took home the metals, but everyone was a winner, because they made
new friends and helped each other. They all had a wonderful time.
THE END
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