The pathway was quite narrow and the grass had turned brown from all the intense heat. Once in a great while a jeep could be seen weaving its way through the deserted fields. The few trees left in the area only had branches near the top. All the lower branches had been stripped of any green leaves or stems. Lions could be lying in the tall dried grass hoping to surprise any animal that passed his way. Water was far from this barren land so the lions slept during the blistering heat and roamed through the area at night when it was much cooler. There were no people visible in this forsaken land. Even the native hunters rarely visited this area unless they were in much need of meat for their families. Only then did they take the chance of hunting in this wild forlorn sun-baked area.
The smaller animals searched for food in every conceivable place just to stay alive. The larger animals of course fed on the smaller animals for their survival. Down the long narrow pathway far from the view of the eyes of strangers lived a herd of giraffe. They were the tallest of all the animals and because they were so tall were able to feed on the tree tops for their food. This was the home of Gerry the giraffe and his family. His family had lived here for generations and all of his aunts, uncles, cousins and friends gathered together to defend themselves from predators. Gerry had an enormous appetite and he ate at least 75 lbs of leaves each day to keep himself healthy. His favorite food was the leaves from the Acacia trees. He spent at least 12 hours each day just grazing.
"I'm so thirsty Gerry. Let's stop eating and go down to the river and quench our thirst." Penelope whined revealing her eighteen inch long tongue. "I need to fill up my water tank. Let's go now before it gets dark."
"Penelope you are such a pain in my neck. Why do you follow me around all the time? Why don't you hang out with the cows? All the other bulls will think there is something going on between us." Gerry replied.
"I don't hang around with them because they are just no fun at all. At least you are always finding interesting things to do. What's a girl supposed to do out here in this deserted place? Have you noticed that my brown spots are getting darker? Mama told me that was a sign I was getting older. She is trying to find me a mate but I'm not at all interested in her choices. I want a male with some style!" Penelope rattled on.
"What do you mean by style?" Gerry questioned.
"I mean a fellow that dresses up and looks handsome. All these around here are just simple looking and simple is just not good enough for me." She said blinking her huge brown eyes.
Gerry had heard enough of Penelope's whining and finally conceded to walk with her down to the river for water. It had been two days since he had been to the river and he too needed to refill his water tank as well. His average intake of water averaged about ten gallons a day. He just really hated to leave the Acacia tree because someone else would eat up all the leaves.
"What does a fellow have to do to be a stylish male in your opinion?" Gerry asked curiously still perplexed by Penelope's previous statement.
"Well one could wear a hat, sunglasses, a neat belt or a cool pair of socks." Penelope quickly replied.
"I see and where might one find those sorts of items out here?" Gerry laughed looking all around the area.
"Be creative! That is what is wrong with men. They just are not one bit creative and I just hate that!" She snapped.
This being said, Gerry's brain began to process all the information he had just been given. Surely he could come up with something to impress Penelope but why impress a female? His thoughts were tossed to and fro in his mind.
That night as Gerry was napping he had a dream. In this dream he was given a pair of pajamas and he was trying to figure out what he was going to do with them. He tossed and tumbled making all sorts of weird sounds finally waking his mother which was not a good thing at all. How was he to tell his mother about a pair of pajamas? She would think he had taken leave of his senses.
Finally Gerry had an idea and it was a very good idea. For days he worked gathering long blades of tall grass. Carefully he wove them together until at last he had a beautiful necktie to wear on his extremely long neck. Now Penelope would really think he was a cool giraffe. Maybe she might even consider going steady?
He decided to put it on and see what happened.
He had barely tied it around his long neck when Penelope came loping around the corner.
"Oh my gosh! You are wearing a cool necktie! This is just awesome!" She bellowed loudly a big grin spread across her face.
"Yep! I figured I would wear something a bit different. I was getting bored with myself!" He exclaimed pretending the idea came only from his mind and not hers.
"You are wonderful Gerry! You are the most handsome giraffe in the whole world.
With that she stretched out her long neck and smacked him right upon his lips. Gerry's face turned from a shade of yellow to a very bashful red.
As the moon appeared in the sky the image of two giraffe necks could be seen in the distance all twisted together and one very long necktie hanging from one.
Andrea Caroline Wingate is a published author, writer and poet. She is a native of North Carolina. Please enjoy her poetry and her children's stories on a continuous basis. The children's stories teach children about animal life while being entertaining as well.
http://www.petalsofpoetry.com/
http://www.childrenstorytales.com/
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