Robert and the Pebble

By: Nicole S and Jennifer S.
Connecticut, Age 13

Robert and the Pebble
Once upon a time, there was a little reindeer named Robert. One morning, he was grazing in his yard and a small pebble fell off of his roof and hit him on the head.
ôOh dear me!ö he cried, ôThe sky is falling and I must go and tell the king!ö Away he ran down the road.
By and by, as he was walking down the icy road, he met Poul the Puffin. Poul asked Robert where he was going.
Robert replied,ö The sky is falling and I am going to tell the king.ö
Poul asked,ôCan I come with you, Robert?ö
Robert happily accepted the request, and the two continued their journey to the king. On the way, the two happened to come across Lars the Lemming. He asked where the two were going.
Poul answered, ôThe sky is falling and we are going to tell the king.ö
Lars questioned, ôHow do you know?ö
ôRobert told me.ö
Then, while the three of them were walking, they met Hans the Hare and Simon the Seal. Simon asked where the three travelers were going.
ôThe sky is falling and we are going to tell the king,ö Lars explained.
ôHow do you know?ö asked Simon.
ôPoul told me,ö Lars answered.
ôWell, can we come?ö Simon and Hans asked.
ôSure why not,ö Lars replied. Simon and Hans joined, to make a group of five.
The five animals were indeed tired from their long journey. As they stopped to rest, the sly arctic fox asked them where the five animals were going.
The group answered,ö The sky is falling and we are going to tell the king.
The tricky fox answered,ö I know a shortcut to the kingÆs castle. Follow me and IÆll show you.ö
He led the animals into a dark cave.
A snow owl fluttered by RobertÆs ear and whispered,ö Do not go in there. The fox is tricking you, and wants to eat you.ö
The fox, with his keen ears, heard what the bird had to say and suddenly grabbed Lars. Just as the fox was about to bite into Lars, Simon threw a rock at the fox and saved Lars. The five animals ran all the way to the kingÆs castle.
When the animals got to the castle, they told the king the whole story. The king Polar Bear laughed and went through RobertÆs fur and pulled out the pebble. He said,ö I believe this fell on your head and you thought it was the sky. The only things that come out of the sky are rain and snow.ö The five animals walked home, weary, but wiser.
Moral: DonÆt jump to conclusions.