Best Friends

                   BEST  FRIENDS


Zachary lives in the swamp.  He swims and sits in the sun.  He really likes pretending to be a floating log.  Zachary has a wonderful life in the swamp.

Zachary is a different kind of alligator; he doesn’t like eating meat.  To some animals this is normal but not for alligators.  Zachary is a vegetarian he likes lettuce, oranges, and some flowers and plants.

Zachary has a friend his name is Melvin.  Melvin is a hawk.  Hawks and alligators aren’t normally friends but that did not matter to these two.  Zachary and Melvin were friends because they have fun together.

Sometimes Zachary floats like a log in the swamp and Melvin sits on his back, it is quite a site.  When Melvin is on Zachary’s back he tells Zachary stories about the things he sees when be flies over the swamp.

Melvin helps Zachary get the flowers and oranges he likes.  Melvin will fly to the flower, pick it and bring it back to Zachary.  He flies into the orange tree and shakes the oranges out so Zachary can get them off the ground.

One day Melvin told Zachary that he was going away.  He didn’t know how long he would be gone but assured Zachary he would come back.  Before Melvin left he picked some of Zachary’s favorite flowers and made sure he had a stack of oranges.  The lettuce grew by the swamp Zachary could get that himself.  Melvin said “good by” and flew away.

A few days had past Zachary was lonely he had no one to talk to or play with.  The pile of flowers and oranges was getting smaller.  Zachary started thinking that Melvin wasn’t ever coming back. This made Zachary very sad.  He was so sad that he didn’t want to float like a log, which always made him happy.

One day Zachary was sitting in the sun when something made him lift his head.  He wasn’t sure what it was maybe just the breeze of a warm summer’s day.  Out of nowhere Zachary saw what it was; it was Melvin, Oh Zachary was so happy to see his friend. 

Melvin landed next to Zachary.  Zachary said in a pouting voice “you were gone a very long time.” 

Melvin answered “Yes, I know and I am sorry if that made you sad.  I was searching for new plants for you to eat.  You need more that the few things that are here in the swamp.  I wanted to surprise you.”

“Oh!” Zachary exclaimed, “Melvin you are my best friend.”

Melvin explained to Zachary that he made a map of all the places he visited and the kind of plants that were there.  Now he can make sure Zachary gets enough to eat of different things every day.

Melvin told Zachary to go float in the swamp and he would be back in a little while.  Zachary didn’t want Melvin to go away so soon, he started to cry.  Melvin promised Zachary he wouldn’t be gone long.

Zachary went and floated in the swamp while Melvin flew away.  Before Zachary knew it Melvin was back with some new plants for Zachary.  Zachary liked the new plants, he didn’t know the names of them but that didn’t matter.

After eating the new plants Zachary went back to the swamp to float, Melvin sat on his back and told Zachary all about his travels.  Both of them were happy to be back together.