Tips for the story teller

If you are telling this story to a group of kids, some will probably ask "What happened to the other kids?"

You can be mean and say "They're dead, they got eaten by lions and crocodiles and tigers, 'cause they were stupid enough to try to hug huge wild animals.", but that wouldn't be fair.

What actually happened in my version was this (you can invent your own, of course):

The three boys carried the baby girl until they found a zoo stroller and put her into it. Then they said they were going to go hug animals.

The biggest boy said he was going to hug the lion with the big mane. The middle boy said he was going to hug the lion with the big mane too, and the littlest boy said "Me, too." So they hurried to the lion cage.

The biggest boy was pushing the stroller, so he was slowest. The middle boy got to the lion first, and tried to hug the old lion with the big mane, but banged the old lion on the nose. The old lion didn't like that, but he didn't have any teeth left to bite with, so he just swallowed the boy whole, all except his running shoes.

The little boy was slower running, but he got to the lion just before his brother disappeared. He saw the lion swallow his brother, so he also hit the lion on the nose, yelling, "Give me my brother mmmf". He was swallowed whole, all except his running shoes.

The biggest boy arrived just in time to see this. He let go of the stroller and ran to the lion to rescue his little brother, but he was swallowed whole, all except his running shoes. The stroller rolled over to the orangutan cage.

One of the zoo keepers was so disgusted with the strike that he quit. He went round to the lion's cage for one last hug with the lion with the big mane. He didn't notice the little girl because the mamma orangutan had rescued her from the stroller.

The lion was most upset! His tummy looked like there were three boys fighting inside it. The zoo keeper knew right away what had happened, because there were three pairs of shoes on the ground. He didn't have long to solve the problem, because the boys would soon run out of air and be unable to get out, so he reached into his pocket and pulled out a chocolate bar. He waved it in front of the lion, being careful not to bump it on the nose, and said "Who wants chocolate?".

The biggest boy said "I do, I do", grabbed one of his brothers in each hand, and pushed them down while he jumped out of the lion's mouth and grabbed the chocolate bar.

The zoo keeper reached into his pocket, and only found a single bubble gum. He waved that in front of the lion being careful not to bump it on the nose, and said "Who wants gum?".

The middle brother and the little brother both said "I do", and "Me, too, please" together, so the middle brother said "You first", threw his little brother out of the lion's mouth, and jumped after him. This was a good thing, because the zoo keeper didn't have any treats left.

The biggest boy looked for the stroller and saw it sitting empty by the orangutan cage. "Baby!" he yelled and ran over. The zoo keeper and the other boys walked over and they all looked at the baby giggling as the orangutan fed it milk and bananas. The little boy said "I wish I had a banana", and the middle boy said "She looks happy." The biggest boy and the zoo keeper agreed that she looked happy there.

So the zoo keeper took the boys to Mexico and they all ate tacos every day.

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Copyright © 1998, 2002 Robert Echlin   Personal Notes