Adam Dorey
The Hare and the Tortoise
The fair was in town; it was a sight to see. Tina Tortoise loved the fair, and so did her best friend, Avalie, the Bumblebee.
They walked by a stand, purple and tall, where an orange, little Fox yelled:
“My goodness,” said Tina, “It looks like a race!” From here to there, all over the place.”
“But Tina,” said Avalie, “Why would you dare? There’s no way in the world that you’ll ever beat the Hare.”
“Excuse me,” said Tina, “I would like to join the race.”
The Fox and the Hare, they laughed in her face.
Angered by their laughter, Tina rose to her feet, signing her name on the “sign-up” sheet.
The very next day, they lined up to race, from here to there, all over the place.
The signal was clear, so everyone would know. It was a revolving gun, with a flag that said:
The Hare kicked up dirt at the start of the race.
The Hare kicked up dirt in Tina and Avalie’s face.
Like a rollercoaster, the Hare ran over and around, dropping little, sharp thumbtacks all over the ground.
Tina came upon the thumbtacks nice and slow, tiptoeing through them to and fro.
By that point in time, the Hare was far far ahead; he was making a mud-pond to stop the race dead.
Though the Hare’s evil plan seemed thought-out well, he failed to remember Tina Tortoise had a shell.
The Hare neared the end of this rather simple race, deciding to build a wall to guarantee him first place.
From the bottom of the wall, there were many bricks to see, providing little hope for Tina Tortoise and Avalie, the Bumblebee.
All of a sudden, Avalie whistled a song, a joyous tune, not too short, not too long.
Out of a hive came a swarm of Bumblebees, lifting Tina and Avalie beyond the wall and trees.
Confident he would win, the Hare lied down with a smile; sure that Tina Tortoise would be quite a while.
He was so confident, in fact, that he fell right asleep, forgetting all about Tina while he was off counting sheep.
Tina crossed the finish line; it was a sight to see. Tina crossed the finish line with her best friend, Avalie, the Bumblebee.
The Hare stood in shock; he had lost the race. They lifted Tina and Avalie, with smiles on their face.
The Hare stood and cried as the crowd walked away.
“How could I have lost? There’s no chance, there’s no way!”
“Why have you stopped, Tina? Let’s go to the fair. Please, don’t tell me you feel bad for the Hare!”
Tina smiled and said, “What he did was wrong, but I am going to ask him if he would like to come along.”
Tina asked him softly, “Would you like to go to the fair?”
He said, “I would like that a lot; my name is Henry O’ Hare.”
Together, they walked to the fair with a calm and joyful pace; for, they all had recently found that slow and steady wins the race.
