On fervent sunny days they would all take a mudbath in Mud Swamp. They were always careful for there were crocodiles all over that area. They loved those days in the mud.

On rainy days they stayed indoors and told lots of fabulous stories. They told stories about elephants, crocodiles, snakes and happy hippos like them. All the stories were excellent.

One scorching hot afternoon Happy, his sister, and mom were taking a mud bath when they heard a loud thumping, bumping, pounding noise. Then they saw a huge pickup truck come storming through their marvelous home. Happy's heart was like a hard working hammer.

Two men stepped out of the truck. One of the men looked very intelligent but the other one looked like he had had a concussion. The men looked around for a minute like they were aliens from the planet Mars.

The clever looking guy pointed at them. He said, "looky there Fred, there's two baby hippos and a mother hippo". "I don't see them Greg". Happy hardly had time to move before Fred spotted them.

The two men kept coming closer. Happy's mother was furious. Then she charged. Right when she was about to hit them they both moved to the two sides. Mother was running so fast she couldn't stop. She ran head on into the truck.

Happy tried to run to his mother but he ran right into a tiny cage. His sister ran to him but it was too late. Fred and Greg were putting the cage in the back of the ugly truck.

His mother had gotten out of the hood and was looking for him. His sister told her he had been stolen. His mother looked at the truck, but it was almost out of sight.

Happy had no idea what to do. He was trying to think of a way to get out of the cage. He thought of trying to bite the bars but that would hurt his teeth and wouldn't work.

When the truck stopped at a gas station, Happy didn't know what it was until he saw the sign.Greg put him on a leash and walked him around in the parking lot. After they walked for about two minutes they tied the leash to a bench.

Happy had a wonderful idea how he would escape. All he had to do was chew the leash. Happy put the leash in his mouth. He chewed and chewed until he couldn't chew any longer. Still the leash wouldn't break. He didn't do anything until he saw a tiny squirrel climbing a tree. Happy was so hungry that he wanted to eat it even if he wasn't a meat eater.
Happy ran towards the tree until he remembered he was on a leash. He pulled and pulled until his neck was sore. But he kept on pulling. He was convinced that he could get his head through.

Finally he got his eyes through the leash and then his whole head. Happy forgot about being hungry and thought more about going home. But Happy didn't know which way was home. He tried following a road but it led to a dead-end. Happy's heart was sinking down his throat until he noticed it was getting dark and was really super scared.

Happy was about to cry when he saw a distant light. Happy's hope was rising. Maybe people lived in that house and would take him in. Happy started toward the light.

As Happy neared the light he saw that there was a small log cabin. Happy thought of how nice it would be to live in that cozy cabin. When Happy reached the door he made a sound to let the people know he was there.

Happy guessed he had made a sound like a dog because when the door opened a voice screamed "a puppy". The voice came from a little girl with long curly golden blonde hair. She had skin as white as snow. She was wearing a rose pink flannel nightgown with white wavy daisies scattered all over.

Happy was picked up by the girl and put on a sofabed in the one roomed cabin. The house was fresh with the smell of fresh smelling bread and chicken noodle soup. In one corner of the cottage was a pitch black stove. The stove had beautiful designs carved all over it.
All over the walls were pots and pans of all kinds.

On the opposite side of the room there were three beds. They had soft feather pillows and quilts that smelled like the middle of summer even though it was almost winter

In the last corner was a tiny table made of fresh smelling oak. On the table there were beautiful china dishes with little blue flowers and leaves on them.

Happy wanted to eat out of one of those beautiful china dishes but when a little boy about a year younger than the girl brought him some left over scraps of potatoes Happy was disappointed.

Happy wanted some chicken noodle soup and when the family saw that he was not gobbling down the potatoes but instead was sniffing it and making a motion that he wanted something better they dumped out the potatoes and ladeled in the steaming hot soup.The soup burned Happy's tongue when he tasted it. But it felt good to have something in his stomach. Happy wanted the taste to last forever without burning his tongue. The next time he tasted it, it was cool and soon he had slurped up all the soup, broth and all.

That night the family made a cozy bed out of an old blanket and a cardboard box. Happy slept very well that night.

Happy's life passed by very quickly. Everyday the two children treated him like a puppy. They walked him, fed him dog food and always thought he was a puppy instead of a little baby hippo.

Well a few months passed and Happy grew strangely large. Soon he was too big for his box so he was moved to a dog house in the yard.

One morning his owners grew awfully curious about why he was growing so big. They decided to take him to the vet to see what was making him so overweight and so humungus.

Soon it was Happy's turn to see the vet. Happy knew they were going to find out that he was a baby hippo not a puppy.

The doctor examined him very closely. Then he explained that Happy was a hippo and should be transferred back to his home.

The next day a truck came to pick Happy up. As the truck drove away Happy thought of all the wonderful times he had had with that kind family.

Soon Happy saw his home. Sitting on some grass was his mother and sister. The men let Happy out of the cage and Happy ran to his mother and sister.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Our grandaughter, Janna, wrote this wonderful story and dedicated it to her family.
Janna wrote this story for a young author's conference. (Grandma Abbajean and Grandpa Backtracker thinks she should have won the Blue Ribbon.)
Her grandmother, Abbajean typed it up and illustrated the story on her Homepage Go to http://geocities.datacellar.net. Then choose Heartland/Valley.Then go to 4868. Click on "Janna's Story". Music accompaning Janna's story is "If your Happy and You Know It"(Music may be heard depending if your Computer system is using Internet Explorer and/or Netscape System.)
Janna also wrote the following: "I enjoy riding bikes and playing with my friends. I play the piano. I am in third grade. I have a sister in first grade. I have a mom, a dad, one dog, one cat, and two frogs. I love writing!"

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