The Three Little Giraffes

This was a creative writing assignment in second grade. The worksheet said, "Once upon a time there were three little giraffes. The first giraffe built a home in a haystack. The second giraffe built a home in a __________. The third giraffe built a home in a __________________."

Our assignment was to fill in the blanks, and then write the rest of the story on the next page. For whatever reason, my imagination really took off on this one. I filled up the next page, and then had to ask for another piece of paper, and then another one, and then another one. Eventually I filled up eight pieces of paper, which was far and above the original assignment.

Once upon a time there were three little giraffes.

The first giraffe built a home in a haystack.

The second giraffe built a home in a leaf pile.

The third giraffe built a home in a wood pile.

But little did they know a bunch of pirates were looking for giraffe soup. They found the giraffes.

Then the first giraffe hit them on the head with a pan.

The next giraffe was strong and beat them up.

The third giraffe was too fast.

In the night the giraffes heard the pirates plan. In the morning they made their own plans and outwitted the pirates.

The next time the giraffes did the same thing, but this time the pirates heard the giraffes plan and outwitted the giraffes. But they forgot that the third giraffe was fast and as a result all the giraffes were able to get away.

That night the giraffes did not listen to the pirates plan but they knew that the pirates would listen to their plans, so they held their planning session at a different time.

The first giraffe said, "We will have to murder the pirates. They think that giraffes are not strong. So they do not think it is necessary to use their wea--"

"Don't say that word," said the second giraffe. "If the pirates somehow knew we are having our meeting at a different time, we could be giving them ideas to use their you know what. So don't say the word. Just say 'You know what.'"

They then asked the third giraffe if he knew what the "you know what" was, and he said no. So they huddled close together and they whispered, "It means their weapons."

"Anyway," continued the first giraffe, "they think of us as weakling giraffes. So they do not think it is necessary to use their 'you know what.' But when they find out how strong we really are they will use their 'you know what.' So we will have to murder them."

"I object," said the second giraffe. "When the pirates went to our houses we all got away some how. We must tell each other how we did it."

The first giraffe said, "I hit them on the head with my pan."

The second giraffe said, "I beat them up."

The third giraffe said, " I ran so fast they couldn't catch me. Now let's go to sleep."

"No," said the first giraffe. "We have to figure out what we are going to do."

"Well," said the second giraffe, "I could beat them all up, while you," he pointed to the first giraffe, "will sneak up to the captain and hit him on the head with your pan and kill him. Once their captain is dead, the pirates should give up. But if that isn't enough for the pirates, then the third giraffe can use his speed to rescue you from the rest of the pirates."

Well, it all worked out fine until the first giraffe had done his job. The pirates were furious, but the third giraffe didn't notice at first and so the first giraffe jumped into the river to escape.

The second giraffe noticed and he stopped fighting to yell a warning to the third giraffe. Then he gasped, "They're using their weapons."

By now the first giraffe had been picked up by the current and was being swept away. The third giraffe was running alongside the river trying to help him. Then the third giraffe was shot by a pirate gun and fell to the ground dead.

The second giraffe saw what happened, but he couldn't run as fast as the third giraffe, so he couldn't get away from the pirates he was fighting. So the first giraffe got washed away.

That night it was hard for the second giraffe to sleep. Meanwhile the first giraffe was swimming for his life. Then he saw a whirlpool ahead. He began to swim with all his might against the current. When he saw it was no use, he began to yell for help. Then a storm began. Lightening hit a tree and it fell into the river. The first giraffe grabbed the tree and pulled himself to the shore and slept there.

The next day the first giraffe woke up and saw a forest. And he saw a lion. He ran away and the lion ran after him. As they ran, more and more lions joined the chase. Soon the first giraffe was surrounded by lions. From the trees a monkey reached down and pulled the first giraffe up to safety. Then the monkey stuck his tongue out at the lions. Then the monkey said, "Hello."

And the first giraffe said, "Hello," back.

Then the monkey said, "Let's go have some tea."

And the first giraffe said, "Let's". So they went to have some tea.

Meanwhile the second giraffe was having a terrible time fighting the pirates. Since he started fighting that morning, he had only killed nine pirates. There were still 10,027 pirates left.

All of a sudden they all charged him at once. And from behind one of them grabbed him around his neck and held a knife to his throat. A voice then came and it said, " We only have one giraffe for our soup. You will be the next. Walk or you will die."

The second giraffe was brought into the pirates boat. The pirates led him down the stairs, down a a long hallway, and then they jumped down a hole. Then another long hall and down another hole. The pirates left by jumping out, and they left the second giraffe in the hole.

The walls started closing in and the second giraffe couldn't jump as high as the pirates. But he was strong. He held back the walls and climbed up to the top. Then he ran back to his house.

Meanwhile the monkey and the first giraffe were having tea. The first giraffe told the monkey his story. "To get back," the monkey said, "all you have to do is follow the stream back to your house. I will come with you."

So they went to follow the stream and they went all the way back to the second giraffe's house. Then all three went to fight the pirates. The monkey went up into the trees and threw coconuts at the pirates. The pirates couldn't climb the trees, so they were beaten by the Monkey.

The End