Stretch the Giraffe
The day after he was born, Stretch the giraffe was walking around beside his mother. A lion roared far off in the distance. Stretch was very frightened. He had no idea what had made that sound.
Stretch was still a bit wobbly on his legs. He followed his mother into the thickly grown bush. His mother’s neck was so long that it stretched high above the trees. She could see the lion and keep track of his movements. If the lion decided to come any closer, she would be able to move Stretch further into the bush.
It was beginning to get very warm in the bush and Stretch was getting restless. His mother knew this, but she couldn’t let Stretch out of her sight, at least not yet.
An hour went by and Stretch and his mother were still waiting. Stretch’s mother kept looking over toward the lion. The lion was not moving. Something very funny was going on. Then, Stretch heard a sound. It wasn’t the roar of a lion, this time. It was the sound of heavy equipment moving through the bush! The humans were coming to destroy it.
Stretch and his mother decided that they were going to have to take a closer look to see what was going on. They didn’t like what they saw, one single bit.
It turned out that the lion that they had seen and heard, was a billboard advertisement. The billboard had speakers hooked up to it. Through the speakers came a loud roar of a lion.
Well, Stretch’s mother knew that she could never raise her new son in this type of environment. They couldn’t tell if a real lion was roaring at them or not. She decided that she would move her son further into the thick bush.
By the next afternoon, Stretch and his mother had arrived at a very remote section of the bush. She was positive that they would be safe there. A fast flowing river now separated them from the civilized section of the bush. It would be many, many years before the humans could take this away from them.
That evening, Stretch and his mother were standing in amongst the trees. A lion roared in the distance. This time the lion was real. Stretch smiled up at his mother, while his mother led him further into the bush to protect him.
