By Dan Morris
A bear, named Max, and Cheetah were best friends. They did everything together. Max was strong so he helped with all the strong stuff, and Cheetah was fast so he did all the fast stuff. Like the time they missed the bus. Cheetah ran ahead and grabbed the bus with his teeth to slow it down, then when Max caught up, he was able to rip the door off so they could get in. Without Max, Cheetah couldn’t get in and without Cheetah, Max could never catch the bus.
Another time when the rabbit cage fell over, Max lifted it up so the rabbits could get out and Cheetah was fast enough to catch all the babies and bring them back. Without Max, Cheetah couldn’t have gotten the rabbits out and without Cheetah, Max couldn’t catch the babies that ran away.
Then one day Max and Cheetah got stuck in a deep hole, and they couldn’t figure out how to get out. Max had an idea and said “Cheetah, what if I climb out, then reach down and pull you out?”
“Hmmm. . . Good idea, but I don’t think your arms are long enough to reach me.”
Then Cheetah said “I have an idea, what if I jump out and use my long tail to pull you up?”
Max thought and then said “I don’t think your tail is strong enough to pull me out.”
So they sat decided they would dig a tunnel through the side to the top. Bear would break the tree roots and Cheetah would dig away the dirt. They both thought this was a great way to get out, so they started digging.
They dug and dug and dug and dug. And every few minutes, Bear would climb down and break some roots so Cheetah could keep digging. Well they finally made it to the surface and were very excited EXCEPT. . .
Everything looked different. The buildings, the hats, the faces and the signs. Max turned around and saw a sign that said “Welcome to China”, and said “Cheetah I thought we were digging to the surface.”
Cheetah said, ” We were, but I guess we went the wrong way.”
They walked around and tried to find a person who could speak their language, but they found no one. Then finally they saw a boat that said “Going to America.”
Max and Cheetah were happy, they were going to go home. They started to get on the boat but were stopped by the Captain who said “you must have two silver coins to get on boat”.
Max and Cheetah didn’t have any money with them. Max said, “I have money in my room on my dresser, but not here. I have an idea Cheetah, I’ll go back through the tunnel to the hole, then I’ll jump out and go get money from my room. Then I’ll come back and we can go home”.
Cheetah said, “I can’t have you pay for me. I have money too. How about I go back to my room and get money and come back so we can take the boat and finally get home”.
So Bear and Cheetah got back into the tunnel and went all the way back to the hole. Cheetah got a running start and jumped out and went to get his money. Bear climbed the side and went to his room to get money. Then they met back in the hole where they put their money together and headed back through the tunnel to China to the boat.
They got to the boat just in time to give the Captain their 2 silver coins each. And they finally got to go home.
Together.
