by Arthur Shemitz, age 7

Chapter 1: The Origin of (Some) of the Animals

Fifi the dog was napping, when she was woken by the cry of her owner.

"Darn it! That dog has to go! This is the last time she'll turn my house into a bathroom! ARRRUUUGGGHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Fortunately for Fifi, she left before her owner could call the pound.

Rascal the raccoon was looking for food, but at all the houses he begged at, he got nothing. :( Rascal was beginning to start on the next block, when he heard fierce dog growling. "Time to leave," he thought. So he did. He was going to go to the block he had gone to on his birthday, when he took a wrong turn.

Now what's been happening with Fifi? Let's look!

Fifi didn't know where to go. All the houses that had people she liked (and vice-versa) were empty! "Where is a place for a homeless dog? Where? Where?" she sang. "I'll guess I'll go to the dump," she thought. The dump was one of her favorite places. She went there when she was sad.

Rascal, after taking a wrong turn, had ended up in the dump, what a place to be! He walked around, when he saw a dog. "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" He yelled.

"Don't be afraid, I won't hurt you," said Fifi.

"You won't? That's the oldest trick in the book!"

Later, Rascal wasn't afraid of Fifi anymore.

Chapter 2:The Meeting of the Animals

"So ..." said Rascal "Let me get this right. You're a homeless dog, like me, but I'm a Raccoon, so I'm a ..."

He was cut short when they heard a crashing and smashing much louder then a bear would make. "I hope I'm not disturbing you," said a 5000-pound Elephant, "I'm Edward the Elephant, and you are?"

"F-f-f-Fifi." said Fifi.

"... Rascal ..." said Rascal.

"Pleased to meet you! I have a sad story to tell you," said Edward (who from now on has told me to call him "Ed" for short), "I was reading the newspaper in the zoo, like my mum told me to when I was little, when the zoo shut down! Most of the animals were put in crates, or trucks, to be shipped off to other zoos, but I was unlucky. They told me that no zoo had a vacant space for a 5000-pound Elephant! They said they had too many!"

There was a silence. Someone cried. A cat walked up. "Eek!" said the cat. Fifi took off a monster mask "EEK!!" yelled the cat.

"Meow," said Fifi.

"Meow?" said the cat, "Are you my mommy?"

"Yes," said Fifi.

"Are you my daddy?"

"Yes," said Rascal.

"Cool! Yay! Yay!" said the cat.

"Hold it!" said a Dog Catcher as he netted Fifi.

"HHHHHHHEEEEEEELLLLLLPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" protested Fifi.

"I'll save you!" said brave Ed. "I hope" he thought. So the 5000-pound Elephant chased after the Dog Catcher truck, nearing it every second.

"Step on it!" yelled the Dog Catcher.

"OK," Ed said. Crash! Bang! Boom! Tinkle!

"Ow ..." said the Dog Catcher.

"Justice!" said Ed.

"OK!" replied Fifi.

"The jail doors are open! Run for it!" said some dog.

"Thanks." said Fifi.

Chapter 3: Losing Two ... but Gaining One

"No problem," said Ed, "It's been nice traveling with you, but I really want to move to Canada."

"Awww," said the (Black) cat, "We'll really miss you ... won't we, mom? Won't we, dad?"

"Yes," both Fifi and Rascal said at the same time.

"Bye," said Ed, "For a piece of advice, go to 139 Heath St."

"OK," said Fifi, "We'll go there."

48 hours later, they found 139 Heath St. and walked up to the door.

"How cute! A cat, raccoon, and a dog, all together! Open the door!" yelled a human.

As the door opened, the Black cat walked in.

"Let's..... Get..... OUT OF HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" said Fifi.

"Hi," said a new cat, "Can I come with you?"

"OK," said Fifi.

Chapter 4: The Golden Fleece, the Spear of Victory, and the Black Cauldron

* to be continued *