Animal Cracker

How did the elephant get its trunk ? Do you know ? He was reaching out for an apple and one of the branches got caught, perhaps. Or nosing his snout down a drainpipe one day, looking for cool water to drink, and the drainpipe got stuck. He was eating spaghetti, clumsily, and dribbled somewhat. Next he was reaching to plug in the computer and got mixed up in the wires. His trunk is really the hose of the vacuum cleaner or the water hose he was using to water the garden lawn. His nose is a scarf that he forgot to tie and left dangling in the breeze. Or a tie that became unknotted. How did the octopus get so many legs ? Do you know ? Well he went to the shops to buy a new pair of trousers and the rail slipped ... instead of trying on one pair, he ended up trying on four ! The octopus was caught up in seaweed and ended up looking like seaweed himself ! The octopus was lost a leg and then found another six ! He tried tap dancing - but the taps weren't strong enough ... so he ended up tap - dancing on the broomstick, knives, forks and spoons and eight of them got stuck ! How did the giraffe get its long neck ? Do you know ? He tried on a polar neck sweater which was too small and his neck simply got stretched. His earrings got caught on the branches of a tree when he was trying to reach for some fruit - whoops ! - it pulled his short neck out of joint. He simply grew and grew. His nose is a ribbon - or even a necklace. How did the leopard get its spots ? Do you know ? He originally had squares but the rains washed away all the edges and smeared his patches to odd shaped spots. He is actually wearing a holy jumper - you can see his skin beneath the gaps in his knitted jumper. The bleach in the bathroom spilled, leaving speckles all over his nice fur. Perhaps the holes were burns from the candle, or speckles of dust left from his travels on the road. Why has a rabbit got long ears ? Do you know ? They became outsized in the washing machine. Perhaps he couldn't get to the hairdressers on time to get his ears trimmed. They got stuck in the car door, perhaps. Or grew when he ate too many carrots. His short ears were run over by a truck. Splat ! His ears then were rolled accidentally when he was baking cakes. They shrank in the wash. He bought them the wrong size (second - hand). Why is a zebra stripy ? Do you know ? He was sunbathing and the shadows of the gate made striped irregular patterns. He was walking underneath some shops - and paint spilled - whoops ! - leaving a smudged pattern all along his back. He shaved unevenly. Perhaps the zebra wanted a rather more fashionable design but they only had striped fashions left in the sale. He ate too much striped Blackpool rock one day. He is striped because he chose his shirt material like that. Or perhaps because there wasn't enough hair dye to cover his entire body. He rolled over on the rug and the pattern was left imprinted along his spine. r

Recipe Kool-Aid Sherbet

Ingredients

1 cup granulated sugar 1 envelope Kool-Aid (flavor of your choice) 3 cups milk In a bowl, stir all ingredients until sugar is dissolved. Pour into a shallow freezer container; cover and freeze for 1 hour or until slightly thickened. Transfer mixture to a mixing bowl; beat until smooth. Return to freezer container; cover and freeze until firm.Remove from the freezer 20 minutes before serving. Yields about 3 cups.

© Jacqueline Richards 2005