Once upon a time in a little but happy forest lived a little
fox named Lizzy. Lizzy loved to tell stories to the other animals
and the parents were always pleased with her stories. Usually,
they were beautiful fairy tales or just some of her own stories. Lizzy lived in a big log with her two parents, Mr. and Mrs. Kalaway. Her parents were often proud of Lizzy and her responsibility and kindness.
One
day after Lizzy had finished telling one of her finest stories to
the animals, she headed home. When she got there her mother
asked, “Lizzy, how was the story?” “Good”, Lizzy said. “Dinner is almost ready! Tonight is fish! I know it’s
your favorite!” Lizzy’s mother said. Then Lizzy asked
“where is dad?” “Oh!” said Lizzy’s mother “he went to get some
dessert down by the river.” Then Lizzy heard somebody at the
front door. “I’ll get it!” It was her best friend Kapaka. Kapaka was a panda bear. Lizzy had always admired her beautiful
soft white and black fur. “Hey Lizzy, want to go play by the
lake?”. “Okay!” said Lizzy “but first let me ask my mom. Mom can I go down to the lake with Kapaka?” “Okay.” said Lizzy’s
mother. Then Lizzy and Kapaka headed to the lake. “I’ll
race you!” said Lizzy. “Okay!” said Kapaka. “Ready, set,
go!” Lizzy said, and they were off. Finally they were there
then they stumbled over each other and stopped and they started laughing. “Well, I guess we both won!” said Kapaka. “Yep!” said Lizzy.
Then Kapaka said “Come on, let’s do what we came here to do!” “What?” said Lizzy. “Why catch fish! You know go fishing!”
said Kapaka. “Oh, okay.” Lizzy said. Then they stuck their
heads in the water and started fishing. Then they both stuck
their heads up for some air. Then right before they stuck their
heads back in the water, Lizzy heard a noise. “Kapaka, I heard
something….It’s coming from the bushes!” “Oh, it’s probably
just the wind.” said Kapaka. “No Kapaka I really heard something!”
said Lizzy. Then out of the bushes came a fast but tall object
and took Kapaka away! “Kapaka!” said Lizzy. “Help me!”
said Kapaka. Then Lizzy started running as fast as she could. “Hold on!” said Lizzy. Then they slowly faded away in the dark
trees. “Oh no!” said Lizzy. “They’re gone!” Then
she looked around. “Oh no!” she said. “I’m lost!” Then as it started to get dark she put down her head and laid down
and started to cry. “Oh Kapaka, where could you be!” she said
in a soft voice.
Meanwhile, Mr. and Mrs. Kalaway realized that it was
late and Lizzy was not home. Then there was a knock at the door. “Oh, maybe that is Lizzy!” said Mrs. Kalaway. But instead it
was Kapaka’s parents, (Mr. and Mrs. Kapaka). “Kapaka is not
home, we were wondering if she was with you.” Then Lizzy’s parents
sighed and said, “No, but Lizzy is missing too.” Then Mrs. Kalaway
said, “Lizzy told me she was going to the lake with Kapaka that must
be where they are!” Then they all said, “Let’s go to the lake!” Meanwhile, Lizzy was still crying. A couple of minutes later
she got up and said, “I can’t give up when Kapaka needs me.” Alright, I think they went straight ahead.” Then Lizzy started
to run forward when suddenly she stopped. First she saw one
light, then another, then a whole bunch of lights appeared! Then behind the trees was a huge place! Lizzy started to think,
it wasn’t a forest for sure, it wasn’t a jungle, then what could it
be? Then Lizzy remembered what her grandma had said to her once. She told Lizzy about a legend that had been passed on from generation
to generation in her family. It was about a magical land called
a city! Then Lizzy looked at the huge place, it had large rectangular
objects, grandma had told her about them, they were called buildings. And the large place also had fast moving machines, grandma told her
that they were called cars. Then Lizzy saw tall moving things
that only had 2 legs and 2 arms! Grandma had also told her about
them, they were called humans, who could run really fast! Then
Lizzy thought that must be the creature that took Kapaka! If
I was a human where would I be with a panda bear?
Meanwhile,
Mr. and Mrs. Kapaka got to the lake along with Mr. and Mrs. Kalaway. Then Mrs. Kalaway said, “Look, here are Lizzy’s footprints!” Then Mr. Kapaka said “but what about Kapaka’s footprints, they end
here?” Then Mr. Kalaway noticed that where Kapaka’s footprints
ended huge ones appeared. Then he said, “Look here, where Kapaka’s
footprints end these huge ones appear!” Then Mr. Kapaka said
“Look, he’s right!” Then Mrs. Kalaway said, “Lizzy’s footprints
go on here! I’m sure where Lizzy is, is where Kapaka will be.” Then they realized that Mrs. Kapaka was silent the whole time. Then they saw her praying to the Lord and saying “Lord, protect our
girls, put your arms around them oh merciful Lord, in your precious
name, Amen.” Then they all started praying to God for the courage
and strength to find the girls.
Meanwhile, it was dark and Lizzy decided
to find some shelter to sleep in. Then nearby she found a little
bush that looked quite pleasant so then Lizzy went inside and fell
asleep. Then when she woke up she heard something outside! She peeked out of the bush and saw nothing but the night sky. Then she heard something again! Then she quickly jumped out
of the bushes to see what it was. Then Lizzy heard the sound
more clearly, it sounded like this…Meeow! Then Lizzy saw something
up in the trees! Then she heard a voice. Then Lizzy said,
“Who’s there?” Then Lizzy heard the voice again but this time
more clearly it said, “Meeow, you gave me a scare there little fellow!” Then Lizzy said, “Who are you and where are you?” Then the mysterious
voice said, “Meeow, where are my manners!” It then jumped down
from the trees and said, “My name is Espeon the cat.” Lizzy
then said, “Hi Espeon, my name is Lizzy the fox, pleased to meet you.” The cat then said, “So what’s a fox like you doing near the city?” Lizzy then said, “Why, well my friend Kapaka the panda bear was taken
by a human and I’m here to find her!” The cat then thought in
his mind, “She’s going to need some help finding that panda bear in
that huge city! Hey maybe I can help her! I know that
city very, very well!” The cat then said out loud, “What if
I could help! The city is very big for a little fox like you.” “Alright!” said Lizzy, “might as well get all the help I can get!” “Good!” said Espeon. “Espeon, what are those fast moving machines
with four circles at the bottom corners?” “Why those are called
cars. Humans go in them and the cars take them to far away places.” “Oh!” said Lizzy. “How do we get across?” Espeon replied,
“Who says we have to go across?” “I live in the city and I come
here for some peace and quietness but anyways, when I cross I don’t
cross the street, I jump on a car and then jump here. It’s more
safer that way.” “Good idea!” exclaimed Lizzy.
The cat then explained
to the fox how to do it. “Alright, on the count of 3 we will
jump on that yellow car that is coming. It is called a taxi. Alright here it comes 1…2….and 3!” Then they both jumped onto
the taxi. “Alright, let’s give you a little tour.” Espeon
said. “This is the fish aquarium. It’s the most fanciest
restaurant for cats. Well the humans don’t think so.” “Espeon, what is that place with all those little humans?” Lizzy
said. “Oh that? That’s called a park where the little
humans play.” Espeon said. “Look! We’re almost at
my place. So on the court of 3 we will jump off the taxi, 1….2….and
3!” And they both jumped off the taxi. “Welcome to my
place!” Espeon said. “I know a person that knows the city
better than I do!” “Who is it?” Lizzy asked. Then
they heard a voice. “Why hello Espeon!” the voice said. “Hey Marrell!” Espeon said. “Marrell?” Lizzy replied. “Where are my manners!” the voice said. Then out of the dark
came a white cat. “The name’s snow, but my friends call me Marrell.” “Hello Marrell!” Lizzy said. Then Marrell said “so what
are you anyways Lizzy, I’ve never seen a cat like you before.” “Well, I’m not a cat, I’m a fox from a forest looking for my friend
Kapaka. She’s a panda bear.” “Really? I just saw
a human come out of that forest over there and had a panda bear in
its arms and got in its car and it looked like he was heading to that
big black building over there. It’s about 5 miles away from
here. It’s a long, long way by walk.” Marrell said. “How we going to get there Espeon?” Lizzy asked. Then
Espeon said, “By car of course!”
Meanwhile, back at the forest,
after the parents finished praying they followed Lizzy’s paw prints. Then they got to the place where Lizzy had discovered all the cities’
lights. So they kept on going. Finally, they got to the
place where Lizzy took a nap and met Espeon. But then they ran
into the same problem Lizzy did. How were they supposed to get
across without getting hit by those giant moving things! But
while they were thinking how to get across they were also thinking
what were those giant moving things and these large rectangular objects. Then Mrs. Kalaway remembered what her mother had said to Lizzy and
her. It was the legend that Lizzy mentioned earlier. “I
know what this huge place is called, a city, and those large rectangular
things that almost touch the sky are called buildings, and those fast
moving things with four circles at the bottom corners are called cars
and those things that have 2 arms and 2 legs, they are called humans!” “And how do you know this?” Mrs. Kapaka asked. “Well,
in our family the legend has been passed on ever since my great great
great grandmother was a little girl.” Mrs. Kalaway said, “Well,
I guess if it was a legend passed on for that long, it must be true!” Mrs. Kapaka said. So they started to think how to get across
the road without getting hit by the cars. Meanwhile, Espeon
and Lizzy asked Marrell to come with them on their journey and Marrell
said yes! So they were off! Espeon, Lizzy and Marrell
looked to see if there was a car coming so they could jump on to it. Then they saw a red car coming. So then Espeon said, “Hey, you
guys see that red car coming, we could jump on to it and it will probably
go to the big, black building because it looks like it’s heading that
way.” “I guess that will be fine.” Marrell said. “Okay!” said Lizzy. “On the count of three we will jump
on to the red car.” Espeon said, “1….2….and 3!” And they
all jumped on to the car. “Awesome!” Marrell exclaimed. They then realized that they were almost there already! “Wow,
I didn’t know that we would get here so quickly!” Lizzy exclaimed. “Alright, on the count of three we will jump off! Espeon said. 1…2….and 3!” And they all jumped off! Finally, they were
there! “Now that we are here we must think of a way to get in!” Espeon said.
Meanwhile, Mr. Kapaka found a way to get across. “I found a way to get across! We could jump onto the cars and
when they stop, we could jump off!” “Great Idea!” exclaimed
Mr. Kalaway. “Let’s try it!” Mrs. Kapaka said. “Okay”. Mrs. Kalaway said. “On the count of three we will jump onto
a car!” Mr. Kapaka said, “1…2…and 3!” And they all jumped on! “What a ride this is!” Mr. Kalaway said. “I think the car will
stop soon.” Mrs. Kapaka said. And Mrs. Kapaka was right, the
car did stop. “Alright everyone, this is our stop!”, and they
all jumped off.
They had then gotten to the place where Lizzy and Espeon
met Marrell. “I smell Lizzy!” Mrs. Kalaway said. “Me too!” Mr. Kapaka said. “Let’s follow the scent!” They
all said. Then they got to the place where Lizzy, Espeon and
Marrell jumped onto the car. “How are we going to get across?”
Mrs. Kapaka asked. “Same way we did before!” Mr. Kapaka said. “I don’t think they went across because there is a huge wall there! I think they probably stayed on the car and went somewhere. Maybe they went to that big black building over there! That’s
the only place around!” Mrs. Kapaka said. “I think you
might be right, so let’s head to that big black building” Mr. Kapaka
said. So the next car that came, they jumped onto and they were
on their way. Finally they were there. Then they saw Lizzy! “Lizzy!” Mr. and Mrs. Kalaway cried. “Where’s Kapaka?” Mr. and Mrs. Kapaka asked. “She got kidnapped by the human and
she is in here so we are trying to find a way to get in and save her!” Lizzy said. “Who are these things?” The adults asked. “Oh, where are my manners! This is Marrell and Espeon they’re
cats! Without them I’d be lost!” “Pleased to meet you
adults!” Marrell and Espeon said. “Pleased to meet you
cats” the adults said. “Now how are we going to get inside?” Then a human was coming. “Hide” they all said. Then the
doors opened to the human. “Let’s go inside now since the doors
are open!” Lizzy said. And they all ran inside. They saw
humans doing all kinds of things! Some were getting boxes and
some were fixing machines.
Then in the corner they saw a little
cage and inside was Kapaka! “Lizzy, Mom, Dad and Mr. and Mrs.
Kalaway, is that you?” Kapaka said. “Kapaka!” they all
said. Then Marrell and Espeon introduced themselves. Then
Lizzy bit the lock on the cage open so Kapaka could get out. “Thank you so much for coming for me” Kapaka said. “You’re welcome”
they all replied. Then they said “Let’s get out of here!” But then a human saw them and chased them. “Run!” they all said
and they all ran out of the building and jumped on a car. “Well,
at least everyone is safe” Lizzy replied. And when the car stopped,
they all jumped off and onto the sidewalk. It was sunset by
then. Then Lizzy thanked Espeon and Marrell for helping and
they said to come into the city again sometime for a visit. And they all agreed. “Goodbye!” They all shouted back
and forth and they all walked back to the forest. “You know,
I’m glad to be safe and sound at home again” Kapaka said. “Me
too!” Lizzy said and they all went back to their homes. Then
Lizzy said “you know I liked being in the city. It was my big
adventure.”
Author’s Bio: Caterina is a 9 year old, aspiring
writer from
