How Beavers Got Flat Tails
By Jack
Once upon a time, when animals could talk, and beavers' tails were like a dog's, there was a father beaver named Willie who had a wife and kids. His two sons' names were Todd and Rod, and his wife's name was Marie. Beavers always would collect small sticks to build their houses. Willie's family had a house, but it was small, like all beavers' houses. But Willie was tired of collecting small sticks just to make a house that could barely even hold five beavers. He wanted to make massive houses enough to hold ten beavers! Then Willie had an idea! He could use his teeth to chop down trees! So Willie scurried over to the first tree he saw. "Hmm… now let's see…how should I start? Hmm…well maybe if I, no, that won't work…I know! I'll turn my head sideways and then start chewing!" Willie told himself.

So Willie worked his way through the tree until there was just an inch of wood in the center of the tree holding it up. " Now, just one more bite," said Willie and bite it he did. Then as Willie walked away, right after he bit it, the tree fell and squished his tail flat. " Hmm…that's odd. All of the sudden I felt a sharp pain on my tail. Oh well" said Willie, and then he headed toward his house.

When he got home, he walked inside and called out, " I'm HO-OME!" Suddenly Todd and Rod leaped from behind Willie and tackled him. " Ho ho ha ho! You guys got me again!" laughed Willie as he got up. When he looked at Todd and Rod, they were staring at him in horror. " Is…there something wrong?" asked Willie a little worried because he'd never seen his sons so frightened before. " D-d-d-d-d-d-da-a-a-a-ad, yyyyour-your tayiyiyiiii" Rod tried to say. " What he-he's trying to say is, YOUR TAIL IS FLAT!!!!!!" said Todd. "WHAT?!" said Willie and then looked behind him, and sure enough, there was his tail, squished flat. "Holy Woodpeckers!!" said Willie surprised. Then his wife Marie came inside after a picnic with her friends and screamed. They all talked about what they should do, but there was nothing.

The next day Willie was walking along side the river sighing every minute or two because of his tail. " What a dope I am," Willie said to himself. " I should have known that if you chew or cut down a tree it will collapse," he said. Then a mighty roar came from behind him and a tiger leaped from the bushes towards Willie. "Holy Woodpeckers!!!!" Willie said as he ran for his life. Every second, the tiger got closer, until he was just a foot or two away from Willie. There was no choice but to jump into the river even though beavers couldn't swim. Willie leaped into the river calling out "Teronimo!!!!" and then a splash and a twirl and Willie struggled to swim or at least breathe. Then he started paddling and suddenly he was swimming! " I don't believe it! I can swim!" cried Willie as he paddled along. The tiger could not reach him, so decided to return another day.

When Willie got home he told his family how he escaped the tiger and was able to swim. Soon they all told other beavers how good it is to chew down trees not only to get more wood, but to also get your tail squished so you can swim! Then a week later, after Willie was famous for discovering the importance of having flat tails, the tiger returned. Another tiger was there to watch the tiger hunt down Willie. Then the tiger leaped out of the bushes just like before and raced after Willie. " Holy Woodpeckers!!!!" said Willie as he fled from the tiger. Then, just like before, he jumped into the river but this time the tiger jumped from log to log, getting closer and closer to Willie.

Then when Willie saw that a waterfall was coming up, he cried, "Holy Woodpeckers!!!!" and started swimming towards the side of the river. The tiger did not hop off the log to safety because he did not see the waterfall, for he was focusing on catching Willie. Then after Willie got out of the river, the tiger saw the waterfall, but he was so close to the edge that there was no time to get off. Then the tiger and the log fell off the waterfall and the tiger dropped to his death. The horrified tiger, who was watching, ran back to where all the tigers lived and told them what happened. Then the tigers left, never to return. And that's also why tigers and beavers don't live in the same areas. Now all the beavers could live in peace forever, and they all got flat tails from trees. And that, my friend, is how beavers got flat tails.