“Wheeee! This is fun,” said Snake Joe. “It sure is,” said Snake Jake.

Jake and Joe were playing outside on a bright sunny day. They found a board and a round block, so they made a seesaw out of it.

After awhile they decided to try something else, taking turns flipping each other. One would lay on the lower end of the board and the other would jump on the high end.

Donkey Don was watching all the fun. He laughed and laughed as he saw Jake and Joe flip each other.

While Joe was on the high side, Don came over and asked, “May I try?”

“Sure,” said Joe, slithered off.

As you might know, donkeys weigh more than snakes. And, neither Don, Jake, or Joe knew what was about to happen.

Don thought it would be fun to flip Jake in the air, so he backed up a little bit, then jumped on to the board.

KAZING! Jake went soaring high into the air.

“Aaahhhhhhhhhhh!” cried Jake, and landed into a tree.

“Help!” Jake cried.

Joe asked, “Jake, can’t you back up and slither down? You’ve been in trees before.”

“Yes, I know, but it seems if I move just a bit, it sounds like the branch is breaking,” said Jake.

“Oh my! I am sorry Jake!” said Don.

“That’s ok Don, but I’m scared!” said Jake. Just then there was the sound of a snap, and the branch that Jake was on went lower.

“Help! Help!” cried Jake.

“I will run and go find Seymour,” said Don, and ran off.

Don ran here and there. “Seymour! Seymour!” A few minutes later Don found him and told him what happened. They both ran to the tree where Jake was.

“I will try to help you,” said Seymour. He saw that Jake was very high in the tree. Seymour tried to reach him, even by standing on the tip of his toes, but Jake was too far away.

“Hey, how about if you stand on something Seymour, like this block we were using?” asked Joe.

“Good idea,” said Seymour.

So, they brought the block over to the tree and Seymour stood on it.

Seymour then stretched his long neck upward.

“Seymour! I think you will be able to reach me,” said Jake.

Sure enough, bit by bit, Seymour got to Jake and brought him back down.

“Thank you so much Seymour!” said Jake.

“You are welcome,” said Seymour.

“Wow, that long neck of your’s is mighty handy at times,” said Joe.

“I know, and I thank God for it,” said Seymour.

“There was a time, though, when I was a young giraffe that I did not like my long neck. There were some critters that made fun of me. But, now I am thankful for my height,” Seymour said.

“I’m sure thankful,” said Jake. “Me too,” everyone else said.

“Now, when you think of it, each of you have qualities you should be thankful for,” said Seymour.

“Even us belly-crawling snakes?” asked Jake.

“Sure. You can go places I can’t,” said Seymour.

“And donkeys like you Don are a big help to people in various parts of the world,” said Seymour.

“Even here at Ponderings Pond?” asked Don.

“Indeed. Perhaps you will see one day,” said Seymour.

Well, by this time everyone was feeling happy and relaxed, so they started playing again. But, now they were a little bit more careful.