Myth+Example

__** __** The Best Animal on the Island **__ **__ ** ** By Caroline Huntoon ** ** Off of the coast of Massachusetts there is an island called Nantucket. Today, it is almost always covered with a thick mist of fog. But it wasn’t always like that.

Many, many years ago, the island was clear of fog and full of sunlight. Every morning, the animals of the island would gather on the beach and play games. Hermit Crab would draw pictures in the sand, Mouse would play hopscotch, and Sparrow would sing the day away on a nearby perch.

Then there was Sandpiper.

Sandpiper would strut along with the beach while the others played and use his beak to boldly proclaim:

“Of all of the creatures that live by the sea None of those creatures are better than me!”

Over and over he sang his awful song and it got louder and louder as the days wore on.

Finally, the other animals had had enough.

“Sandpiper,” Hermit Crab snapped. “Could you maybe tone your song down a bit?”

“Why should I?” replied Sandpiper. “It’s the truth!”

This response angered the other animals.

Hermit Crab began to click his claw together. CLICK CLACK CLICK.

Mouse began to twitch her nose. TWITCH TWITCH TWITCH.

Sparrow began to flutter her wings rapidly. FLITTER FLITTER FLITTER.

“If that’s true,” snapped Hermit Crab, “Then you should be able to draw a better picture than me.”

“I bet I can,” crowed Sandpiper. He walked over to Hermit Crab’s drawings.

Hermit Crab began to drag his shell through the sand and drew a beautiful picture of a seaside.

“Beat that,” snapped Hermit Crab. He was sure that Sandpiper could do no better.

Sandpiper walked up to Hermit Crab’s picture and thrust his beak in the sand. Then he began to walk across the beach, dragging his beak through the sand. After a few minutes, he pulled his beak out of the ground and walked up to Hermit Crab.

“I win,” he said, proudly.

“That looks terrible!” gaped Hermit Crab. “You didn’t draw anything.”

“Well, you can’t really see it from here. But if you were to fly up high in the air, mine would look much more beautiful than yours!” Sandpiper explained.

“But!” huffed Hermit Crab, “That’s cheating, you’re supposed to-“

But before Hermit Crab could explain why Sandpiper had cheated, he burst out into his boastful song:

“Of all of the creatures that live by the sea None of those creatures are better than me!”

The other animals got even angrier than before. CLICK! TWITCH! FLUTTER!

“If that’s the truth,” squeaked Mouse, “Then you should be able to beat me at hopscotch.”

“I bet I can!” crowed Sandpiper. He walked over to Mouse’s hopscotch board.

Mouse threw a small stone in the middle of the board and proceeded to hop through a series of intricate hops and leaps. When she finished her turn she handed the stone to Sandpiper.

“Beat that,” squeaked Mouse. She was sure that Sandpiper could do no better.

Sandpiper flicked the stone into the board. Then he used his long legs and took one step to the other side of Mouse’s tiny hopscotch board. Then he turned around, picked up the stone, and took one great stride back to Mouse.

“I win,” he said, proudly.

“But!” huffed Mouse, “That’s cheating, you are supposed to-“

But before Mouse could explain why Sandpiper had cheated, he burst out into his boastful song:

“Of all of the creatures that live by the sea None of those creatures are better than me!”

The other animals got much angrier than before. CLICK! TWITCH! FLUTTER!

“If that’s true,” tweeted Sparrow, “Then you should be able to sing a better song than me.”

“We already know I can!” crowed Sandpiper. He took a deep breath and began singing his boastful song even louder than before:

“Of all of the creatures that live by the sea None of those creatures are better than me!”

He sang the song over and over, and the other animals got angrier and angrier. CLICK! TWITCH! FLUTTER!

Sparrow could no longer stand hearing the awful song, so she jumped from her perch and flapped her wings as hard as she could. Up, up, up, she flew. Higher and higher.

Suddenly, she ran into a huge grey cloud.

“Excuse me!” tweeted Sparrow in apology.

“That’s all right,” responded a rumbly voice. “Why are you flying so high? Sparrows are meant to stay close to the ground.”

“I had to get away,” tweeted Sparrow. “Sandpiper is being so boastful on our beach. First he cheated and ruined Hermit Crab’s beautiful drawing. The he cheated and beat Mouse at hopscotch. Now he’s cheating and singing a horrible song to beat me in a singing competition.”

The grey cloud looked down at the beach. She could see Hermit Crabs lovely drawing, with the horrible lines destroying it. Down there, she could see Mouse wiping the tears from her whiskers. And if she listened carefully, she could hear Sandpiper’s loud and obnoxious voice:

“Of all of the creatures that live by the sea None of those creatures are better than me!”

“He’s ruining our lovely island!” tweeted Sparrow.

“I wish there were some way I could help, but I am just a cloud.”

Suddenly, Sparrow got an idea! She fluttered around Grey Cloud and whispered her plan.

Later, Sparrow returned to the beach. Sandpiper was still singing his boastful song, and the other animals were not playing any games.

Sparrow flew up to Hermit Crab and Mouse.

“I need your help to teach Sandpiper a lesson!” tweeted Sparrow. “Hermit Crab, can you go into the ocean and borrow a pearl from Oyster”

CLICK! Hermit Crab scuttled away, and returned a few moments later with shiny pearl.

“Mouse,” tweeted Sparrow, “When the time comes, can you hop your biggest hops and hide this pearl somewhere on the beach?”

TWITCH! “I most certainly can!” squeaked Mouse.

Then, Sparrow flew right up to Sandpiper.

TWITTER! Sparrow tweeted in her loudest chirp, “You think you are the best? Well, we have a challenge.”

Sandpiper scoffed and guffawed. “There is nothing I can’t do!”

“Prove it!” With that, Sparrow picked up the pearl that Hermit Crab had gotten from Oyster. “See this pearl? We are going to hide it somewhere on the beach. If you can find it, then all of us will agree that you are the best animal on this island.”

“I accept!” crowed Sandpiper. “When can I start looking?”

“At nightfall,” tweeted Sparrow. “You have to give Mouse time to hide it.”

“I will succeed! And then you will all have to agree that I am the best animal of all,” crowed Sandpiper. With that, he burst into his boastful song:

“Of all of the creatures that live by the sea None of those creatures are better than me!”

Sandpiper sang for the rest of the day until the sun set beyond the waves of the ocean.

When it got dark, Sparrow gave the pearl to Mouse to hide. Mouse grabbed the pearl tightly and hopped down the beach. When she returned a few minutes later, her paws were empty.

Sparrow came up to Sandpiper and tweeted, “Are you ready?”

“Of course I’m ready,” said Sandpiper.

“Okay… Ready… Set… GO!” shouted all the other animals, as loud as they could.

Suddenly, Grey Cloud dropped from the sky and filled the beach with a thick, dense fog. Sandpiper stumbled blindly around the beach and searched for the pearl that was hidden.

While Sandpiper silently search, Hermit Crab, Mouse, Sparrow and Grey Cloud all played their games on the beach.

Sandpiper searched all night for the pearl, but he couldn’t find it through the thick fog. He searched and searched, but as the morning sun started to peak over the island, Sandpiper found that he was too exhausted to go on. He toppled over and fell asleep without a word.

Sparrow thanked Grey Cloud.

“It was fun,” rumbled Grey Cloud. “Maybe, I can come and visit again…?”

“Of course,” Hermit Crab, Mouse, and Sparrow said together. CLICK! TWITCH! FLUTTER!

From that day to this, Grey Cloud came to visit her friends on the island almost everyday. And each time, she covered the island with a thick grey fog.

Even today, you can still see Sandpiper pecking in the sand on Nantucket Island, looking for that pearl so he can prove that he is the best animal of all.