Parade Pandemonium

1Every morning, rain or shine, snow or sleet, Rocky and Roly crow a mighty cock-a-doodle-do. The two resident roosters on the Pleasant View Lodge farm awaken their fellow animal friends. They take this job very, very seriously. They know that without their noisy alarm, the animals sleeping soundly will not wake up and start their day. Well, except maybe for Sharlotte.

2You see, Sharlotte is the exception for she is as wise as she is old. Her real age is a mystery on the farm since she was born such a long time ago. The other animals think she is possibly and probably the oldest sheep in New Hampshire. However, the answer to that question remains a secret. Everyone knows it is not polite to ask Sharlotte her age.

3Herman, the German shepherd barn dog, is awakened by the rooster's crow. He sits up to gaze at the sunrise coming up over Mt. Pleasant. There is not a cloud in the sky, just gloriously gleaming grains of green and beams of blue. There are also yarns of yellow, pats of pink, and orbits of orange. Herman nudges his best friend, Harry the hound dog. "Wake up, Harry, and look out the window!" Harry joins Herman to watch the superb sunrise.

4All the farm animals are now awake. The sheep begin to graze. Herman and Harry patrol the farm. The goats and donkeys begin to eat their hay. Mr. Tom, the timid turkey, pecks the ground for insects. Chix, the cutest chicken, follows Mr. Tom. The barn cats, Carl and Casper, curiously chase field mice. The pigs, Paulie and Petunia, sniffle and snort in the messy mud. CoCo and Cappuccino, the two cows, meander nearby waiting to be milked. Sunny, Hunny, and Runny, the Belgian bunnies, nibble on lettuce and fruit. Hunny lifts her head and wiggles her nose. "Sunny, did you know that lettuce leaves are more healthy to eat as leftovers? Especially if they have delicious fruit fragments, like ours."

5Sunny continues to nibble. "That's nice," he says without looking up. "I did not know that, Hunny." Nibble, nibble.

6It is during these early morning hours that the animals hold their Morning Town Hall meeting. The meetings are held before Farmer Finnegan Fergus arrives at 8 o'clock. Sharlotte is the leader of the meetings. She calls the animals to order. "Hear ye, hear ye," says Sharlotte. "I call this meeting to order. We have important things to discuss. Namely, the Farmyard Animal Parade." The animals can barely control their excitement. They begin to chatter and fuss to each other. You see, in just a few days, it will be the 100th anniversary of the opening of Pleasant View Lodge. A fun day of activities has been planned. "Order, order," says Sharlotte to the chatting animals. "As you know, the animal parade will top off the day-long celebration. The parade will be the most important event of the day, with myself as Queen, of course." The animals once again break out in excited chatter. No one wants to listen to Sharlotte anymore.

7Herman is especially excited about the parade. He is named after his great, great, great grandfather, the very first barn dog. His grandfather was named after the lodge's very first guest, General Herman Sherman. "Oh, Harry, I'll be able to wear my grandfather's gleaming green ribbons at the parade. What an honor!"

8"You're right, Herman," Harry replies, "it is a great honor. I'm looking forward to wearing the shiny shamrock bows and purple pastel clips. You know, the ones with little gold rings and bells on them? Those are only used for special occasions. We will look like famous barn dogs."

9Ethel, the donkey, and her son, Evan, look over at Harry and Herman. "Famous?! I think not. You do know my mane will shine. The tail ribbons for the donkeys are by far the most beautiful ribbons ever made. They were hand-sewn in a far away place called India. That's where only the finest things like these are made. The crowds will behold our beauty and say, 'Those decorated donkeys are the best.'"

10On the other side of the barn, the dairy goats snicker, sneer, and side eye the donkeys. "I assure you, Ethel," says Pumpkin Pie, "we goats will most certainly be the center of attention at the parade." With that, the goats turn around to show their backsides to the other animals.

11Upon hearing Pumpkin Pie brag, Paulie and Petunia shake their piggie heads and chime in, "Nonsense, the pigs will rule the parade perfectly and you all know that."

12Sharlotte only knows that she needs order. The animals have chosen sides. They will not even look at each other. Sharlotte paces around the barn. She is worried the animals have forgotten about the parade. "Oh dear," she cries. "What will we do if everyone is mad at each other?" She sits down and lays her head down on the hay.

13Just then, Mr. Tom, the timid turkey, ruffles his feathers and jumps up on a wooden water barrel. He bravely displays his feathers in all their brilliant, bronze-green color. Mr. Tom rarely acts this way because he is rather shy. The other animals are startled by this and quickly quiet down.

14Mr. Tom speaks calmly. "My dear fellow farm animals. The parade will be a great success because of each and every one of us. We are all in this together." The animals nod to each other in agreement. Some, like Ethel, are embarrassed by how they acted. They all quietly hang their heads to think about that for a minute.

15"I'm sorry, everyone," says Ethel, "we'll all be beautiful!" Then all the other animals nod and repeat "sorry" to each other. Turning to the animals, Sharlotte says, "Now, we only have two more days before the parade. Let's all practice lining up and walking in a straight line, shall we?" And for the next few days, that's exactly what they do.

16The big day has finally arrived at Pleasant View Lodge. It is the 100th anniversary celebration and the Farm Animal Parade! The Story Train chugs into the station. It is overflowing with happy children and their families. Rocky and Roly have already awakened the animals. Sharlotte bleats out the call to Morning Meeting. The animals gather. Great excitement fills the room.

17"Order, order," Sharlotte says. "I know you're excited about the parade. We've spent hours and hours practicing how to walk in a straight line. We've practiced follow the leader and how to stay quiet. And especially for the bunnies, we've practiced how NOT to go off to find things to nibble. Isn't that right, Sunny, Hunny, and Runny?"

18As usual, the bunnies are too distracted to pay attention to Sharlotte. The leftover lettuce leaves are too inviting. They nibble instead of listening. Runny holds up a big leaf of lettuce and says, "I simply love leftover lettuce leaves. Especially when I find fragments of fabulous fruit. This filling is floating with dashes of dewberry. There are also splashes of strawberry."

19"My favorite is dangle berry drizzles. Yummy in my tummy," says Hunny flopping her ears. She looks over at Sunny. "Sunny, did you know that dangle berries grow near daffodils?"

20"No, Hunny, I did not know that," he replies wiggling his nose. "How do you know all these interesting things?"

21"Well, I attended Bunny Hop Elementary School. Do you know that tomatoes are a fruit, Sunny?" she asks.

22But Sunny doesn't answer. He is too busy nibbling.

23Runny says, "It's so yummy. I shall eat all of it. Not leave one lurking lettuce leaf behind. No fragments of fruit falling over the edge, either." He buries his nose in the leftovers and mumbles, "Yummy, yummy, yummy."

24Farmer Fergus has arrived to line the animals up for the parade. Mrs. Fergus is with him because it is such a special day. Farmer Fergus and his wife, Fannie Fergus, run the farm together. They have owned Pleasant View Lodge for over 50 years.

25"Let's see," says Farmer Fergus. "I think we'll have Sharlotte up front to lead the parade." With that, Sharlotte gives a bleat of "I told you so" and takes her place up front. The younger sheep follow behind her. "Now, Mr. Tom and Chix, right here, side by side. Next, the goats. Then, the pigs and the barn dogs. Followed by Rocky and Roly, Carl and Casper, and Ethel and Evan. Last, but not least, the bunnies, Sunny, Hunny, and Runny." The animals follow directions and line up without any chatter or commotion.

26Farmer Fergus inspects the line. "What do you think, Fannie?"

27Fannie nods her approval and smiles. "It seems they've been practicing. It's a very good line up."

28"Now, just keep this together for the parade and remember, NO leaving the line," says Farmer Fergus.

29"Not even if someone wants to pet us?" asks Mr. Tom.

30Farmer Fergus turns to Mr. Tom. "No, not even if someone wants to pet your back or give you a snack. Not even for anything. You must stay in line," he says.

31"Come on, we can do this," says Mr. Tom encouraging the other animals. "Of course, we can," Sharlotte confidently bleats out. All of the animals hold their place in line and nod in agreement.

32All of them, that is, except for the bunnies. They are too distracted by the clover growing next to them. "Sunny, do you see what I see?" asks Runny.

33"I sure do, Runny," says Sunny. He wiggles his nose for a sniff. "Hunny, do you see all those plump clumps of clover?"

34"Oh Sunny, did you know clumps of clover are very healthy to eat?" asks Hunny.

35The bunnies try to resist and pay attention to Sharlotte. Hunger pains overtake their senses. "To nibble or not to nibble, that is the question," says Sunny. The bunnies choose to nibble the crispy clover.

36It is 4:00 pm sharp. Time for the Farm Animal Parade to begin. Farmer Fergus and Fannie lead Sharlotte out first. The other animals follow in a well-behaved straight line. The procession winds up the road toward the lodge. Crowds have gathered to watch. The parade of animals are dressed and decorated in fancy ribbons, bells, holsters, and sashes.

37Now, with all the attention on the parade, no one notices that the bunnies aren't in line. As usual, they are too distracted to pay attention. Even as the last animals leave the barn, the bunnies are still nibbling on clover. Hunny looks up. "Oh dear," she says. "Sunny, we were not paying attention! We must hurry and catch up to the parade!"

38Sunny and Runny look up. They wiggle their noses. Not another animal in sight.

39"Let's go," says Runny, leaping forward.

40"Yes, let's catch up," says Sunny bounding from the clover. They quickly bunny hop out of the barn in a panicked pursuit of the Farm Animal Parade. They hippity-hop through the parking lot. Then they race left on Pleasant View Road. Runny flips over sideways on the turn. He almost knocks Sunny over. Luckily, Runny bounces back on his hind legs. "Look," he shouts. "I think I see Ethel and Evan!"

41The bunnies round the corner. They run right past a patch of crispy clover. The clover smells delicious. They forgot to pay attention again. Then, with Runny leading, they run right through the middle of the parade.

42The bunnies race through the parade. Carl, the barn cat, is greatly surprised. He screams out a screech and darts into the woods. The screech makes Casper jump up in the air and pounce on Paulie the pig. Then, the donkeys dodge sideways. The chickens jump up on the cows. Mr. Tom flaps his feathers. He runs around yelling, "gobble gobble, gobble." Pandemonium breaks out on the grounds of Pleasant View Lodge. Animals and people scream and scatter in all directions. Many of the animals seek shelter inside the lodge. Horrified guests run to the safety of their rooms. The animals, left alone, are free to explore and enjoy the lodge on their own. This is exactly what they do.

43Sharlotte and her sheep are first to go explore. They proceed to the plushy Pleasant View Ball Room. The sheep dance for hours and look out the windows at the pleasant view.

44The goats follow Pumpkin Pie outside and play a round of golf.

45Paulie and Petunia play on the swings. "Look Petunia," says Paulie. "Is that a lunch buffet table of food?!" They rush over and gleefully devour all the food.

46The donkeys try a hoof at outdoor chess.

47Cappuccino and CoCo, the cows, saunter over to sit near the pool.

48Mr. Tom and Chix meander to the Pine Cone Restaurant.

49Carl and Casper go down to the gym. They use the sauna and go for a swim.

50The little bunnies, those three culprits who caused all the chaos, go to the lobby. They rest and relax next to the fireplace. Runny turns on the big screen TV and asks, "What shall we watch?"

51Sunny answers, "How about Country Rabbit meets City Rabbit?"

52"Oh yes," says Hunny. "Sunny, did you know that dandelions are not really lions?"

53"You don't say," replies Sunny.

54Runny gets buttered popcorn at the gift shop. He turns on the TV show. The bunnies are not distracted now.

55Herman and Harry check out the General Sherman Beverage Bunker. They see a painting on the wall. "Look, Harry!" says Herman. "I think that's my great, great grandfather, Herman, standing next to General Sherman."

56"Yes, I think you're right," says Harry.

57"This means so much to me, Harry. My great, great grandfather was named after General Sherman. I knew it was true! Now, I can see it with my own two eyes," says Herman.

58"You know what this means, Herman?" asks Harry.

59"I think so," replies Herman. "I think I must be the one to lead the animals back to the barn. It's what my grandfather would do. It's what I must do, too."

60"Exactly, Herman, and spoken like a true hero," says Harry.

61Harry and Herman go to get the animals. Herman proudly wears his grandfather's medals. The other animals respect that and follow Herman. The chaos is replaced with calm. People open their doors and peek out. Farmer Fergus and Fannie see Herman leading the animals. "Herman," Farmer Fergus says, "your grandfather would be so proud of you!"

62All of the animals, even the bunnies, stand in the lodge lobby. It is a single, straight line of quiet animals. Herman motions for them to march forward. The properly positioned animals proceed through the lobby. They march straight out the door and onto Pleasant View Road. People bravely gather again along the parade route. Farmer Fergus and Fannie walk beside the parade while Herman leads.

63The animals follow Herman back to the barn. It is getting late and is almost time for sleep. Herman proudly leads in front with Harry by his side. Their tails held high.

64"This has been the best day ever," says Herman. "It sure has," says Harry.

65It is nighttime now on Mt. Pleasant in New Hampshire. The full moon is rising. Stars twinkle and flicker in the sky. "Look," exclaims Cappuccino the cow, "there's the Big Dipper." He gazes up from the red barn on Buffalo Rd. The animals sleep safe and sound in their stalls and cages.

66Another day will begin soon at Pleasant View Lodge farm. Rocky and Roly stir and stretch from their sleep. Farmer Fergus and Fannie enjoy a cup of coffee together on the porch swing. Conductor Hank readies the Story Train to begin its morning chug up Mt. Pleasant. As the roosters crow their mighty cock-a-doodle-do, the Story Train whistle blows in the distance. It is time for the animals to rise and shine.