Once, there was a little girl named Lacy. She had eight brothers and sisters, and she was the middle child! Her four older siblings were always bossing her around, and her four younger siblings were always annoying her. Sometimes, Lacy felt like her parents didn’t even notice that she was there because they payed so much attention to her other siblings. Lacy thought that maybe her parents wouldn’t even notice if she left! Then, one day, she decided to go on an adventure to find a new family.

First, she traveled north, to the climbing green pines and swirling, whirling winds of the white snowy forest. The cold bit at her nose as she wandered among the trees, shivering in her coat that she had brought along. Suddenly, she heard a yip, and turned as a shaggy grey wolf pup trotted up to her.

“What are you doing here?” It asked her.

“I’m  looking for a new family,” said Lacy. “What’s yours like?”

“They’re great!” Said the wolf pup. “We run and jump and play all day long.”

“That sounds fun,” said Lacy.

“Follow me!” Said the pup, trotting away into the trees.

So Lacy followed the shaggy grey wolf pup off into the trees and all the way to a snowy clearing, where she saw wolves of many colors. They were grey and black and white and the pups wrestled and ran and tackled each other while their parents were off hunting or asleep. Lacy’s teeth chattered as the snow fell around her. She went and played with the wolf pups, but soon found that it was hard to play their games without sharp teeth or four paws. Suddenly, she heard a howl, and the wolves began to sprint off into the woods.

“Come on!” Shouted the wolf pup. “We get to go hunting!”

So Lacy ran as fast as she could through the freezing winter air, but soon found that she couldn’t keep up with the pack. It was too cold, and the snow was too deep. She realized that the wolf pack could definitely not be her new family. Maybe I’ll go somewhere hot next, she thought.

So Lacy left the cold northern woods and traveled down south and across the ocean, until she found the desert. The light brown sand dunes stretched as far as Lacy could see, and the sun beat down on her back. She hiked up and over the mountains of sand for what seemed like hours until she finally spotted some trees, which grew around a small blue watering hole in the middle of the vast expanse of desert, and was inviting to Lacy because she was very thirsty after her journey. As she went to get a drink, she saw a great big eagle peering down at her from its nest.

“What are you doing here?” the eagle asked Lacy.

“I’m looking for a new family,” Lacy told her. “Do you know any?”

“Well, you can be part of my family,” said the eagle. “I already have three eaglets, what’s a fourth?”

Lacy decided to give it a try, so she made her own nest beneath the mother eagle’s tree out of all the sticks and leaves and grass that she found around the watering hole, copying the way that the mother eagle had made hers. When she was finished, she was very happy with her work. The nest was much more comfortable than she had imagined it would be, and just as she was settling down, she heard the mother eagle talking to her eaglets.

“Now how do we fly?” She asked them.

“We flap our wings up and down, up and down, up and down,” chanted the eaglets.

Soon, all but one was eaglet was left in the nest. It was the smallest one, and Lacy watched as she struggled to take to the air with her little wings. Her mother gave her a gentle push and in no time she was flying along behind her siblings. Suddenly, Lacy realized that she didn’t have wings at all. How could she fly without wings? Maybe she still could. She and the mother eagle were the only ones left at the nest. Lacy climbed up one of the trees and stood on a thick branch.

“Now how do we fly?” The mother eagle asked her.

“We flap our wings up and down, up and down, up and down,” she repeated, flapping her arms as if they were wings. When she stepped off the branch, however, she plummeted back to the ground and into the watering hole, with a loud splash! Embarrassed, she realized that the eagles could definitely not be her new family. Maybe I’ll try a family that just walks next, she thought.

So Lacy walked and walked across the vast desert landscape, sand blowing all around her as she trudged over each and every dune. She began to miss the watering hole as she realized that it was very hard to find any water in the desert. Off in the distance, she spotted several shapes that seemed to blend in with the sand, and as she got closer, she realized that it was a herd of camels. She ran up to them.

“Do you have any water?” She asked one little camel.

“No,” the calf said. “What are you doing out here in the desert?”

“I’m looking for a new family,” Lacy said.

“You can be in my family!” Said the little camel, excitedly. “We’re on our way to the next watering hole right now!”

“Great!” Said Lacy as the herd of camels began to walk.

Lacy and her new family walked for what seemed like hours before Lacy finally decided to ask the calf her question.

“How long until we get there?”

“Oh, maybe a week or two,” said the little camel.

“A week or two?” Lacy said, shocked. “But don’t you need water?”

“Yes,” replied the little camel. “But we store it all in our humps. We can go for six months without drinking any water!”

Lacy was dismayed. She realized that she could definitely not go that long without drinking and that the camel herd could definitely not be her new family. The desert was too dry, too hot, and too sandy. Maybe I’ll go somewhere wet next, Lacy thought.

So Lacy went back across the ocean and traveled until she found the rainforest, which she had heard was very wet. The rainforest was beautiful! There were hundreds of vibrant, unique colors on hundreds of different plants and flowers that bloomed and blossomed in all of their own ways. She saw lush green trees that formed a canopy over her head, purple and red and blue and orange and even pink plants that grew every which way, and animals and bugs that she had never seen before, even in pictures! The rainforest was like its own little world. As Lacy marveled at all the plants and trees, she heard a laugh behind her. A laugh? she thought. Who could be making that noise? Suddenly, a pile of bananas came crashing down on her head.

“Ouch!” She cried, looking up. There, in the trees, a monkey smiled down at her.

“Got you!” It said. “You should have seen the look on your face!”

“That wasn’t very nice!” Said Lacy.

“No, but it was funny!” Laughed the monkey. “What are you doing here anyway?”

“I’m looking for a new family,” Lacy told the monkey.

“You can be a part of my family!” Said the monkey. “Come on, you can play pranks on the the other animals with me and my brothers and sisters!”

“Ok,” said Lacy, climbing up into the trees.

Lacy and the monkey were soon joined by several other monkeys, all who swung gracefully from branch to branch, dropping fruit on the heads of unsuspecting animals. It was fun at first, but soon Lacy became very tired trying to keep up as she ran and jumped from tree to tree. The other monkeys seemed to have no problem with it at all, and they weren’t stopping to take any breaks either. The monkeys were too fast, and Lacy was too tired. Lacy realized that this could definitely not be her new family. Maybe I’ll try a family that I can actually keep up with next, Lacy thought.

So Lacy climbed down from the trees and kept walking through the rainforest. She was beginning to get very hot, and it was way too humid here. Water dripped down from the treetops, and Lacy began to understand why it was called a rainforest. Bugs buzzed all around her, giant bugs with strange pincers that she only hoped wouldn’t bite her. She stopped to take a break underneath a tree, and suddenly she heard the sound of snoring from the branches above her. She peered up at the trees, and saw several sloths hanging upside down from the branches, their arms wrapped around them, holding on tight. As she watched them, one yawned, opened its eyes, and looked at her.

“What are you doing here?” It asked her.

“I’m looking for a new family,” Lacy said.

“You can be part of my family,” said the sloth. “We’re just taking a nap.”

“Ok,” said Lacy, climbing up onto the branches. It would be nice to take a break after all that monkeying around.

Lacy fell asleep on a wide branch of the tree, and woke up a few hours later to find that the sloths were still asleep. She decided that maybe they just took long naps, so she shut her eyes and tried her best to go back to sleep. She lay there for almost two more hours before deciding that she couldn’t do it any longer. She sat up, but the sloths didn’t even stir. A little sleep was good, but Lacy didn’t think she could sleep for as long as the sloths did. She decided that they could definitely not be her new family. Maybe I’ll go somewhere more exciting next, she thought.

So Lacy went all the way to the savanna, where the tall grass waved in the wind and the pale yellow sun beat down from the light blue sky. Animals pranced and galloped across the plains, each in their own herds. There were zebras and hippos and lions and gazelles and so many other animals that Lacy could see. There was plenty of excitement for her here. As she stood gazing out at the wide plains of the savanna, a tiny cheetah cub with golden fur and black spots galloped up to her.

“What are you doing in the savannah?” It asked her.

“I’m looking for a new family,” she said.

“You can join my family!” Said the cheetah cub.

“Alright,” said Lacy.