Fabio and the Amazon!

1. Fabio and the Amazon! By: Carly Gillam Fabio the Frog

2. The blue-green, calm Amazon River was to the left, and the dark, mystical Amazon Forest was to his right, as Fabio the Frog and his frog family were making their way down the sandy riverbank. Fabio was giving his younger sister a “frogback” ride as he was walking between Mama Frog and Papa Frog.

3. All was going completely normal. The frogs were laughing, talking about their day and enjoying their family conversation time when they heard a strange rustle in the forest. Fabio’s tiny heart skipped a beat, but he decided it was just another animal making it’s way though the mess of trees and scraggly bush.

4. The family kept prancing along when they heard the rustling sound again! “What is that?” questioned Mama Frog. “I don’t want to know,” Papa Frog replied. “Just keep moving.” It wasn’t even a minute later before they heard the noise again, only this time it was louder and closer! Just after the noise, came a grunt and a monster of a man popped out of the woods!

5. He was tall, rather chunky and smelled like beer and worms. The man was wearing a safari-type outfit and was holding a makeshift cage and a pair of binoculars. Mama, Papa and Fabio’s sister were so surprised that they retreated onto pieces of wood that were in the river and started floating down the river, leaving poor Fabio, helpless and alone on the riverbank. The strange man simply picked Fabio up and plopped him into the cage! Then, the man dashed awkwardly into the forest, gripping the cage as he sprinted off. Fabio just closed his eyes and drifted to sleep and hoped this horrible nightmare would soon be over. Help! Help! HELP!

6. About an hour later, Fabio awoke to find himself in a run-down shack surrounded by four other metal cages. The weird man entered the shack and one-by-one opened each cage. The man stood there for a moment, staring blankly at the cages, then suddenly left the shack. A lemon-lime python from the cage next to Fabio was the first to come out of the cages.

7. ? The scaly, bright snake slithered into the middle of the room and waited. With beady eyes drenched in curiosity, the snake began to speak, “Hey, I’m Pete the Python, who are you?” he kindly directed to Fabio. Fabio was shocked that the Python was so calm and nice. Generally, Pythons have a bad attitude so this kind-hearted snake was a surprise to him.

8. Fabio slowly drifted out of the cage that contained him. “I’m Fabio the turtle,” Fabio shyly stated. “Do you know where we are?” “We know,” called three other voices from the remaining cages. As soon as that was said, a gorilla, a lemur, and a toucan appeared in front of Pete and Fabio. The gorilla spoke first. “I’m Grace, and that weird man separated me from my two daughters. “I was separated from my Papa, my Mama and my sister,” cried Fabio!

9. “Oh you poor thing! I’m Tallulah the toucan. I got separated from my husband.” The awfully quiet Lemur then burst in by saying, “Well since we’re doing introductions and sob stories, I’m Lenny the Lemur! I was just hoppin’ along with my brother Louis when this crazed creep took me!” shouted Lenny. Grace then simply stated, “Well I guess we’re all in the same boat, the million dollar question is just what can we do about it?

10. Over the next day, Fabio, Lenny, Pete, Grace and Tallulah watched the strange man to see what time he left so they could plan their escape. They finally decided on waiting until the man leaves then Grace will break through her cage and release the other anticipating animals. The animals will then get out of the crummy shack and steal the mans wooden raft, then make their way down the Amazon to reunite with their worried families.

11. So the next day when the weird, smelly man left, the animals carried on as planned. Grace got out of her cage without the slightest bit of delay and released the other patient animals. FREEDOM AT LAST! “Let’s hurry!” exclaimed Pete who had already slithered into the raft. Grace, Fabio and Lenny were not far behind and were then too in the raft. They had pushed off the riverbank and into the muggy water. They had finally escaped! The animals were on their way to find their loved ones!

12. They were about five miles down the river by noon. The pack had already dropped off Tallulah who had quickly found her husband. The gang had also dropped off Lenny whom had reached his home and reunited with his brother. When the animals reached the five mile mark, they cam to a fork in the river. They had to choose which unknown path they would have to travel through. The question remaining now is simply, right or left?

13. After a few minutes of bickering and suggestions, Fabio, Grace, and Pete decided they would do down the right side of the river. For the second time, the started on the final part of the journey and moved on. It was only about five minutes down the river when they heard a sly sounding voice call out, “Peeeettteee is that you?” “Who wants to know?” questioned Pete with a slight tone of fear in his voice.

14. “Don’t be frightened for it is I, your brother Paul! I have been worried so much! Where were you?” exclaimed Paul the Python. “It doesn’t matter! I found you!” shouted Pete. And that was the last time Fabio and Grace heard from Pete for he slithered into the river and onto the bank on which he talked and quarreled with Paul for what seemed like forever. The four bid good-bye and Fabio and Grace headed down the river in search for their own families.

15. About a half an hour later, Fabio and Grace decided to stop at a clearing in the riverbank to rest. “I’m never going to see my family again!” cried Fabio. “Don’t lose hope!” comforted Grace; “I’m sure we will find them soon.” So there the two sat for a little while, reminiscing thoughts of the days journey and thinking about what their families are doing now when they heard a voice from the forest. “I miss my family!” cried Fabio.

16. “Fabio, Grace is that you?” yelled a voice coming from the dark, Amazon forest. “Who wants to know?” questioned Grace. Then all of a sudden Fabio and Grace’s families appeared in the clearing! “We have been searching for you two for hours!” shouted Mama frog as she squeezed Fabio with a grip as if she would never let go. Fabio and Grace then explained about their adventurous journey and said good-bye to one another. The two families went their separate ways and went on to have wonderful lives but still keeping in touch, and that was the end of their adventure through the Amazon.

17. After a few minutes of bickering and suggestions, Fabio, Grace, and Pete decided they would go down the left side of the river. For the second time, they again started their journey and moved on. All was going well. The animals were having a good time, traveling down the river at a good pace and everything seemed to be working out, that is until they heard the gurgling. The river was moving faster, it started to bubble and swirl. Then there was a gurgling sound that kept getting closer and closer! “What’s happening?” shrieked Fabio. “I don’t know! Just stay calm and maybe it will go away!” Pete worried. But little did the animals know that the gurgling would not at all go away.

18. The boat kept racing down the river as the fizzy water was getting more rough and unsteady. That was when Fabio noticed Grace had formed a blank expression on her face and was staring down the river. “What’s wrong Grace?” questioned Fabio and Pete. “Look…” gulped Grace. That’s when Fabio and Pete got a deadly sight ahead of them. The gurgling sound that the animals had been hearing was the sound of one of the biggest waterfalls in the Amazon jungle.

19. The animals were near only a mere couple of feet away from drifting over the edge and at this point they realized it was too late. The three gripped each other tight and hoped and prayed for the best as the inched over the top of the waterfall! There was silence as Pete, Grace and Fabio went falling down the waterfall. The raft was completely destroyed on contact with the cool water at the bottom of the fall. Sadly, all three animals perished in the accident. Fabio would never find his mom and dad. Pete would never reach Paul and Grace would never see her daughters again. And that is the end of Fabio’s tragic adventure in the Amazon.