Meet the Animals 2 - Animatastic

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This is Harriet the happy, hippy Hippo.

Harriet is almost always smiling, but, there was one day when Harriet didn't feel like smiling one little bit. She had the hiccups and every time that she 'hicced', she would jump up in the air. Every time that she 'upped', she would land with a thump so hard that the ground shook.

'oh dear' thought Harriet, 'I don't like having hiccups at all!'

Just then, Zendra Zebra came trotting up to Harriet. 'Oh Harriet!' exclaimed Zendra, 'the ground is shaking. I think it's an earthquake and I'm very ....'

But before she could finish what she was saying, Harriet hiccuped again. 'It's not an earthquake. It's me! Hic!' she said rather forlornly.

Zendra thought for a little while and then told Harriet that her mummy had once told her that getting a fright could cure the hiccups. 'Wait here Harriet, I'll be back soon and we'll get rid of those nasty hiccups!'

'O-hic-kay-up' bounced Harriet as Zendra wandered off.

Zendra

Leon

Harriet waited and waited and 'hicced' and 'upped' until finally she thought that she would never be rid of the hiccups.

All of a sudden, there was a very loud 'ROAR' and then Leon Lion jumped out from behind a tree. 'Did I scare you Harriet?' he asked as Zendra came to join the pair. 'Did we cure you of the hiccups?'

'I don't know' said Harriet, 'but I do hope so. Let's see.' And so the three friends waited. They waited for almost a minute, then 'Hic-up!' and all three bounced on the ground. 'Oh no!' they all exclaimed together.

Just then Sebastian snake slithered up to the friends. 'Oh my! The ground is shaking and it's tickling my tummy!' he giggled. 'I think it's an earthquake, whatever shall we do?'

Zendra and Leon explained to Sebastian that it wasn't an earthquake at all, while Harriet looked on miserably and 'Hicced' and 'Upped' once more. Sebastian thought for a second and then said 'My mummy once told me that laughing can stop hiccups Harriet. You should try that.'

'But I don't feel much like laughing' said Harriet, almost in tears now.

Zendra, Leon and Sebastian huddled together and talked in whispers. After a minute or two, Sebastian said 'Don't worry Harriet, we know how to make you laugh.' And with that the three friends walked off into the jungle, leaving Harriet alone.

She waited and waited and 'hicced' and 'upped' until she was sure that she would never be free of the hiccups.

Sebastian

Mica

After what seemed to Harriet to be a terribly long time, she saw Zendra, Leon and Sebastian return with Mica Monkey and Olive Ostrich.

'I really don't think I can laugh' Harriet told her friends, 'I feel too blue!' And with that she gave another hiccup.

'You'll have to laugh when you hear this joke' said Mica, 'it's so funny.' Mica put on his best joke telling voice and asked 'What do mice d when they are at home?'

'I don't know' said Harriet.

'Mousework!' said Mica and he burst out laughing. Zendra, Leon and Olive all laughed too, only Harriet didn't laugh and she was looking very glum. And then........ 'Hic-up' and the ground shook.

'Oh dear' said Mica, 'that was my best joke. I don't know what else we could try' and he looked at Olive with a little smile.

The friends talked amongst themselves about Harriet's predicament and kept her distracted whilst Olive crept around behind her. Olive stretched out one wing and tickled Harriet on the back with her feathers.

'Oh! Hehehe, hahaha, oh my!' giggled Harriet. Olive reached under Harriet's tummy with her other wing and tickled her there too. 'Ahahahahahahahahahaha' guffawed Harriet. 'how did ..... hehehe ...... you ...... hahaha ..... know I was .... hehehe ... ticklish?' she managed to ask.

'Everyone has a ticklish spot for feathers' beamed Olive 'and have you noticed that your hiccups are gone?'

To her surprise, Harriet found that her hiccups had indeed stopped. She was so happy and began smiling once more. 'Thank you all for helping me' she said to her friends, 'Now lets go and play!'

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Olive