Lenny the Lost Lion(Ellie Kohut) One hot day in Africa, a lion cub called Lenny was playing in the hot golden grass. Lenny saw a nice red butterfly flying and decided he wanted to try and catch it. The butterfly flew into the long grass and Lenny followed it. Soon no-one could see Lenny.

Lenny’s Mum and Dad went to look for him but it was too late…… the hunters had come! They ran off into the jungle to hide from the hunters.

Luckily for Lenny he was the same colour as the grass, so the hunters did not see him. When they had gone, Lenny ran into the jungle to try and find his Mum and Dad.

Just as Lenny was walking through the jungle, a python named Polly slithered up behind him and said “hello, can I help you?” “Yes please!” cried Lenny. “I’m lost and don’t know which way to go to find my Mum and Dad!” Polly looked at Lenny kindly and said “OK, I will help you… but we must be careful. There are dangerous things out in the jungle.”

Lenny and Polly continued through the jungle looking for Lenny’s Mum and Dad. Whilst they were walking they became thirsty. They went to a nearby waterfall and had a little drink. Barry the Bear came along and said “hello, are you two ok?” Lenny replied “yes thank you. We are just trying to find my Mum and Dad”. “Can I try and help you find them?” asked Barry. “Of course you can” said Lenny. “I need all the help I can get!”
So Lenny, Polly and Barry went further and further into the jungle. As they passed a very old tree, an eagle called Elliot flew out. Elliot had overheard Lenny talking about where his Mum and Dad could be. Elliot said in a deep voice “I could help you find your Mum and Dad?” Lenny smiled and said “OK thank you”.

As they were walking up a steep hill in the jungle, they bumped into a tiger called Ty. Luckily Ty was a friendly tiger. Lenny asked Ty if he had seen his Mum and Dad. Fortunately for Lenny a huge smile spread across Ty’s face and he said “Yes!” “Which way did they go?“ Asked Lenny. Ty suggested that he show Lenny the last place he had seen them. “Fabulous! This means I will have a greater chance of finding them now!” giggled Lenny.

As the group were walking they came across a deep river. “How are we going to get across this river? There is no bridge to cross over?” they said to each other. They all sat down for a moment and had a think but no-one came up with a plan. As they were thinking, a tortoise named Thomas came and said “I can help you get across the river”. “If you climb on my back one at a time, I will be able to give you a lift to the other side”. They all did what Thomas insisted. It worked! They were all delighted that they had got to the other side and decided to carry on walking.

They then came to a huge pile of fallen trees. The trees were piled so high that they were never going to be able to get past them. Lenny came up with an idea. “Let’s all climb onto each other’s shoulders and climb over?” One by one they tried this but it failed as they still were not tall enough to get over the massive pile of trees. Lenny started to cry. “Let’s just go home! We are never going to get over these trees and I am never going to find my parents!” A giraffe called Gerald heard Lenny crying about not getting over the trees and giving up. “I can help you get over these trees as I am the tallest animal in the jungle. How about you all get on my back and I can jump over these trees, because I am tall enough to get over,” said Gerald. In one big jump they got over the trees. Lenny was so grateful. “Thank you so much Gerald” he said.

Because Lenny and his friends had been walking for so long they all decided that they would have a short break. They all settled down and went to sleep. Whilst Lenny was sleeping, all of his friends felt so sad that Lenny had lost his Mum and Dad and so decided that enough was enough.
They went to find a wildlife warrior to help them. Luckily for them there was a hut nearby and a wildlife warrior lived there. Her name was Ellie.
Barry told Ellie that Lenny’s Mum and Dad had ran away from hunters and left him behind. He didn’t know where they had gone. Ellie said “No worries, I will be able to track where the lions have been”. Ellie checked for paw prints and tell-tale signs of where the lions had been and eventually found Lenny’s parents.

When Lenny awoke, he was astounded to see his Mum and Dad. He was the happiest lion ever.

He was so thankful to all of his friends.

“Thank you so much for helping me to find my Mum and Dad. You are really great friends” said Lenny. “I will keep this memory forever”.

And so they all went to bed, happy and content, ready for another great adventure.

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