How the Gerenuk learnt how to stand.

By Alex

Once upon a time, a young antelope was migrating with the rest of his family, his name was Bob.

One night, when his mother was putting him to sleep, little Bob asked, “Mother? How come we don’t eat from trees? When we migrate my legs get tired! And wherever we are, there are always leaves on the trees.” His mother just laughed and said, “You will understand one day.”

But little Bob did not understand. The next day he asked his dad the same question. His Dad laughed and said, “You will understand one day” But little Bob did not understand.

Little Bob was confused when hearing his parents answers, so he asked his older brother, Cornelius. Cornelius sighed when he heard the question, “You really don’t

understand do you?” Little Bob shook his head vigorously. “Antelopes are grazers!”Cornelius cried out, “We aren’t tall enough to reach the leaves, it's much easier eating from the ground.” Bob did not like Cornelius’s response one bit.

One day Bob was taking a stroll by the river and he noticed two strange animals who only had two feet! They walked around holding a very long black stick.They must be very strong if they can use only their hind legs to walk! Thought Bob, he wondered if he could do the same. Suddenly one of the animals finally saw him and pointed the stick at him and made some sort of noise to the other animal.

BANG!

Bob jumped back startled at the noise, he ran away quickly and hid in the grass. Weeks passed since the incident, but the animals stayed in his head for just as long. Bob tried to mimic the way those creatures were standing, but he always toppled down and hurt his horns.

So every day, Bob trained and worked on his balance. He used his front legs to hold a branch and his hind legs on the ground, bit by bit, Bob slowly started to feel some

improvement.

A couple months later, he was able to stand on his hind legs, on his own! Bob excitedly showed his family members what he had achieved. “Mother, Father, Cornelius! Come!” Bob trotted around proudly. His family came to see what all the ruckus was about, once they were all there, Bob jumped onto his hind legs and took his first bite into a leaf. That singular leaf was enough to get the rest of his family trying. Soon they were all on their hind legs chewing on leaves. They started to teach their neighbours and friends the same workout, and their entire neighbourhood started to do the same. “Thank you Bob!” They all said together.

The end