A Giraffe Called Harley

It was a crisp and clear morning. Fog hung in the knolls and glens of the land, blanketing the hillsides with a sheet of white. The dew hung off the leaves, dripping with a soft plip, plip, plip. Deep in the forest at the foot of the mountains, the sun penetrated into a small clearing. Flecks of dust, bathed in the golden glow of the rays, floated lazily around the glen. One caught an upward draft of wind and spiraled up, up, up, and eventually into the nostril of a large giraffe. Eyes widening at the irritation, the animal reared back his head and gave a mighty sneeze.
This giraffe, Harley by name, was quite the pleasant fellow. He felt terrible for the disturbance he had made, but he unfortunately woke the entire neighborhood. One by one, the animals from the surrounding cottages came out of their homes to see where the great ruckus had come from.
The first to appear before Harley was his beloved and best friend. It was Martin, a tiny hedgehog, but the two of them were inseparable. After Martin came a lamb named Penelope, a rooster called Samuel, and a grumpy old badger known as Frederick. Although Frederick was not the sweetest of all the creatures in the world, these five animals were all the best of friends and they would be lost without one another.
“Well what’s the big idea?” came the voice of Frederick, cutting through the once silent winter morning.
Harley was the type of animal that was not a fan of confrontation. “I am awfully sorry, Frederick, and everyone, for waking you all up. I know it was very wrong of me to keep you from your beauty sleep,” he added with a grin.
Penelope chimed in, “Aaactually, Harley, this was not the first time your noises have ruined things in our little village. Your size and strength are not easy to control.”
“Yes it’s true.”
“You know, you’re right.”
“It is slightly annoying sometimes, Harley,” were the responses from the rest of their little group.
“Wow, do you all really feel that my existence is only an annoyance to you all? I am immensely sorry for all of the trouble that I cause. Maybe it would be best if I was not around you to make your lives so miserable.”
Sadly, there were no objections from the group. With his head hanging low, Harley walked slowly away from the animals he once called his best friends.
With Harley gone, the area was quiet and calm with no great disturbances from anyone, except for the bickering between Frederick and all of the other creatures.
“Why would you think you can just walk right into my house like that?” the badger would ask one of the others.
“I’m very sorry, Frederick. It was an accident,“ they would respond. The arguing became so great that they all realized exactly what it was that they were missing from their assembly. It was Harley, the peacemaker, the happy and easy going giraffe friend that they realized they all missed dearly.
The four friends went on a massive search for poor Harley. They knew that they needed him, and without him, they were not complete. After miles and miles of searching for him, they finally found their friend. He was alone, in a quiet valley, sitting under a tree.
They ran up to him and gave him the biggest hugs they could manage, although he was so much larger that them. They confessed to Harley how they were wrong to let him go and how much they needed him back in their lives.
Of course, Harley agreed to return home with them, and he was so relieved to be back with his beloved companions. Throughout the rest of their lives, the five of them stuck together, through thick and thin, and even through the mighty sneezes from their favorite giraffe, Harley.