"The First Rainbow"

My freshman or sophomore year at Corban, I took a class on Teaching the Bible. One of our first assignments was to write the story of Noah's Ark so that it would be interesting to young children. I had an idea, but I needed a little help from Ben and Emma. I asked them what their favorite animals were and they gave me four. I don't think anyone has ever seen it - except my professor. I was going through my stuff, repacking for the move, when I found it. Ben and Emma at least, should read it. And (if I may) I rather like it. 

The First Rainbow

A long time ago on an earth that was not so old as it is now, four friends played together all day long. Zebra was very fast and loved to run. Hippo was very shy. Elephant (Ellie for short) was very curious. Mantis’ favorite thing to do was to hide in tiny places and then jump out suddenly and scare his friends.

One day the four friends were wandering around looking for something new to do when they came upon something they had never seen before. “What is it?” asked Ellie.

“Let’s go see!” Zebra suggested.

“What if it’s dangerous?” Hippo said softly.

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“I’ll scout it out!” Mantis declared. Off he flew before anyone could stop him. He was gone so long that Hippo began to say, “Oh dear, something dreadful has happened!” over and over again.At last Mantis returned. “It’s something called an ‘ark,’” he said. “All kinds of animals were going into it. Some of the animals I’ve never seen before.”

“What happened to them?” Ellie asked.

“They were given a bed and food,” Mantis replied.

“How do you know?” Zebra asked doubtfully.

“I snuck in when the man wasn’t looking.”

“What man?” Hippo asked.

“The man at the door counting the animals.” Mantis said. “There were three other men and four women there too.”

“Let’s go see for ourselves!” Ellie declared.

Without waiting for the others Zebra ran ahead. The others followed cautiously.

http://www.ehow.com/facts_5445736_fast-can-zebra-run.html

When they all got to the “ark” they found a long line of animals. Zebra was already half-way up the line. Hippo, Mantis, and Ellie got into the line and looked at all the strange animals. “What kind of animal is that?” Ellie asked, pointing with her long trunk at a black and white animal standing upright. It appeared to have no legs and waddled forward.

“Maybe it’s related to Zebra,” Hippo suggested. “It’s the same color.”

Finally Hippo, Mantis, and Ellie stepped onto the “ark.” They were each given a bed of straw and some food just like Mantis had said.

“Where’s Zebra?” Hippo wondered.

“I’ll look for him,” Mantis said and disappeared again. Son he came back riding on Zebra’s back. “The ‘ark’ is huge!” Mantis said.

“Can we explore?” Ellie begged.

http://xaxor.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Funny-cute-baby-elephants23.jpg
The four friends explored everywhere they could fit in the “ark.” They saw many kinds of animals. There were giraffes and monkeys, sheep and horses. They discovered that the black and white animal they’d seen earlier was a penguin and not at all related to Zebra. Mantis even met some mosquitoes and spiders while he was exploring the tiniest places.

Suddenly, a loud sound frightened all the animals! Then the “ark” began to sway! Ellie screamed, Hippo trembled, Mantis dove into a crack in the wood, and Zebra tried to run away, but ran into a wall instead. They’d never heard or felt anything like it before.

All four of them were huddled in a corner when a kind voice said, “Here they are, Noah. Our lost animals.” It was one of the women. A man appeared with her. They coaxed Zebra, Hippo, Mantis, and Ellie back to their stalls and spoke softly to them. Soon, they were all asleep.

Many days passed and the animals began to feel comfortable on the swaying “ark.” They were allowed to explore as much as they wanted. They talked to some very interesting animals from all over the world. One of their new friends was Dove. She was a beautiful white bird. One day they found her sitting in a window that opened to blue sky and a lot of water. She was panting as if she had just been flying. “Where did you go, Dove?” Ellie asked.

“Yesterday Noah sent Raven to see if there was any land. She came back and said there wasn’t. Today he sent me. See, I found an olive branch. The water is going down.”

“Do we get to leave now?” Hippo asked. She was tired of being on the ark for so long.

http://babyanimalz.com/2011/02/baby-hippo-born-caught-on-camera/

“Not yet. There still isn’t any land.”

A few days later, Zebra, Hippo, Mantis, and Ellie went to talk to Dove, but she was no where to be found. “She’s found land,” Noah told them. “It’s time to leave the ark.”

When Zebra, Hippo, Mantis, and Ellie stepped off of the ark they all took deep breaths. The air smelled fresh and new like,…well, like rain. Suddenly Hippo cried, “Look! Look there in the sky! Oh, it’s so pretty!”

“What is it?” Ellie asked.

Just then they heard Noah say to his wife and sons and his sons’ wives. “It’s God’s covenant with us that He will never flood the whole earth again. It’s a rainbow.”

http://www.designzzz.com/beautiful-rainbow-photography/

So there it is. Hope you liked it. Thanks, Ben and Emma! Can you guess which animals were Ben's (3) and which was Emma's?