Temi
By Golafshan Hassan Zadeh Moghimi
Tehran, Iran

Once upon a time a crocodile lived on the bank of a river in a beautiful tropical country. The river bank was surrounded with thousands of big tall trees, beautiful flowers, and green grasses. It was very rainy and the river roared. Many animals gathered there to drink and bath and the crocodile of our story knew many of them.

Oh, pardon me! I forget to introduce our friend. Her name was Temi. She was a big crocodile with a long tail and short legs. She was calm, kind, a little shy, and a quite gluttonous. She couldn't control herself when she was hungry, so she gained weight and couldn't walk or run fast. Some times the animals teased her.

One day there was a race between the animals to find the fastest runner. The animals were talking about it at the edge of the river. Mi-Mi the monkey said to Temi: "Why don't you take part in this race? I'm sure you'll win the first prize." And the animals laughed.

Temi became sad but she didn't say anything because she was shy. They continued to make fun of her, so little by little she stayed away from others and lived in solitude.

One day there was a strong wind which blew all day long and made lots
of noise. All the animals were frightened and stayed in their homes. The next day it was quiet and calm, but something was wrong. The river was not moving and the water level was low. All the animals became worried and sad. They came to the bank of the river and held a meeting to discuss the problem.

Finally they decided to send To-To the parrot to find out what was wrong. She flew away and came back very soon.
"Oh, my Goodness!' she said anxiously, "The wind broke some trees and they fell in the river. They have dammed the river. If it continues
we will be in danger. The water level will build up behind the dam and there will be a great flood and we will all drown."

A zebra said: "Don't be worry, our king, the lion, will help us. He is
very strong." But the lion said, "Me? It is very deep and I will drown. No, I'm sorry. I can't help you."

"Maybe the elephant can help us. He is very big and strong." said a
Monkey. But the elephant said, "No. it's deep and dangerous, if I break the dam, the water will take me away. I can't do anything for you."

"Maybe the giraffe can help us. He is very tall and has long legs and
a long neck." said a rabbit. But the giraffe said, "I'm sorry. I can't help you. I'm tall and I won't drown, but I'm not strong."

The animals became disappointed and scared. A hedge hog started to cry and said: "What a shame! Look at our heroes! If they can not save us, who will?"

Suddenly a voice said: "I will." and the animals became silent. It was Temi, the big, shy, fat crocodile. She continued: "I'll swim there and hit the trees with my tail" So she swam out to the dam and hit the trees several times. Suddenly the trees started to move and the dam broke down!

From that day forward, no one made fun of Temi. One by one they apologized to her and asked if she would be their friend. The animals learned that being kind and helpful is much more important than ones appearance. So let's forgive those who have treated us badly and be as kind and helpful as we can, just like Temi.

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