When Jelly Rescued Harry & Andy From a Jam
Written by Ruth Holmes

Harry the Hippo was not your usual hippo. Instead of relaxing alone in the pool all day as most hippos usually do, Harry the Hippo loved to be around people. Harry lived at the circus and saw people all day long but no one saw him.  No one ever stopped to talk to him. He was happy living at the circus but a bit lonely. He was the only hippo at the circus. 

Harry wanted someone to laugh with and play games. A friend.  

One day Harry heard wonderful sounds on the other side of the gate. His ears perked up and he listened. The sounds were wonderful. 

People were laughing, talking, and giggling. He heard lots and lots of laughter. He could hear children playing, running, and laughing and he wanted to join in. Maybe today was his lucky day and he would find a friend. 

He jumped up and down trying to see what was on the other side of the gate, but the gate was too tall. He jumped up again and the gate swung open. When Harry saw that, he quickly squeezed out. “Eureka!” he thought as he giggled.  He looked around and saw a little boy looking at him. The little boy looked as surprised as Harry and smiled. Then said, “do you want to play?”  

Well, Harry liked the little boy so Harry nodded his head up and down and with a huge smile said “sure!”. Yep…he was a talking hippo too. 

“I’m Andy”, the little boy said. “Want to be my friend?” 

“Of course”, thought Harry. 

So Andy took Harry the Hippo home. When they arrived home they discovered Harry couldn’t fit in thru the front door. Andy and Harry were not about to just give up so they decided to try another way to get inside the house. 

They tried a window, but Harry couldn’t jump high enough to squeeze thru the window. 

How are we going to get inside my house? Andy asked. 

Andy and Harry marched all around the house and soon discovered that Harry could squeeze in thru the cellar door. It was short and wide.  

Once inside the house, Andy asked Harry to sit on a chair… Harry was so excited and happy he jumped on the chair but the chair broke! “Oh no,” thought Harry. But Andy didn't get upset.  Andy said “ Don’t worry about the chair Harry, we’ll find someplace else for you to sit. “ 

Andy and Harry played hide and seek, played games, raced, and laughed a lot. 

After a while, Harry’s tummy growled out loud. Harry remembered he hadn’t had any lunch.  “All our play has made me hungry.

Andy thought. “What do hippos eat? I know. Peanut Butter and Jelly.” Andy went to the kitchen and made two huge peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Then he and Harry sat down on the floor and enjoyed their lunch. But to Andy’s surprise, Harry was a very messy eater and had dripped jelly and peanut butter all over himself. He was covered from head to toe with peanut butter and jelly! 

Andy looked at Harry and decided Harry should take a bath otherwise he would get Peanut butter and Jelly all over everything.  So Harry got into the tub and scrubbed off all the peanut butter and jelly. He was ready to get out but he couldn’t. He was stuck in the tub. “Oh no,” thought Harry.  

Andy tried to pull and push Harry out of the tub but he wasn't strong enough. Then he had an idea. He ran to the kitchen and got all the jelly he could find and came back to the bathtub. He smeared jelly all over the sides of the tub and soon Harry was able to slide out. He was covered in jelly but he wasn't stuck anymore.  

It began to get dark outside. The sun was going to bed and the moon was waking up. Harry realized he was very tired from playing and he wanted to go to sleep. So, he asked Andy to help him get back to the circus. Andy was a little sad because he was hoping to play more, but he knew it was the right thing for Harry to go back home. 

Andy saw how Happy Harry was when he got back home to the circus. 

“I’ll come back to visit and I’ll bring Peanut butter and Jelly sandwiches for us to eat.” 

Harry was happy and said “Okay, Andy, I’ll see you later. You’re a great friend.” 

Harry’s world looked the same but now he had a friend that would visit him. He took another bath and then snuggled into bed as only a very happy hippo can do.