Alpha-Pets in Picky Eaters

    Artie Anteater stood by his usual anthill licking up an ant here and there for his breakfast.  “This is boring and getting rather tasteless.  I get tired of eating ants for breakfast, lunch, and dinner,” Artie said to his friend Horatio Hare.

    “I know what you mean," said Horatio.  “I eat mainly lettuce and carrots.  I get just as tired eating those all of the time too.  There has got to be more to eat than ants, lettuce, and carrots.”

    Artie Anteater and Horatio Hare decided it was time for an adventure.  They were going to search for other things that could be eaten.  As they started off down the road they met up with Quinn Quail.

    “Hi guys!” said Quinn.  “What are you doing?”

    “We’re tired of eating the same things everyday, three times a day.  We are going to see what else may be out there to eat.  Would you like to come with us?” asked Artie.

    “Sure!” replied Quinn.  “I get just as tired eating only seeds and berries myself.  There has to be stuff out there to eat.  Let’s go!”

    Artie, Horatio, and Quinn set off down the road.  Where they would end up they did not know.  They were just hungry for new tastes.

    They walked down the road for awhile seeing nothing different from what they were used to.

    “I don’t see anything new,” said Horatio.  “Maybe there isn’t anything different to eat except what we’ve been eating.  I sure wish we could find something new.”

    “So do I,” replied Artie.  “Ants are getting rather boring and tasteless.”

    “Why don’t you and Horatio take a break for a while.  You must be tired since we’ve been walking for a long time.” Quinn said.  “I’ll just fly ahead a short ways.”

    “That sounds like a good idea,” Artie and Horatio replied at the same time.

      “We could use a break.  My legs are tired.  I sure hope that you find something Quinn.  I could use a snack and I bet that you and Horatio could use one too,” said Artie.

    “I’ll just go ahead for a little ways and see if I see anything new.  Then I’ll be right back and let you know what I find,” Quinn told Artie and Horatio.

    “Good luck in finding anything new for us to discover.  We’ll be rooting for you, Quinn,” Horatio said.

    After Quinn left on his search, Artie and Horatio sat down in the shade of a large tree.  They hadn’t realized how tired they were until they felt the cool grass beneath them.  It wasn’t long before they both fell asleep.

    Artie dreamed of how nice it would be if some kind of food would grow on a tree like this one.  If that would happen then I could take some of that tree food and help wash down the ants I eat everyday.  It would really be nice if it would be juicy.  Ants can get awfully dry tasting and make you mighty thirsty.

    Horatio sank onto the cool grass beneath the huge shade tree.  He was thinking about what they might find on the road ahead.  Right about now something nice and cold would taste really good considering how hot it was.  As he drifted off to sleep he dreamed about what could be cold and refreshing.

    Quinn glided through the air.  I hope that I can give Artie and Horatio good news about what lies up the road. A variety of food would be so nice instead of always eating the same thing everyday, he thought as the air current carried him down the road.

      All of a sudden, out of nowhere, Quinn spotted lots of buildings. In a big open space, there were little tent-like things dotting the area. He could also smell all kinds of different things that he could not identify.

      Quinn was so excited that he had finally found something. There had to be different things to eat there. He couldn’t wait to tell Artie and Horatio what he just found. He quickly turned around and returned to them under the big shade tree.

    Artie and Horatio were just waking up from their short nap when Quinn returned.

    “Did you find anything up the road?” Artie asked.

    “I hope you have good news for us,” Horatio said.

    “Yes on both of your questions,” Quinn told them.  “Just over the hill up ahead I saw a lot of buildings and a group of colorful things that looked like tents of some sort.”

    The excited group headed down the road.  Each was thinking what they may find up ahead.  Finally they reached the top of the hill.  As the small group of friends stood looking out over the buildings, delicious smells drifted up to them.

    Driven by the aromas Artie, Horatio, and Quinn hurried down the hill.  They found themselves in a small town.  Standing in front of one building with a variety of smells coming from it, the three of them just stood there enjoying all of the sights, activity, and smells going on all around them.

    “Where do we start?” asked Horatio.  “This is more than I ever dreamed.”

    “I know what you mean.  I never thought we’d find anything like this when we started out on this adventure,” replied Artie.

    “I was shocked when I saw all of this after we hadn’t seen anything for so long.  What do you want to check out first?” asked Quinn.

    The group spotted two boys up ahead and headed toward them.

    “Hi!  I’m Matt and this is Karl.  Are you new in town?  We haven’t seen you around before and ya look kinda lost.”

    “Yes, we are kinda new.  I’m Artie Anteater, This is Horatio Hare and Quinn Quail.  We live in a different place that doesn’t have anything like this.”

    “Wow!  Where are you from if this is shocking you so much?” asked Karl.

    “We live down the road aways.” answered Horatio.  “We have no buildings, tents, people, or all of these smells floating about.  They wouldn’t be stuff to eat would they?  They smell yummy.”

    “I agree!” Quinn replied hopefully.  “We came down the road on an adventure looking for new things to eat.  We’re tired of eating the same things everyday.”

    “Well you’ve come to the right place and at the right time too.  The carnival is in town.  That’s what all of the tents are for.  They only come for a couple of days.  They always have good stuff to eat,” Matt replied excitedly.

    “Yea the carnival is loads of fun and has tons of stuff to eat.  Only problem is they don’t open till noon.  What do you want to do till then?” asked Karl.

    It didn’t take long to get an answer.

    “Let’s get something to eat.  That walk here made us pretty hungry,” Horatio said.

    “What’s in here?  It smells good whatever it is,” Artie asked.

    “That’s a favorite of ours.  There’s always plenty to eat in there.  Karl’s family runs the diner and we always go in and sneak stuff.  Come on!  Later we can go check out the bakery where my family hangs out and runs,” Matt informed them.

    “Sounds great!  Let’s go!” Quinn said to the group.

    The group barged into the diner and took seats in the very back.

    “Hi Chrissy!” Karl said.  “I’d like you to meet my new friends Artie, Horatio, and Quinn.  They’re from up the road and looking for new stuff to eat.  Think ya could sneak us some stuff Chrissy?” asked Karl.

    “Sure.  Nice to meet you guys.  I guess they already told you about the carnival.  I”ll be right back,” Said Chrissy.

    In a few minutes she returned with a couple of plates with eggs, bacon, sausage, scrapple, pancakes, waffles, has brown potatoes, and glasses of apple, orange, grape, and pineapple juice along with some milk.

    It didn’t take long for the group to devour the plates of food.  Artie, Horatio, and Quinn all agreed that the food and drinks were delicious.

    “That was great and tasted so good,” said Artie.

    “Yea Chrissy sure outdid herself.  She probably wanted to help you guys in finding new stuff to eat,” replied Karl.

    “What should we do now?” asked Horatio.

    “We’ve still got some time before the carnival opens.  Let’s walk around town and visit the orchards,” Matt suggested.

    “Sounds good to me,” agreed Quinn.

    The group of new friends thanked Chrissy for the food and left the diner.  Matt showed them the bakery and said they’d stop in there later.  They also passed the butcher’s and the dairy.  At the dairy they got a large milkshake to share and said how cool and refreshing it was.

    Next they stopped at the orchards.  There Matt and Karl showed them trees that grew apples, peaches, cherries, pears, and some grape vines.  They also showed Artie, Horatio, and Quinn the vegetable garden with its tomatoes, peas, beans, eggplant, beets, corn, broccoli, cauliflower, onions, carrots, and lettuce plants.  They were surprised to see how many things could be grown to eat.

    Now they headed to the carnival.  They grew excited as they closer.  All of the smells coming from there made their mouths start to water.  At the carnival they all played a couple games first.  Matt liked the fishing game and Karl showed them how good he was at popping balloons with a dart.  He won everyone a picture to remember this fun day.

    Then they sampled the food.  They shared hot dogs, hamburgers, fried chicken, pork sandwiches, french fries, sweet potato fries, and roasted corn on the cob.  Next they moved on to the funnel cakes, ice cream, fruit smoothies, and some cotton candy.  It was all delicious.

    Afterward they stopped by the bakery and Matt introduced them to everyone there.  They were given a variety of donuts, cookies, pies, buns, and fruit juices to take back home with them.

    “I wish you guys didn’t have to go so soon.  This day was a blast,” Matt said.

    “Yea, you guys are fun to hang around with.  I hope you can come back soon,” replied Karl.

    “Thanks for showing us around.  We had loads of fun today,” said Quinn.

    “I didn’t think that there could ever be so many different things to eat.  I think we all found what we were looking for and then some,” Horatio stated.

    “Thanks again for the tour and all the samples of stuff to eat.  We all enjoyed ourselves a lot and will come back again soon,” Artie told the group.

    As they waved goodbye to Matt and Karl, they were all glad they went on this adventure.  They now had a large variety of food to eat.