How the LLama got its Hooves

Back in the day when llamas did not have hooves, there lived a llama named Rufee. He is the reason llamas have hooves to this very day. Listen and learn.
“Bye, Mom!” Rufee Rumkin shouted as he strode out the door. It was his first day at Llama Lake Academy and he was extraordinarily excited. He inhaled a deep breath of the warm humid air. Suddenly, to his surprise, he felt himself falling. He tried to support himself with his front foot, but his endeavor failed; he fell into a deep, dark mud puddle. His soiled glasses slipped of his nose and fell into the mud below. His tawny coat was riddled with mud, small twigs and leaves. Rufee heard someone laughing behind him. He whipped around to see two male llamas, doubled over laughing. Rufee’s cheeks burned with embarrassment. Hastily, Rufee rose to his feet and walked sadly away.
Once at school, Blinko, the most popular llama at school, and Samson, his flimsy younger brother, glanced over at Rufee and exclaimed, “Oh, look, there’s Mr. Mudpie.
A chorus of laughter followed this statement.
Later, at lunch, while Rufee was carrying his plate piled high with food, Blinko stuck his foot out in the aisle. Rufee stumbled and his victuals flew all over Blinko.
“Principal Rumky, Principal Rumky!” shouted Blinko with a smug grin on his face. “Rufee threw his lunch all over me. See the potatoes and asparagus all over my beautiful coat.”
“Rufee,” sighed Principal Rumky in his dull, monotone voice. “You have acted inexcusably. You must be banished to the mountains.” Everyone gasped in horror.
Rufee was escorted out of the room by two hefty guards, clad from head to foot in metal. They dragged him roughly to a green Jeep Durango and then locked him in the back. The chauffer drove speedily toward the base of the high craggy mountains that loomed overhead. There they unlocked him from the back of the jeep, only to push him into a small, barred enclosure. It was hanging from a structure that looked like a ski lift, but instead of benches, there was just one cage, which had been used to banish lots of other llamas. Suddenly, the cage started moving up the mountain. Once it reached the top of the mountain, the door swung open and Rufee stepped out. He watched as the cage sped back down the mountain, leaving him alone on the cold, bare mountain. To get off the mountain seemed a feat too impossible to even attempt.
After roaming around for a few hours, looking for food, Rufee’s feet began to hurt dreadfully. He scrounged around for scraps of leather or cloth. Eventually, he found enough material to make a pair of shoes for himself. Rufee placed a thin slab of stone in each shoe so that sharp rocks would not pierce his tender feet.
As he was looking for food a few months later, Rufee sighted a piece of paper, not far away. As he got closer, he noticed it was a map. Following it closely, Rufee managed to get down the mountain. From there, he ran as fast as he could to his house. He ran inside without even bothering to take off his shoes.
Running through the house, he yelled, “Mom, Mom!”
“Oh, Rufee, I missed you so much,” said Mrs. Rumkin. Suddenly, her tone changed. “Young man, take your shoes off this instant,” she ordered.
“I can’t,” Rufee said much to his and his mother’s surprise. “They have grown onto my feet.” Rufee felt his new feet. They were very hard, just like modern day hooves.
Rufee wrote a letter to his friend, Hektor Hoovies, asking what he should name his new feet.
“I know,” responded Hektor. “Let’s call them hooves. Therefore, they did.
That is the story of how llama hooves came into being. I am afraid I have nothing more to tell.















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