The Animals Vacation

The people who lived in the country house had gone away on vacation, just as they did every year at this time. The fine, two-story house with blue shutters stood right in the middle of the forest.

Robbie, the rabbit, stretched out to sunbathe on the lawn in front of the house. The bees came closer too. Now, they had time to gather honey from the pretty flowers in the garden. All the little animals seemed to have heard that the house was empty.
Along came the ants, the crickets, the crows, the squirrels, and all their friends. They were all very curious to see what the house was really like.

“Look” said the tortoise. “The door isn’t locked!”
“Shall we go in?” suggested the ant. “What a good idea!” said the rabbit. And the little busybodies tiptoed into the house, one by one, their eyes opened wide with admiration.
“Such a lovely house!” sighed the rabbit. “Winter must be so cozy here!” Tina, the tortoise, climbed up into an old armchair. Willy, the woodpecker, turned on the television.

“Look at that!” said the tortoise. “It’s a green forest. It looks just like a real forest.”
“What’s that funny animal?” asked the ant, pointing to the picture on the screen.

“It’s a lion,” the swallow replied. “How do you know?” inquired the tortoise.
“I’ve met lots of them in Africa on my travels!”

Fred, a little fox with silvery fur, open the door of closet. It’s full of clothes, he announced, “hats, coats, and suits. Come on, let’s dress up!”

If only the owners of the house could have seen them! A fox with a hat! A squirrel wearing a cap! The animals had never had so much fun!
Willy, the woodpecker, picked out a suit, but it was far too big for him. “What a clown you are!” said the ant. The frog had knotted a tie around his neck and the butterfly was wearing a tie too! Ha ha ha!

At the sound of such merriment, the cows from the nearby field had pushes open the door and come in too. “Yum yum!” said one. “Look at this lovely grass on the floor!” And she started to nibble the carpet, the very expensive green wool carpet!
“Hey, stop that!” cried Willy. “That’s not grass, it’s……
Oh, what was the use? Those cows were just so silly!
The squirrel had run upstairs and filled the bathtub with water. Quick as a flash, all the little animals dove and splashed about happily. “Not all at once! There’s no more room!” cried the ant.
What a house! The animals made one exciting discovery after another. In the kitchen, the weasel found the oven. “I am going to bake you all a delicious cake!” Soon wonderful smell wafting from the kitchen. The weasel’s cake tasted as good as it smelled. The animals had a feast.
“This is the happiest house in the world!” said the frog.
But just a moment- what was that strange noise in the hall?
“Corky, the crow, is vacuuming,” said the tortoise. Corky was holding up the vacuum cleaner, using his wings and feet. What was he up to?

“Quick! run for it!” cried the little animals. “Corky, the crow, is vacuuming,” said the tortoise. Corky was holding up the vacuum cleaner, using his wings and feet. What was he up to?

“Quick! Run for it!” cried the little animals. “Corky’s going to vacuum us all away!” Glug! Glug! The ants disappeared into the vacuum cleaner. Glug! Glug! The snakes were gone too.

Then the swallows, crickets, weasels and…Oh no, the tortoise! She was much too big to fit into the opening of vacuum cleaner.
“I’m stuck!” she cried. “help me! help me!” The poor tortoise kicked her little in mid-air! Luckily, Willy the woodpecker had the presence of mind to unplug the vacuum and set the tortoise and the other animals free.
“It was so dark in there!” said an ant rubbing his eyes.
Upstairs, in the children’s room, the animals made a strange discovery. Sitting on the beds were all sorts of stuffed animals- a teddy bear, a red squirrel, a little dog, a stripped cat, and a pony.
“They look so said!” said Willy. “Sing them a song to cheer them up, cricket!” The cricket sang the happiest little song he knew.
“Look, this smiling bear! So is the squirrel! They are alive!” The animals could hardly believe their eyes. Everyone sang and danced and clapped hands.
“Listen!” said the cricket. There was a whirring sound coming from the garden. They ran to the window.
“Emily, the mouse, is mowing the lawn!” Emily was laughing her head off. She was having such fun the little appliance in her paws.

“Emily!” shouted willy. “Emily, stop! That’s not a lawn mower, it’s an electric shaver!”
Just imagine what the owners of the house would say when they found grass in the shaver!
Outside, behind the flower beds, an ant on the clothesline was pretending to walk the tightrope. Whoops, what’s this in the way? The ant carefully worked its way around a clothespin and continued its adventure.
Meanwhile, the fox was sitting on the swing. The squirrel was on top of the jungle gym, and the weasel was asleep on a stone bench. Oh no! black clouds filled the sky, and suddenly it was pouring rain.
The animals rushed back into the house where it was warm and dry and watched the rain fall on the forest.
Ring! Ring! Everyone jumped in alarm.

“It’s only the phone,” said Willy.
“What are we to do now?” asked the squirrel anxiously.
“Pick it up, of course!” said Willy. “Hello…Hello…”
Who ever heard of a woodpecker answering the telephone?

“Hello!” Willy said again. From the other end of the line came the voice of a very puzzled little boy. “What a funny voice!” he said. “I just thought I’d call home for fun. There’s not supposed to be anyone there!”
“We’re here!” said Willy. “The cricket would like to speak to you, and the fox, then the frog. All the animals of the forest want to say hello.”

The woodpecker tried to imagine the face of the little boy at the other end of the line. He must be imagining that this was a dream or a joke!
“Hello? I have some bad news for you,” said the little boy. “We’re coming home tomorrow. Our vacation’s over.”
The animals all looked very sad. They would have to move out of the house. Never mind! They could always come back next year!