Gerry was a quiet giraffe who did not seem to fit in with most of the animals from the deep vast forest. His long neck kept his eyes well above the smaller creatures below.

     Gerry tried to make conversation with the squirrels who climbed to the tallest branches of the forest trees. The moment he said 'Hello' to the squirrels they would scurry down to the bottom of the tree trunks in to the tall thick grass.

     As the days passed Gerry became lonelier than ever.  He felt that there may be little hope in every finding a friend of his own.

     He longed to share stories about his own family who he would eventually grow up with and venture on their own. Gerry was told he had to make friends or meet with other giraffes if he was to survive and have a family of his very own.

     'If only dad knew how hard it was to make even one friend' Gerry thought to himself.

     Gerry had forgotten that his mom and dad were once young like him. In time they eventually found each other. That was when Gerry was born as well as his little sister and older brother.  He would realize that he wasn't any different than any animal in the forest surviving on their own.

     The spring was sliding right into summer. The leaves high in the trees were sprouting beautifully.

     Gerry loved the flavour of the fresh green leaves. The flavour was always refreshing.  One day Gerry spotted the most beautiful leaf on a lonely branch of the tall oak tree.  It was the only leaf on the branch.

     For a brief moment Gerry felt sorry for the lonely leaf. It had no other leaves to keep it company. It just swayed gently in the warm breeze.  Gerry watched the leaf break away from the tree branch and fall slowly to the ground.

     He watched the leaf land as softly like falling into cotton. All of a sudden the leaf moved surprisingly slow across the ground. Gerry raised his eyebrows with such curiosity.

     Gerry watched for a while as the leaf moved slowly like the sap from a tree. All of a sudden the leaf caught up on a big rock. Out from under the leaf crawled a little black spider.

     Gerry grinned at the exciting event. He had nothing to do so he continued to watch the black spider move around. To his amazement the spider began to climb the trunk high to the top of the tree

     There was a pause then a wee voice spoke with such words of perfection.

     'Good morning Mr. Giraffe. My name is Spike. How are you?'