For my grandchildren,
Malia, Mya, Christina, Camille, Ciara, Carmelo, and Novella.
You are my greatest joy and my biggest inspiration.
A special thank you to Novella, who suggested adding more about the bunnies because she thought they were so cute. She was absolutely right.
Every morning, rain or shine, snow or sleet, Ralph and Rex, the resident roosters on the farm at the Mountain View Hotel, crow a mighty cock-a-doodle-do to awaken their fellow farm animals. Ralph and Rex take this job very seriously for they know that without their noisy alarm, the animals sleeping soundly in their slumber, will not have the good sense to rise, shine, and start their day. Well, except maybe for Madeline the sheep.
You see, Madeline is the exception, for she is as wise as she is old. Although her actual age is a mystery on the farm, it is estimated by the other sheep that she quite possibly and probably was born in the previous millennium. However, the answer to this question remains a mystery because it is not polite for anyone to ask her her age.
Elmer the Llama, awakened by the rooster's crow, rises to gaze out at the sunrise from his stall window overlooking the Presidential Mountain Range. It is a stupendous sunrise of the most gloriously gleaming yellow, red, pink, and orange colors. Elmer nudges his best friend, Yowie the Llama, to wake up and look at the sunrise with him. Yowie sleepily joins Elmer at the window.
At this point all of the farm animals are now fully awake and ready to begin their day. The sheep begin to graze. The goats, donkeys, and alpacas begin to eat their hay. Mr. Paul, the resident turkey, and Belle, the friendliest chicken, peck the ground for insects. The cats, Pikachu and Gingerbread, busily chase field mice. The bunnies, William, Jane, and Dodge (named after the original owners of Mountain View House) nibble on lettuce and fruit. Jane lifts her head from her yummy leftover lettuce, wiggles her nose, shakes one of her ears, and says, "William, did you know that lettuce is healthier to eat as a leftover?"
William continues to nibble. "Interesting," he says. "I did not know that, Jane." Nibble, nibble.
It is during these early morning hours, before Farmer Thomas arrives at 8 am, that the animals hold their Morning Town Hall meeting. Madeline is the Matron of Ceremonies. She calls the animals to order.
"Here ye, here ye," says Madeline. "I call this morning meeting to order. We have important things to discuss. Namely," she continues, "the Farmyard Animal Parade." The animals, barely able to control their excitement, begin to chatter and fuss to each other. You see, the 160th anniversary of the opening of the original Mountain View House by William and Mary Jane Dodge in 1866 will take place in just a few days. A full day of festivities have been planned to honor this historical milestone.
"Order, order," says Madeline to the chatting animals, "as you know, the Farmyard Animal Parade will top off the day-long celebration. This parade will be the crowning glory of all the events of the day, with myself as Queen, of course." The animals once again break out in an excited chatter. No one wants to listen to Madeline anymore.
Elmer is especially excited due to the fact that he is the great great great grandson llama of Elmer the first, who was thus named by William and Mary Jane Dodge in honor of Civil War hero, General Elmer Montgomery Sherman. General Sherman was one of the first guests to stay at Mountain View House when it first opened.
"Oh, Yowie, I'm so excited," says Elmer. "I'll be able to wear my great great great grandfather's ribbons. What an honor!"
"You're right, Elmer," Yowie replies, "it is a great honor. I'm looking forward to wearing the fancy yellow and green hair clips used only for special occasions. You know, the ones with little bells on them? We will look absolutely regal."
Mable, the donkey, and her son, Sylas, look over at Yowie and Elmer. "Regal?! I think not. You do know my mane will shine and the tail ribbons for the donkeys are by far the most beautiful ribbons ever made. They were sewn by hand and imported from India, a far away exotic place I am told, where only the finest, fancy things such as these are made. Our beauty will stun the crowds."
On the other side of the barn, the angora, cashmere, and dairy goats snicker, snear, and side eye the donkeys. "I assure you, Mable," says Pecan Pie (one of the cashmeres), "we goats will most certainly be the center of attention at the parade." With that, the goats turned around to show their back sides to the other animals.
Upon hearing Pecan Pie brag that the goats will get all the attention, the alpacas, Millie, Penelope, and Sorcerer, shake their heads. Millie chimes in, "Nonsense, it will be the alpacas who rule the parade that day, and you all know that."
Madeline only knows that she is on the brink of a full blown mutiny. Just then, Paul, the resident turkey (who follows guests around to be friendly), ruffles his feathers, jumps up on a wooden water barrel, and displays his plumage in all its brilliant, bronze-green color. Paul rarely acts in this manner and the other animals are startled, rightly so. The chatter immediately subsides.
Paul speaks calmly. "My dear fellow farm animals. The Farm Animal Parade will be a great success because of each and every one of us. We are all in this together." The animals nod to each other in agreement. Some, like Mable, are even embarrassed at their behavior and hang their heads in shame.
"I'm sorry, everyone," says Mable, "we'll all be beautiful!" Then all the other animals nod and humbly repeat, "Sorry" to each other.
Turning to the animals, Madeline says, "Now, we only have two more days before the parade. Let's all practice lining up and staying in a straight line, shall we?" And for the next few days, that's exactly what they did.
The big day arrives a few days later. As usual, Ralph and Rex announce the arrival of sunrise with their cock-a-doodle-do. The animals rustle up from their sleepy slumber. Madeline bleats out the call to the morning meeting. The animals gather and great excitement fills the room.
"Good morning, everyone," Madeline says, "now settle down. I know you're excited about the parade. We've spent hours and hours practicing how to walk in a straight line, follow the leader, stay quiet, and — and this is especially meant for the bunnies, William, Jane and Dodge — we've practiced how NOT to leave the line to go off to find things to nibble."
But, as usual, the bunnies are too distracted by last night's leftover lettuce to pay attention to Madeline. They choose instead, to nibble rather than to listen. Jane holds up a big piece of lettuce and says to William and Dodge, "I simply love leftover lettuce." "Mmmmm, me, too," says William wiggling his nose. "I don't think there is anything more delicious than leftover lettuce." "It's my favorite," says Dodge, "It's yummy. I shall eat all of it, not leave even one tiny scrape of lettuce leaf behind," and he buries his nose in the leftover lettuce. "Yummy, yummy, yummy."
The Mountain View Hotel is overflowing with people today, not only with guests and their families, but with many local residents who are here to watch the Farm Animal Parade. Back at the barn, Farmer Thomas is busy lining up the animals for the parade. "Let's see," he says, "I think we'll have Madeline up front to lead the procession." With that, Madeline gives a bleat of "I told you so" and takes her place in lead position. The younger sheep follow behind her. "Next will be Paul and Belle, side by side. Goats are next, then the Alpacas, and then the Llamas." Farmer Thomas motions for them all to line up, which they gladly do, without commotion, chatter, or chaos. "Ralph and Rex, you two are next, side by side. Then Pikachu and Gingerbread. Mable and Sylas, you two are next behind the cats. Then last, but not least, the bunnies, William, Jane, and Dodge."
Farmer Thomas inspects the line up. "It seems you have been practicing. Very good. Now just keep this together for the parade and everything will go smoothly. Remember, NO leaving the line."
"Not even if someone wants to pat us?" asks Paul, the friendliest turkey.
Farmer Thomas turns to Paul to reply, "No, not even if someone wants to pat you. Not even if someone wants to give you a snack. Not even for anything. You must stay in line."
"Come on, we can do this," says Paul, encouraging the animals. "Of course, we can," says Madeline, bleating out a strong bleat of confidence. The animals all hold their place in line and nod in agreement.
All of them, that is, except for the bunnies. They are too distracted by the clover that is growing next to them; juicy, ripe, pink blossoms of clover with big green leaves. They try to resist and pay attention to Madeline, but the unsuspecting clover demands their full attention. Hunger pains overtake their senses. "To nibble or not to nibble, that is the question," says William. The bunnies, unable to resist, choose to nibble the crispy clover.
Unbeknownst to the bunnies, the choice to nibble alters the very course of history that day. Mountain View Hotel will never be the same.
It is 4:00 pm, sharp. Time for the Farm Animal Parade to begin. Farmer Thomas leads Madeline out first, and the others follow. They stay in a well-behaved, straight line. The procession winds up the road from the barn towards the hotel. It is a beautiful, sun shiny day. Crowds have gathered to watch the parade of animals, who are decorated and dressed in all their finest and fancy ribbons, bells, holsters, and sashes.
Now, with all the attention on keeping the line straight and behaving, no one notices that the bunnies are not following behind. As usual, William, Jane, and Dodge, are too distracted to pay attention. Even as the last animals in the parade, Mable and Sylas, leave the barn, the bunnies are still nibbling on the clusters of crispy clover.
Jane looks up from her clover. "Oh dear," she says, "William, we were not paying attention! We must hurry now and catch up to the parade."
William and Dodge look up and wiggle their noses. Not another animal in sight. "Let's go!" says Dodge. "Yes, let's catch up!" says William.
With that, they quickly bunny hop out of the barn in a panicked pursuit of the Animal Farm Parade.
As they hippity-hop through the parking lot up to Mountain View Road, William shouts, "Look, I think I see Mable and Sylas!"
As the bunnies round the corner, ready to join the parade, they hop so fast that they run right through the middle of the parade. They did not stop because they did not know, since they were not paying attention when everyone else was practicing, that the animals were following Madeline the leader, in a single file, straight line.
It does not matter right now, however, because in this very moment, as the bunnies run through the middle of the parade, Pikachu (the friendliest cat) lets out a loud, screaming screech before darting off into the woods. Then Gingerbread takes off and follows close behind. A whirlwind of chaos and pandemonium spontaneously erupts on the grounds of the Mountain View Hotel.
Animals and people scatter frantically in all directions. Many of the animals seek shelter inside the hotel. Horrified guests run to the safety of their rooms.
The animals, left alone without human supervision, are free to explore and enjoy the hotel. Madeline and her group of sheep proceed to the magnificent Crystal Ball Room to dance and look out the windows.
The cashmere and angora goats proceed to play a game of tennis on the tennis court.
Ella and Scarlett, the dairy goats, play a round of golf.
The donkeys try a hoof at outdoor chess.
The alpacas venture down, via the elevator, to the Oak Wine Cellar. It is a bit of a challenge getting in and out of the elevator, but they manage.
Paul, the turkey, and Belle, the chicken, meander to the Harvest Restaurant where they have the luxury of sitting at a table without fear.
Pikachu and Gingerbread find their way back from the woods and take the stairs down to the gym to use the fitness equipment, take a sauna, and go for a nice swim in the indoor pool.
The mischievous bunnies, those three culprits who caused all the commotion and chaos, rest and relax on comfortable seats in the movie theater to watch an episode of Country Bunny and City Bunny.
Elmer and Yowie check out Presidential Hall. They enter the room. Elmer sees a painting on the wall. "Look Yowie! I think that's my great great great great grandfather, Elmer, standing next to General Sherman!"
Yowie looks up at the painting and then back at Elmer.
"Yes! I think you're right, Elmer," says Yowie.
"This means so much to me, Yowie. I knew it was true, but now I see the truth with my own two eyes," Elmer replies.
"You know what this means, Elmer?" asks Yowie looking at Elmer.
"I think so," replies Elmer. "I think I must be the one to lead all the animals back to the barn. It's what my great great great great great grandfather would do, and therefore it is what I must do."
"Exactly, Elmer, and spoken like a true hero and leader," says Yowie.
Elmer and Yowie make their way to gather the animals. Elmer proudly wears his great grandfather's medals. The other animals respect that and follow Elmer to the hotel lobby.
A gentle calm and peaceful quiet replaces the confusion and chaos. People begin to open the doors of their rooms and peek out. Farmer Thomas, Ellen, and Beth, are also in the lobby discussing a plan to retrieve the animals.
All of a sudden, whom do they see? None other than Elmer, in all of his Civil War hero llama regalia, leading the animals! "Elmer," Farmer Thomas says in surprise. "Your great, great, great, great, great grandfather, General Elmer llama Sherman, would be so proud of you!"
All the animals, yes, even the bunnies, stand in the lobby, in a single line without chatting. Elmer motions for them all to march forward. The straight line of animals, properly positioned, proceeds through the lobby, out the front door, and down the steps to Mountain View Road. People bravely gather once again along the parade route in the hope of seeing this epic example of excellence.
Farmer Thomas, Ellen, and Beth, need only to walk next to, not lead, the animals. They follow Elmer back to the barn where it is time for them to rest and sleep.
"This has been the most exciting day," exclaims Madeline. "It sure has," agrees Pecan Pie.
Nighttime descends upon the Presidential Mountain Range. The moon rises. Stars twinkle and light up the sky. "Look, there's the Big Dipper," exclaims Pikachu. The animals sleep safe and sound in their stalls and cages.
Another day will soon begin at the Mountain View Hotel farm. You hear Ralph and Rex begin to stir and stretch from their sleepy slumber. Once again, it is time to remind the animals to rise and shine, and they crow a mighty cock-a-doodle-do.
The End