Once upon a time, there was a hawk who loved to play practical jokes on his animal friends. One day, he flew down to the ground and saw a scruffy little dog. "I have the perfect prank," thought the hawk.

He flew up to a high tree branch, then swooped down and pretended to grab the dog with his claws. The dog yelped and ran away, barking loudly. The opossum, who was taking a nap nearby, woke up and saw the commotion. "What's going on?" asked the opossum groggily.

The hawk chuckled and told the opossum about his joke. The opossum thought it was hilarious and asked the hawk to play a prank on her next. So the hawk flew up to another branch and swooped down, pretending to grab the opossum. But the opossum was ready and jumped into a nearby pond, splashing water all over the place.

The duck, who was swimming in the pond, was so surprised that he swallowed a mouthful of water and started coughing. "What's going on?" asked the duck, once he had caught his breath.

The opossum explained the joke and the duck thought it was so funny that he wanted to play a prank on someone too. So the duck paddled over to a nearby tree where a raccoon was eating some nuts. The duck splashed water on the raccoon, who was so surprised that he dropped all his nuts.

The squirrel, who was nearby, saw the whole thing and thought it was the funniest thing he had ever seen. So the squirrel climbed up the tree and started throwing nuts at the duck. The duck quacked and splashed, trying to dodge the nuts. And that was how the hawk, the dog, the opossum, the duck, the raccoon, and the squirrel all became friends and spent the rest of their days playing pranks on each other and having a great time.

Reflections

• Who was the first animal to play a prank in the story?
• Who got splashed with water by the duck?
• Who started throwing nuts at the duck?
• How did the animals become friends in the end?