And the mouse jumped on the rabbit with a hop
They stretched and stretched and stretched
But were far away from the top
Next Paul and his two friends
Would take their turn at getting the ball
They knew that they were bigger
And could stand at least twice as tall
So the goat jumped on the cow's back
And the dog jumped on the goat with a hop
They stretched and stretched and stretched
But not quite far enough to reach the top
All were now very sad and tired
And believing it was not meant to be
Then all at once an idea was born
That filled all their hearts with glee
If all of them worked together
It would surely be as easy as pie
With all of them piled up
They could probably touch the sky
So the goat jumped on the cow's back
And the dog jumped on the goat with a hop
The cat jumped on the dog
And the rabbit jumped on the dog near the top
The last to pile on was the mouse
Who was laughing and couldn't stop
Because he was now absolutely sure
That he would reach the top
The mouse reached up and put his hand
On the shiny colored ball
Then gave it a push and jumped for joy
As the ball began to fall
Down the ball came and with a crack
It hit the low cut grass
The ball had broken into a hundred pieces
For the ball had been made of glass
Tom and Paul and friends
All came tumbling down
And when they saw the broken ball
They couldn't help but frown
Then suddenly they began to laugh
And they laughed until they cried
For their struggle was worth much more
Then the prize for which they tried
And thinking back upon the day
They realized they were not so dumb
For they each made three new friendships
That would last for many years to come
[The first draft of this story was done in 1972.]
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