CHAPTER 6 – THE STAMPEDE PARADE

The Haveldasher landed on a meadow. A meadow is a field of grass that spans over little hills as far as the eye can see. Michaelah looked around and could not see her home anywhere.

"This cannot be it," she said.

Then when she looked a little harder, she saw something very familiar, something that she had seen before in her hometown, train tracks. And a train riding along the tracks, huffing and puffing steam.

"There!" screamed Michaelah.

But before she could get Koji or the Haveldasher’s attention, over the hill came a herd of all different kinds of animals. The dust from the dirt that the animals were kicking up rose into the sky.

Michaelah asked the Haveldasher what all those animals were doing. The Haveldasher told her that he did not know. So, the Haveldasher, took off, back into the air and flew above the herd of animals. The Haveldasher flew down right beside the herd and started to run along with them. Now they were close enough to find out what all these animals were doing.

The first animal that they got close to was a gazelle. Gazelles are like wild deer, with a white and black stripe running down the side of their bellies. They ran so fast that it looked like they hopped along the grass. Michaelah screamed at the gazelle, "What are you running for?" But the Gazelle did not answer.

All it said was, "Must go fast, must go fast."

So, they moved further into the herd, there they saw a horse. The Haveldasher said to the horse, "Cousin, tell me what you are running for?"

The horse was startled by the Haveldasher’s voice and when it saw the Haveldasher, it stopped running and bowed down, instantly being left behind by the running herd so they, again, moved further in. They came upon a zebra. Koji the panda leaned over and said, "Hello kind zebra, I could not help but notice that we both wear the same colors of black and white on our coat. May I ask, why are you running?"

The zebra turned and looked at Koji the panda and said, "Yes we both have black and white on our coats, but can you do this?" and then the zebra started to run so fast that the black and white stripes turned into one grey color.

The zebra did not answer Koji's question and now he was too far ahead to ask again. Next, they asked a giraffe that was running. But every time they screamed a question at the giraffe, its head was so high up it could not hear what Michaelah and Koji were asking. So, they moved further in, where they met the biggest elephant they had ever seen. They were now close to the center of the herd.

"Excuse me Mr. Elephant! Why are you running?" screamed Michaelah.

The Elephant screamed through his trunk.

"I don't understand!" yelled Michaelah.

The elephant screamed again.

"Do you know English? …because I can only speak English!" yelled out Michaelah. The Elephant screamed one more time.

"He is not going to answer you," said a voice from behind them, "He cannot speak as well as us." A cheetah was talking to them.

"Ah, yes, hello Razzmatazz!" said the Haveldasher.

"Hello, Dash." Razzmatazz sped up so he was side by side with the Haveldasher, "what is that funny thing on your back Haveldasher, next to the panda?"

"She is a human and her name is Michaelah," answered the Haveldasher.

"Human... well she looks like a JollyLogger. Biggest JollyLogger I've ever seen."

"Why are all of you running?" asked Michaelah.

"It is simple. We are running because this is a race," answered Razzmatazz the Cheetah.

"A race," repeated Michaelah, "But where is the finish line?"

The cheetah looked confused, "There is no finish line," said Razzmatazz the

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Cheetah, "There is no starting line either."

So, Michaelah asked, "Then what kind of race is this?"

Razzmatazz replied, "It is the Stampede Parade!"

Koji spoke up, "But how do you know who the winner is?"

Razzmatazz the Cheetah responded, "I am always the winner."

The Haveldasher laughed.

"Why do you laugh?" asked Razzmatazz.

"Because you are not even at the front of the herd," answered the Haveldasher.

"Well, I am simply being a good sport," said Razzmatazz, "Don't you know? Cheetahs are the fastest animals in the world."

Then the Haveldasher said, "Not in this world! In Pandamonium, I, THE HAVELDASHER, LORD OF SPEED, AM THE FASTEST!"

And with those last words, the two of them took off running, faster than any other animal in the Stampede Parade. Michaelah held on tight to Koji the panda, who was holding on even tighter to the Haveldasher. The mighty winged unicorn was running as hard as he could against Razzmatazz the Cheetah. But Razzmatazz was fast enough to keep up with the Haveldasher and there was no clear winner.

Koji whispered in the Haveldasher’s ear, "Why do you not use your wings and go even faster?"

The Haveldasher said, "what a good idea!" and began to pump his wings in such a way that he went faster but did not lift off the ground. After all, fair is fair, and this was a foot race, or rather a hoof and paw race.

By now, Razzmatazz the Cheetah, and the Haveldasher (with Michaelah and Koji the panda riding on his back) were far ahead of the rest of the herd. Koji screamed out, "Look!" there was a small little man buried in the dirt with his feet sticking out in the air. He was struggling to get free. He looked trapped. Michaelah wanted the Haveldasher to stop so they could help the tiny man. But the Haveldasher was too caught up in the race with Razzmatazz.

Koji told Michaelah to hold on tight and he jumped off the Haveldasher.

They hit the floor, but Michaelah did not get hurt. All she felt was Koji’s soft fur rubbing up against her face. They got back on their feet. Koji brushed the dirt off. He was not hurt from the fall either. Razzmatazz the Cheetah and the Haveldasher kept running, they did not even notice that Koji and Michaelah were gone.

Koji and Michaelah ran over to the stuck person. Michaelah asked, "Excuse me, tiny man, do you need some help?"

The tiny man rolled around in his hole and looked up at them.

"I am not a tiny man. I am a JollyLogger of the proud dwarf clan! And no! I don't need any help, thank you very much!" yelled the JollyLogger.

So, Michaelah and Koji just sat their, having abandoned the Stampede Parade to help a stubborn dwarf. They sat their and watched as the dwarf tried to get out of his hole.

Then Michaelah heard a rumbling on the floor. She turned around and saw the rest of the Stampede Parade running at them. Michaelah looked at Koji.

“That’s not good!”said Koji.

Together, Koji and Michaelah pulled the dwarf out of the hole as he kicked and screamed for them to get off of him. They unstuck him and jumped out of the way just in time, before the Stampede Parade trampled them, saving the dwarf’s life.

"Thank you," he said, "But I did not need any help. I was perfectly fine on my own!"

Michaelah and Koji laughed at his stubbornness.

"My name is Snafu," said the dwarf, "what is yours?"

Michaelah answered, "I am Michaelah, and this is my friend Koji, the panda."

Snafu said, "Nice to meet you, Michaelah. And you Koji, I have never met a panda before."

"Finally!" yelped Michaelah, "You are the first one we have met who recognized me and not Koji."

"Are you a witch or a wizard?" asked Snafu.

"No, I am a human!"

"What are you doing around here?"

Koji answered, "We are lost and trying to get home."

Snafu thought about it for a second and then said, "Well since you helped me, even when I did not ask for it, I suppose I owe you one. So, I will help you find your way home."

Michaelah and Koji jumped up with joy. They were finally on their way back home.

"You must follow me, for now. I am a simple dwarf. I have heard of the Bamboo Palace, jewel of Pandamonium, but I do not know the way. Maybe one of my fellow JollyLoggers will know," said Snafu the dwarf. Then he started walking off.

"Where are we going?" asked Michaelah.

"We are going to the Magical Forest," explained Snafu, "where my people live."

Together Snafu the dwarf, Michaelah, and Koji the panda walked towards the Magical Forest to find a way back home. Michaelah walked beyond her companions wondering if the Haveldasher beat Razmattazz the cheetah, but then she remembered that the Stampede Parade had no finish line. They were still running and might never stop. Michaelah had to find a way to forget about the Haveldasher. Not only had he quickly become one of her favorite new friends, but he was also her ticket home.