Short Story

[Bratterratt]

So, I had to write a short myth/explanatory story for a correspondence class I'm taking. It's silly and I didn't really take much time on it. It's just what sort of flowed out. So pardon any grammatical errors. Thought I'd share anyway!

The Alaskan Camel

Once, in the sweltering Egyptian desert, there lived a little camel named Humphrey (his parents had quite a sense of humor: Humphrey). Poor Humphrey was a gangly youngster, who, being both clumsy and socially awkward, had a hard time fitting in with the rest of the teenage camels in the desert. He often found himself sitting out during the usual camel games or uninvited to join the rest when they went as a group to see the opening of “Ben Hur”. Naturally, for a young camel, this was difficult to deal with and Humphrey, like most would do in his situation, began to wander off on his own.


After one especially embarrassing incident involving a game of tag and a poorly placed cactus, Humphrey found himself plodding off across the sandy desert yet again on one of his depressed walks. The sad little camel walked and walked, head hanging low, each foot dragging in front of the other. Maybe he just wasn’t meant to be a camel! Well, time passed, and Humphrey walked, on and on, not bothering to stop. By the time he did pause and look about, the unhappy Humphrey was standing on the white sandy beach of the Atlantic Ocean. With a mumbled huff, the little camel pressed onward into the foamy water, swimming across to the other side, or the continent of North America.


Once Humphrey reached the land, it became apparent that he was not longer in Kansas. Er, Egypt. Forests and lakes presented themselves to the now curious camel as he ventured into the unknown, his eyes wide. Before long, ole’ Humphrey was traveling up the continent at a steady pace well into the United State of America. Well, things didn’t turn out to be as pleasant as one might have expected.


Right off the bat, Humphrey realized that camels were not built for forest life. His long, spindly legs were always getting caught up in branches, twigs, and anything else that sat on the uneven ground. Due to this, the clumsy camel found himself tripping quite often, which stained his once yellow coat to a grimy dark brown with the mud. But, being determined, Humphrey continued forward into the ever thickening forests as he reached the bottom of Canada. What happened next was very unfortunate for our devastated, yet heroic character Humphrey.


While traveling in the thick of the forests, the little camel soon found himself in a dangerous situation, being pursued by a particularly grisly creature, which Humphrey discovered later ironically, was in fact a Grizzly bear. While running at an awkward stumbling pace through the forest, the little camel was being gained on quickly by the hungry monster. Leaping with all his might, Humphrey somehow managed to get himself entangled at the top of a birch tree, his hind quarters dangling dangerously close to the bear’s snapping jaws. In an attempt to pull his whole self into the tree, Humphrey slipped, and was horrified to feel the end of his tail being snapped off by the hungry Grizzly bear! Scrambling out of reach, the little camel looked back at his disfigured stump of a tail. Could this day get any worse?! Apparently it could.


Before long, the Grizzly bear grew bored of waiting for Humphrey to fall and grumpily lumbered off, leaving the camel hanging alone in the tree. Humphrey, relieved, yet still quite offended at losing his tail, struggled to pull himself down from the tree branches, though only succeeded in getting his terribly long neck caught in an especially nasty tangle of twigs. Humphrey sighed deeply and hung there for a bit, seriously contemplating the meaning of life. However, soon he grew bored of the intellectual meditation and began yanking with all his might, in an attempt to free his captive head. One tug after another and yet, not a budge.


With one last heart-felt attempt, Humphrey pulled and shot free from the branches, falling with a thud onto the ground. Oomph. After minute of untangling his knot of legs and neck, the camel stood, assessing his physical situation. Nothing seemed broken. But wait! Protruding from atop his head was a massive tangle of branches. Reaching up, Humphrey tested the twigs, trying to pull them loose. However it was painful and soon, the camel surrendered the fight with another sigh.

Once again depressed, the mangled Humphrey began to plod through the forests, tripping over logs and falling into lakes, but nevertheless, pressing forward. In a matter of days, the unrecognizable camel reached the sea shore yet again, though this time, on the tip of the Alaskan peninsula. Thoroughly tired and worn out, Humphrey took a nap. When he awoke, the camel sat near the water, staring quietly at his reflection. No longer did a camel stare back at him. But instead, the first moose.

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Hope you enjoyed it!

Bratt