©2010 StoryJumper, Inc.   All rights reserved.

Not so long ago, there was a Grasshopper named Hank. 

Hank lived in a sunny field full of tall grass and lots of flowers. 

He loved to dance and sing. He would wake up in the morning and 

play all day long. 

He didn't stop for breakfast. 

He didn't stop for lunch. 

He didn't even stop for dinner. 

The only time he took a rest was when he was deciding what he 

would play next.

One day, while he was thinking about what to play, his friend Harold the ant, walked 

by. Harold was carrying a GIANT piece of sweet, juicy watermelon that he'd found 

on the other side of the field. 

"That looks yummy!" said Hank.

"Yes, it probably tastes delicious," said Harold.

"You mean you haven't tried it?" said Hank.

"No, I'm saving it for winter," said Harold. "It's not going to be sunny like this 

forever, ya know."

"Huh." said Hank. He thought for a moment about winter, but decided that it was 

boring. Winter was still a long way away.

"Wanna play with me?" asked Hank.

"I'd like to" said Harold, "but I have to put this in the refrigerator so it stays fresh."

So Harold went on his way, lugging the giant watermelon, while Hank thought about 

a new game he could play by dropping acorns into the lake.

A few days later, Hank was sitting on the edge of the lake, tossing acorns 

into the water.   Ploop, went the acorns. Ploop, Ploop, Ploop. "This is fun," 

thought Hank. "I could play this all day.”

Hank started feeling hungry and stopped to munch on an apple that had 

just fallen from the tree. As he was eating, along came Harold, this time 

with a GIANT eggplant. 

"Hey Harold," said Hank. "Wanna play Ploop with me?”

"I'd like to, but I need to get this eggplant back to the refrigerator before it 

spoils," said Harold.

"How about some apple? I can't eat all of this.”

"No, thank you. You know, you should save that apple for later," said 

Harold. "You'll wish you had it.”

"Bah!" said Hank. "You're no fun." And he started playing Ploop again.

After a few weeks, Hank had thrown all the acorns he could find into 

the lake. 

Now he couldn't play Ploop anymore, so he had to think of a new game. 

The leaves in the trees weren't green anymore. They had turned bright 

yellow, orange and red.

As the leaves fell from the trees, Hank gathered them into big, fluffy 

piles.

Then Hank climbed into the tree and jumped down into the leaf piles.

Kasha kasha kasha went the leaves. Kasha kasha kasha.

"This is fun!" Hank thought that Kasha Kasha might even be better 

than Ploop.

So Hank played Kasha Kasha all day long. 

Sometimes he would get hungry and eat some of his old apple, but it 

tasted icky. 

Hank didn't care too much, though. He was having way too much fun 

playing Kasha Kasha. 

One day as he was gathering leaves, he noticed a pumpkin slowly 

walking by.

"Hello Pumpkin," said Hank. "Wanna play Kasha Kasha with me?”

"Sounds fun," groaned the pumpkin, "but I'm too busy.”

Hank thought the pumpkin sounded a lot like Harold. 

As more leaves fell, Hank made his Kasha Kasha piles higher and 

higher. 

Pretty soon, Hank was climbing all the way to the top of the tree for 

jumping. 

From the top of the tree, he noticed that he could see the mountains.

"How beautiful. I've never seen them such a pretty white," he thought.

That night, as Hank fell asleep in the grass, he wished that he could 

visit the mountain.

The next day Hank woke up and everything was white. 

The grass and the flowers, the trees, and even his highest leaf pile -- 

everything was covered in snow!

"This is fantastic!" said Hank, and he began to roll in the snow, 

making six-legged snow-hoppers.

"Snow," thought Hank, "Is even better than Ploop or Kasha Kasha." 

He played all morning long, rolling and packing and tossing the snow. 

Finally, Hank started to feel hungry. He found his musty old apple at the 

bottom of the tree and took a bite.

But it was frozen like an ice cube. "Ouch, my teeth!" yelped Hank. He 

began to worry.

Hank looked around the tree for something else to eat. He searched the 

field and the shore next to the lake.

But there was nothing. Even the grass was frozen stiff. 

Hank began to feel very cold. He did not have any coat or shoes to wear. 

The more he searched for food, the hungrier he became. 

He tried to wrap himself in a leaf from his Kasha Kasha pile, but it 

crumbled apart.

"Oh no," cried Hank, "What will I do?" 

He wandered around the field for hours, lost and starving. He was so 

sad.

It was getting cloudy and dark, and it began to snow again.

Soon it was a blizzard and Hank could barely see in front of his eyes.

Finally, he could see a dim light far away across the field.

He dragged his tired and frozen feet through the deep snow toward the 

light.

As he came closer, he realized that it was Harold's house.

Using the last of his energy, Hank knocked on the door. 

He waited for a very long time until, at last, the door creaked open.

Inside the room glowed. There was a roaring fire and music playing.

And food! He could smell a wonderful pot of pumpkin soup cooking.

"Oh, how I would like to taste that soup," thought Hank.

You've previewed 23 of 35 pages.

To read more: