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Once upon a time there was an armadillo named Trajan who wanted to become a 

ninja. The Ninja Armadillos were a well respected group of ninjas who were never 

seen but accomplished a lot of good in the armadillo community. They would find 

food for the hungry, find homes for orphan armadillos, and care for those who were 

hurt. Trajan’s greatest wish had always been to join the ranks and belong to the Ninja 

Armadillos. However, in order to become a ninja he would have to go to Ninja 

School. Trajan worked and worked to make sure that he would be accepted into the 

well-respected school. 

One day the letter arrived in the mail. Trajan jumped for joy.

 “I made it! I made it! I start Ninja School next week!” he shouted. 

“Congratulations,” his mother replied sweetly. “I’m so proud of you! But you 

know, this is when the hard part begins; it’s not easy to get through Ninja 

School.”

 This was a fact that Trajan knew well. He knew of several armadillos who had 

not made it through the final test.

The next week school began and Trajan couldn’t be more excited. He made 

friends quickly and breezed through the first assignments. The teachers were 

stern but fair. As the weeks passed the work got more and more difficult, and 

Trajan worried more and more about that final test. Meanwhile, there was a 

major ninja test each week. Trajan aced the bowling test where he rolled into a 

ball and bowled over a group of enemies at the bowling alley. He stealthily 

climbed a tree and rescued a nest of pink baby birds from a hawk.

He got to the bamboo sensing test when the teacher snuck up behind him and 

swung a piece of bamboo at his head. This was a particularly difficult test. His 

job was to sense the swinging motion of the bamboo and duck away from it. 

Trajan worried a little but decided to trust himself. He came through the test 

with flying colors and celebrated by going to the ice cream shop. While there he 

ordered a grub flavored ice cream cone with cat bone sprinkles on top. He was 

about to eat it when he saw a poor little orphan armadillo who was hanging 

around the ice cream shop. The poor thing looked starved. Trajan thought about 

the lessons he had had about the importance of caring for the poor and hungry 

in his community. 

“Hey, kid,” Trajan called, “Are you hungry? I got you this ice cream cone!” 

“Wow, thanks! Are you a real Ninja Armadillo?” the kid asked.

 “Not yet, but I’m almost there,” Trajan replied.

 Little did he know that this had been a test. Would he give up the ice cream to a 

hungry orphan or not? Naturally Trajan passed with no trouble. 

 Finally, he was down to the last week. Trajan had received top grades in Ninja 

School, but this was the most important test. Could he cross the road without 

being seen?

 He watched his friends begin their preparations that morning.   Some of them 

were shining up their armor, others were covering it with dirt. Trajan did not 

know what he should do. What was the best approach? Should he climb a tree 

and attempt to jump across? Maybe he should dig a burrow under the road? He 

could roll across the road, or just plain run. 

As he was pondering his options his mind wandered to the admiration he had 

always felt toward the Ninja Armadillos. They kept everyone in the armadillo 

community safe and fed but were only seen during the yearly armadillo parade 

when they darkened their armor with dirt and marched in the parade. 

Well, maybe that’s what a true Ninja armadillo would do! Trajan resolved to 

darken his armor and begin his test by digging a burrow to await the darkness. 

As evening fell Trajan polished his plan for how to cross the road without being 

seen. He knew just what he would do.

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