Al, the alpaca could not remember how he ended up at the turtle and tortoise sanctuary. It seemed like he had always been there. Each day during tours, he watched adults and children look at him and then rush off to look at the turtles. Some would stop and stare, but he was too afraid to walk up to them. 

 One day Al noticed another animal alone like him. He felt very shy, but he thought if he was kind, he might be kind to him.  

Al approached slowly and said, “Hello” 

 Nelly the Emu looked at the alpaca approaching and was feeling scared, and thought, what if the alpaca is mean to me? She then thought if I use unkind words, maybe he will leave me alone. Nelly said “What do you want”? Very bravely Al said, “I am lonely and want a friend.” Nelly responded by saying, “I cant be your friend, I am an Emu and you are an Alpaca.” Al didn’t understand and walked away with his long neck hanging down. 

That day Al decided to look around the sanctuary and noticed a different animal trying to eat grass on his side of the fence. Al said, “Who are you? “ Oreo the goat with grass in her mouth said, “ I, chomp, am Oreo, chomp” “I am a goat chomp”. The Rancher and his wife, noticed that Oreo and Al were close and interacting with each other. He said to his wife, “do you think that Nelly the emu, Oreo the goat and Al the alpaca might be lonely and want to be in the same pen ?

His wife said“ I think this is a great idea!” “Maybe they can become friends.” The rancher and his wife, also put Sherman, the Sulcata African tortoise in the pen with Oreo, Allison, and Nelly. 

The next day the rancher and his helpers, worked hard taking down the fences between their pins, so they all could all be together.

Al was scared, but interested in his new companions. He was brave enough to walk up to them, not knowing if they would be kind or unkind. As Al walked up, Oreo said with grass in her mouth “chomp, follow me, chomp .” Oreo lead her to the rancher who was leading a tour at the sanctuary. “Wow! 90 2nd graders from an elementary school and they are all looking at us. Oreo said, “look cute they will feed and pet you”. Al was so scared, but he tried and found it was true. Al said “This is great!” “ Thank you Oreo." Then Nelly walked up and said “they like me most, because I am interesting!” Shurmen the tortoise, followed SLOWLY and said even S L OW E R, “ This is a turtle and tortoise sanctuary and I am the favorite.” Then Oreo said ,“they always stop here first, so maybe they like all of us”. 

The rancher and his wife, noticed that Al, Nelly, Oreo and Sherman, were all close looking at each other and seemed happy. He said to his wife, I think our little animal pack, has turned into an unlikely friendship.

That night it started to rain

Allison, Nellie, Oreo and Sherman all stood under a shelter, together to stay warm and dry. 

Each day after that, they ate and walk up to meet people on tours together. They sleep under the same shelter and kept each other company. 

Al the alpaca finally found his family and developed very unlikely friendships.

The end!