The Amazing Sloth

By Flora Mcewen-Benatar, aged 10

If you go to the zoo at half past eight

and tiptoe softly through the gate,

there's one animal that's not asleep,

who isn't tired, nor counting sheep.

For the sloth only has one hour

to use his special, magic power.

The sloth won't be slow for long;

his power makes him fast and strong.

But when all of his time has past,

the sloth will no longer be fast.

Now the sloth is ready to go,

he needs to get out, so

he jumps out of his cage, so neat

and lands in a deserted street.

He runs up a hill, around a fountain,

through a stream and past a mountain,

ignoring a chip shop (that really stank)

and in through the doors of the nearest bank.

In the bank it is really dark,

and in the distance he hears a bark....

The bank feels very creepy

and the sloth begins to feel quite sleepy.

So he grabs a large bag of money and runs out of the door,

not seeing the trail of money he leaves behind him on the floor.

Next, he goes to a shop and steals an ice-lolly,

and throws more things into his trolley.

He scoffs down all the things he's taken;

some orange juice, a slice of bacon,

then walks out of the door,

still not noticing the trail of money on the floor.

Whilst the sloth slurps down his glass of coke,

an alarming thought almost makes him choke.

He only has five minutes until his time is up.

He panics and he drops his cup.

The sloth races back to the zoo,

only 30 seconds left but it will have to do.

With one last effort he scales a wall so steep,

and lands in a cage and falls fast asleep.

All the sloth's time has past,

so for tonight he is no longer fast.

When he wakes he is in the hippo's cage,

the zookeeper is in a rage.

"You horrid hippo for stealing money

and taking ice-creams. This isn't funny!

You must clean the zoo for one whole year!"

The sloth saw the hippo shed a little tear.

To make amends the sloth decides to share his power.

From that night on both hippo and sloth share one special hour.