Brian Bear and Elephant Phil,

Are sitting together on a hill,

It’s a long, lazy summer day,

And neither has anything smart to say.

Finally, Phil says,

“Let’s go down the stream,

And surprise some flies,

If you know what I mean.”

“I have a better idea”, answers Brian,

“Let’s go down to the stream

And with your trunk we’ll

Catch a fish or two,

That’s what we’ll do! “

Phil is delighted,

Any chance to use his trunk,

Makes him very excited.

They make their way slowly down the hill,

“Step on the logs,”

Says Phil,

“That way, we won’t squish the frogs”.

Into the water they go,

Phil waves his trunk to and fro,

But the fish just take a look,

At the funny thing that’s in the brook.

The fish are having lots of fun,

They swim up, down, all around,

Will Phil ever catch a single one?

After an hour in the stream,

Phil hasn’t caught a thing,

Not even a sardine!

But just then,

A fish with glasses,

Crashes

Into Phil’s trunk,

And flips into the air,

Where Brian reaches out and grabs her.

As the happy friends

Begin to walk away,

The fish opens her mouth –

She has something to say.

“Oh, no, Kind sirs, please set me free,

My name is Flo, I thought you should know,

I’m a skinny fish with many a bone.

Please let me go home to my sister and brother,

Father and mother,

Be nice to this fish

And I’ll grant you a wish,

Come see a surprise

No one’s eyes have ever seen,

Not even the mother of the queen!”

Brian and Phil look at each other,

Sister, brother, father, mother,

How could they ever cook,

This new friend with glasses,

Straight from the brook?

So they put her

Back in the water,

And go

With the Flo.

The stream is narrow,

Not very wide,

So Flo

Swims in the middle,

Her new friends on the side.

It’s a hot summer day,

There’s no shade on the way,

And the sun is so strong,

As they walk along.

They are getting hotter and hotter.

Suddenly, the water

Flows into a cave,

“Be brave”, says Brian the bear,

“Bears love the dark,

But I know that elephants are afraid.

So be bold,

Hold onto my tail,

Close your eyes,

And soon we’ll see a great surprise.”

The friends walk slowly together,

For Phil, it seems like forever,

It’s as dark as night,

At first there’s just a tiny light,

And then a little more,

Around the last bend,

And then…

Daylight!

The sun is so bright,

They’ve come to a waterfall,

And below,

The loveliest secret lake of them all!

“Let’s jump right in”, says Phil,

But now Brian is afraid.

A cave without light,

Is all right for a bear,

But jumping from such a height,

Creates quite a scare.

“Now you can be brave,

Like I was in the cave”,

Says Phil,

“I will

Count to three,

You’ll be fine,

Count on me.”

“One, two, three!”

Both friends are

Happy as can be.

They drink some water,

And then a little more,

They notice something funny

The water tastes as sweet as honey!

What a way,

To spend a summer’s day!

But suddenly,

They notice that Flo is

Nowhere near.

Did she disappear?

Will they ever see

Their new friend,

Again?

After a short while,

Flo returns in style,

She has brought them, if you please,

Sandwiches with Nutella

And gorgonzola cheese,

A sunbrella, and a pack of cards that

Float on water,

Flo has more brains

Than a clever otter.

They drink and eat,

Play ‘Go fish’,

But very soon,

It’s late afternoon,

Flo has to go,

It’s the end of the day.

So with a tearful sigh,

She waves goodbye,

And swims away.

To this day,

Her friends,

Brian and Phil,

Still sit on the hill,

Near the brook,

And look for Flo

Every now and then,

And hope to see

Their friend again.

Brian and Phil

Tell everyone they know,

About their trip to the lake,

And the fish named Flo,

And you,

Can share

The secret too:

On a summer’s day,

When it gets hot and hotter,

There’s nothing as sweet

As some very cool water.