My Dad the Gorilla

By Vicki H. Budge

My dad is magic! When he comes home from work, he turns into a gorilla. He jumps around, snorts, and tries to act real tough. But he doesn’t scare me. I just grab onto his leg and push and shove until he falls over in a big crash. Then I fight and tickle with that old gorilla until he turns into a little puppy.

I like puppies, so I pet him and scratch behind his ears and give him lots of hugs. Pretty soon my dad stops being a puppy and turns into a horse.

I like my horse a lot. I hop on his back and we gallop around the room until he starts to buck. He bucks me off onto the sofa. I laugh so hard when my horse bucks me onto the sofa that we do it over and over again until my dad says, “Spread out!” I run and flop on the floor with my arms and legs stretched out. Then my dad spreads out just like me. We lie there side by side, looking up at the ceiling, until he gets all rested and rolls over to get up.

I hurry to hop on my dad’s back again but my big brother usually comes flying into the room about then and takes over my horse. I don’t really mind though because it’s so funny to see my dad trying to buck off my big brother. Suddenly Dad turns into a gorilla again and they tussle and tickle all over the place.

I sure like my dad the gorilla!

Illustrated by Shauna Mooney