The Tiger and the Quackers

One sunny morning, a big, striped tiger named Stripes was lazily floating in the river. He had just eaten a big breakfast of fish and was feeling very sleepy. He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

Suddenly, Stripes heard a loud "QUACK!" He opened one eye to see a tiny yellow duckling bobbing on the water nearby.

"Excuse me," quacked the duckling, "but are you a log?"

Stripes chuckled. "I am not a log, little one. I am a tiger!"

"Oh!" said the duckling, surprised. "You look like a log with stripes. I thought maybe I could take a nap on you."

Stripes laughed again. "I don't think you'd like that very much. Tigers aren't very comfortable to sleep on."

"But you look so comfy!" the duckling insisted. "And you're floating right here, so I wouldn't have to swim all the way to the shore."

Stripes thought about it. He was feeling quite lazy. "Well," he said, "I suppose you could try. But if you wake me up, I might give you a little tiger tickle!"

The duckling, brave as ever, hopped onto Stripes's back. It was a bit bumpy, but the duckling snuggled down and soon fell fast asleep.

Stripes, with a gentle smile, closed his eyes and drifted back off to sleep, with a tiny, snoring duckling on his back.