Once upon a time, in a town with bright green grass and shiny blue skies, lived three best friends. Their names were Fatima, Reese, and Diego. They loved to play together. They loved to laugh together.
*Hee, hee, hee! * One day, they walked to their favorite park. But wait! Something was wrong.
The big, tall swings were gone. The slide was gone. All the fun things were gone! In their place was a big, gray sign.
It said NO PLAYING ALLOWED. Oh no! Fatima felt mad. Her face got red.
Reese felt sad. A tear rolled down her cheek. *Splash! * Diego felt scared.
He hid behind his hands. 'Who did this? 'asked Fatima. 'It was Mr.
Grumble,'said a little bird flying by. *Tweet, tweet! * Mr. Grumble was the Mayor.
He wanted to build a parking lot for cars. *Vroom, vroom! *'We cannot let this happen,'said Fatima. She stomped her foot.
*Stomp, stomp! *'But Mr. Grumble is big and we are small,'said Diego. 'We need a protest!
'said Reese. 'A protest? 'asked Diego. 'What is that?
''A protest is when we use our big voices to make a change,'said Fatima. 'We can tell Mr. Grumble that we need our park. ''Yes!
'said Diego. 'Let’s do it! 'Can you clap your hands for the team? *Clap, clap, clap!
* The three friends got to work. They needed to be loud. They needed to be proud. Reese found some big paper and bright paint.
She painted a sign. She painted a yellow sun and a red slide. *Swish, swish! * She painted big words that said SAVE OUR PARK.
Diego found his drum. *Boom, boom, boom! * He practiced his marching song. Fatima practiced her big speech.
She stood tall like a tree. 'We are small, but we are strong! 'she said. 'We will sing our happy song!
'Together they walked to the town square. Fatima held the sign up high. Reese held her banner. Diego drummed his drum.
*Boom, boom, boom! * They marched down the street. Left, right, left, right. 'What do we want?
Our park! When do we want it? Now! 'they shouted.
Their voices were not small. Their voices were big and strong! *Echo, echo, echo! * People came out of their houses to see.
Mrs. Baker brought cookies. *Crunch, crunch. * Mr.
Painter brought his brushes. *Swish, swish. * Everyone joined the march. The crowd got bigger and bigger.
Soon, there were fifty people! Then one hundred people! *Boom, boom, boom! * went the drums.
'Save our park! Save our park! 'everyone sang. Can you guess what happened next?
They reached the big gray building where Mr. Grumble worked. He came outside. He looked grumpy.
He looked cross. 'Why is it so loud? 'he asked. Fatima stepped forward.
She was not scared anymore. 'Mr. Grumble,'she said. 'We love our park.
Children need to play. We need to slide and swing. 'Reese showed him the painting. 'Look how happy the park makes us,'she said.
Diego played a happy tune on his drum. *Tappity, tap, tap. * Mr. Grumble looked at the crowd.
He looked at the happy children. He looked at the painting. He saw the smiles. He saw the hope.
Mr. Grumble remembered when he was a little boy. He remembered swinging high in the air. *Whoosh!
* His frown turned upside down. He smiled. 'You are right,'said Mr. Grumble.
'Cars are okay. But happy children are better. 'He took down the gray sign. *Rip!
*'We will build a new park,'he said. 'A bigger and better park! 'The crowd cheered. *Hooray!
Hooray! * Fatima, Reese, and Diego hugged each other. *Squeeze! * They did it together.
They used their voices. They used their teamwork. The park was saved. And everyone lived happily ever after.
The End.