Dear Dad

Dear Dad,

I'm having an interesting time in Africa. I've met some very nice people and, yesterday, I went on my very first safari.

At first, it was incredibly exciting, but then our guide was partially eaten by a lion. Mane-ly, it ate his head and part of his torso. The rest of us were able to escape, but soon became hopelessly lost.

We had left all our provisions in the tour bus, which was trampled by a herd of elephants, shortly after the mishap with the ravenous lion. We wandered into the jungle, hoping to find some apple trees, but the search was fruitless.

We did finally make it back to the village, but it was completely deserted. All of our possessions had disappeared with the people.

Trying not to despair, we began hiking toward the nearest town, about a twenty-mile hike. Along the way, we had to wade through a deep swamp. The water was murky, so we never saw the crocodile until it bit Jonathon in half from the waist down. Since he no longer had a leg to stand on, we were forced to leave him behind.

Terry, Tim and I continued our trek, hoping that we'd make it to town without anymore mishaps. Unfortunately, about a mile from the city, we encountered bandits. They were extremely angry when they discovered that we had no possessions for them to steal, so they took Tim.

We begged them not to take him and even resorted to empty threats, but they could not be inTIMidated. With heavy hearts, Terry and I wearily continued our hike. Finally, we made it to town, and headed quickly to the Post Office. I was able to get enough change, panhandling, to buy a stamp.

We'll just have to wing it until you send us a couple plane tickets.

Your loving daughter,
Claire