In a beautiful country called China, far across the ocean lives a panda bear named Ping Ping. Though Ping Ping is very large her heart is very sweet and gentle. She has two best friends. A pretty young girl named Mae Ling and a shy little turtle named Toby. Ping Ping is so nice she tries to share everything she has. Today she can't convince her friend Toby to try her favorite food, bamboo.
Toby, being a turtle, is a very slow moving little guy and it doesn't take 
much to scare him. He can't move very fast and run away quickly like most animals. Today as he climbed out of the water he looked behind him and saw an alligator stick his head out of the water. Of course that scared Toby pretty bad. It would scare almost anyone!
Toby is just a little turtle, only 5 years old. His dad 
is always warning him to watch out for the bad creatures in the world. For turtles, one of the worst are alligators. There is nothing they like better than sneaking up on a tender young turtle.
So when Toby saw the smile on this big gators face, he 
wasn't fooled. Toby ran away as fast as he could. Just like we all should when a stranger comes near us! Toby isn't very fast so he was lucky to find Ping Ping waving at him down the path. When the gator saw Ping Ping he turned back for the river right away.
Mae Ling rides her bike to the lake and woods around it 
to see her friends almost every day after school. Mae Ling is a very good student. She dreams of visiting different places all over the world when she is grown up. Right now her favorite thing to do is visit her two special friends.
Ping Ping loves to give Mae Ling a ride around the lake. On the way 
they always watch out for Toby. They stopped to ask Squiggles, the worm, another friend of theirs, if he'd seen Toby. Squiggles said he was taking a swim in a small pool. When they found him, both Ping Ping and Mae Ling thought he
was so cute in his little kiddie pool. Ping 
Ping went to get her mother so she could also see Toby in his pool. Toby might be small and a slow mover but he was smart. He new the kiddie pool was to small for an alligator, so he could relax and enjoy his swim.
Toby decided to go have a talk with the wise great 
grandpa tortoise. He was so old he knew a lot about life. He told Toby to pick something he had never done before and give it a try. It would give him more confidence in himself. Toby talked with Mae Ling about what he might do.
Mae Ling showed Toby how to do hand stands like she was learning 
in her gymnastic class. Toby tried but fell on his back and couldn't get right side up without Mae Ling's help. They decided maybe they should try something else! Squiggles was all excited jumping up and down. He had what he
thought was a great idea. He said, "Toby you swim very 
well so why not join in the surfing race off the beach at the ocean?" Another friend, snake in the grass, thought thisssss was a great idea. He wiggled his way down to the beach to watch the race.
Toby started to change clothes for the race and became 
very embarrassed when he realized a few friends might be watching. They were all very nice and turned their backs so Toby could change. Mae Ling sent out e-mails to all their other friends inviting them to come to the race.
Toby headed off with the new surf board he 
had bought. He had a very determined look on his face. Toby knew he was good in the water, so he had high hopes of winning this race. All the surfers were ready, so off they went riding the waves. Toby was doing a terrific job. It looked like he was coming in first! The wave grew bigger and bigger. Toby rode
that big wave with all he had. Finally, he came 
in still standing and in first place! Mae Ling was so excited she clapped and clapped. She hoped this would help Toby feel more sure of himself. She decided to take great grandfather tortoise some special dandelion flowers
to say thank you for the good advise he had 
given Toby. Great grandfather was very pleased to hear about Toby's win and really enjoyed eating his special gift. Something else great grandfather knew, this was a very nice young girl who was going a long way in life.
A couple of Toby's friends gave him a ride on their 
backs to celebrate his win, they were all so proud of him. Meanwhile Squiggles was checking his appointment book and realized it was Ping Pings first birthday the next day! Quickly everyone spread the word and a party was planned.
Ping Ping got balloons and a pretty birthday cake. Mae Ling played 
Happy Birthday on her violin and everyone sang to her. Ping Ping's favorite food was the Chinese food Mae Ling brought. One thing Ping Ping loves most of all is eating. Mae Ling and all the others played with party pinwheels and everyone seemed to have a wonderful time.
Toby gave Mae Ling a pretty Teddy bear to say thank you for all the help she had given him. She decided to name him Toby. That pleased the real Toby very much! Now he knew even when Mae Ling wasn't with him, she'd have something to remind her of him. Toby was getting pretty tired, it had been a long day! Toby said thank you to all his friends for caring about him enough to help him out. Ping Ping headed for home too. She couldn't wait to tell her mom about the wonderful birthday party her friends had given her.
Toby knew he'd never be the frightened little turtle he had 
been. The next time he pulled into his shell, it would be to go to sleep! As Toby went to sleep he though about how lucky he was to have so many wonderful friends. They went out of their way to help him when he needed it most. Mae Ling also thought of all her special friends. As she lay on her bedroom floor thinking, Mae Ling knew tomorrow would be just as wonderful as today. She knew this because she planned to make it happen!
WE ALL HAVE JUST ONE LIFE-MAKE EVERY DAY SPECIAL!
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