It was hard for him to keep up with them.
Elmo could not run as fast as the others.
He could not jump as far as the others.
He could not play baseball at all.
The bat was bigger than Elmo!
One sunny day Ernie and Bert and Big Bird and Grover went roller skating in the park.
Elmo went too.
Suddenly a bell rang.
It was the ice cream truck.
Everyone skated off to get some ice cream.
“Hey!” Elmo cried. “Wait for me!”
Grover skated back to Elmo.
“I, Grover, will help you. Hold on to my hand,” he said.
And off they went.
Clickety-clack, lickety-split, faster and faster they went…
until they hit a bump.
CRASH! They both fell down.
“WAH! WAH!” went Elmo.
“Oh, my goodness! Are you hurt?” asked Grover.
“I have a boo-boo on my leg,” cried Elmo.
Grover looked and looked.
At last he found a tiny scratch.
“Do not cry,” said Grover. “We are near my house. We can go there and wash your scratch.”
On the way they saw Ernie and Bert and Big Bird.
They were eating ice cream.
But the ice cream truck was gone.
“Where were you?” asked Big Bird.
“Helping Elmo,” Grover said sadly.
“We’re going to ride our bikes now,” said Ernie.
“Do you want to go biking with us?” Bert asked Grover.
“Oh, yes,” said Grover. “After I take care of Elmo.”
Grover took Elmo to his bathroom.
He washed Elmo’s tiny scratch.
He put a tiny bandage on it.
Then he said to Elmo, “I am going biking now.”
Elmo said, “Me too!”
“No, Elmo. You are too little,” said Grover.
Elmo looked sad.
“Will I be big enough tomorrow?” he asked Grover.
“I do not think so,” said Grover.
Grover took his bike outside.
Elmo sadly watched Grover ride off.
“Everybody is bigger and faster and better at everything,” said Elmo to himself.
“Not me!” said a kind voice.
It was Grover’s grandpa.
“I know how you feel, Elmo,” he said. “But sometimes fun things happen when you are left behind. How would you like to go to the zoo with me this afternoon? I was going to ask Grover, but he was in such a rush to go biking. How about it, Elmo?”
Elmo began to smile.
“Yes!” he said happily.
Elmo and Grandpa walked to the zoo.
Elmo did not have to run to keep up.
On the way they stopped to look into store windows, to buy an ice cream cone, and to listen to a band.
“People who rush miss things,” said Grandpa. “We will take our time.”
At the zoo they watched the zoo keeper feed the seals.
Then Grandpa bought some peanuts.
“Now let’s feed the elephants,” he said.
And they did.
After they saw all the animals, Grandpa said, “Time to go home.”
Elmo said, “Take me home piggyback?”
Grandpa shook his head.
“No, Elmo,” he said. “I am just as tired as you are.”
As soon as they got back to Grover’s house, Grandpa sat down.
He took off his shoes.
“Oh, that feels good,” he said.
“Elmo, you’re just the right size to sit on my lap and listen to a story. So come on up here,” said Grandpa.
Elmo climbed up on Grandpa’s lap and listened to Grandpa read the story of “The Three Bears.”
“And they lived happily ever after,” said Grandpa.
Just then Grover came in.
“Who lived happily ever after?” asked Grover, who was surprised to see Elmo in his grandpa’s lap.
“The Three Bears, the Three Bears!” shouted Elmo. “And guess what? We saw REAL bears!”
Now Grover was really surprised.
“What? Where did you see real bears?” cried Grover.
“At the zoo,” said Elmo.
“You went to the zoo without me?” wailed Grover.
“We saw the zoo keeper feed the seals,” said Elmo.
“And we fed the elephants. Oh, we had so much fun! And we had an ice cream cone!”
“What kind?” Grover asked.
“Chocolate chip with sprinkles!” said Elmo.
“Grover dear, did you have fun riding your bike?” asked his grandpa.
“Oh, yes,” said Grover.
“But Grandpa, next time you go to the zoo, will you please wait for me?”
