Artifact 2

A children's story I wrote with my friend that we never quite got to finish. 

1.  Deep within the snowy snowdrifts and icy ice caps of the Arctic, there lived a polar bear named Pierre...

2.  ...And a walrus named Wilbur.

3.  Day in and day out, Wilbur and Pierre argued and argued and argued and argued and argued and argued and argued and ARGUED AND ARGUED AND ARGUED AND ARGUED AND ARGUED AND ARGUED AND ARGUED!!!!

4.  The argued about the trees.  ("Let's plant some trees!" Wilbur suggested.  "Trees don't grow in the Arctic," Pierre retorted.  "Yes, they do!" Wilbur insisted.  "No, they don't!" said Pierre.)

5.  They argued about zebras.  ("White with black stripes!" yelled Pierre.  "Black with white stripes!" shouted Wilbur.)

6.  And they argued about fashion.  ("What a dumb hat!" Wilbur said, pointing to the beret that adorned Pierre's head that day.  "I love my hat," Pierre replied, struggling not to let tears of shame fill his eyes.)

7.  They even argued about their friend Penelope the Penguin.  ("Penelope likes me more!" Pierre announced one day.  "No, she likes me more!" Wilbur insisted.)

8.  They argued so much that one day, Penelope got FED UP!  And ran away.

9.  "SHE LIKES ME MORE," roared Pierre.  "Wait, where even is she?" he added, noting her absence.  "I don't care, she likes ME MORE," Wilbur snorted.)

10.  Penelope went to her favorite fishing spot to clear her mind.

11.  She trudged across the ice, looking for fish...

12.  ...When SUDDENLY...

13.  SHE FELL IN.

14.  Well... ALMOST.  She got a bit stuck.

15.  It was mildly inconvenient.  ("SOMEBODY HELP ME!" she screamed.)

16.  Wilbur and Pierre heard her screams and came running to the rescue.

17.  I WILL RESCUE PENELOPE AND THEN SHE WILL DEFINITELY LIKE ME BETTER, they both thought.

18.  Pierre tried to pull her out of the ice...

19.  ...But she was too stuck.

20.  Wilbur tried to break the ice...

21.  ...But that just made Penelope sink faster.

22.  It was hopeless.  ("Whoops, guess we can't save you, sorry," Wilbur and Pierre said in unison.)

23.  Until... Penelope had an IDEA.  ("Well, maybe you could if you stopped FIGHTING," she pointed out.)

24.  At first, Wilbur and Pierre were UTTERLY opposed.  ("I am not working with him, he smells bad, and also, he poked me once," Pierre announced.  "His teeth are inferior to mine, it's not happening, sorry," Wilbur added, gesturing at his magnificent tusks.)

25.  But they realized that saving Penelope was much more important than their petty feud.  ("HELP!" Penelope shouted again.  "FINE," her friends said with a sigh.)

26.  And thus, they COMBINED FORCES.

27.  While Wilbur whacked at the ice, Pierre pulled Penelope out of peril.

28.  [Illustration of success.]

29.  And Wilbur and Pierre were the best of friends from that day on.

THE END