Poor Hank!!!

 

          The kitties were shocked, horrified and flat-out stunned.  What did that mean?  Hank was what?  Almost dead?  Are you meowing kidding me?  What was the real story here?

          The hippo saw they all looked really confused.  “He’s not dead,” he insisted.  “He’s really sick though,” he added.  “He’s over in the field,” he lifted his leg to motion to a field in the west. 

          “What are you?”  Sammie asked.  “Are you some kind of hippo doctor?”

          “More or less,” the hippo answered.  “I run the island and there are all kinds of sick hippos here.”

          Fuzzy couldn’t believe it.  “Are you serious?”  she asked.

          The hippo glared at Fuzzy.  “I wouldn’t lie, cat,” he said.  “The thing you should worry about is Hank.  He has a really bad illness.”

          “What does that mean?”  Toni asked.

          “He has a really weird tropical illness,” he said.     

          “How did he get that?”  asked Fuzzy.

          “That’s not really important,” said the hippo.  “He needs an important herb to survive and if he doesn’t get it- he’ll die!”