Story: The Hippo and the Gecko

Have you ever had competitions with your friends before? Have you cheated or used an advantage in one of those competitions?

 A gecko had done both, and may times before. You see, he had always made easy money by racing other animals to the top of a hill and betting that he could beat them. It was practically impossible for a mere gecko to beat animals at the top of their game, so every single animal fell for his scheme. Lions, wolves, elephants, cats, dogs, you name it.

He cheated by riding on the back of an eagle who happened to live in a nest at the top of the hill. The other animals were so busy sprinting, they never noticed him on the eagle's back. When he won, he always gave a portion of his winnings to the eagle as an incentive to support him.
 One day the gecko saw a hippo eating beans. He had never raced a hippo before, so this one was from out of town. New victims always were willing to bet a lot.

"Greetings, my friend," the gecko said.

"Hi?" the hippo replied.

"I see you are a hero," the gecko lied. "Just by looking, you can run as fast as the wind. You are an amazing one who can outmatch any animal you wish!"

"Why, thank you, I am quite, uh, flattered," the hippo said.

"Of course, you can outmatch every single animal, that is, but me."

The hippo was shocked. He had been greeted by a friendly-looking gentlemen who told him he was as fast as the wind, but then said that he couldn't beat him. What a rude fellow, the hippo thought. There must be a way to teach him a lesson.

"How about a race?" the gecko asked, almost as if he were reading the hippo's mind.

"Indeed. That is a perfect way to settle this disagreement is with a race,"

"How about we add a money reward? One thousand coins?"

"More,"

"Two thousand?"

"More,"

"Five thousand?"

"More,"

"TEN thousand?!"

"Nah, we'll make it more like FIFTY thousand coins. I'll see you in the evening," the hippo said.

The gecko's jaw dropped. This gecko only wanted to make enough to feed him for a month. With 50,000 coins, he would be rich as a king! And that hippo was so fat, that the gecko would win for sure, even if he didn't cheat.

When the evening arrived, they met again. The hippo had come much earlier, and was eating can after can of beans. What a fool, the gecko thought, he's eating before the race. He'll get a cramp!

 "Are you ready?" the gecko asked.

"I'm ready when you are," the hippo replied.

"I'm ready riggghhht-now!"

And whoosh the gecko ran off. He had to pretend to race until he met the eagle at the hiding place. Easy money, easy money, easy money! he thought.

"We're going to win big today," he told the eagle as they took off.

"Stop," he told the eagle when he was near the top. He wanted to check where the hippo was. Near the creek? No. Next to the great tree? No. Around the bushes? No. Where could he be? After looking for a while, he realized the hippo was still at the bottom, still eating beans. The gecko laughed.

"What are you doing down there?" he shouted to the hippo.

Instead of a reply, he heard a sound similar to a rocket blasting off. PPPPPSSSSSHHHHH!!! The gecko passed out.

When he woke up, the hippo was standing at the top. Impossible! The tables had turned- now the gecko was shocked.

"How did you do it?" the gecko asked the hippo.

"Do what?"

"Win!? How did you win?"

"Simple- I get gassy when I eat beans!"

"How did you-?"

"Well, when I gassed, the energy took me to the top of the hill. I saw you sleeping, probably because the odor was so bad. Hee-hee!"

The gecko had lost- which meant that he had to cough up 50,000 coins! The gecko didn't actually have that many coins, so he gave away all of his belongings, crying.

The End

Morals (You can go ahead and pick one to learn a lesson or something like that):
-Don't mess with a hippo who has gas!
-Bad and smelly wins the race!
-Don't cheat, or you'll be cheated yourself!