Ana’s Jelly

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Ana’s Jelly

My name is

My favourite flavour of jelly is

Hello, I’m Ana.

Most people say I’m friendly and helpful. I love sport - especially basketball and rugby.

I also love food.

My favourite food is jelly.

“What’s that, Ana?” Stan asked, as he spotted her taking a glass bowl out of the fridge.

“It’s strawberry jelly for dessert tonight,” replied Ana.

“Yes, jelly tastes good. It’s really wobbly too - look, I can make an earthquake!” she gave the bowl a gentle shake, jiggling the jelly backwards and forwards.

“Yes,” laughed Stan, “but at least you don’t have to prepare for jelly.”

“What do you mean?” Ana asked, looking puzzled.

“I mean that with earthquakes it’s really important that you’re prepared so you know what to do before one happens,” said Stan.

“Oh, I get it,” Ana answered. “Well, I know my earthquake drill. We practice it at home and at school.

We learned three words to remember what to do.”

“Drop, Cover and Hold,” said Stan. “First you move to a safe place, like a desk or table, and drop down under it.”

“We have to cover ourselves under the desk,” said Ana. “We make ourselves as small as possible, and look down at the ground so we won’t get hurt by flying objects.”

“That’s right,” said Stan. “And hold onto the desk legs.”

“We stay there until teacher says it’s all clear.”

Ana put the jelly on the table. “Hey!” she said. “Look, the jelly is wobbling by itself!”

Sure enough, the jelly began to quivver and they heard a loud growling rumble. The cups, knives and forks began to rattle.

“Earthquake!” they shouted. “Drop, Cover and Hold!”

They dropped to their knees, crawled under the table, and grabbed the legs.

Ana wanted to look around, but remembered she was supposed to keep looking down so her face wouldn’t get hurt.

As fast as it had started, the shaking stopped and the rumbling died away.

“It seems to be over” said Stan, “but sometimes there can be aftershocks.”

“What’s an aftershock?” said Ana.

“They are smaller quakes that come after the big earthquake, but I think it’s safe now.”

Ana dragged herself out from under the table.

“Watch out,” said Ana. “The floor is covered with broken glass!”

“And jelly,” said Stan sadly, looking at the mess. “And now we have no dessert!”

THE END

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