The gingerbread man ran as fast as he could, as far away as his little legs would take him. "It is very lonely," he sighed, "when everyone you know wants to eat you!" He had come to the seaside by this time, and was taking in the sights and sounds of the ocean - he had never seen it before. "Phew," he said, "It really smells like fish down here." He hopped on board a vessel as it was departing the shore. "I wonder where this ship will take me - I wonder if it will take me some place where I will be happy." The decorative gumdrops on his face arranged themselves into a sappy smile, as he wistfully thought of his future.
Several weeks later, he saw the ship approaching the shore. He was very happy to see this, because the damp sea air was affecting his skin, and making him soggy. He hopped off the ship when it reached the shore, and as soon as his legs hit solid ground, he was off again, running as fast as he could. He was in a beautiful place, with tall, lovely mountains. Thankfully no one wanted to eat him anymore, because he was soggy, several weeks old, and starting to smell funny. But the Gingerbread Man was sad by this. "Now not only does no one want to be my friend," he thought sadly, "but no one even pays attention to me." He sat up in the mountains and meditated for a while, and watched a group of majestic, four-legged animals walking around.
Suddenly, he had an idea. "I know what will cure me of my loneliness." He went back down to the village at the foot of the mountains, and found a baker's shop and bought some dough and a rolling pin. He worked hard kneading the dough, rolling it out, and cutting it into shape. It was hard because the rolling pin was five times as long as he was, and twenty times heavier. At last he was ready with his creation. He found a kind woman who let him use her oven, and put his creation inside of it. He waited patiently for hours. Finally, he asked the woman to open the oven door, and out came his creation: the Gingerbread Llama.
The Gingerbread Llama spit joyously in the air and stepped into a world he had never seen before. The Gingerbread Llama was beautiful to behold - it was as stately, haughty, and impressive as real llamas. The Gingerbread Man was beside himself with joy. He tried to hop onto the Gingerbread Llama, but the Llama got angry and shook him off. "Why are you trying to ride on top of me, don't you have your own legs?"
The Gingerbread Man was surprised. "Well, of course I do - I am quite fast, in fact."
"Then you can walk, instead of riding me around. How would you like if I rode on top of you?" the Llama said angrily and started walking away.
"Wait, you can't get away from me," the Man cried out. "Run, run, as fast as you can, you can't escape me, I'm the Gingerbread Man."
"Ha! I'm the Gingerbread Llama, and I'm even faster," the Llama said, and sprinted away, far into the mountains.
Alas for the Gingerbread Man, the Llama was right - the Llama was much faster, and escaped easily. The Gingerbread Man wandered in the mountains for a few more weeks, looking for the Llama. After a while, he gave up, sitting down and putting his face in his hands. "Oh," he cried miserably, "I am as lonely as ever. Maybe I should have made a Gingerbread Dog instead."
