Free Born to Run! (Dr. Seuss/Cat in the Hat) by Tish Rabe

“F lick the Jiggermawhizzer!”
    said Nick. “And let’s fly
    our Thinga-ma-jigger
    up into the sky!
    Get ready for takeoff.
    Let’s get on our way.
    What kind of adventure
    should we have today?”

    “Adventure?” the Cat said.
    “You’ll soon get your wish!
    Today we will swim with
    a very strong fish.

    You’ll meet my friend Sam,
    and we’ll have lots of fun.
    She’s a salmon, and she’ll
    show us how salmon run!”

    “Do they run,” said Nick,
    “like we run down the street?
    How can they do that
    without any feet?”

    “Salmon run when they swim
    against the current,” said the Cat.
    “Fish have to be strong
    to swim upstream like that.”

    “Press the Shrinkamadoodle
    and we’ll get so small …

    … we will not frighten
    the salmon at all.”

    “Hello!” said Samantha.
    “Just look at me run.
    I leap out of the water
    and flash in the sun!”

    “Watch out!” cried Sally.
    “I see a bear paw!
    It’s the biggest bear paw
    that I ever saw!”

    “Hey, bear!” yelled Sam,
    and then she cried, “Whee!
    There’s no way that you
    will ever catch me!”

    “Excuse me,” said Nick.
    “Can you move, Mr. Bear?
    We’re swimming upstream
    and we need to get there!”

    “A boy fish? A girl fish?
    A fish with a hat?
    I’ve seen some strange things,”
    said the bear, “but not that.”

    “Look out!” cried Sally.
    “Do you see up ahead?
    It’s a big waterfall!”
    “Flip your tails!” the Cat said.

    “We made it!” said Sally.
    “Sam! Where are you?”
    Then they heard Sam
    gently calling, “Yoo-hoo!”

    “I’m here,” whispered Sam.
    “And I’m happy to say
    I just laid my eggs.
    I laid them right away.”

    “My beautiful eggs
    are also called roe.
    And soon all my eggs
    will be starting to grow!

    They’ll grow to be salmon,
    and one day, you’ll see,
    they’ll make the same journey
    upriver as me.”

    “Goodbye, Sam,” said Sally.
    “We had lots of fun.
    Thank you for showing us
    how salmon run.”

    “Swimming upstream,” the Cat said,
    “is what salmon do.
    If you were a salmon …”

    “… you’d swim upstream, too.”