The Tortoise & The Hare (deleted stories)

Hare and Tortoise having a race
Hare is sure that he’ll take first place
But tortoise is certain he’ll win
‘cause, though he’s slow, he never gives in.

Aged tortoise slowly trudges;
you could say he barely budges;
forward, inch by inch, he nudges;
every footstep, slow as sludge is.

Whizzing by, the busy hare’s
haring, tearing here and there
his paws almost fly through air
can’t pause, ‘cause no time to spare.

But old tortoise keeps on going,
slower than a flower growing
or a chugging tug boat towing
or long, lazy river flowing.

Instantly, the dashing hare,
that was distant is now near;
then, in a flash, disappears
like lightning but with long ears.

“That tortoise oughta be extinct.
I’ll win this race with ease”, Hare thinks,
“I’ll beat that bumbler in a blink,
so why not stop for forty winks?”.

Confident that he cannot lose,
Hare says, “Think I’ll have a quick snooze.
That tortoise has lead in his shoes.
I’ll take a break AND beat him too”.

But while that Hare is nodding off,
the tortoise still keeps plodding on
till, slowly, past that hare, he creeps;
that fast hare, now just fast asleep.

What a mistake to take a break,
now that Hare has egg on his face
for, by the time that he awakes,
that old slowcoach has won the race.