Disney Friendship Stories Read online

  Copyright © 2006 Disney Enterprises, Inc. “Friends Forever” adapted by Paula Richards is based on the movie Lilo & Stitch. Copyright © 2002 Disney Enterprises, Inc.

  All rights reserved. Published by Disney Press, an imprint of Disney Book Group. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher. For information address Disney Press, 114 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10011-5690.

  ISBN: 978-1-4231-4963-7

  On a distant planet, a blue creature named Experiment 626 stood before the Grand Council. His creator, Jumba Jukiba, was with him. Because 626 destroyed everything he touched, Jumba had been accused of creating a monster.

  The Grand Councilwoman turned to 626. “Show us there is something inside you that is good,” she said.

  “Meega, na la queesta!” replied 626.

  “So naughty!” the Grand Councilwoman gasped. “It has no place among us. Take it away!”

  Experiment 626 was put on a spaceship that would drop him off on a distant planet. But before he reached his new home, he escaped in a police cruiser. He headed straight for Earth—and the tiny island of Kauai.

  The Grand Councilwoman sent Jumba and an Earth expert named Pleakley to retrieve 626.

  Meanwhile, on the island of Kauai, a little girl named Lilo ran as quickly as she could. She was late for her hula class.

  When she arrived, Lilo scurried into line, leaving a trail of saltwater behind her. The other dancers slipped on the wet floor and toppled over.

  “Stop!” yelled her teacher. “Lilo, why are you all wet?”

  “You’re crazy,” said Mettle, one of the dancers.

  Lilo pounced on her.

  “Lilo!” yelled her teacher, pulling her away.

  “I’m sorry,” said Lilo. “I’ll be good.”

  But no one wanted Lilo to stay, so she went home. Lilo was very lonely. She didn’t have any friends; her parents were gone; and her big sister, Nani, though a good big sister, was having a hard time learning how to be a parent. To top it all off, a social worker was threatening to take Lilo away from Nani.

  That night, the sisters got in a huge fight. Lilo went to her room and slammed the door shut. Nani went upstairs and apologized.

  Suddenly, Lilo saw something flash in the night sky. “A falling star!” she cried. “Get out, I have to make a wish.”

  Nani went into the hallway but stayed by the door so she could hear her sister’s wish.

  “I need someone to be my friend,” Lilo whispered.

  Nani hadn’t realized how lonely her little sister was. Tomorrow, she decided, they would get a dog to keep Lilo company.

  The flash Lilo had seen was Experiment 626’s ship crashing on the island. A trucker found him and took him to an animal shelter. All the other animals were scared of 626, but he didn’t care. He scrunched two of his four arms in toward his torso so he would look more like a dog. That way, he’d be adopted and have a place to hide from the aliens who were chasing him.

  “Hi!” Lilo said when she saw 626.

  “Hi,” the creature replied, and then gave her a hug.

  She walked back to the front room and told Nani she’d found the dog she wanted. “He’s good,” she said. “I can tell. His name is…Stitch.”

  They took Stitch home even though Nani thought he looked strange.

  Nani was glad Lilo finally had a friend. When she left for work, Lilo and Stitch went for a ride. They rode all around the island, even stopping for ice cream along the way. Stitch was wild, but he and Lilo had fun.

  Later, at the restaurant where Nani worked, Stitch spotted Jumba and Pleakley, who were dressed as tourists. When the aliens tried to capture Stitch, he almost bit Pleakley’s head off. Nani’s manager was furious and fired her. It was just the kind of thing Lilo and Nani didn’t need.

  At home, Stitch also began to tear things apart.

  “We have to take him back,” Nani said.

  “We adopted him!” Lilo cried. “What about ‘ohana? Dad said ‘ohana means family! Family means—”

  “Nobody gets left behind,” Nani finished. “I know.” She remembered how welcoming her parents had been, and how important family was to them. She changed her mind. She would give Stitch another chance—for Lilo’s sake.

  That night, while Lilo was sleeping, Stitch found a book called The Ugly Duckling. He looked through it and noticed that the duckling was by himself a lot, just like him.

  He woke up Lilo and showed her the book. She explained that the duckling was sad because he didn’t fit in. Stitch knew how that felt. He wanted to feel like he belonged somewhere, too.

  Lilo decided to show Stitch how to be good so that he would fit in. First, she tried to teach him hula dancing. He did pretty well until his twirls got a little out of control.

  Then, they tried the ukulele. At first, Stitch was rather good. But all of a sudden, he began to play the instrument like a heavy metal guitar and smash!—all the windows around him shattered.

  Finally, Lilo took him to the beach. Here, she decided, he could show everyone what he had learned and how good he could be. Stitch grabbed his ukulele and waddled to the shoreline in front of all the tourists. He began twanging away.

  The tourists loved the music and swarmed around him, taking pictures. But the flashes were too bright for Stitch. He grabbed a camera and smashed it to bits. A man soaked him with a squirt gun. The blasts of water made Stitch angrier. He grabbed the tourist and hurled him through the air. Everyone ran away as fast as they could. They were frightened.

  Lilo was upset. Stitch hadn’t learned to be good. Plus, the social worker saw what had happened and worried about Lilo’s safety.

  That night, Lilo decided to talk to Stitch. “Our family’s little, now,” she told him. “But if you want, you could be part of it.”

  But Stitch knew he had made life harder for Lilo and Nani. He turned toward the window.

  “‘Ohana means family,” Lilo continued. “Family means nobody gets left behind. But if you want to leave, you can.”

  Stitch climbed out the window and headed into the night.

  When Lilo woke up, she told her sister that Stitch had left. “It’s good he’s gone,” she said, trying not to sound upset. “We don’t need him.”

  “Lilo,” Nani consoled her, “sometimes you try your hardest, but things don’t work out the way you want them to. Sometimes things have to change…and maybe sometimes they’re for the better.” Then she left to look for a job.

  Meanwhile, Jumba had found Stitch and was chasing him through the forest. Stitch realized he didn’t want to leave, after all—Lilo was his friend. He ran back to the house.

  When Lilo saw him, she knew she had to help. “What are we going to do?” she asked.

  Together, they fought Jumba, but it was a losing battle. In the process, the aliens destroyed Lilo and Nani’s house. Lilo ran into the forest, devastated. Stitch followed her.

  “You ruined everything!” she told him.

  Just then, Captain Gantu, another alien sent to capture 626, trapped them and put them in a containment pod on his ship. Stitch escaped, but the ship took off—with Lilo inside!

  Stitch knew he had to save Lilo. She was the only friend he had in the entire galaxy. He found Nani, and then he convinced Jumba and Pleakley to help them rescue Lilo. They fired up the police cruiser and raced after her.

  When they got close to Gantu’s ship, Stitch jumped out of the cruiser. He landed on the windshield and crawled toward Lilo. But Gantu managed to shake him off.

  Lilo saw her friend. “Don’t le
ave me, okay?” she cried.

  “Okay,” he replied.

  Stitch managed to get back to Gantu’s ship. He climbed through the windshield, threw Gantu off, and rescued Lilo. “You came back,” she said. “Nobody gets left behind,” he replied. He finally understood how important family was. With Lilo in his arms, Stitch leaped onto the cruiser as Nani, Jumba, and Pleakley flew by.

  They went to the beach where the Grand Councilwoman was waiting to take Stitch home. “This is my family,” Stitch said, pointing to Lilo and Nani. He was allowed to stay on Earth, and the social worker decided not to take Lilo away from her sister.

  Lilo and Stitch hugged each other happily. They knew they would be friends forever.

 

 

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