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"Have you noticed that the waterfall
is shrinking?" Ogondo chattered. "It seems to be getting smaller every
day."
"That’s because the dry season is
coming and less rain is falling," Taji, the crane, explained.
"What? No waterfall?" Zesiro
shouted. "How will we shower? How can we bathe in the pool at the bottom?
Will we still have bananas and delicious fruit?" the monkey asked.
The sun was high in the sky. The
temperature was rising daily in the savanna. Even near the great mountain
the heat was getting unbearable. The giraffe walked over to the falls.
"Let’s enjoy it while we’ve still got it. As the rivers dry up, the other
animals may find their way here," Gamba said.
"Animals, like lions and cheetahs?"
Zesiro asked.
"Perhaps. Remember the pride of
lions that were on the boulders during the flood when we first came here?
There are lions about. Let’s hope they find water somewhere else," Gamba
answered.
Just then Ogondo pointed at
something. "What are those black dots in the sky?"
The others looked. "It looks like
birds," Taji said. As the black specks came closer, Taji could see that
they were indeed birds. "Those are toucans."
The birds flew closer and closer
until they landed next to Taji. "It’s true. This is a paradise," Kasinda
squawked. "Look at all the trees and grasses."
"Finally we’ve found somewhere
green," Aitan sighed.
"Where have you come from?" Taji
asked.
"The savanna is drying up. There’s
little water left. The animals are fighting around the waterholes. We
heard you four speaking about the great mountain and when you didn’t come
back, we guessed you must have found it. Where’s that delicious fruit that
tastes like honey?" Aitan wondered.
Ogondo, Zesiro, Gamba, and Taji
looked at each other. They weren’t sure if they wanted two noisy toucans
in their territory. "Why don’t you go further east? I hear there’s plenty
of water there," Ogondo said.
"Isn’t there room for us here? We’re
only two birds. We only eat fruit and we don’t make a lot of noise,"
Kasinda smiled.
"You’re welcome to stay here with
us," Gamba said. "There’s room for you. The trees are covered with
delicious, ripe fruit. Help yourselves."
The toucans squawked and flew over
to the nearest tree.
It didn’t take long for the group to
realize they’d made a mistake by allowing the toucans to stay. While
Ogondo and Zesiro were playing in the waterfall, the toucans flew over.
They fluttered their wings and spread them. The wings were like big
umbrellas. "Hey! We’re not getting any water down here," Zesiro whined,
but the toucans didn’t pay any attention. They ignored the monkey and kept
their wings spread. The trickling waterfall splashed on their huge, black
wings. Aitan opened his bill and let the water cascade in. Drops dripped
over the edge onto Ogondo’s head. "This isn’t much of a shower," he
mumbled. The monkeys ran off to find Gamba and Taji.
"Gamba, I don’t like those toucans.
They are hogging all the water from the falls," Zesiro complained. "Their
wings are big and I keep finding feathers in my fur. They make a lot of
noise and their bills are so big that it takes twenty fruits to fill it
up. Soon we’ll have no fruit left."
"They can’t even fly well. They hop
most of the time. I don’t like them. I want them to go," Ogondo said.
Gamba was irritated with the
toucan’s squawking but tried not to let it bother him. "We’ve got to be
patient. They only came here because there was no fruit in the savanna."
"But they spit their seeds all over
the place," Ogondo added.
"Patience. What do you think, Taji?"
Gamba asked.
She was busy preening her feathers
when the monkeys arrived. "I don’t particularly care for their habits, but
we’ve got to help each other out during the rough times."
"Oh, all right. Come on, Zesiro,
let’s go swing in the trees," Ogondo said and ran off, the other monkey
following right behind him.
Gamba shook his long neck. "It’s
going to be a long summer," he sighed, watching the monkeys in the trees. |
