|
 The biggest bananas Bobo had ever
seen grew on a tree at the top of a waterfall. It wasn’t a huge waterfall
that fell for hundreds of feet, but a gradual waterfall, that cascaded
over steps of stone as it rushed down the hillside. At times the waterfall
was nothing more than a trickle, but it had rained all night and so it was
rushing faster than a hundred trains.
Bobo wanted to eat one of those
bananas, maybe even two, if his tummy could hold that much. His biggest
problem was how he was going to get up the waterfall. He couldn’t swim
very well and the water was rushing down very quickly.
"I’m hungry and I want one of those
bananas!" Bobo shouted. The monkey scratched his head. "I know! I’ll climb
up the side of the waterfall." Several thick vines hung down from trees.
"If I swing on the vines, I can make my way up to the top and have one of
those delicious looking bananas." Bobo stood on his tiptoes and grabbed
hold of a vine. He tugged at it to make sure it was strong. "Here I go."
He swung back and forth on it. "This is fun," he giggled.
The water splashed and bubbled as it
ran down hill below him. He swung harder and harder and grabbed onto the
next vine. "Wheeeeeee!" It wasn’t easy because he was making his way up a
hill, but he was having too much fun to notice. He swung with all his
might and grabbed another vine.
The spray from the waterfall had
dampened this one. Bobo couldn’t hold onto it and slipped. BUMP! BOOM!
BUMP! BOOM! He rolled through the water, being tossed and thrown about and
landed with a splash in the pool at the bottom. "Cough, cough." The monkey
choked and gasped for air as the water sloshed down on him. Finally he was
able to grab onto a root sticking out of the mud and pulled himself out of
the water. He sat there, dripping from head to toe.
"I am hungry! I want one of those
bananas! I’ll have to think of a different way to get to the top of the
waterfall. He scratched his head as he thought about it. "Aha! I have an
idea," Bobo said. He spotted several branches that had fallen from one of
the trees. "I’ll make stilts and walk up. Those steps are wide. I can do
it." He spent an hour finding just the right branches. He had to make sure
they had bumps sticking out to put his feet on. He took the sticks into
the pool at the bottom. "Now, all I have to do is climb from step to step
to the top and I’ll soon be eating a delicious banana." He climbed onto
the sticks. Water rushed around him, nearly knocking him over. He moved
the sticks up to the first step. "I did it! Now, for the next step."
Bobo was able to climb up three of
the stone steps before one of the sticks slipped. BUMP! BOOM! BUMP! BOOM!
Down he went. The sticks flew threw the air and landed in the trees and
Bobo ended up in the pool at the bottom of the waterfall. "Cough, cough."
The monkey choked and gasped for air as the water sloshed around him. He
felt under the water for the root of the tree, found it, and pulled
himself onto the muddy banks.
"That didn’t work either. How am I
going to get to that banana tree?" He stood scratching his head, trying to
think of another plan. Just then a bright red and yellow parrot landed on
the branch of a tree above Bobo. "I’ve got an idea. Parrot, will you fly
me up to the top of the waterfall so I can get a banana? I’m very hungry."
The parrot began to squawk. "How can
a small bird like me carry a big monkey like you up to the top of a
waterfall? SQUAWK!"
"I’ll hold onto your claws. You can
flap your wings and fly up there. When you get to the top, I’ll let go and
then you can fly away," Bobo explained.
"We can try," the parrot said. He
flapped his wings and landed on Bobo’s furry head. Bobo grabbed hold of
his talons. "Hold on tight. Here we go." The parrot flapped and flapped
and flapped. Bobo was very heavy but he did manage to carrying him halfway
up the waterfall. "I can’t do it. You’re too heavy. You’ll break my wings.
Let go right now," the parrot demanded and started trying to pull his
claws out from Bobo’s grasp.
Bobo had no choice but to let go. He
fell through the air and landed in the waterfall. BUMP! BOOM! BUMP! BOOM!
He bumped and crashed into the rocks as he was washed down to the pool at
the bottom. "Cough, cough." The monkey choked and gasped for air as the
water sloshed around him. He grabbed onto the root of the tree and pulled
himself onto the muddy bank. SQUAWK! SQUAWK! SQUAWK! Bobo watched the
parrot fly into the trees and disappear.
The sky was still gray and dismal
from the storm the night before. "I suppose I could try to swim or walk up
the stone steps. They’re very wide. I think I’ll try that next," Bobo
said. He went to the side of the waterfall and moved into the middle of
it. He had to balance himself because the water was pushing so fast. He
grabbed onto several rocks that were jutting out of the middle. "Say, this
isn’t so bad. I can do this. All I have to do is hold on tightly to the
rocks and pull myself up. I’m so glad. I can almost taste that thick,
delicious banana now." He moved up three steps and reached for the rock in
the middle of the fourth step, but it was very slippery. "Yikes!" Bobo
shouted. BUMP! BOOM! BUMP! BOOM! He tumbled down the waterfall and landed
in the pool at the bottom. "Cough, cough." The monkey choked and gasped
for air as the water sloshed around him. He grabbed onto the root of the
tree and pulled himself onto the muddy bank.
Bobo was starting to get cold. "I
wish the sun would come out and dry my fur," he shivered. No sooner had he
said that than the clouds floated away and the sky turned brilliant blue.
"Ah, there’s the sun," he smiled. He curled up in a ball and fell asleep
as the sun’s gentle rays warmed and dried his fur. When he woke up he
noticed something was different. Instead of a raging river going over the
falls, it was merely a trickle. "It must have stopped raining up at the
top of the mountains!" He was delighted. He looked up at the sky. A few
gray clouds floated overheard. He looked at the banana tree. It’s thick
green leaves and plump yellow bananas were calling to him. "I’ll just walk
up the stone steps and get my bananas now," he laughed.
Bobo jumped into the pool at the
bottom and climbed up the first step. He stood there, watching the tiny
stream of water trickle over his feet. "Ha ha ha. I can do this. Here I
come banana tree," he called. He climbed up another step, and then
another, and another. He looked up at the sky. It wasn’t blue any more. It
was gray and full of clouds. He was just about to the top when he heard a
roaring sound. "What’s that noise?" he wondered. Just then a wave of water
came rushing over the falls. "Oh no! It must have rained again!" BUMP!
BOOM! BUMP! BOOM! Bobo bumped and boomed his way all the way to the pool
at the bottom of the waterfall. "Cough, cough." The monkey choked and
gasped for air as the water sloshed around him. |
