“I’m coming!” Monkey shouted and ran back to Jackal. “What are you doing?”
“I’m saving the turtles!” Ahead of Jackal there were five little turtles making their way to the water. Jackal was nudging them along with his snout. When a big bird came too close, Jackal would snap at it with his teeth to make it go away. Then he nudged the turtles along again. Then he’d snap at the birds. Nudge, snap. Nudge, snap, and eventually the hatchlings were in the water. It took a moment for them to get their direction and then they swam away, as they should do.
The friends jumped into action!
Jackal, Monkey and Meerkat each took charge of a small group of turtles that they herded towards the water. The birds were almost as big as Monkey and Meerkat, but they tried to protect the turtles with their bodies, so that the birds would not reach them. Zebra ran up and down the beach, snapping at the birds with his big, square teeth.
“Go away! Go away!” he shouted, snapping at them. Jackal was nudging and snapping, nudging and snapping.
“Go to bed, Sun!” Monkey shouted. “Go to bed! We need the dark!”
“Hurry up, Tide!” Zebra added his voice. “We need the water closer to the beach!” But the tide was taking its good old time.
“I am going to help the tides!” Hippo declared. The others looked at him.
“How will you do that?” they wanted to know. Hippo didn’t answer straight away. He waded into the sea and then he went right into the waves and sat down.
“If I push the earth down into the sea,” Hippo said, “Then the tide will move more quickly onto the beach. I will use my heavy body to push the earth down.”
“That sounds like a plan!” Monkey exclaimed. “I’ll watch what the water does!” Monkey watched the water level for a little while.
“You’ll have to go in deeper so that the water can rush up faster, Hippo!” he shouted.
“Hurry up Hippo, push harder!” the others encouraged him. Hippo went deeper into the water. He went as deep as he could go so that only his nostrils remained above the water.
“Jump, Hippo!” Monkey shouted. “If you jump on the earth it will go down faster.” So Hippo tried to jump, but it was not easy to jump in the water.
“I think it’s working, Hippo!” Monkey shouted from the beach. “The water is rushing up to the beach faster now. You’re helping the tides!”
“Hippo is helping the tides!” shouted Zebra. “See how the water is rushing up and onto the beach!”
“Let’s get the baby turtles into the water now!” ordered Jackal. They rushed around, herding the baby turtles over the beach and into the water. It was much quicker now since the water was much closer to the beach. There were very many hatchlings and the team was busy for a long time. The little baby turtles continued to crawl out of the nest in the sand.
But eventually it was all done!
“You can come out now, Hippo!” Jackal finally called when the last little turtle had made its way to the water. The sun had gone to sleep and so had the birds. There was a full moon in the sky that lit up the beach.
“You can come out now, Hippo!” the others called, but Hippo couldn’t hear them. He was far out to sea, holding the earth down with his big body so that the baby turtles would be safe.
“You can come out now, Hippo!” they called again. They had to call him a couple of times before he heard them. Then Hippo slowly made his way out of the water, to sit on the beach with his friends.
“That was very clever of you to help the tides, Hippo,” Monkey declared. “You saved the baby turtles!”
“We are very proud of you, Hippo!” Meerkat said. “You are our hero!”
“Yes, you’re our hero, Hippo!” everyone agreed.
They sat in the bright moonlight and looked out over the sea. They could see very far out over the sea. The night was calm and they didn’t talk much. They were satisfied and happy.
The baby turtles were safely away at sea, where they should be!
The End
The river is running dry and the Animals wish that the rains would start. Why is the rain not falling? What had happened to it? They send a team to search for the rain, but will they find it?
“Will Steenbok find the rain?” will be in your e-book store soon.
**The steenbok is a small antelope of southern and eastern Africa.
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Other Books by Salome Byleveldt
African Fable Series:
How Giraffe came to be at the Pyramids
How Ostrich came to climb Kilimanjaro
How Hyena came to cross the Namib
What’s the matter with Elephant?
How Hippo helped the tides
Author’s Page
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