“Un-fic-ci-al,” Monkey spelled out. “It only counts when it’s ficcial.”
“Oh, you mean ‘Un-of-fi-ci-al’!” I said. “It doesn’t count when it’s unofficial?”
“You’re quick to learn,” said Monkey. “It doesn’t count then.” Then he ran off to play with Meerkat.
Jackal returned with the news that we could continue without Impala. But while I was drawing Jackal’s picture, Zebra was back yet again.
“Is it my turn yet?” Jackal just stared at him with narrowed eyes until Zebra became embarrassed and moved away.
~~***~~
We waited half a day for Kudu. Monkey was sitting in the tree, watching everything. Jackal had to go and find Lion to explain the problem to him. Monkey went with him. Jackal afterwards told me that Lion was asleep and in a very bad mood when Jackal woke him up. It was only when Jackal told Lion that he was next in line that Lion said that it was a good idea to carry on without Kudu. He had yawned, shook out his coat and then joined Jackal and Monkey when they returned to our tree.
Lion’s picture was easy. He stood regally and kept his pose until I was done. Then he came to have a look and he declared himself satisfied with his picture.
“Yes, that will show the Human Animals how good looking we are,” Lion declared. Then he went off to plop down again in the shade of the big tree.
Jackal didn’t need to call Monkey. He was already there, under our tree. So Jackal went down to the river to get a drink of water.
“You have to get a pretty picture of me, Storyteller,” Monkey said.
“But I’ve already done your picture, Monkey!”
“Shhh! That was unficcial. Now, do my picture, please.” Monkey gave me a wide grin.
Jackal was back in time to call the next Animal. He looked flustered for a minute.
“Oops, I missed Meerkat,” Jackal said. “Why didn’t you tell me Monkey?”
“I missed it as well, Jackal.” Monkey tried to look innocent. “I thought I was next in line.”
“Let’s keep going, Jackal,” I said. “There’s rain on the way.”
Meerkat came running before Jackal could call him. He grabbed Monkey and they rolled into a ball, laughing all the time.
Before Jackal could untangle them, it started to rain. It rained for the rest of the day and right through the night.
~~***~~
“Is it my turn yet?” Zebra asked. It was the next morning and the rain had stopped. When I came out of my little tent, Jackal had the Animals lined up.
“It’s going to rain again soon,” Jackal explained to me. “We don’t want to waste time looking for the Animals.”
“Thank you, Jackal,” I said as I sat down. Jackal was marching up and down the line, to see that nobody wandered off. I looked up to see Monkey sitting first in the line of Animals.
“I have drawn your picture, Monkey,” I said. “And it was official.”
“I know,” said Monkey. “I’m here to play with Meerkat.” Monkey was about to roll into a ball with Meerkat again, when Jackal jumped in between the two.
“Oh no, you don’t!” Jackal shouted. “Ostrich!” he called. “Come and sit between these two and keep them in order, please,” he asked.
So Ostrich sat between Monkey and Meerkat, swinging his head from side to side, to check that they stayed apart.
“Thank you, Ostrich,” I said when I was done. Meerkat came to look at his picture.
“Jackal, Mouse is next, isn’t he?”
“Mouse!” Jackal called. “Mouse!” he had to call a second time.
“Yes!” shouted Elephant, when Jackal had called for a third time.
“I did not call your name, Elephant!” Jackal was impatient now.
“I know,” said Elephant sheepishly. “But Mouse could not hear you. He is hiding inside my ear!” Mouse did not want to have his picture drawn. It took a lot of pleading before he crawled out of Elephant’s ear.
“I’ve had my picture done with you, Elephant!” he protested.
“You’re very small, Mouse,” Elephant tried to explain. “Nobody would be able to see how pretty you are in that picture. You have to get your own, please!” Mouse was still reluctant, but he wanted to please his best friend, so he climbed to the top of Elephant’s head and sat down.
“You are very pretty, Mouse,” I said, trying to get Mouse to smile. “And you are very small, aren’t you?”
“Yes, he’s only a little-bitty mouse, isn’t he?” Owl agreed, from where he was sitting in the tree above us. “He’s only a bite-sized little mouse!”
Then, suddenly, Owl came swooping down!
His claws were out!
He swooped straight down!
He was going directly for Mouse!
He was ready to catch Mouse!
Oh no!
“Help!” Mouse croaked.
“Help!” he shouted, louder this time.
“HELP!” he cried again and this time it was at the top of his lungs!
“My friend! You can’t eat my friend!” cried Elephant. At the last second, just in time, he swung his head out of the way and Owl swooped past.
“Behave yourself, Owl!” Jackal shouted. “Leave Mouse alone!” Owl grinned and hooted and went to sit in a tree, to wait his turn.
We had to calm Mouse down before he would sit still for long enough. He was very scared and he didn’t want to look at me, so I could only draw his picture from the side.
It had taken us quite a while to calm Mouse down and the Animals had started wandering off again.
Jackal went looking for Nyala. “These buck,” he muttered under his breath as he trotted off. “Duiker, Impala, Kudu and now Nyala. None of them!”
The moment Jackal was out of sight, Monkey and Meerkat came running.
“Draw us another picture of Lion, Storyteller!” they requested.
“Why?” I asked. “We have a picture of Lion.”
“Yes, but we want one where Lion is pouting,” they insisted.
“Lion? Pouting?” I asked.
“Yes, the way he pouted in the story of How Hippo helped the Tides, remember?”
I had to think a little bit, but then I remembered how Lion pouted in that story. I grinned.
“Yes, let’s do one quickly,” I agreed. Monkey and Meerkat crowded around me.
“No, his pout was bigger,” Monkey said.
“Yes, make it bigger,” Meerkat agreed. So I drew a picture of Lion with his bottom lip stuck out in the biggest pout you’ve ever seen.
We crowded together, with our heads bent over the picture. “Ha ha,” we laughed, but softly, so that no-one would hear us. That’s what we thought…!
~~***~~
“What’s so funny?” roared Lion. Directly behind us!
My knees buckled and I plopped down. Monkey jumped so high, he landed on my head. Meerkat stumbled and fell backwards.
“What’s that?” Lion demanded to know. Monkey slowly slid down my head, over my face and down my neck. He slid down even further and plopped onto the picture that was lying on the ground. The picture of Lion pouting!
Monkey sat down carefully on the picture and tucked his tail in around him. Round and round his tail went and when he had all of his tail tucked in around him, Monkey was covering the whole picture of Lion. Even the big pout was covered and Lion couldn’t see anything.
“We’re waiting for Nyala, Lion,” Meerkat found his voice. “It is going to rain again soon. May we carry on with Ostrich?” he asked sweetly.
Lion looked up at the sky where the clouds were looming darkly, and nodded his head.
“Yes, you may carry on with Ostrich,” he said and toddled off.
Ostrich was waiting close by, his head hanging low.
“I need the courage to flow from my heart to my head,” he explained. So he kept his head low while I drew his picture.
Owl was half asleep when it was his turn.
Porcupine was shy at f
irst.
“Spread your quills, Porcupine,” I said. “Then everyone would see how you protected the Animals when you went with Giraffe to the Pyramids.”
“Also when Ostrich climbed Kilimanjaro!” Monkey shouted. “He was very brave then!”
Porcupine spread his quills and I could get a very nice picture of him.
“Who’s next?” asked Jackal. “What’s after “P” for Porcupine?”
“Q!” shouted Monkey and Meerkat in unison.
“We don’t have anyone whose name starts with a Q,” said Jackal.
“No,” agreed Monkey, “but we do have something that starts with a Q.”
“Quill!” shouted Meerkat and with that Monkey plucked one of Porcupine’s quills from out of his back.
“Ouch!” Porcupine cried and bristled.
“There,” said Monkey, holding the quill out to me. “Q for Quill!”
Zebra came to ask if it was his turn yet. Then it started raining again. I quickly packed up the pictures to keep it away from the rain.
~~***~~
Monkey was waiting for me at my tent. It was raining very hard. Monkey had a big leaf in his hand, which he held over his head to keep himself dry.
“It’s a funny thing you sleep in.” he commented.
“You mean my tent?” I asked.
“Tent. Yes, your tent. It’s a funny thing outside and inside.”
“Monkey, have you been in my tent?”
“Yes, just for a little look-see. But the stuff you keep in there tastes really bad!” Then I saw the white marks around his mouth.
“Monkey,” I said. “Have you eaten my toothpaste?”
“Toothpaste? Is that what it is?” Monkey asked innocently.
“Yes, Monkey. My toothpaste!”
“It tastes terrible, I have to tell you. You Human Animals are strange.”
I crawled into my tent to get out of the rain. It was a mess inside!
It rained throughout the night.
~~***~~
“Wake up, Storyteller.” I woke up to find Monkey’s face poking through the opening of the little tent.
“Can I come in? It’s wet outside. I’m very wet!” Before I could object, Monkey was sitting inside, shaking the rain off his coat.
“You’re wet!” I cried.
“Yes, I know. That’s what I said, didn’t I?”
“You’re making everything wet in here!”
“Not as wet as outside,” he said. “I’m staying in here until the rain is over.”
“That could be a very long time,” I sighed.
“Yes, and you’ll have to stay with us until the rain stops and all the pictures are done.” Monkey grinned at me.
“The river will be in flood soon. I won’t be able to cross the river.”
“Then you’ll have to stay with us for even longer, don’t you?” Monkey looked very happy.
“How will I be able to show the Humans what you look like if I stay here?” I asked.
“What do you mean? The Human Animals can look at our pictures, can’t they?”
“Monkey, for such a clever little animal, you sure are slow today!” I almost laughed.
“What do you mean?” Monkey didn’t think it was funny.
“I am here. The pictures are here,” I explained patiently. “How will the Humans see the pictures if I can’t take it to them?”
Monkey thought about this for some time and then he lowered his eyes sheepishly.
“Of course, I haven’t thought of that,” Monkey mumbled. “You’ll have to cross the river to get back to the Human Animals before they would be able to see what we look like.”
“Yes,” was all that I said.
“This rain must stop now! Right now!” Monkey peered out of the tent opening. But of course the rain did not stop. It rained throughout that day and all through that night. The river would be in flood soon…
~~***~~
“Wake up, Storyteller!” It was Monkey again, but this time he was very loud. “Get up! The rain has stopped!” I poked my head out of the tent. Yes, the rain had stopped! I quickly got up and ran to the tree with my book and pencils. Monkey was already there. He had the Animals lined up.
“Where do you think you’re going, Warthog?” Monkey ran to fetch Warthog who was wandering away. “The river will be in flood soon! The Storyteller must finish the pictures!”
“Is it my turn yet?” asked Zebra. Monkey scowled and told Zebra to go stand in the back of the queue.
“Roan!” called Jackal.
“You’ve missed Rhino, Jackal,” I said.
“No, you’re not allowed to get Rhino’s picture,” Jackal said. “That was Lion’s instructions.” Jackal shrugged his coat.
“But why not?” I asked.
“Lion said that the Human Animals are a danger to Rhino,” Jackal replied.
“Lion said the Human Animals will kill Rhino,” Meerkat chirped in.
“Lion said you may not draw Rhino, and that is final,” Ostrich said quietly but firmly.
“Roan!” Jackal called again. “These buck…” he muttered.
“Carry on with the next one, Jackal,” Monkey said. “There’s no time to waste! The river will be flooding soon.”
“You’re not going to run off to tell Lion?” Jackal was suspicious, but Monkey was already calling the next Animal.
“Snake!” Monkey called. “Snake! Where are you?”
“Ssss… Right behind you, Monkey!” Snake hissed and gave Monkey a terrible fright. Monkey stumbled and fell backwards, on his bum.
“Ouch!” cried Monkey, rubbing his behind. “Why do you always frighten me, Snake?” Monkey was annoyed that he had shown the others that he was scared of Snake.
“Becaussse…” hissed Snake. “Becaussse… I can, Monkey!” Snake grinned at me.
That was when Vulture flew in with the wind.
“It’s happening!” he croaked. “It’s happening!”
“What, Vulture?” Monkey asked. “What’s happening?”
“The big river! It’s in flood!”
“Where?” Monkey shouted. “Where?”
“Upstream! Only a little bit upstream!”
“Ooh!” said all the Animals. “Our river will then be flooding very soon!”
“Quick, Storyteller!” Monkey was in a panic. “You have to pack up and get across the river quickly, before the water is too high!”
“But I haven’t finished yet, Monkey!” I quickly drew a picture of Warthog, but I could only get a little bit of him. Warthog was rushing off to move his family higher up, away from the river.
“When the river is in flood you would not be able to take our pictures to show to the Human Animals. You have to go now!”
“Is it my turn yet?” asked Zebra. Zebra’s smile was very wide, showing all of his big teeth.
“There’s no time for your picture, Zebra” Monkey said. “The Storyteller must cross the river now, before it is in full flood!”
“No time for my picture?” Zebra had lost his smile. He turned around sadly and slowly plodded away.
“Come back, Zebra!” I shouted. “I will draw your picture!”
“There is no time,” complained Monkey.
“Come back, Zebra!” I insisted. “Give me a big smile so that I can draw a pretty picture of you.” Zebra turned back to us and smiled. But his smile was not as wide as it used to be.
~~***~~
When I got to my little tent, Monkey had already started packing up.
“You’ll have to put the pictures into this funny thing, where it will be dry and safe,” he said, holding my backpack out to me. In no time at all, everything was packed up and we were rushing to the river. Will I be in time? Will I still be able to cross the river?
Along the way, Hyena came to say goodbye. Shyly he wished me a safe journey.
“Hurry up, Storyteller!” Monkey said urgently. “You have to get our pictures across
the river.”
Meerkat came running. He had something in his hand, which he held out to me.
“Here’s a nice, fat scorpion that I found for you,” he said proudly. “Now you have some food for the road.”
“Hurry up, Storyteller!” Monkey urged. “You won’t make it across the river!”
But before we were much further, Porcupine came running up to us, to give me a handful of quills.
“The quills are very sharp,” he warned. “You’ll need them to keep you safe from the dangers on the road.”
“Hurry up, Storyteller!” Monkey shouted frantically while he rushed off ahead. Then I saw Ostrich, standing to the side. Ostrich also wanted to give me something.
“Here is a bunch of my prettiest feathers, Storyteller,” he said proudly. “It’s to make the Human Animals better looking. Like us,” he said.
“Thank you, Ostrich,” I said humbly. “You are very kind.” But then Monkey came running with the news and there was no time for talk anymore.
“Our river is also in flood! You won’t make it across the river anymore!” he shouted. “Now the Human Animals won’t be able to see our pictures!” Then Monkey started crying.
~~***~~
We rushed to the river. Zebra, Elephant, with Mouse on his head, Jackal and Giraffe were standing on the banks of the river. Hippo was in the river.
“The water is flowing very strongly,” Hippo reported. “You’ll have to stand back a bit Storyteller, before the water grabs you,” he warned.
We stared across the river that was now very wide. Nobody said anything as we stared at the rapidly rising water.
“We have to think of a plan!” declared Jackal. “We have to get the Storyteller back to the Human Animals.”
“But how, Jackal?” asked Zebra. “How will we get the Storyteller across this dangerous river?”
“The Storyteller would be swept away very quickly,” said Giraffe.
“Ooh,” cried Elephant and Mouse together, “this river is dangerous!”
“Yes, very dangerous,” agreed Hippo.
“And the water has risen even more since we’ve been standing here,” said Monkey, shaking his head sadly.
“Wait, give me a little bit of time to think of a plan,” said Jackal, sitting down. We waited and waited while Jackal thought of a plan.