“All this rain has left the entire forest flooded!” exclaimed Coco, the rabbit as he stepped outside.
You should just be thankful that the forest didn’t flood and that we didn’t get washed away,” said his neighbour, Miko, the mouse.
“That said,” continued Miko, “This portion of the forest is lower than the rest and gets flooded easily. Before the next spell of rain hits us, I think we should cross the river and head to higher ground on the other side.”
“I’m afraid this plan of yours will never work,” said Mojo, the monkey.
The animals of the forest quickly turned to him for an explanation.
“I just came from the bridge and it broke in last night’s rain. In fact, it’s in bad shape. We’d never be able to fix it up in time. Also, I’ve got a feeling that this side of the forest is definitely going to flood. I heard that all the bigger animals moved to the other side a couple of days ago.”
“Isn’t that just perfect,” said Coco. “While us smaller animals are the ones who’ll be hit the hardest by the rains, the bigger animals have left us and crossed the river to safety.”
“I think they’ve done the right thing. They must have decided to play it safe and move to higher ground just in case,” said Mojo.
“That’s fine, Mojo, but what can we do now?” asked Coco.
“All we can do is hope that we don’t get any more rain,” said Mojo.
Just then, Piko, the butterfly piped in, “That will just be wishful thinking. I just heard the humans talking, apparently, there’s going to be more rain coming in hours.”
“What are we going to do now?” asked Miko,
“Bridge or no bridge, let’s go to the river anyway. Maybe there’s another way across the river,” said Coco.
All the animals went to the river, but at the riverbank, things were worse than they had expected.
“There’s water everywhere!” said Miko. “And I don’t see any way across the river.”
“You’re right, I don’t see anything either. All I see are these turtles really enjoying themselves,” said Coco, a little annoyed. “But why wouldn’t they? They’re aquatic creatures after all.”
“Why don’t we ask them where the river is the shallowest and try crossing from there?” asked Mojo.
“Do you really think they’ll help us?” asked Miko.
“It’s at least worth a shot,” said Coco and walked up to the turtles.
But when Coco asked for help, the leader of the turtles, Kittu said, “What made you think we’d want to help you? Don’t you remember what you did when we asked you if we could be friends? It’s been a few months, so let me refresh your memory, you made fun of us and chased us away.”
Coco, Miko, Mojo and Piko hung their heads in shame. They turned to go back to their homes and find another way when Kittu turned to the rest of the turtles.
Kittu said, “My friends, we are not so petty that when an animal comes to us for help that we’d turn him away. Coco and his friends need our help crossing the river. Let’s help them out.”
“Kittu, they made fun of us. Do we really need to?” asked a turtle.
“When we offered them our friendship, they brushed it away and that was their mistake. These animals have come to us seeking help because their lives are at risk. If we don’t help them now, it will be the biggest mistake of our lives,” said Kittu.
All the turtles were convinced and they agreed to help them out.
“The water is too deep for you to cross on foot, but I have a plan,” said Kittu.
He ordered all the turtles to line up one in front of the one another from their side of the river to the other. Only their shells peeped out from under the water, forming a bridge. Coco, Miko, Mojo and Piko hopped across to the other side to safety.
“You have saved our lives, Kittu. We’re really grateful and we’ll never forget this,” said Coco. Along with Miko, Mojo and Piko, he apologised for making fun of them. Kittu and the turtles were happy that all of them had become good friends.
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