‘‘Why can't I go out?" Cindy asked. ‘‘You are small," Mama Ant explained. ‘‘I'll take you around the forest after a few days."
‘‘You don't stop them," Cindy pointed at her brothers and sisters playing in the corner.
‘‘They can look after themselves," Mama Ant said. ‘‘I want to meet the beads, elemans and mankeys you talk about," Cindy demanded. ‘‘Birds, elephants and monkeys," Mama Ant corrected.
‘‘Ha, ha, ha," Cindy's brothers and sisters laughed. ‘‘Don't laugh at my little one," Papa Ant scolded. ‘‘Your breakfast," Mama Ant had spread bread crumbs on the ground.
Her children rushed towards the treat. Cindy sulked in a corner.
‘‘Cindy," Mama Ant called.
‘‘I'm not hungry," Cindy replied.
‘‘Stay inside," Mama Ant warned her children. ‘‘We are going out in search of food."
While her brothers and sisters were playing, Cindy stole out of the anthill which was at the bottom of a tall tree.
‘‘The view from the top will be nice," Cindy said excitedly.
Cindy crawled, inch by inch, up the smooth brown trunk. Branches fell behind as she moved up, up, and up, stopping often to rest. Around noon her stomach rumbled.
‘‘Ah," Cindy had spied a half eaten raspberry lying on a branch. She crawled towards it.
‘‘Yummy, sweet and juicy," Cindy licked her lips. Cindy started climbing. It was evening when she reached the top. Light was fading fast.
‘‘My house has disappeared!" Cindy exclaimed, unable to find the anthill. It was dark. Stars had appeared in the sky. ‘‘I'll spend the night here," she decided, scared to move down in the dark. Hoot. Hoot. Cindy shivered. Two yellow eyes stared at her from a branch. Cindy hid underneath a leaf.
Birds screeched and hooted. Branches dipped after flocks of birds landed. Cindy, tired and scared, closed her eyes. Sleep caught hold of her. Cindy had a habit of moving around in her sleep. Leaving the leaf she crawled onto the wing of an eagle perched on the tree. When Cindy opened her eyes, a merry sun had emerged in the sky. ‘‘Its morning," she stretched her body.
‘‘I'll go home," she smiled at the thought of meeting her mother. A rush of air took Cindy by surprise. ‘‘The leaf is flying," Cindy moaned. The eagle had taken flight. Cindy clinging to a feather in its wing was scared of being blown away.
Higher and higher the eagle flew. ‘‘The trees look tiny," Cindy realised that she had left the tree. The bird was flying in circles. Cindy felt dizzy. Suddenly the eagle dived down. Its wing brushed the top of an elephant. Leaving the feather Cindy dropped onto the elephant's head.
‘‘This animal has tails at both the ends," Cindy frowned. ‘‘One is hairy, the other fleshy."
‘‘This is super," Cindy giggled, sliding down the elephant's smooth trunk.Trump. Trump. The baby elephant had just learnt to trumpet. He was eager to make the sound.The strange sound scared Cindy. She clung tightly to the elephant's thick skin.
When Cindy reached the tip of the trunk, the elephant raised it's trunk to tickle it's friend - a monkey, sitting on a branch.
Cindy crawled onto the monkey's body, losing her way in its hairy skin. The monkey scratched his bum. Cindy clinging to a strand, moved up and down, as the monkey scratched and scratched.
The monkey stopped scratching. He jumped from branch to branch. ‘‘This creature is very fidgety," Cindy grumbled. She had crawled to its long tail. The tip was near. ‘‘If he stops jumping, I can escape," Cindy muttered. Coiling his tail around a branch, the monkey started swinging.
A squirrel had hopped onto the monkey's tail. Cindy disappeared into the squirrel's furry body.
Rolling a nut in her paws, the squirrel giggled as the monkey swung back and forth.
Cindy had emerged on the squirrel's paw. Crawling over the round nut she lost herself in it's grooved surface.
The monkey jumped down. The squirrel lost her balance and fell down. The nut rolled out from her paws. ‘‘Oh no," groaned the squirrel.
‘‘I'll get you another one," the monkey offered. The nut had rolled to an anthill at the bottom of a tree. ‘‘Where could she have gone?" Mama Ant stood on top of the anthill. ‘‘Mama, I am here," Cindy waved from the top of the nut.
‘‘You naughty girl," Mama Ant crawled towards Cindy with a relieved expression on her face. ‘‘What an adventure you had," Mama Ant said after hearing Cindy's story.
‘‘ What fun!" exclaimed her brothers and sisters. ‘‘It was okay," Cindy said softly. ‘‘I missed you mama," she hugged her mother tightly.