“Did you come here to hurt us?”
Chali's New Bonds Beyond the Bamboo Shade.
“Do you ever eat fruits yourself?” Chali asked.
“We eat insects, flies, and I really like mosquitoes,” said the smaller frog. “Your hands are too slow. Our tongues are super fast, we can catch food before you even see it!” the smaller frog interrupted.
He stuck out his tongue and snatched a fly from the air.
“Nice catch,” said Chali, smiling.
“We’ll show you how we live,” the bigger frog said, hopping ahead toward the lake where Biivuma the crocodile was resting, half in the water, looking like a floating log.
The sun continued to rise slowly over the lake. His eyes stretched from one side to another, searching the soft ground beneath his feet. He couldn't recall anything about how they had ended up in the bamboo shade. All he could remember was having slept off on the back of Biivuma.
"Our father has asked us to spend the day with you and Chali," the bigger frog said when they approached the water's edge where Biivuma lay.
“Really?” Biivuma said, turning his huge head to look at them. “Good morning, Chali.”
Chali was about to speak, but Biivuma’s thick neck moved and his heavy body shifted in the water.
“I wanted to keep Chali all to myself today,” Biivuma said with a laugh. “Last night, I saw him dreaming that he was running away from my sharp teeth!”
“So it’s true! I wasn’t dreaming. You can read my thoughts and see my dreams?” Chali asked, surprised.
“Climb on,” Biivuma said in his deep voice. “Let’s go see the lake.”
Chali climbed gently onto Biivuma’s rough back while the frogs hopped in front of him. With a soft splash, they floated out into the cool morning water of the lake.
“Have you ever seen the lake from the middle?” one frog asked.
“I think I saw it last night,” Chali said.
“You were asleep before I even started wiggling my tail,” Biivuma teased.
As they floated farther, Biivuma opened his mouth. To everyone’s surprise, two tiny crocodile heads popped out!