Bamboo, the little panda

Once upon a time, on a forest in Gondwana, there was a panda called Bamboo. Bamboo was born on a full moon night, to a small family, where there were no other small pandas. Little Bamboo soon got bored for not having anyone to play with so he went out to look for other animals of his own age. Bamboo made a list with all the animals he could remember, separating them into small, big, agile and fast animals.

First Bamboo played with the smaller owns, who spent their days playing hide and sick. But Bamboo couldn’t hide easily like the other animals.

‘You’re too big!’ the small animals told him.

Bamboo went looking for the big animals, then. He found the giraffes, who observed the nests on the top of the trees, and he wanted to join them. But giraffes, not like pandas, have really long necks.

‘You’re too small!’ the big animals told him.

Then Bamboo looked for the agile animals. He found he monkeys, who jumped on the lianas, and he joined them. But the lianas were fragile and couldn’t handle his weight.

‘You’re too heavy!’ the agile animals told him.

At least, Bamboo went looking for the fast animals, who hunted their preys on the savanna, and the panda ran with them, but he couldn’t be silent enough, and he wasn’t as fast as the gazelles that he pursued, never being able of catching up with them.

‘You’re too slow!’ the fast animals told him.

Bamboo had no more animals on his list, so he was really sad, wondering alone in the forest. It looked like no one wanted to be his friend. He wasn’t small enough to hide, nor too big to see the top of the trees. He wasn’t agile enough to swing in the lianas, nor fast enough to pursue gazelles either.

One day, when he was eating by himself, a beautiful butterfly showed up and danced around the small panda, asking him to follow her. Bamboo, taken by the butterfly’s beauty, followed her and she took him to the forest, through some places as light as a summer day and others as dark as a moonless night.

Eventually, the butterfly stood still, flying in the same place for a long time, and Bamboo thought he had been fooled. Annoyed he turned his back to go home when a human voice called him.

‘Wait! Would you like to play with me?’ the voice asked.

Bamboo turned around and curiously gazed the girl. She wasn’t too big or too small. She didn’t look much agile or too fast either. And then, he smiled.

‘You are perfect’ the little girl said, her head resting in Bamboo’s torso.

And so, Bamboo, the little panda, got himself a friend who loved him exactly the way he was.

A/N: This story will soon be illustrated and the links will be posted here.

And I must thank my dear friend Inês/Ely, for introducing me to the lovely Bamboo and for letting me use her kingdom as an habitat for my most recent friend.