Chapter 5
As they exited the forest and walked towards the parking lot back to the Crittercar, StellaLuna now saw a face in the tree they walked past earlier when they arrived. She ran ahead of Me, up to the tree, and said, “Hello, my name is StellaLuna. That's a real big crook you have up there.”
“Hello StellaLuna, my name is Jungle Jim,” said the tree. “That's my magical crook. Children love to climb up there and jump all about as they laugh and play. Then the magic begins to happen … their imaginations start to create all sorts of stories set in many different places. I have been a fort that is under siege, as well as a ship that flies through space in an incredible race. Wherever they go, I get to go too. I have been to many places in the minds of children, which is especially great if you are a tree, and can’t move very far in reality. Imagination has made my little place in this world even bigger. I feel very lucky to get such a great spot in life.”
“Wow,” said StellaLuna, “May I climb up?”
“Go right ahead,” said Jungle Jim. “ I’ve had many humans climb up over the years, mostly children, sometimes teens, and every once in a while, an older human will stop, sit, and reminisce. But you will be the first dog to climb onto my magical crook.”
Once again, Me watched, in amazement and amusement, as StellaLuna acted like she was talking to the tree. Then, all of a sudden she jumped up into the crook of the tree. “StellaLuna, what are you doing?” said Me with a bit of surprise in his voice.
“He’s my new friend, Jungle Jim, and he said I can,” She barked back.
“Okay, Okay, I’ll take a picture if that’s what you want, then we have to go, but we’ll be back again on another day, and you can visit him then,” said Me pronouncing the “him” more like “Jim”.
Me and StellaLuna would come back to this part of the forest often to say hello to old friends, and of course, look for new ones.
Now that you’ve met StellaLuna, Me, and the Forest; this is where the story could end, and I could simply say, “You should go and look for some forest friends”. But, there’s still the story of StellaLuna’s adventure in the forest to tell, with more pictures and a lot more words as well. So, if you really feel the need to go and look, I’ll wait here patiently before I continue narrating this book. But before you go, you should know … how to say the tree chant.
Olly olly eyes in trees … pop out … say hello to me.
|
