Once upon a time, there was a leopard named Fern who was princess of the rainforest. She was six years old and loved the rainforest. It was her favorite place in the whole world – even though she’d never been anywhere else. She adored the bromeliads, she cherished the ipê trees, but most of all, she loved her friends and family.
One morning, Fern was sitting on the couch, bored. She had been bored since she woke up and it seemed like there was nothing to do. Nothing had cheered up Fern – coloring hadn’t cheered up Fern, or reading, or taking a nap, or having a snack, or going to the Forest Market or not even visiting Marsh. Then suddenly, she got an idea.
“Mama,” Fern called to the kitchen where Mama Leopard was busy making a snack for herself.
“Yes, honey?” Mama Leopard answered.
“Can I go for a walk?”
“Of course,” purred Mama Leopard.
Fern’s idea was that she would walk around and look at everything she loved, and she could go to her favorite lake. By then she’d probably not be bored.
She scampered through the door and started walking in the direction of her favorite lake, past the Toucan Village. Soon, she spied a giant hibiscus.
Wow, thought Fern. That’s a huge hibiscus!
She kept walking and was startled to see her pathway blocked by a humongous, giant tree.
That’s probably a kapok tree, Fern thought.
She went around it and soon came to a watering hole. It looked like the hole had been abandoned because it was covered in a green mat.
Water lilies! Fern thought. She remembered that the Amazon Water Lily was the world’s biggest lily, and could hold four caymans.
She wondered if she should walk across it.
“Well,” thought Fern out loud. “This might be my only chance!”
She poked one claw at the water lily. It swayed a little, but stayed there. She cautiously tiptoed on to the lily. It stayed afloat, and started sailing across the water with the push of her weight, like a boat.
It smoothly slowed to a stop at the bank of the watering hole.
That was so fun! Fern thought. I wonder why lilies don’t grow in the Amazon river. It’s probably because the Amazon river has water going far too fast for it. It would just be swept along with animals on it!
She continued on her way to the pond. Soon, she spied something orange hidden inside the bushes.
Fern went to the bushes and moved the branches aside to reveal the most beautiful flower she’d ever seen. It was shaped like a bell; a mustard yellow-orange on the outside; on the inside it was a pale yellow with a pinkish, reddish tongue thing and it had brownish-black speckles on the outside.
Everything is a mix of colors! What should I name it? Fern thought. I mean, it’s a very pretty flower but I don’t know if it has a name or if anyone has discovered it yet. I know! I’ll name it The Orchid.
Fern collected some of the seeds in a little pouch she had brought along and started tossing them wherever she went. She saved some seeds so that she could grow them in her backyard.
Soon, she came to a little river with no way to cross. On the other side was the Toucan Village and beyond that was her favorite lake.
Almost there! Thought Fern. But how do I get across the river? I know! I’ll weave a raft!
Fern started getting materials. She collected some thin branches and long grass, and got a sharp stone and a long stick, and whittled the stick to be an ore. Next, she weaved all the branches together into one nice, floating, water-proof raft.
She got on and paddled all the way across the river to the other side. Then, she left the raft to dry on the bank with the ore, and planned to go back that same way.
She got up and walked a long way until she realized she felt hungry. She looked around and saw a big mango tree.
Fern walked over to the tree and started climbing the thick bark to get some of the ripest mangoes at the top. She grabbed three of them and scampered back down the tree.
She sat down on a patch of nice soft grass, and started eating. Then, she got up and went to the river to drink some water. She hid the ore and raft in a clump of tall grass and went back to her picnic area and finished one of the mangoes and started on her way.
She saw lots more amazing sights on her way to the lake, but finally she got there.
The lake was a big pool of water in the shape of a flower. It was dotted with a couple of small islands and had one sandy, pale-yellow island in the middle, like the center of a flower. On that island was a little palm tree and a mat fern had woven on the day she had discovered it.
Fern had also made a canoe with a paddle to get to the island. Fern put the rest of her mangoes and orchid seeds inside the canoe and started paddling toward her island.
She got there and had a picnic on her mat. She stayed there for about an hour listening to the squawks of the birds and the hums of the insects and the hisses of the snakes. Soon, she realized it was getting late.
My mom must be worried about me, Fern thought. She stayed there for a minute longer and then got up and went to the canoe. She had saved the ripest mango for her mom.
Fern got inside the canoe and paddled back to the bank. She got out of the canoe and put the mango in the pouch with the seeds. She swung the pouch over her back and started walking in the direction of her house.
She paddled across the river;
…she passed the mango tree;
…she collected more seeds from the orchids;
…she sailed across the lily boat;
…she went around the kapok tree;
…she passed the giant hibiscus;
…and finally, finally, finally got to her castle.
“Mooooooom,” Fern called through the front door. “I’m hooooooome!”
“Oh honey!” Mama Leopard said bursting out of the door. “Where have you been this whole time? I’ve been so worried! You’ve been gone for two and a half hours!”
“Hi mom, I found these cool seeds on my walk. And I named the flowers Orchids because they’re super duper beautiful, and I’m wondering if we can plant them. Can we? Can we???”
“Of course, honey!” purred Mama Leopard.
Fern went around the house to the garden and climbed over the gate to get to her flower patch. She planted all of her seeds (ten seeds) and got the watering can and watered them a little bit. Then, she went through the door to the kitchen and hid the mango behind her back.
“Hey mom,” Fern called. “Come here, I have a surprise for youuuuuu…”
Mama Leopard scampered into the kitchen and looked at Fern’s paws holding the mango behind her back.
“What is it?” she asked Fern.
“This!” said Fern, revealing the mango from behind her back. “Surprise!”
“Oh Fern, that’s so thoughtful of you! Thank you,” purred Mama Leopard.
“You’re welcome,” said Fern, smiling.
“It’s very nice and all, but where did you get a mango?
“Oh,” said Fern, “on my walk.”
“Where did you go on your walk?” purred Mama Leopard.
“Oh,” said Fern, “I just went to an ordinary, little lake.”
The end.