“Yes, of course it is true!” Hippo almost shouted. “Do you think Meerkat would lie about this? I almost ran over you!” But Hippo was not done yet. Now that the first shock had worn off, he was getting very angry. He had almost killed his friends in an accident!
“Why did you stop like that, Jackal?” Hippo demanded. “You must be more careful!” Jackal didn’t say anything. He was feeling very sheepish and he merely hung his head. He didn’t want to look anyone in the eye.
“Humph..!” was all that Hippo said. Then he marched off to the river and sank below the water so that he could cool off and calm down.
Zebra went to lie under a short bush where there was a little bit of shade. Jackal found some shade under a clump of grass. After a while Monkey and Meerkat joined Zebra, but nobody talked much.
~~**~~
“What did you see, Jackal?” Meerkat asked. The sun was about to go to sleep for the night and a soft wind was cooling the air. Hippo had come out of the river, he was calmer now. He sat on the bank of the river for a while. Then one by one the others joined him. They sat in silence for a little bit, but Meerkat had never been able to keep quiet for too long.
“What did you see, Jackal?” Meerkat repeated. “You stopped so suddenly! You must have seen something!”
“It’s nothing, really.” Jackal said. “It’s silly, really.”
“What’s silly?” Meerkat demanded.
“It’s silly that I stopped just because I saw the sea.” Jackal said.
“You saw the sea?” Zebra shouted. Jackal nodded.
“The sea to the East? Why didn’t you say so?” Zebra was very excited.
“Well, I didn’t give him a chance, did I?” Hippo answered.
“Where must I look? Where?” Zebra demanded. He was standing up, looking all around him. “I can only see river!”
“You’ll have to wait till tomorrow, Zebra,” Jackal replied. Zebra was pacing around the group of friends. He wanted to see the sea!
“It is too hazy now,” Jackal said. “Tomorrow when the sun is bright you’ll be able to see it!”
“Then let’s go to sleep now so that tomorrow can come more quickly!” Zebra insisted.
~~**~~
The next morning the group of friends got up very early. The sun was scarcely awake, but Zebra was too excited to sleep anymore.
“Let’s go!” he insisted. So they set off again. They followed the river. They now knew that they were very close to the place where the river met the sea.
“There it is!” Zebra shouted as they came out at the top of a shallow incline. “There it is!” This time Hippo had left a bit of space between the group and himself, so that he had time to stop. Zebra was prancing around. He had seen the sea first!
Then there was no stopping the group. They ran and galloped and rushed towards the sea! Jackal looked over his shoulder and behind him he could see Zebra. But he could not see much of Zebra’s face. He could only see Zebra’s big, square teeth. Zebra had a huge grin spread across his face!
“This is going to be fun!” Jackal shouted as he increased the pace.
~~**~~
“Come on, let’s go for a swim!” invited Hippo and without further ado he ran into the sea. He went through the shallow waves lapping the beach and then he kept going to where it was deep and the waves crashed over him. Zebra was eager to swim in the sea, but it was the first time that he had seen such big waves. So he stood in the shallow water, looking out at the sea beyond. He still had a very big grin on his face, stretching from ear to ear.
“Come on in! The water is nice and warm!” Hippo shouted and then he sank below the surface and his friends could not see him anymore.
“Hippo!” shouted Monkey. Monkey was still sitting on the beach, high above the water. He was not yet ready to go into the sea. The last time he had tried that he had almost drowned in the icy cold waters of the sea. Admittedly, that was the sea to the West and this is the sea to the East, but still. Monkey did not want to take any chances. But now it seems that Hippo was in trouble..!
“Hippo!” shouted Monkey again. He ran down to the water’s edge to where the waves lapped the beach. After Monkey’s third call, when Hippo had still not surfaced, Monkey ran into the water. Zebra was still standing in the shallow water and Monkey jumped on his back.
“Zebra, we have to save Hippo!” Monkey cried. “You have to take me to where Hippo has gone down! Be quick!” So Zebra had no choice but to go deep into the water, where the big waves were. It was scary and Zebra was not grinning anymore.
“Hippo!” cried Monkey again. He looked around anxiously, but Hippo was nowhere to be seen. Just then a big wave crashed over Monkey and Zebra! The wave washed over Monkey and he slipped off Zebra’s back, into the deep waters.
“Help..!” and then Monkey disappeared beneath the water.
“Not again!” Meerkat cried from where he was standing in the shallow water. Meerkat remembered all too well what had happened the previous time when Monkey was swimming in the sea. “Zebra, you will have to save Monkey!” he shouted.
Monkey’s head appeared above the water, but just then another big wave washed over him and he disappeared again. That was when Hippo stuck his head up, above the water.
“What’s going on?” he asked, looking at the concerned faces of his friends.
“We thought you had drowned, Hippo!” shouted Jackal.
“Monkey is in trouble, Hippo!” shouted Zebra.
“You have to help Monkey, Hippo!” shouted Meerkat. At first Hippo couldn’t see what the trouble was with Monkey, but then he saw him bobbing in the water a little distance away. With a couple of giant leaps Hippo crossed the distance between himself and Monkey. Then he lowered himself deep into the water. He moved underneath Monkey and when he thought Monkey was properly positioned above him, he slowly surfaced again. Monkey gulped for air and then he clung onto Hippo for dear life.
“I thought you were in trouble, Hippo!” Monkey stuttered when he managed to talk again. “You disappeared below the water. I wanted to go and help you, Hippo!”
“Uh…” was all that Hippo said.
“Did you almost drown, Hippo?” Monkey was still very concerned about Hippo.
“Uh…no…” Hippo admitted hesitantly.
“Then what happened?” Monkey insisted to know.
“Uh…I was just enjoying my first swim in the sea,” Hippo replied sheepishly.
“You mean you weren’t in trouble?” Monkey asked.
“Uh…no,” said Hippo. “I can stay below the water for a very long time, you know,” he tried to explain.
“But how? Don’t you get water up your nose?” asked Monkey. Monkey had forgotten that he had almost drowned trying to save Hippo, when Hippo didn’t need to be saved.
“I can close my nostrils,” Hippo grinned. “And I can hold my breath for a long time!”
“That’s a neat trick!” declared Monkey. “Let me try to do it too!” Monkey was still sitting on Hippo’s back. Now he clung onto Hippo with one little arm while putting his head under the water. Within two heartbeats he came up again, coughing and sneezing. But Monkey would not give up. As soon as he had recovered, he pushed his head into the water again. But again, within two heartbeats he came up, coughing and sneezing. Hippo laughed.
“I want to learn your trick, Hippo!” Monkey was not done. For a third time he pushed his head into the water. This time it took three heartbeats and then he had to come up for air. All his friends laughed.
“Ugh,” said Monkey, “I’d almost forgotten how salty the sea is!”
“Let’s play!” shouted Zebra, and for the rest of the day the friends played in the water and on the beach. Meerkat got onto Zebra’s back, and Monkey stayed with Hippo and together they rode on the waves, even the big ones. Jackal preferred to stay in the shallow waters.
When the sun was ready to go to sleep the team sat on the beach. They were quiet and contented. Zebra was still grinning from
ear to ear. Jackal’s tongue was lolling out to the side. They had a happy day.
~~**~~
“Why does the sea have waves?” Zebra asked. It was morning and the rest of the team was still yawning and stretching. But Zebra had been up and about since very early. The sea fascinated him! Now he stood on the beach, looking out over the ocean.
“What sort of a question is that?” Monkey asked. “The sea has waves and that is it. What does it matter why?” This response did not satisfy Zebra at all.
“What makes the waves in the sea?” he asked again.
“It’s the wind,” said Jackal. “The wind blows across the water and pushes the water around. That is what makes the waves.”
“Oh, you’re clever, Jackal,” Zebra said, but before he could ask more questions, Hippo called the group together.
“Now that we’ve reached the sea, we must follow the beach to the South to find the turtles,” Hippo said. The others had almost forgotten why they had come on this mission, so Hippo continued. “We have to find out what the trouble is with the hatchlings, remember?”
“Yes! Yes, of course!” they responded in unison. Then they set off to find the turtles. They still had a long way to go.
~~**~~
“Wake up, Monkey!” Zebra called. He nudged Meerkat. “Wake up, Meerkat! The water is rising again. You’ll be wet all over before the night is through!” Monkey and Meerkat were curled up into a ball and they had to untangle themselves before they could move away from the water that had been creeping ever closer. Jackal also moved away to dry ground. Only Hippo remained, he didn’t mind if the sea splashed all over him.
The group had been travelling next to the ocean for three days. In the afternoons they always went for a swim in the sea, to cool off and to play a while. They loved playing in the sea. Then at night they huddled together on the beach to sleep. But every night the sea crept up on them. The first night they were wet all over before they realized what had happened. They were still sleeping the one minute and the next minute a wave splashed all over them.
The next night they had found a spot on the beach that was further away from the edge of the sea. But that didn’t help either as the sea once again crept up on them.
Then the following night they moved away even further, but still the sea had managed to sneak up on them.
“Maybe the sea wants to play,” ventured Monkey. Hippo and Jackal laughed. Meerkat also laughed. Zebra didn’t know much about the sea, so he didn’t say anything.
“Don’t laugh at me,” said Monkey. “The sea wants to play! During the night when everything is quiet, the sea gets bored, because it has nothing to do. Then it sneaks up on us so that we would wake up and play with it!” Hippo laughed so much that he had to hold his tummy. Jackal didn’t want to be rude and he didn’t want to laugh out loud, but his whole body was shaking with laughter. Meerkat was screaming with laughter.
“No, Monkey,” Meerkat shook his head, but he had another fit of laughter before he could continue. It took many minutes before he could control it. Even Jackal had started laughing out loud. Zebra thought that Monkey’s explanation made a lot of sense, but since the laughter was catching he laughed as well.
“Well then,” Monkey said peevishly, “then let’s listen to your explanation as to why the sea is sneaking up on us every night!”
“It’s the tides, Monkey!” Meerkat said.
“Tides? What are you talking about?” Monkey was not impressed.
“It’s the rise and the fall of the oceans, Monkey,” Meerkat continued. “This happens about twice every day.”
“No way,” said Monkey. “This happens only when the sea is bored during the night!”
“You only noticed it during the night because we remained in the same spot for long enough,” said Meerkat. Then he had to laugh some more because of the funny expression on Monkey’s face.
“What’s causing the tides, Meerkat?” Zebra asked. “Why are there tides?”
“I don’t know exactly, Zebra, but I’ve heard that it has to do with the pull of the moon and the sun on the ocean,” Meerkat tried to explain.
“That’s right,” Hippo confirmed. “It makes the water move around in big bulges. And when the sun and the moon are nicely lined up in a row, then it pulls together and the bulges of water becomes very big.”
“This is a strange story you’re telling us, Hippo.” Zebra said. His eyes were wide with wonder.
“When the sun and moon pulls together, then the sea pushes up very high on the beach,” Jackal took up the story. “I’ve heard it is called the spring tide then,” he added.
Monkey shook his head. He thought that his friends were silly. Everyone knew that the sea pushed high up on the beach because it was bored and wanted to play. Monkey moved away from the sea some more to find a quiet spot to spend the rest of the night. He found a spot that was far enough from the sea so that the sea would not be able to sneak up on him again.
~~**~~
The friends were getting antsy. They’d travelled for many more days but still they had not found the turtles.
“How much further do we have to travel, Hippo?” Zebra asked the question that was on everyone’s mind. It was afternoon and they were sitting on a wide stretch of beach, looking out over the ocean. Behind them there were high dunes of beach sand, and before them the beach stretched for a long distance before it reached the water’s edge. It was low tide and the water had pulled back very far. Above them very many sea birds swooped around in the sky.
“It cannot be much further, Zebra,” Hippo replied, but he didn’t really know how much further it would be.
“What do you think is the matter with the baby turtles, Hippo?” Monkey asked, but Hippo could not answer this question either.
“We’ll have to find them first, Monkey,” Hippo said. “Then we can see what the matter is.” But no-one knew where to find them. They sat without speaking for a long time. The sea birds continued to swoop in the sky above them. Suddenly Meerkat looked up and that’s when he saw it…
~~**~~
“What’s that?” Meerkat exclaimed.
“What? Where?” Monkey was quick to respond, but Meerkat was already running across the beach, to check what it was.
“Where? Wait for me,” Monkey shouted and ran after Meerkat. Just when he’d managed to catch up with Meerkat he saw it too!
“The sand is alive!” Monkey shouted. “The sand is moving all by itself!” Zebra and Jackal came running across the beach, to see for themselves.
“It’s alive!” Zebra cried. Hippo wanted to see this for himself, so he got up and lumbered towards the others.
“Strange!” Jackal sniffed the sand and then he had to leap back quickly when the sand jumped up into his face. It gave him a big fright.
“This is strange,” said Hippo and stood closer to inspect the scene. Then he saw what it was…
~~**~~
“We’ve found the baby turtles!” Hippo shouted and danced around excitedly.
“It’s the turtles?” Jackal asked incredulously. He stood closer to sniff the sand again. Something was wriggling in the sand, but he couldn’t see what it was.
“Of course it’s the turtles,” Hippo had not doubt about that. “See, there is one little head poking up out of the sand!” Hippo danced around some more.
“Yes, yes!” Zebra shouted. “I can see the little turtle’s head as well.” A second and then a third little turtle stuck its head out of the sand and soon the beach was crawling with tiny little turtles.
“Look at that!” Monkey was excited. “See, they are different from our Tortoise! Look at their little feet!”
“Yes!” Meerkat said. “These little guys have flippers for feet!” The group stood in awe, staring at the newly hatched turtles. Hippo thought they were the cutest little things and he danced around again.
“Be careful Hippo!” Jackal warned
. “Don’t step on the hatchlings!” Hippo stopped dancing around as he didn’t want to step on the baby turtles.
“They’re so small.” Monkey whispered. “I thought that the turtles that live in the sea are very big.”
“They do grow very big, Monkey,” Hippo confirmed. “But they are very small when they first hatch.”
“Aren’t they supposed to be in the sea?” asked Zebra. “Why are they on the beach? How did they get here?”
“How will they get into the water?” Monkey asked. “What happens to them now?”
“They have to make their way to the sea now,” said Hippo, but before he could explain any further one of the big sea birds came swooping down and snatched a little turtle away. Then another and yet another big bird came swooping down, each one snatching up a little turtle and carrying it away. There were very many birds swooping around in the sky above them. Suddenly the team realized what the problem was with the little turtle hatchlings…
~~**~~
“The big birds are snatching them away before they can reach the safety of the water!” Monkey was very upset.
“They hatched too soon!” cried Meerkat. “They should have waited till it was dark and the birds went to sleep!”
“They are so tiny!” Zebra exclaimed. “If only they could move faster!”
“The tide is low!” Jackal howled. “It is so very far for them to reach the water.”
“If only the tide would turn!” moaned Hippo.
“Yes,” cried the others. “If only the tide would turn so that the sea would rush up to the beach.”
“If only the tide would turn!” they all cried. “If only the tide would turn, then the baby turtles would be saved!”
~~**~~
“We have to help the baby turtles!” Monkey shouted. “We have to do something!” The little turtles continued to crawl out of their nest in the sand. Once they were out they started making their slow way down to the water. Many of them were snatched up by the big birds before they could make it.
“Look, the tide has turned!” cried Hippo. “The water is still far away, but at least it has turned.”
“Come and help me, Monkey!” Jackal shouted. “Be quick!” he ordered. Monkey was running next to the water’s edge, urging the tide to be faster. Jackal was standing at the nest where the hatchlings crawled out from the sand.