The sun filtered softly through the trees, casting dappled light across the forest floor where BiBi lay sprawled on a patch of cool grass. His eyes were closed, his breathing slow and steady—but anyone who knew BiBi well would have noticed the slight twitch of his ears or the way his tail flicked with interest. He wasn’t asleep. He was pretending.
A few feet away, LaLa was creeping around with an unusual level of stealth and excitement. Clutched in her tiny hands were a wooden spoon, a basket, and a very questionable-looking ladder made from vines and sticks. Her mission? To harvest the ripest fruits from the tallest tree in the grove—all by herself.
She glanced back at BiBi, who let out a loud fake snore, just to be sure she thought he was sleeping. Satisfied, LaLa giggled quietly to herself and tiptoed closer to the fruit tree. She had been eyeing those golden guavas and juicy bananas for days, but BiBi always got there first with his long arms and speedy climbing. Not this time.
With intense focus, LaLa positioned the basket under the tree and started climbing her homemade ladder. It wobbled dangerously, but she was determined. Slowly, she reached out and plucked a guava, then another. Her face lit up with pride as the basket began to fill.
Meanwhile, BiBi cracked open one eye just in time to see LaLa nearly lose her balance. He tensed—but stayed still. He didn’t want to ruin her moment. Finally, when a banana bounced off the edge of the basket and rolled toward him, he sat up and clapped slowly.
“Well, well, LaLa,” he said with a grin. “I must say, your operation is impressive.”
LaLa froze in surprise, then burst into laughter. “You weren’t sleeping!”
“Nope,” BiBi admitted. “But I had to see if you could do it.”
With fruit between them and giggles all around, the two friends shared a sweet reward from LaLa’s solo adventure—together.
