Originally written: March 6, 2023
There once was a little Red Panda, who loved to spend his days and nights sleeping. He spent all day and night lying on a thick tree branch dreaming of beautiful places where he could sleep.
Sometimes, he dreamed that he would sleep on a tall tower. Not too tall though, otherwise he would fall off when he rolled over. A tall tower just high enough to relax and see dazzling lights with the sound of nature as a pleasant lullaby.
Sometimes, he would dream of sleeping in a giant tree with giant leaves. A tree where all the branches could be bent in to form the perfect bed for sleeping overlooking the horizon.
He would only wake up during sunrise and sunset to enjoy a meal of insects and bamboo while watching the rainbow colors in the sky. But for the rest of the time, he was happily sleeping the day away.
One morning, Red Panda was watching the sunrise while chewing on a stalk of bamboo.
“What a beautiful view,” he yawned to himself. “It’s getting late, bout time for me to go to sleep.”
As Red Panda was stretching out to sleep on a thick tree branch, he heard the familiar sound of Rhino, grunting below. Red Panda closed his ears to ignore Rhino’s grunting until the tree started rapidly shaking. Down below, Rhino was rubbing his horn against the tree bark.
“Hey Rhino,” Red Panda called from above. “Can you sharpen your horn elsewhere; I’m trying to go to sleep.”
“It’s the morning, you’re not supposed to be sleeping now,” Rhino replied.
“I am a Red Panda; we are prone to sleeping throughout the day and night. Can you please use another tree to sharpen your horn?”
“I’ve been trying, all these trees are no good. My horn is so dull and blunt. If you could help me sharpen it, I will gladly leave you alone,” Rhino sighed while plopping on the forest floor.
Red Panda sighed, slowly climbing down the tree, and closely inspecting Rhino’s rounded horn. Red Panda thought for a moment before snapping his paws.
“I have an idea. Your horn is too strong for these trees to sharpen it. You need something stronger than your horn to shape it into a point again. There is a large rock near the river. Surely the rock is strong enough to sharpen it.”
“Do you really think so,” The Rhino asked, standing up with hope in his eyes.
“Most certainly.”
“Can you come with me please?”
“Fine, but promise me after this you will let me sleep?” Red Panda said, his paws on his hips.
“Of course,” Rhino agreed.
Together, Red Panda and Rhino walked down to a large rock by a river. Rhino grazed his horn against the rock, and after several scratches, saw his horn was getting sharper with each scratch. Excited Rhino bounded around the rock, shouting “It worked, it worked!” Rhino was so excited, he accidentally flung himself into the river, splashing Red Panda with water.
Red Panda groaned, “Okay, can I go back to bed now?”
“Yes, you can! Thank you again!”
Red Panda left the gleeful Rhino to his rock, shook off the water from his fur, climbed up the tree, and nestled onto a branch to rest.
A few hours later, the loud chirps of two Spiny Babblers echoed across the jungle. They were gossiping about Rhino having horn troubles, Hippo’s weight issues, and Musk Deer’s antlers growing in a weird shape.
Red Panda rolled over, trying to ignore the birds but they steadily grew louder and louder. He knew this must stop or else he would never get some sleep. Red Panda climbed up the tree to the highest branches and said,
“Excuse me, can you please fly somewhere else to gossip? I am trying to sleep on the branches below and you are being a little too loud.”
“We would but this leopard has taken over our tree and scared all the birds away,” The left Babbler chirped. “If you can talk to her for us, we would be happy to return to our tree.”
The Red Panda sighed but agreed. The Babblers cheered, describing their tree to the North with a big curly branch on the top.
Red Panda proceeded North, coming upon a tree with a curly branch near the top. Searching around the branches, Red Panda spotted Clouded Leopard grooming herself on a branch.
“Excuse me, Clouded Leopard,” Red Panda questioned.
Clouded Leopard shrieked for a moment before fixing her whiskers and facing Red Panda.
“Yes, I am, how can I help you?”
“I am Red Panda. These Babblers told me you chased them out of their tree. Can you please leave so they can return? They are interrupting my nap.”
“Sorry but no can do,” Clouded Leopard huffed. “Those Babblers were mocking my whiskers, so I wanted to teach them a lesson by scaring them good.”
“Consider them scared, but I just want to go to sleep,” Red Panda explained. “Can you please leave the tree now so they can come home?”
“Only if they apologize and promise to stop gossiping about me,” Clouded Leopard demanded.
Red Panda sighed, turned around, and walked back to his tree where the Babblers were continuing their gossip on the many other animals. Red Panda told the Babblers what Clouded Leopard wanted, and they agreed, before turning around and laughing in their wings.
Together, Red Panda and the Babblers returned to the Babbler’s tree to meet with Clouded Leopard. Red Panda watched as the Babblers and Clouded Leopard debated until Clouded Leopard leapt up and gobbled up the Babblers. Clouded Leopard burped up a feather before stretching and lying back down on the tree branch.
“Okay, seems everything is all set up,” Red Panda said nervously. “I’m gonna go to bed now.”
“Of course, have a good rest Red Panda. I might do the same now that it is much quieter,” Clouded Leopard yawned while curling up for a nap.
Red Panda climbed into his tree, lied down on his branch, and stretched out all his limbs and tail before curling up to get some rest.
A few hours later, Red Panda was disturbed by loud snoring coming from several branches below. He tried ignoring the snoring, but it seemed to grow louder with each breath. Annoyed, Red Panda looked below to see Pangolin curled up and snoring. Red Panda called out to Pangolin, but Pangolin just snored back.
Red Panda climbed down the tree and poked Pangolins hard scales. Pangolin snored louder, not feeling Red Panda’s pokes. Red Panda poked harder, but Pangolin snored even louder and remained unmoving. Finally, Red Panda pushed Pangolin out of the tree, splashing in a pile of leaves below.
Pangolin abruptly woke up, staring up at Red Panda who was climbing down the tree.
“Red Panda, why did you push me out of the tree,” Pangolin asked. “I was having such a lovely dream.”
“You were snoring so very loudly that you kept waking me up,” Red Panda replied. “I am willing to share my tree if you want to stay, but you cannot be snoring so loud.”
“I’m sorry, but my tree fell over and when I found this one, I did not see anyone around,” Pangolin responded.
“Have you been sleeping all day?” Red Panda asked.
“Yes, I was sleeping so very comfortably until you tipped me over.”
“How did you not hear all the noise from the other animals?”
“Simple, I curl myself up in a ball and I barely hear anything. My scales block out practically everything.”
“You are lucky, my fur and tail are a perfect blanket and pillow, but they do not filter out sound.”
“Really, I find you lucky. These scales filter out sound, but I get so cold that I must bundle up tight to stay warm.”
“Oh, I have an idea,” Red Panda joyfully said while reaching out to Pangolin. “How about we rest together? My fur will help keep you warm, and your scales can filter out all the sound from the jungle.”
Pangolin thought for a moment and happily accepted the offer.
Together, Red Panda and Pangolin climbed back up the tree to a larger branch to house them both. Pangolin wrapped herself around Red Panda’s head and ears, and Red Panda curled up into Pangolin’s body. Together, they slept peacefully all day long.
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