M’Pofo and the Big Wind

M'Pofo awoke so early that it was still dark outside. Then, he heard a loud whooshing noise rustling through the leaves of his baobab tree. Wutu, the wise old owl, fluttered down onto one of the outstretched branches.

"Good morning, M'Pofo, quite a storm we're having!" twittered Wutu.

Sleepily M'Pofo replied, "Good morning to you too, Wutu, but I'm not so sure that it's morning yet. I can still see the stars high in the sky. The wind woke me up, howling through the trees like this."

"Well, now you're up," said Wutu, "I may as well teach you about the constellations and the special red moon. We're just in time. Follow me!"

With that, Wutu spread his wings and glided from the Baobab, landing on M'Pofo's head.

"Ow! Wutu, don't walk around on my head with your claws. It hurts," exclaimed the surprised elephant.

"Sorry about that. I'm just very excited. There is a phenomenon taking place tonight."

"What is this phenomy-thingy you're so excited about?" asked M'Pofo inquisitively.

"Oh M'Pofo, don't you learn anything at school," said Wutu, tutting exasperatedly. "A phenomenon is a special event that happens very seldom. The red moon tonight is a phenomenon because it only happens every couple of years," explained the wise old owl.

Whilst he explained this to M'Pofo, Wutu had guided them to an open patch of the grassy Savannah. "M'Pofo, take a look at the sky above us."

Obediently the elephant did as he was asked and looked up at the sky. Wutu flapped his wings wildly to keep his balance. "Not so fast," he muttered, "the youth of today, no respect for their elders."

However, with the beautiful night sky above them, the unlikely pair just gazed at the long trail of the Milky Way. Wutu started hopping around with excitement, and he jumped down to the ground in front of M'Pofo. The owl pointed to one constellation and then whirled in a circle, pointing out others and quickly mentioning their names.

"Look there, M'Pofo, those stars are the Southern Cross. It's surrounded by a group of stars called Centaurus, that one there is the big hyena, this one is Orion, and …"

"Wutu, slow down! I can't keep up with you. You're also too fast sometimes," said the elephant with a big laugh.

It had been a long time since anyone had laughed at the wise old owl. At first, Wutu was indignant, and then he also started to laugh, seeing the irony of having first told M'Pofo that he was too fast.

"What's all this racket here? I can't get any sleep with you two blundering about in the dark," snorted Ubejane, the grumpy old rhinoceros.

"We're sorry, Ubejane, but we're just very thrilled by the wonderful night sky and all the stars. Wutu was just teaching me the different constellations," apologised M'Pofo.

The grumpy rhino was about to continue complaining when he, too, looked up. "The moon," exclaimed Ubejane in amazement, "it has turned red!"

"Yes, as I was trying to tell M'Pofo before you interrupted, it is a phenomenon," said Wutu in a bit of a huff.

Before Ubejane could interrupt, M'Pofo chimed in, "A phenomenon is an extraordinary event."

"Exactly, I'm pleased to hear that you were listening after all!" said Wutu. "The red moon, also known as a blood moon, occurs only once every two and a half years."

"Why doesn't it happen more often?" asked Ubejane, who, despite his grumpiness, was somewhat interested.

"Well," said Wutu, taking a deep breath and puffing up his feathers, "it is a rather complicated matter. In this case, the Earth blocks the direct sunlight coming to a full moon, but the sun's rays still light up the moon. This light, however, has travelled through our air first and sometimes takes on the colours of our Savannah grass, causing the moon to look red or brownish."

Having understood only about half of what the wise old owl had said, M'Pofo and Ubejane just enjoyed the spectacle.

"If it hadn't been for the heavy winds that woke me up, I wouldn't have seen the beautiful red moon tonight," said M'Pofo, who was happy to be awake. "Wutu, you have to promise to wake me when there are other phenomena in the sky."

"But of course, I will, my dear elephant". So, the wise old owl chattered away for several minutes without noticing that both Ubejane and M'Pofo had slipped away. Then, with a muttered, "The youth these days," Wutu too flew off to sleep for the day. Wise old owls are always awake at night, which is why they know so much about the night sky.

And so, you see, little one, there are sometimes opportunities in unexpected places.