Story 58
Nia and the secret above the clouds
10 minute read · Adventure and inclusive teamwork
The sun was only just beginning to warm the savannah when Lou-Anne heard something land with a soft thump on the branch above her.
She looked up.
Two golden eyes stared back.
“Morning,” said Nia.
Nia the leopard stretched along the branch as if sleeping six metres above the ground were the most ordinary thing in the world. Her spotted tail hung down lazily and flicked from side to side.
“You could just walk over like everyone else,” Lou-Anne said.
Nia looked horrified.
“Walk?”
Vakawu burst out laughing from another tree.
“Careful, Nia. Lou-Anne might ask you to use a path next.”
By now M’Pofo, Ubejane, Keira, Nuru and Buhala had arrived too. They were planning to spend the morning at the water hole, where M’Pofo had promised to demonstrate his new technique for spraying water backwards over his head.
Nobody was entirely convinced this required a demonstration.
But Nia had other ideas.
“I found something,” she said.
That immediately got everyone’s attention.
“Food?” asked Vakawu.
“No.”
“Treasure?” asked Buhala.
“No.”
“Something we can eat that is also treasure?” Vakawu tried.
Nia jumped silently to the ground.
“Last night I climbed the big black rocks beyond the acacia forest. Near the top, I found a tiny path.”
M’Pofo frowned. “There isn’t a path up there.”
“There is now.”
That was, Lou-Anne thought, exactly the sort of answer a leopard would give.
Nia explained that the path disappeared between two huge rocks. Beyond them she had seen a narrow valley high above the savannah.
“And there was water,” she said. “A whole pool of it.”
Ubejane snorted.
“On top of the rocks?”
“I know what water looks like.”
“You also once attacked your own tail.”
“That was different.”
“It was attached to you.”
Nia ignored him.
Naturally, everyone wanted to see the mysterious pool.
The journey began easily enough. They crossed the grasslands, passed the old termite mound and entered the shade beneath the acacia trees.
But when they reached the black rocks, things became considerably more complicated.
Nia simply jumped onto a ledge.
Then another.
Then another.
Within seconds she was halfway up.
She looked down.
Nobody had moved.
“What?”
“We don’t all have leopard feet,” said Lou-Anne.
Nia stared at M’Pofo.
M’Pofo stared at the cliff.
“This,” he announced, “is extremely badly designed for elephants.”
So they searched for another way.
Nuru and Buhala discovered a narrow opening between the rocks. Keira squeezed through first and found a winding path climbing gently upwards.
It worked perfectly.
For everyone except M’Pofo.
His head fitted.
His ears did not.
After several attempts, including one involving Vakawu pushing from behind, M’Pofo sat down.
“Go without me.”
Lou-Anne shook her head.
“We’re having an adventure together.”
So the friends searched again.
Eventually Ubejane discovered an old dried riverbed running around the side of the hill. It was steep and covered in loose stones, but wide enough for M’Pofo.
The higher they climbed, the smaller the savannah became beneath them.
They could see the water hole sparkling in the distance. Herds of zebra looked like tiny striped toys. Even the enormous baobab tree looked surprisingly small.
Then the dried riverbed ended.
Ahead was a gap between two rocky ledges.
Nia jumped across easily.
Keira followed.
Vakawu practically flew over it.
Lou-Anne looked down.
It wasn’t a huge drop.
But it was certainly big enough to make her stomach feel strange.
“I don’t like this bit,” she admitted.
Nia immediately came back.
For a moment she seemed surprised. Jumping gaps was something she had been doing since she was tiny.
Then she looked at Lou-Anne’s shoes.
And at M’Pofo’s enormous feet.
And Ubejane’s rather less-than-athletic shape.
“Oh,” she said.
It was the first time that morning Nia seemed to realise that what was easy for her might not be easy for everyone else.
“We need another way.”
M’Pofo found a fallen tree trunk nearby. Ubejane pushed it while M’Pofo pulled with his trunk until they managed to lay it across the gap.
Nia tested it carefully.
“Bridge!”
One by one they crossed.
Finally they reached the two enormous rocks Nia had described.
Between them was a tiny opening.
They squeezed through.
And everybody stopped.
Hidden behind the rocks was a green valley.
Tall grasses covered the ground. Tiny yellow and purple flowers grew between the stones. Dragonflies hovered above a pool of perfectly clear water fed by a little spring trickling down the cliff.
“It’s beautiful,” Lou-Anne whispered.
Nia grinned.
“I told you.”
They ran towards the water.
Everyone except Nia.
She had noticed something.
At the far end of the pool stood a small antelope calf.
It was trembling.
And completely alone.
Nia crouched instinctively.
The calf saw her.
It bolted.
“Nia!” Lou-Anne shouted.
“I’m not chasing it!”
But the terrified calf raced straight towards the steep rocks.
Nia moved instantly.
She sprinted around the pool, leapt onto a boulder and landed directly in front of it.
The calf skidded to a stop.
Nia lowered herself to the ground.
Very slowly.
“I’m not going to hurt you.”
The calf stared at her.
Nia looked towards Lou-Anne.
“I think it’s lost.”
The friends spread out across the valley looking for tracks.
Nuru and Buhala eventually found tiny hoofprints leading towards a narrow passage behind the spring.
Nia climbed above it and spotted movement in the valley below.
“There!”
A herd of antelope was searching among the rocks.
The problem was getting the calf down.
This time Nia didn’t race ahead.
Instead, she looked at everyone.
“Any ideas?”
Together they worked out a route.
Nia climbed ahead to check the path.
Vakawu marked the safest turns with sticks.
Keira helped Lou-Anne over the larger rocks.
Ubejane moved loose stones out of the way.
And M’Pofo walked beside the frightened calf like an enormous grey wall, keeping it safely on the path.
When they finally reached the bottom, a mother antelope came racing towards them.
The calf bounded forward.
A few moments later it disappeared safely into the herd.
Nia sat on a rock watching them go.
Lou-Anne sat beside her.
“You found a secret valley and rescued someone on the same day.”
Nia considered this.
“Not bad.”
“And you learnt something.”
Nia narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
“I don’t like where this is going.”
“You learnt that not everyone can climb like a leopard.”
Nia looked down at M’Pofo, who was attempting to remove a thorn from his bottom by walking in increasingly small circles.
“I had noticed.”
They returned to the hidden pool and spent the rest of the afternoon swimming.
M’Pofo finally demonstrated his backwards water-spraying technique.
It turned out to be remarkably effective.
Especially when Vakawu was standing behind him.
“HEY!”
Everyone laughed.
And from her favourite rock above the pool, Nia looked down at her friends.
She still loved climbing ahead.
She still loved being the first to discover things.
But perhaps, she thought, adventures were better when everyone found a way to reach the end together.
Then she spotted Vakawu sneaking towards Lou-Anne’s bag of snacks.
Nia leapt from the rock.
Some lessons, apparently, would have to wait until tomorrow.