It was a lovely, lazy day and Orko was prepared to sit back in his comfy red chair with some tasty snacks and drinks, and watch his favourite nature programme on TV. “Aaaaahhhh…after a long day of doing chores, it’s good to kick back,” he said to himself, pouring popcorn into a pink plastic bowl.
He set up the sofa with some popcorn, cookies and crisps, poured some coke into a blue plastic mug and sat back in the red chair. It was all soft and comfy - just how he liked it. Then he turned on the TV. Just in time - Nature’s Wonders was on. “Time for a snack,” Orko smiled to himself under his shadowed face as he tucked into some popcorn.
But wait a minute - it’s Furaha! She’s got her favourite picture book, Dylan The Dinosaur, in her paws. She wants Orko to read her a story! “Orko!” she called. “I see you’re all relaxed. Can you read me a story?” But Orko is into his programme and his snacks, so Furaha storms away.
Orko stops for a moment and looks around. “I’m sure I heard someone calling me to read her a story,” he said to himself, and he went back to his snacks and programme. However, unbeknownst to him, Furaha was using her sharp claws to climb up the back of the chair. She sat on the top of the chair and dangled her tail in front of Orko’s shadowed face. However, instead of noticing her, Orko sneezes from the effect of the tail near his shadowed nose, causing popcorn and crisp crumbs to spatter everywhere.
The third time Furaha tries, she stomps around Orko dressed as a dinosaur. “GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!! Read me a story about Dylan The Dinosaur, for I am his teacher at school!” she roars, “If you don’t, then I shall gobble you in pot roast stew!”
The fourth time Furaha tries, she dangles from a rope down from the ceiling and tries to hug him. She swings, and swings, and swings, but suddenly…WHOOSH! Furaha leaps off her rope and lands on the sofa, into a heap of pillows. Luckily, no one was hurt.
During her fifth time, she had run out of ideas and was sitting on the sofa watching pandas eat bamboo leaves on the TV. “Why can’t Orko read me a story?” she sighed, “All he’s into is his nature programme. For goodness sake, why can’t we always have what we want?” Furaha hid her face in her paws and sobbed. It was like Orko didn’t love her anymore. Luckily, Kiburi and Ua, her parents, heard her sobs and went to comfort her. “What’s the matter?” asked Kiburi. “Orko won’t read me a story,” explained Furaha, “He’s too interested in being a couch wizard.” “That’s because he needs time to himself. We’ll just leave him to have his time, and we’ll read you your story.”
So Kiburi and Ua read Dylan The Dinosaur to Furaha, while Orko enjoyed the last few minutes of his programme. But suddenly, something hairy with four legs appeared on the screen. It was a tarantula!
YUCK!
Orko spat out his food and turned off the TV. “NO! I am not watching that. Spiders scare me!” he said. His rest was over. As soon as he went over to Furaha, the young cub was delighted and gave him the softest, warmest cuddle ever given. “Would you like to settle down and listen to the story?” “Yes, I would love to listen to a story. After all, stories are better than big scary spiders anyway.”
So Orko settled down and listened to the rest of the story, happy that Furaha and her parents are by his side, safe near his little sister.
THE END.
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