Do Not Disturb

Panda is standing in front of her cave. She yawns and stretches. It’s a gorgeous morning. She peeps into Squirrel’s nest in the hollow of a fallen tree. Squirrel is still asleep. Panda looks at the valley and the surrounding mountains. Nothing is moving anywhere.

How boring, she thinks. I’ll have to do something about it.

She takes a deep breath and roars, “I don’t want to be disturbed today! Not by anyone! Everyone stay away!” Then she goes back into her den.

All the animals have heard her. They look up in surprise. What’s wrong with Panda?

The first to come and see is Butterfly. He does his most beautiful dance in front of Panda’s den.

“Are you sick, Panda?” he asks.

“No!” Panda shouts. “Go away!”

“Goodness, you’re in a bad mood today.” Butterfly turns and flutters off.

Half an hour later Millipede arrives. First she counts her legs in case she’s lost one on the way.

“Are you sad, Panda?” she asks.

“No!” Panda shouts. “Go away!”

“Gosh, you’re grumpy today.” Millipede scurries off.

Quarter of an hour later, Pheasant shows up. He preens his beautiful feathers, struts to and fro, then asks, “Did someone hurt you, Panda? A hunter perhaps?”

“No!” Panda shouts. “Go away!”

“Well, you’re not very friendly today.” Pheasant flies off.

Along comes Marmot. He was just about to go to sleep when Panda roared. He peers into the dark cave. “Have you got toothache, Panda?” he asks.

“No!” Panda shouts. “Go away!”

“Huh, you’re no fun today,” Marmot mutters and runs off.

A little later Deer arrives. He taps his antlers politely on the wall of the cave. “Hello, Panda!” he calls. “Don’t you feel lonely in there?”

“No!” Panda shouts back. “Go away!”

“Touchy, touchy,” Deer sighs, and skips off.

Fox is last to turn up. She cleans her whiskers, curls her tail, looks at Panda and says, “You’re lying so still, Panda. Have you broken a leg?”

“No!” Panda shouts. “Go away!”

Fox gets angry. “You know what you are?” she shouts. “A thick, hairy rug! A grubby one too, with all those black spots!”

Then she dashes off.

After that, there’s a long silence. Finally, Squirrel comes out from her nest. She tiptoes into Panda’s den.

“Where have you been?” Panda grumbles.

Squirrel looks at her with surprise. “Didn’t you want to be alone?” she says. “That’s what you yelled out this morning.”

Panda giggles. “Yes,” she says. “But I’ve never had so many visitors. It’s been a great day!”

Squirrel looks at her wide-eyed. “Very clever,” she says.

“Shall I stay with you now? Even though you wanted to be alone today?”

“You can always disturb me, Squirrel,” Panda says.

“Even when you roar like that?”

“When I roar, when I’m quiet, when I grumble, when I snore... Any time!”

Squirrel climbs onto Panda’s shoulder, lets out a contented sigh, and smiles.