Meet Cubo. He’s a fishmunk. Cubo likes to be in trees, hang from them, lie in them and eat off of them, though he doesn’t like moving. And I don’t mean that he is a sloth, doesn’t move much as in – he sticks to a tree, and the few trees around his home. The only change he is fine with, is meeting new creatures. He welcomes anyone who seems to not pose a threat, and he particularly likes winged beasts. This is because he envies their effortlessness in getting around, gliding through the air.
He’s an amphibian just like the creature he bumped into today – a frongo. But both find the land better and opt for the water only when they want to cool in it. Their predators prefer the water, so almost all of Cubo’s family and the frongos stay away from it. Come to think of it, the waters are now predominantly filled with carnivores. They like the murkiness of the water bodies that conceal them from their prey.
Totochi, the frongo, likes to taste everything. And not just what he thinks is food; it is his way of exploring new places, things, creatures, all of it. You will find him putting his tongue out to test the air for favourable weather, to test the waters for predators, to check if the mild looking creature he is meeting for the first time, minds his way of greeting.
Cubo is certainly surprised, not by the way he’s greeted- as he has seen many weird ‘friendly’ gestures by now. He vividly remembers the little cornicoup (a half stag beetle, half moth) who had an annoying way of burrowing into the noses of unsuspecting ‘hosts’. Cubo is more amazed by how thin the tongue sticking towards him is. He expected it to be three times its current size. Totochi likes this new reaction. His gleaming eyes twinkle at the fishmunk’s dazed face.
Looks like they will get along just fine.
Recently, I came across the Diamante style of poem writing. I am trying out one on these two, so you get to know more about them in the seven lines that I am allowed to use-
Cubo
Smart, quick
Gathering, swinging, snoring
Settler, thinker, discoverer, go-getter
Perusing, searching, aiming
Curious, witty
Totochi
