Weeks have passed and Dego’s life, with the exception of the dreaded toilet trips, has returned to a peaceful, perfect, slothing heaven.
He sleeps.
Munches on leaves.
Sleeps.
Watches the fish.
Sleeps.
Stares at the strange standing animals.
Sleeps.
Climbs to a new branch.
And sleeps.
One day, just as he’s settling down for a nice long nap in the mangrove leaves, it starts to rain. But not just a little bit, it falls in massive, heavy, torrential sheets. The drops are big and warm, splashing into his fur. Sloooowly, he climbs lower to shelter beneath dense branches, disturbing a couple of sleeping bats as he does.
The rain goes on for days. Dego watches from the branches as the water level rises around the mangrove trees and more and more become home to hundreds of fish speeding through their red roots. Solid ground - and potential toilet spots - are now quite a way further into the island. Dego’s trees seem to have become part of the lagoon itself. Their roots going from its green, sparkly wa-ters.
Dego doesn’t mind the rain too much. He has two layers of fur, the second one keeping him toasty and dry beneath an outer coat of long, coarse hair. In fact, the sounds of the rain hitting the leaves above is quite soothing, enough to lull him to…
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
‘CRASH!’
Dego awakes with a start.
CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!
What’s happening?
The trees are filled with grating, angry noise.
Nrrrrrrrrrrr nrrrrrrrrrr nrrrrrrrrrr
What kind of animal is that? Nothing he’s ever heard before. And around him, the trees are falling. Crashing and splashing down.
It’s some of those strange animals, walking on their hind legs, carrying an angry, loud, whirring, teethed monster - tearing at the mangroves. Pulling them down.
They’re at the base of his tree. The noise starts up again, only louder as the monster starts to whirr ripping at its trunk.
Dego lets out a cry. Suddenly the whole tree is tilting, tipping… Dego lets go of the branch and, again, he’s falling.
‘Ahh eeeeeee!’ He cries, plummeting towards the water and then…
SPLOSH!
He’s in the lagoon. And…is he…swimming? Sticking one arm out in front of the other, his legs kick-ing away, he’s gliding through the water. This is great! Who knew he, a handsome super sloth, slow-moving master of the trees, could swim as well? Getting into his stride, he starts to paddle around the island, away from the chaos and noise and whirring monster with tree-eating teeth.
Where are some safe trees for a sloth to snooze uninterrupted and just watch the world go by?
He starts to head inland, one arm in front of the other, claws sliding through the water, when sud-denly…
WHOMP!
He’s snatched up and out of the water…
Watch out for chapter four coming soon!