Cane and Kangaroo-Toads

eacocks really think very highly of themselves, and do not like to be chased. But since Mac has never really seen a peacock and he is chasing one currently, and the experience is quite amusing to him, he is not concerned about what peacocks think.

However, since peacocks can fly and Mac cannot, the chase does not last very long. Only long enough for Mac to find himself in a place he does not recognize standing beside a firepit that to Mac, being only ten and a half inches tall, just looks like a wall.

The peacock flies into its favorite tree and finds a perch where it can yell down at this new creature who has dared to chase him. The peacock continues to generously instruct him in proper peacock treatment, “SQUAWWWK!!”

Mac is no longer concerned about the peacock, however, because it is now occurring to him that it might have been a mistake to dart into an unknown place. Of course, he is just down the path from where Mr. Heetderks and Mica are standing under the awning of the Nature Center, but Mac is too small, and this place is too new, and he is lost.

While he is looking around, he hears a voice coming out from under a fern leaning out over the brick pavers a few feet away.

The voice says, “WWWWelllllll, you know you really shouldn’t chase peacocks. They don’t like that.”

“Oh!” he says. Not sure of what peacocks are, and certainly not sure whose voice is telling him about them. “What’s a peacock?” he asks, as he moves a few steps toward the fern and leans forward a little to look under it. Just at that moment two things happen; the voice begins to speak again, and the owner of the voice appears suddenly.

“WWWWelllllll, A peacock is a kind of chicken, but with a bigger tail, and…” the voice is saying just as he hops out from under the fern.

“WHOA!!” Mac yells, as he leaps wildly into the air, trying to get out of the way of a rather large toad that has just appeared at his feet. “You scared me!” he says, panting a little as he lands. The toad, appearing annoyed that he has been cut off mid-sentence, waits a second for Mac to settle down and then responds, “And WWWWelllllll, maybe so,” He says, “but it is for the better. You shouldn’t interrupt people when they’re speaking.”

The toad waits, expecting an apology, but with none coming decides to make the best of the situation and continues, “WWWWelllllll, at least now I have gotten to see you leap. Seeing someone leap is the most important thing you can learn about them when you’re meeting them for the first time.” says the toad. “I have never seen a toad quite as strange as you, but I’ve never met anyone who can leap that good who isn’t also a toad. So, what kind of toad are you?”

Mac is shocked and confused by this question, and he does not like being called a toad. “A toad?!” he objects, “I’m not a toad. I’m a kangaroo and I’m the biggest and fastest kangaroo my age, that’s why I can leap the best.”

“WWWWelllllll, I’ve never heard of a kangaroo before, but I know leapers when I see one and, WWWWelllllll, you’re one for sure. And since all toads are leapers that means all leapers must be toads. So, WWWWelllllll, I guess kangaroos are toads after all. Quite right!”

Mac is dumbstruck by this silly idea, and he does not like being called a toad.

Cane, for that is this toad’s name, is a toad. I know that is obvious and you probably think it doesn’t need to be said, but trust me, it needs to be said. Because Cane does not see himself the way everyone else does. Absolutely everyone else sees a plumpy, unimpressive toad. They see he has a huge mouth, which looks very much like he is about to say something condescending, and they see he is lumpy and warty and altogether toad-like.

But, in Cane’s mind, he is nothing like any of that. Instead, he believes himself to be much more sophisticated than that. Cane imagines that he has a fancy, thin mustache that curls up at the ends and wiggles whenever he is saying wise things (which is always). He has a golden chain connected to a monocle perched on his right eye that helps him seem wiser. He imagines he’s wearing a long, sleek, burgundy dinner jacket with shoes to match and a brightly colored pocket square. In his mind, he even has a tall black hat perched on his formidable brow and, of course, he carries a cane. In all of this he imagines his movements to be graceful and elegant, his voice to be smooth and compelling, and his mind to be sharp and penetrating.

Of course, Cane is nothing more than a regular toad. But sometimes we believe things that just aren’t true, even about ourselves, and that is Cane’s situation. And now you have a better idea why Cane really loves hearing his own voice, and why Mac is not able to comment on Cane’s ridiculous conclusions about his being a toad.

And so, Cane, swelling to his full prideful height of nearly four inches, launches into his investigation of this newly discovered species of kangaroo-toad, and leaves Mac silently gaping as he asks, “WWWWelllllll, how high can kangaroo-toads jump?”

Mac, looking down at a very squishy, puffy mass of flubbery toadiness, cannot resist the pull of this question, because he is a very good leaper, and he loves telling people about it. And so, confused as he is by this curious toad, he is suddenly overcome by a temptation to show off his jumping skills. He gathers his strength and leaps high into the air, he yells out loudly, “THIS HIGH!!!!” kangaroos have very powerful legs, and they can jump very high generally. And Mac, as we know, is an exceptionally good leaper, even for kangaroos. So, when he leaps, often without looking where he’s leaping to, he leaps very high.

Cane is very impressed, though he doesn’t want Mac to know it. Instead, he says, “WWWWelllllll, that is a decent leap, to be sure, but I’ve seen better. We will need to get a good solid measurement to know whether it is passable. So, WWWWelllllll, you’ll need to do it again. And this time it will need to be to a place that we can measure.”

Mac, who loves this challenge, quickly agrees, and says, “That’s a great idea. I’ll leap onto this wall, right here.” And as he says it, he bounds up again in the direction of the wall.

From Cane’s view, Mac clears the wall with an objectively impressive leap, confirming that he is right about Mac, “He is indeed a toad just as I thought. At least that is settled,” he thinks triumphantly. But then as Cane is watching Mac leap, expecting him to land on the top of the wall, he sees Mac continue falling through the top of it; this is very surprising to Cane who is learning all sorts of amazing things about kangaroo-toads.

Mac, on the other hand, is not surprised because the moment he leaps up expecting to land on top of the wall, he sees that it is not a wall, but a pit. In the bottom of the pit there are sharp jagged rocks. Mac falls to the bottom of the pit, and, landing hard on his heel, lets out a second yelp that is much more urgent than his first.

Your Brother’s Keeper

A few moments later, Mica bounds around the corner and stops short seeing a large, unsophisticated toad staring up at a wall with a surprised look on his face.

Cane is overwhelmed. Only a minute ago he didn’t know that kangaroo-toads existed and now the only one he’s ever met has disappeared into a wall and a second one has appeared out of nowhere. So, Cane attempting to maintain his ere of calmness, turns toward this new guest and says, “WWWWelllllll, I see I’m going to need to speak with Mr. Heetderks about some new guests he’s invited to WorldWonder. I have been very clear on many occasions that he is to run his invitations by me. Why, I’ve heard that he’s invited a snake into WorldWonder. No, this is too much. And another thing…”

Mica, forgetting her manners in her desire to find her brother, interrupts the toad’s speech and says, “I’m trying to find my brother, Mac, who came this way. Have you seen him?”

“Your brother?” Cane questions indignantly. “WWWWelllllll, shouldn’t you keep up with your brother rather than expecting me to do it? I am not your brother’s keeper. But, as it were, I was just speaking with a rather large toad who looks like you and, in fact, he just leapt straight over this wall and disappeared. I was about to leap up after him to see what’s become of him, but WWWWelllllll, since he’s your brother perhaps you’d like to do it. You seem eager to find him and, for my part, I would like to see if all kangaroo-toads have impressive leaping abilities. I, of course, could easily leap up to the top of this wall if I wanted, because I’m a toad and we are great leapers, but WWWWelllllll, I only just met the two of you and it doesn’t seem proper to...”

“But what’s up there?” Mica interrupts, feeling confused and annoyed by the strange toad’s ramblings.

“WWWWelllllll, I expect you’ll find your brother,” Cane responds in a huff.

Mica, unlike her brother does not leap without looking, so she wisely turns away from the toad and yells up at the top of the wall, “Mac, are you up there?”

From over the wall, she hears Mac’s voice, “Yeah, I’m down in this pit.”

Somewhat relieved, Mica asks, “Are you okay?”

“I hurt my foot. I don’t think I can get out,” he says with a little strain in his voice.

Mica rapidly hops around the wall hoping to find an easy way up, only to discover that this wall is perfectly round with no steps. So, having learned what she needs to know, she gathers her strength and leaps to the top of the wall being careful to keep toward the edge.

Out of the Ashes

Just then, she hears the toad’s feet slapping the stones as he retreats to the cover of the ferns saying, “CRRRRROAKKK!!” She hardly has time to wonder why the toad is leaving when she is distracted by Mr. Heetderks appearing on the path.

Mr. Heetderks walks over and peers into the firepit and says, “Well, Mac, I might have done a better job of introducing you to all the different exciting spaces in WorldWonder if you hadn’t been so fast bolting out of that crate.” And at that he burst into a big, huge laugh. Mica notices for the first time how Mac is covered in ashes and looks quite silly down in the pit.

“But I guess,” Mr. Heetderks continues, “The peacocks are quite popular with our guests so it doesn’t surprise me that you would want to chase them. I should have thought through that before I let you out of your crate.”

As he is speaking, he reaches down to pick up Mac who is actively trying to get away. Mr. Heetderks notices Mac favoring his right foot and comments compassionately, “I see you’ve hurt your foot. WorldWonder can be a dangerous place if you don’t know the right ways to go.” He eyes Mac with a look that isn’t quite a rebuke, it is more of a knowing look. Finally, he says, “Well, let’s get you inside. I don’t think you’ll be able to use that foot for a few days.” Just then he catches hold of Mac, and, drawing him out of the pit he turns and begins walking back toward the Nature Center with Mac pressed tightly to his chest. He murmurs under his breath, “I think I may need to keep a closer on eye on you, little Mac.”

Moments later, Mr. Heetderks stops and turns back to Mica who is still standing on the firepit wall and says, “Come on Mica, you don’t need to stay up there, I think. You can come back with me. After we get your brother settled, I can give you the tour around WorldWonder.”

Mica hesitates. So much has happened in just a few minutes of being in WorldWonder and her heart is still racing a little from all the excitement. Still, there is something about Mr. Heetderks’ request that draws her down off the wall to follow him. From behind her she hears a croaky voice say from out of the shadows, “WWWWelllllll, I’ll need to catch Mr. Heetderks later, he’ll want to hear what I’ve got to say about these new toads he’s brought in here. If he…” Mica passes just out of hearing of that toad’s speech, and she is relieved. He doesn’t seem particularly dangerous, but he isn’t the kind of creature Mica likes to be around.

Mica is beginning to think that maybe WorldWonder is going to be a very different kind of place. She hasn’t been here for fifteen minutes and already she is meeting strange new animals and rescuing her brother from a pit. She doesn’t quite know what to think of this place. Her mind wanders back to what Mr. Heetderks had just said, “WorldWonder can be a dangerous place if you don’t know the right ways to go.”

Mica falls behind Mr. Heetderks’ large steps. Noticing this, she picks up her speed and from way up in the tree behind her hears a startling voice say, “SQUAAAWCK!” She risks a quick glance back over her shoulder and sees the large scary bird peering down at her and thinks, “It certainly is dangerous.”