Zebra was walking along through the tall grass. She was going to the river to have a drink of water. As she passed a clump of low bushes on her way, she heard "Pssst!"

Zebra stopped. She looked around. Wild animals have to pay attention to all sounds because at any time some other animal could jump out and eat them.

Zebra did not see anyone. She thought it might have been the wind blowing through the tall grass that made the sound that she thought was "Pssst!" She started to walk again.

She heard the voice again. This time she saw a face that poked itself from out the bushes. It was her friend, Giraffe.

Giraffe whispered to Zebra "Get in here! Quickly!" Zebra quickly went into the bushes to join Giraffe.

"What's up?" whispered Zebra. "Come. I'll show you", said Giraffe as she pushed her way to the other side of the bushes.

The other end of the bushes was at the edge of a stone cliff that overlooked the river. Giraffe parted some of the branches and tall grass, and said to Zebra "Look what's down there on the bank of the river at the edge of the water."

Zebra looked for a few seconds and said, "What? I don't see anything."

"Not even that dried-up tree log?" asked Giraffe. "Uh, okay. Tree log. I see it. So?"

"Look again", said Giraffe. "It's not a dried-up tree log."

Zebra looked again and this time she held her breath while she stared at the dried-up tree log. Long ago she had discovered about herself that when she held her breath when she stared at something, that thing in her sight magnified and appeared clearer. "Uh, sorry, Giraffe. That's just a dried-up tree log. I've seen my share of dried-up tree logs. I know a dried-up tree log when I see one. That’s just a dried up tree log, dear friend."

Giraffe picked up a small stone from the ground. "Keep your eye on your dried-up tree log, dear friend."

While Zebra held her breath again and kept her eyes on the dried-up tree log, Giraffe threw the stone into the river. When the water splashed, Zebra saw the dried-up tree log move quickly and scurry and plunge into the river. It swam around for a few seconds and went back to the shore to its spot and pretended to be a dried-up tree log, again.

"Yikes!" cried out Zebra. She coughed. She had inhaled a bit of tall grass into her mouth when she said, "Yikes!" When she stopped coughing, she stared at Giraffe. She asked "What? What is that? That's not a dried-up tree log. That thing's alive!"

"That thing, my dear friend", said Giraffe "is a crocodile! It is waiting for some unsuspecting animal like you or me to come along. Then it will jump us and drag us into the river and eat us!"

She looked wide-eyed at Zebra. Zebra looked wide-eyed at Giraffe.

“You want to hear more?” asked Giraffe.

Zebra by now was too shaken up in fright to talk. She nodded her "Yes, please."

"I almost fell into its trap earlier on today", said Giraffe. "I saw what I thought was a dried-up tree log. I was walking straight to it to step over it to get to the river. At the last moment, a bird swooped down and sat on the log. That's when the crocodile jumped in fright.

Lucky for that bird the crocodile had seen me coming and was concentrating on ambushing me. When the crocodile jumped in fright, the bird flew away, and I ran from there faster than the speed of light. That bird saved my life. I came here to watch until the crocodile leaves. I am so thirsty."

"Me, too", said Zebra. "We cannot wait too long, Giraffe. Lions and hyenas come to this river to drink. We have to be far away when those predators get here."

"I know", said Giraffe. "There is a much longer and deeper river back there. That's where most of the animals go. Only you and I and a few small animals come here, regularly. If that crocodile doesn't move along in the next few minutes we might have to risk going to that other river where the carnivore predators will definitely be."

The both of them stared in dismay at the crocodile pretending to be a dried-up tree log. Neither was comfortable with the option of having to go to that other river far away crowded with carnivore predators.

Giraffe spoke softly. “There might be a way to chase that crocodile away.”

“Without us having to go down there, I hope.”

“Down there, yes. But not where the crocodile is.”

“Giraffe, my friend, you are not making sense. How will we be able to chase that crocodile off if we don't go down there where that crocodile is?”

“If we get someone else to chase it off for us.”

A few seconds of silence passed, as Giraffe stared wide-eyed at Zebra. Zebra stared back, not understanding, and at an utter loss for words.

“Come”, said Giraffe, softly. “Look again. This time, concentrate on those bushes a few steps behind the crocodile.

Zebra looked, and concentrated, holding her breath. She whispered, “For what am I looking?” Instantly, she jumped back and clamped her mouth shut to prevent herself from yelping, “What is that? I saw movement! And a hat?”

”A man!” said Giraffe, triumphantly.

“A man? A human-man?” “Uh-huh.”

“Hiding from the crocodile?”

”Perhaps. Or to catch it.”

“Catch it? Why? Humans don't eat crocodiles. Do they?"

“I don't know why, Zeeb. Does anybody know why humans do what they do? What I do know is how you and I can get that human-man to chase that crocodile away. You want to give it a shot?”

Again, Zebra was speechless. She was totally petrified at the thought of going down there to face a human-man and a ferocious reptile. She slowly and hesitantly and reluctantly nodded her consent.

“Good”, said Giraffe. “Let's creep down there to come up behind that human-man. Then we attack the bush and shout as loud as we can. That will so discombobulate that human-animal creature, he will dash out towards the crocodile.”

“Who will be so terrified, it will dash away into the river!” exclaimed Zebra!

“Yes!” said Giraffe. “You like it?”

”Of course, Raffy! It's brilliant! I will lead the way.”

Just then they heard loud squealing noises being made by a large animal moving clumsily through the tall grass.

Giraffe and Zebra kept still. The noises got louder and louder. Obviously, whatever it was, was moving in their direction.

"Think we should run?" whispered Zebra. "When we are sure which way to run", whispered Giraffe. "That could be predators. We don't want to run into them."

Both moved slowly to the other end of the bushes. They peered out through the branches.

"It's a hippopotamus!" whispered Zebra in amazement. “Like the two of us, it’s going to the river to drink water.”
 
“A hippopotamus?” exclaimed Giraffe in a whisper. “A hippo is too big for this river. It's not going to get enough water at this river. A hippopotamus needs a really deep river.”

“Perhaps”, guessed Zebra, “it wants to avoid the meat-eating predators at the other river.”

“Not a hippopotamus”, replied Giraffe. “Hippo's are not afraid of carnivore predators. A hippopotamus is so huge, predators don't dare attack it.”

Both of them poked their heads farther out the bushes, clear of the branches, and stared.

The hippopotamus stopped and looked at them. Giraffe and Zebra looked at each other, and simultaneously exclaimed to each other, “It's a baby hippopotamus!”

“Where's its Father? asked Giraffe?

”And Mother?” added Zebra. “This baby must be lost”, said Giraffe.

The baby hippopotamus made squealing noises as it nudged its way into the bushes with Giraffe and Zebra. They hugged it and petted it.

They had to be careful because the baby hippopotamus was far bigger than either of them. If they were not careful enough it could crush them by accident. It licked their faces.

"Oh, poor baby", said Giraffe. "This baby is very thirsty. You are right, Zeeb. It's going to the river for water."

The ground began to shake as if an earthquake was happening. Giraffe and Zebra had never experienced an earthquake. They recognized immediately what was happening. An animal stampede!

When a crowd of animals runs fast in one direction the ground shakes like it was shaking right then. Giraffes stampede. Zebras stampede. Deer stampede. Rats and Rabbits, too, even, perhaps, stampede.

Animals stampede when they are afraid; like when they are chased by other animals; like when there is a forest fire.

Giraffe and Zebra knew they would have to get out of the bushes to find out the cause of the stampede.

Before Giraffe and Zebra could do anything, the baby hippo let out a loud squeal and bounded out of the bushes. When they saw the baby disappear in the tall grass through which it dashed they were aware that it was running toward the noises!

That terrified Giraffe and Zebra because they feared the baby hippopotamus would be crushed by the stampeding animals.

Giraffe and Zebra dashed out after the baby hippo to try to stop it.

The stampede noises stopped abruptly. Zebra and Giraffe did so, too, stopped abruptly.

When the noises stopped, all Zebra and Giraffe heard were squealings from the baby hippopotamus. Giraffe and Zebra quickly and cautiously made their way through the tall grass to see what was happening.

They saw the baby hippopotamus snuggling its Daddy and Mommy.

It wasn't a stampede, after all. Just two gigantic adult hippopotamuses galloping along to find their baby.

Giraffe said, “Let's go back into the bushes and look out for that crocodile. It might have run off if it thought there was a stampede coming its way.” “Or an earthquake”, said Zebra.

When Giraffe and Zebra peeked out of the bushes, they saw the crocodile climbing up the far bank of the river. It was scuttling away from the river as fast as it could.

“Now there's a happy sight”, exclaimed one of them.

“Yes, but not entirely happy.”
 
“Why not?” “Look at the place where that croc had been pretending to be a dried-up log.”

She looked. “I do not see anything.”

“Not even that chewed-up hat?”