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76fennecs381
==The Fennecs==
The Cicada swam across the Nile, and made his way north through the green grasslands. He could see a small patch of sand shimmering in the moonlight, and that’s what he aimed himself for. Before he reached it, he knew he had chosen his path well. He could hear riotous laughter bubbling up from under a vineyard trellis. He approached, keeping his chirping as quiet as he could, and cleared his throat politely to announce his presence.
No one seemed to notice him. A group of five brown fennecs were rolling around on the sand, hiccuping and laughing.
“Hi there!!”. The cicada screamed.
A fennec lying on his back lolled his eyes toward the newcomer. “Oye! What ‘ave we gots here? Are you a talkin’ bug?”
“Naaaw, you’re drunks again,” cajoled another fennic.
The upside-down fennic spurt out a wet laugh. “Of courrse I am drunk...But dis little buggie just said ‘ello!”
The cicada waved nervously. “Yes, hello. I am a cicada, if you please, and I am looking for my home.”. He was practically shouting to be heard over the all the noise of the other fennecs.
“Alright! Well hoaaarray furs you!” hic
“Well’, he continued nervously, “A kind bullfrog told me you might like more company in your home, so I came to see if that was true. And..to make sure you wouldn’t eat me...” his voice trailed off.
“EATs you? Why would we eats a little bug?” hic. The fennic rolled over and shook off the sand from his back. He attempted to look a little more serious as he regarded the cicada. “Clearly, you can schee here we have all the foods we needs!” He waved a paw at the trellis, laden with ripe grapes.
The cicada, clearly confused but glad to have the fennec’s attention, couldn’t resist asking. “Why are you all so silly? Do these fruits make you so?”
“Ooye hahahah!” The fennec rolled over again in the sand, laughing. “Nooo, these are grapes! They are taschty, but we have been tappin’ the beer barrels of the nearby people. Beer is wonnnderful schtuff.” hic. “We love to have ourschelves a good party, don’t we boys?!”
Cheers erupted from the other fennecs. The cicada noticed they were clearly not concerned about drawing attention to themselves.
“Don’t the people get angry with you? And why don’t they come find you? You are all so... boisterous,” he said carefully.
“Becauz they are so schtupid! Oh, they want to find us, they do. They build these boxches for us to get trapped in, and lay them all around the big deschert areas. BUT...,” he paused for dramatic effect, “but we are too schmart for them! We live here, in this tiny little sandy area, and they never think to plop a box here!” hic “So you schee, we are quite schafe.”
The cicada looked around. The fennecs were a terribly rowdy bunch. He used to like to party with his friends at the University, but they never got so out of hand. He just didn’t see himself fitting in here.
“Well, I am still looking for my home. Do you have any idea of .. uhm...*other* nice places to live?”
“Better than here?”, the fennec popped another grape into his mouth, and as he chomped it, juice dribbled down his chin.
“Well... maybe more quiet,” the cicada answered sheepishly.
“I know!”, the fennec stood up. “You need to schee the RAT!”
“Yesss the RAT!” another fennec called out. “He’s so clever” hic
“Where does this rat live?” the cicada probed.
“He makes his home on a schide of a mountain, a bit south of us. He needs to stay near the sands as well, but he sleeps near a giant noisemaker! Always turning and turning and turning...”. As he said this, the fennec spun around in circles, until he fell down giggling and hiccuping. The other fennics roared at the sight of this.
“Well I will go find this rat then. Maybe he knows more. uhm... Thanks guys.”
The cicada waved and bounded off across the sand towards the grass, though the fennecs didn’t notice him depart. He was glad when the noise of them had faded behind him.
Head to his next stop to continue his tale...
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